Florin High School Teacher Of The Year Vying For National Title

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A Sacramento man is one of five teachers statewide vying for the chance to represent California for the national teacher of the year honors.

Florin High School math teacher Tim Smith has already clenched the 2014 teacher of the year awards for the district and the county. Now he is up for national teacher of the year, along with five other state nominees.

"You have to start by loving the kids. They kind of pick up on that...it's infectious," said Smith.

So what's his winning teaching philosophy?

It's not complicated or backed by numerical formulas, or mathematical shortcuts. It's simple, and it revolves around one word.

"Love," said freshman Jennifer Martinez.

Smith is helping his students to not only love themselves and each other, but math too.

"I didn't really like math," said Martinez. "I was really bad at it, but it's my favorite subject now."

Even Principal Don Ross agrees that he could've used a teacher like Smith when he was in high school.

"I struggled with math. If I had someone like Mr. Smith, life would have been a lot easier for me," he said.

"The one thing that you can show them that's universal is that you care," said Smith.

Smith says it's important to show his students that he cares, reciting one of his favorite quotes from President Theodore Roosevelt.

"People won't care how much you know until they know how much you care," he said.

For this teacher, there's one equation that will never be solved in numbers. For his love of math, his students and teaching, is as endless and ongoing as pi.

Smith expects to know sometime around the end of the year if he's up for the national title.