In 1993, a Sherwood High School soccer player tore her ACL on the field during her junior season. The injury meant quitting the sport to which she had dedicated countless hours of her life; in losing soccer, she lost the focus of her high school career up to that point, leaving her with an uncertain future in academics.
In the 32 years after that injury, Edith Boyar has built a career of helping Montgomery County students and their families overcome the same struggles she once faced as a teenager. WJ students know her as a teacher who, despite her brief tenure at the school, made an impression through her passion for the job.
“She had a more compassionate teaching style than a lot of other teachers,” senior Mark Rosenbaum said. “If an individual student was having any trouble, they could always go to her, and she’d offer any help or support she could.”
Boyar recently began working as a Pupil Personnel Worker in MCPS’ central office, allowing her to continue her work in education and family assistance on a larger scale. But her path to that position wasn’t a straight line, nor was her teaching career itself.
Starting at age 15, Boyar held two jobs at a time as she worked to singlehandedly pay for her education. By the time Boyar began teaching, she had accumulated decades of experience in the restaurant industry; starting as a waitress, Boyar eventually became a bartender, helping open Clyde’s Rockville location along with three of her younger siblings in 2001.
“It was great work experience,” Boyar said. “It’s a fun restaurant. I still keep in touch with people I work with there. We had a great clientele.”
Boyar’s time in the restaurant industry not only instilled in her a consistent work ethic, but also allowed her to pay for her enrollment at Montgomery College. She later transferred to the University of Maryland, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education.
Immediately after graduating, Boyar began working as an elementary school teacher. Boyar spent the next several years teaching first, second, third and fifth grade, respectively. In teaching Family Life to fifth graders, Boyar discovered a love for health education, as well as teaching older kids.
“That’s when I was like, you know what, I really love teaching health,” Boyar said. “So I went back to school, and I got my master’s in exercise science.”
After getting her master’s degree, Boyar spent several years teaching Health to middle schoolers. At the same time, she began coaching a high school swim team and found that she especially enjoyed working with high school students. Soon, Boyar found a way to combine her interests in health education and high school instruction.
“I got a phone call from somebody at Poolesville [high school] who said, ‘Would you like to come over?’ So I started during the pandemic and never looked back. I had been teaching high school for about six years before I took this position in the central office,” Boyar said.
Her past experiences in MCPS, as well as in the workforce, gave her a unique understanding of the challenges today’s high schoolers face. During her years as a high school teacher, she was able to build strong connections with students across Montgomery County.
“Being in the restaurant business taught me how to multitask and take care of people,” Boyar said. “Being a teacher isn’t just about executing the curriculum. That’s why Health was such a great subject for me, because it’s so much more than just the academics.”
Although she worked at WJ for less than three months, leaving the school in November, she was beloved by her students. Sophomore Georgia Helms is one of many students who were saddened by her untimely departure.
“I was really disappointed because she was one of my favorite teachers,” Helms said. “She made sure assignments were actually helpful and she was super understanding.”
Although she didn’t want to leave the school, when MCPS’ central office came calling, Boyar decided to take the opportunity to continue helping students and their families from higher up the chain, adding yet another unique twist in her long career path.
Whether that path will continue to vary in the future is uncertain, but what is certain is that no matter what position she takes, Boyar will continue her mission of passionate and compassionate education.
