When Cathi Green-Bratton heard she had been chosen as the Culver City Patch Person of the Year for 2011, she seemed genuinely surprised.

“I’m flattered to have been nominated,” she told Patch in a telephone interview. “And I’m flattered to have been supported by everyone who took the time to do that, and I hope I can continue to live up to people’s expectations. But honestly, I think [all the nominees] were very deserving individuals.”

Asked to try and understand her strong support in the community, Green-Bratton said she wasn’t sure, but “I try and be a good role model I try and do what I would want someone else to do. I hope that people see that I’m accessible and that I’m a good listener and that I am supportive of people in general and of giving back to the community.”

Green-Bratton grew up in Ladera Heights but has lived in Culver City for the past 21 years with her husband, Randy Bratton and her sons Beau and Logan, now 24 and 21, respectively. She graduated from UCLA with a Bachelors degree in sociology and a Masters in Education.

Green-Bratton has been teaching at Culver City Middle School for the past 12 years. She’s a 6^th grade language arts teacher and feels very much a part of the school community.

“My two boys grew up here and went through Culver City schools,” she said. “I definitely feel I have a vested interest in the community; both living and teaching here.”

And she loves teaching middle school. “It’s truly a community and everybody is very supportive – both the teaching and administrative staff. I can’t imagine being anyplace else, to be honest,” she said.

Green-Bratton also said she enjoys the unique responsibilities that come with teaching 6^th graders as they learn new skills like time management, and taking ownership of their own education.

In addition to teaching, Green-Bratton also serves as a volunteer trustee for the Culver City Education Foundation.

“I try to be a part of everything,” she said. “My experience as a parent and working with wonderful people and making friends in the community led me back [to volunteering]. I jumped at the chance to be a trustee.”

Some of Green-Bratton’s favorite things about living in Culver City include going to the movies, and the fact that she can walk the neighborhood.

“I love that I walk to school every day,” she said. “And that I can walk anyplace I need to go from Trader Joe’s to Kay N Dave’s.

She also said loves Tender Greens and Akasha. Green-Bratton laughed as she recalled when she and her husband bought their home 21 years ago.

“I remember being happy to move here except that there were no restaurants to go to. Now I feel like I have to make reservations to get into my favorite places!”

Editor’s Note: The Culver City Patch Person of the Year was determined by a combination the following: the number of people who nominated each candidate; the comments included in the nomination process; the voting on the site once the nominees were listed and the comments posted on the site about each nominee. As our Patch polls state – the polls are not scientific. Therefore the winner was not determined solely on who had the most number of poll votes.

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