When the NCAA basketball finals obsession is sweeping the country each year, I know the Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation luncheon honoring its educators of the year is coming up soon.

It’s an odd time-keeping device, but so far, it’s been incredibly reliable. It’s because of our tradition of featuring the four outstanding educators in the paper the week of the awards luncheon — find them on pages 10 and 11, and find the luncheon Thursday, March 23, at The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge (formerly the TPC).

I will never forget how one teacher in particular influenced his kids, whether in the classroom or outside of it.

He was Chris Blake at Chief Kanim Middle School, and in 2011, he was named the Middle School Educator of the Year. I set up a meeting and photo with him and ventured down the hill to Fall City.

Blake had arranged to meet with me during a prep period, when he wouldn’t have any students in the classroom, but we were, of course, immediately interrupted as soon as we started talking. A boy came into the room sheepishly, but said he had a “kind of important” question.

I should mention that Blake was a young teacher, extremely honored by his selection as Educator of the Year. But he was in the school to be a teacher, not to do newspaper interviews, so he invited the boy to ask his question.

It was about the NCAA finals. West Virginia or Kentucky? I’m fairly certain that I laughed out loud, but Blake worked really hard not to. He kept his adult face on almost until he’d shooed the boy out of the room, then, just before the door closed, gave him his pick.

Then he sat back down and explained to me that he was using the brackets to make math, his subject, relevant and interesting to his students.

I’m still impressed, both by his ability to keep his composure, and by the way he took the chore of learning — it’s why the kids are in the schools, right? — and turned it into a game.

Yeah, right, you might be thinking. He was probably just as basketball-obsessed as the students and using the sports brackets gave him an opportunity to indulge in something he enjoyed, while working. Well, I see nothing wrong with that. In fact, I think that’s probably one of everyone’s goals at work. We can all still learn a lot from these teachers.