Gotta Go to Boone!

My husband and many of my friends attended Appalachian State University. Several of my children's friends headed to "App" although my children all went to school on flat ground (UNCC, UNC-CH, ECU, and UNCG.) I, too, attended school in the Piedmont area of the state, but have heard App Alumni say these words for as long as I can remember - "Gotta go to Boone." It seems as soon as anyone who went to school there comes down the mountain, all they want to do is go back! Trisha Muse, Sandhills/South Central Regional Teacher of the Year, is one of those people! Trisha is the only person I know who was actually born in Boone (her family moved to Moore County later...) She then received her bachelor's and master's degrees there and was a Teaching Fellow and Homecoming Queen! For that reason, there was no way that I was going there to speak to the Teaching Fellows without taking her with me! And we had a grand time! We spoke about being professional educators, then Trisha gave us all a clogging lesson. We are so excited about this presentation that we'll be repeating it next week at the Clinical Teacher's Conference in Greenville...stay tuned!

Here are Trisha, Diana Beasley, and me just after the presentation. Diana is a recruiter for ASU and one of my favorite people in the world. As the North Carolina Teacher of the Year in 2006-2007, she is my mentor and friend, and we were delighted she was there.

I headed back down the mountain that night since my week was so packed, but I hope to go back again when I can stay longer. On Tuesday, I spoke to the Hillsborough Kiwanis Club at the Occoneechee Steak House. I had a wonderful audience - full of questions about teaching and the Teacher of the Year program. When I left, they presented me with a Kiwanis Cookbook, which I will put to great use! That night I attended my Tuesday night EPFP meeting where Ann McColl spoke on Constitutional Tales. Her stories of the writing and revising of the North Carolina constitution were riveting, and we hung on every word!

Thursday of this week I spoke to the education students at Peace College. My friend Carolann Wade is the director of teacher education there, but she also is married to a buddy of mine since junior high school...good ol' Robbie Wade (he's now "Rob" but always "Robbie" to me.) Carolann is the National Board Certified teacher leader that I want to be when I grow up, and I appreciate her inviting me to speak to her students!

This coming up week is another big one as I'll go back to Greenville for the third time in a month, I'll work with National Board candidates in my county, I'll return to Ragsdale High School in Guilford County for a Marzano's followup, and then I'll make my longest drive yet - to Western Carolina in Cullowhee! More on that next week..