Goin' Green!

Wow...what a busy week! This week found me in the beautiful city of Greensboro on three out of five days - I think I can make that one hour drive from my house in my sleep now.

I started the week at the Koury Convention Center, as the keynote speaker for the Closing the Gaps Conference. I was joined onstage by Dr. June Atkinson, our State Superintendent, Dr. Rebecca Garland, our Associate Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer, and Dr. Bill Harrison, newly named Chairman of the State Board of Education and CEO of the Public Schools of North Carolina. Most importantly, after my speech, we were entertained by student speakers - winners of a statewide oratorical contest - who gave motivational remarks to kick off this conference of 2,500 attendees. Dr. Teresa Smith, Student Services Consultant at DPI, introduced the students and explained the selection process that culminated in these three stduents being selected to speak at the Closing the Gaps Conference.

Here I am with some Teaching Fellows from Greensboro's A&T State University. They promised to get their director to invite me to A&T!

There were three student speakers, but of course I was immediately connected to Elizabeth Keenum, a seventh grader (woohoo!) from the Public Schools of Robeson County. The other students included fifth grader Sydni Love from Cumberland County and Matthew Hughes, a senior and Student Body President from my own county of Orange!

On Tuesday, I returned to Greensboro, this time traveling to Greensboro College to help honor Cooperating/Student Teachers and GC Alumni who have recently been named Teacher of the Year or who have earned National Board Certification. I spoke after an elegant dinner, and each teacher was given a gift as they were honored for their accomplishments.

On Wednesday, I headed to Raleigh to attend the State Board of Education meeting. The Twenty-first Century Professionals Committee met before the general Board meeting, and I was able to hang out with my buddies, former NC Teacher of the Year Diana Beasley and outgoing Principal of the Year, Dr. Debra Morris.

Here I am with some of my region's current District Teachers of the Year: Gwenn Clements, Lexington City Schools; Craig Steszewski, Thomasville City Schools; Lorraine Desern, Alamance-Burlington Schools; Me; Rodney Morgan, Jr., Guilford County Schools; and Amy Maxey, Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools.

Thursday was one of the busiest days yet - I had four places to be in one day! I could only make it to three of them, though, missing the State Board meeting on this day. I began the day in Greensboro again, this time at UNC-Greensboro, speaking to Teacher Cadet students from across the state. I was happy to meet several district level Teachers of the Year from my region.

After speaking to the group, I rushed out in the rain to drive to Raleigh to attend the Principal of the Year Luncheon. Mr. Van Pennell, Principal of South Brunswick High School, was named our state's best in a moving and exciting ceremony. I hopped back in the car and headed toward Franklin County where I was the keynote speaker for a dinner honoring National Board Certified Teachers. What a celebration! Judy Lassiter, the Coordinator for NBC in Franklin County, really worked to make those teachers feel like stars!

Here's Van Pennell, our state's new Principal of the Year!

I enjoyed the "star" recognition in Franklin County!

Well, that was a really busy week, but I've got another one coming up...a visit from a Senator, a TOY Banquet followed by a cross-state trip in the late hours of the night, a cake pick-up... Stay tuned - it's gonna be a WILD WEEK!