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Inside NHCS May 20, 2022

In this Edition

'There's Better in the World': Keashanti Judd and Randy Duncan | 'Who I Am': Lea McHugh and Christine Koh | 'Great People Make Great People': Jahzar Fields and Lauren Gray | CTE Teachers of the Year Announced | Delores Overby Completes Distinguished Leadership Program |Deanna Leake a 'Principal of Merit'

Graduation Stories

As we enter graduation season, when the years we poured into students come to a close with a bittersweet burst of pride and gratefulness, it's a good time to acknowledge our contributions.

In a public school system we serve every student who comes through our door, regardless of their stories or their needs, and we do it with professionalism, skill, and heart.

No matter your role in our district, you are part of the village ensuring every child has every opportunity available to them. We hope these stories shine a light on that work.

We are public school educators and staff, and we have so much to proud of, this week and always.

'There's Better in the World': Keashanti Judd and Randy Duncan

On graduation day from SEA-Tech High School, Keashanti Judd led the processional, back straight and head high, honors cords and honors stole swaying as she walked, the faintest smile on her stoic face.

She was a leader in the school, said social studies teacher Randy Duncan, elected to student council despite being a self-described introvert, liked by every student in the school for her kindness and tolerance, a curious and dedicated learner.

But a few years ago, the path to this day wasn’t so clear.

When she would go hang out in Mr. Duncan’s classroom at lunch as a freshman, turmoil at home was just beneath the surface of her sweet disposition.

She and her three younger siblings were in foster care and she was consumed with them being reunited.

“Mr. Duncan was like my school dad, and he opened my eyes to the world,” she said. Mr. Duncan’s way of prompting kids to not only learn about what happened in history and current events but why it was important stuck with her, she said. “I still keep up with a lot of stuff that we learned in his class.”

Learning about the world gave her a framework with which to understand her place in it.

And the teachers at SEA-Tech gave her a vocabulary to make sense of what she’d gone through.

“It was a traumatic experience but I learned from it, I grew from it, and my teachers showed me that my problems are not me,” she said. “Yes, they built my character, but it made me who I am so I don't regret going through that. It's helped me figure out how to live in this crazy world.”

Mr. Duncan tries to show every student that they can make a difference, even though they’re only one person. He’s especially proud that Keashanti has taken that to heart.

“She has this strong belief in the goodness in people despite some of the things she’s seen and gone through,” he said. “She can convince people that this world can be good despite everything that’s going on.”

Keashanti graduated with both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree in business from Cape Fear Community College. She wants to start a Black hair product business and a non-profit to encourage other kids in foster care to find a positive way forward.

When she looked out from the graduation stage this week, she saw her family reunited, cheering her on.

They’re her motivation, she said.

“I want to show them there’s better in the world,” she said. “What you see on the news or what you see in our family’s past is not what defines you, and you’re capable of achieving anything as long as you try your hardest.”

Mr. Duncan has no doubt she’ll be as much of a leader after graduation as she was before.

“My hope and goal for her is to be happy and successful no matter what she chooses to do,” he said. “She’s the kind of kid that could be president. I wouldn’t put anything past her.”

'Who I Am': Lea McHugh and Christine Koh

It’s natural for teachers to feel bittersweet at their students’ graduations as a relationship ends and a new chapter in the lives of students they’ve fostered and taught and cared for begins.

But for the teachers in the TPYA Program at Mosley PLC, graduation comes with an even wider pendulum swing of emotions.

The program serves 18-21 year-olds with special needs and gets them ready to live fulfilling, independent lives working in the community.

Students have one assigned teacher for all four years of their time in TPYA, as they learn to do everything from talking to strangers and riding a city bus, to simple math and making change.

“Daily living skills is what we focus on every single day,” said teacher Christine Koh. “And keeping them safe and watching them flourish.”

And it also leaves teachers worrying if maybe the outside world won’t love and protect their students as they have.

“It’s a very emotional journey because they are very vulnerable. They are my kids. I feel complete responsibility for them while I have them for the four years,” Ms. Koh said. “They’ve got to become independent adults, and it’s scary for some of them, but we try our best to make that happen. I just want them to remain safe and feel protected and worthy.”

Presenting a diploma to her student Lea McHugh this week, though, felt like the close to the kind of success story every educator takes pride in.

“She’s small but man, is she mighty, and I knew from the beginning she was going to be a force to be reckoned with,” Ms. Koh said.

The goal of the program is to prepare students to get paid jobs in the community. Lea already has two — at Bitty & Beau’s Coffee Shop and the Pointe 14 Cinema — and she got them on her own, without the help of a job coach.

She’s active in community organizations and volunteers at the Wilson Center.

And as a student, she was relentlessly hardworking, responsible, positive. Every day at school, Ms. Koh said, was a great day.

School, Lea said, has been her favorite place to be.

“I feel happy. I just love it. My teacher is a great teacher in my life, and she's part of the TPYA family, and I really like her,” she said. “She’s strong and she’s very smart.”

Just after graduation, Lea said it was her “dream come true.”

“I’m just feeling like an achievement in being here,” she said, “and being the best person I want to be.”

During the graduation ceremony the student ensemble sang “Who I Am” from The Greatest Showman, and Lea performed the closing solo.

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down,” her voice rang out in a room quiet except for the sniffles of parents and guests and School Board members.

I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown 'em out/ This is brave, this is bruised/ This is who I'm meant to be, this is me.”

We can never know what the world holds for students after they walk out our doors. But in moments like that, we can feel confident that our educators served them well, protected them, prepared them, and gave them the hope and confidence to face what’s next.

“Why am I proud of myself?” Lea said after the ceremony. “Because I am just beyond happy in being myself and being independent. I’m very capable and I’m strong, I’m brave, and that’s what I am.”

'Great People Make Great People': Jahzar Fields and Lauren Gray

When Jahzar Fields was in middle school his friends’ parents called him The Mayor.

He knew everyone. He was the kid who could talk comfortably to teachers and other adults. He was effortlessly making connections and building relationships in a way no 12-year-old boy had any business doing.

It was his gift.

That’s why Lauren Gray, Jahzar’s history teacher at Wilmington Early College High School, thought he’d be a politician.

“He’s always been super into history and politics and wanting to make the world a better place,” she said. “During the 2020 Presidential primaries he took the time to explain to his classmates the platforms of the many, many candidates. He even emailed his Civics teacher when he was sick to be sure that everyone in his class had the latest updates.”

That was when he was in 10th grade.

But by his senior year Ms. Gray and another teacher, Sarah Garguilo at New Hanover High School, saw something else in Jahzar.

He had taught and mentored kids at the DREAMS Center.

He had acted as a supplemental teacher to a freshman taking Civics, answering her questions and explaining complex issues.

He had a boundless curiosity about historical and current events, and a drive to share what he’d learned with others.

He would be a great public school teacher.

Both Ms. Gray and Ms. Garguilo nominated him for the Transformational Scholars program at NC State, which includes a $40,000 scholarship to promising future educators.

“Both of y’all are coming at me to be a teacher,” he teased them.

“That's because you’d be a great one,” they said.

“When he came in to tell me he was accepted into the program it was in the middle of my third period class,” Ms. Gray remembers, “and I had to stop teaching because I was crying so hard from overwhelming joy and pride.”

Not long after, Jahzar received the New Hanover County Board of Education scholarship for future educators. He will come back to teach in his own community and, he hopes, some of the same schools he attended.

“I come from a low-income single-parent environment and a place that doesn’t have many opportunities. Sometimes life would get hard but it was my teachers who helped me see that my experiences are what would make me great. That I am more than my environment,” he said. "Without the teachers I’ve had I wouldn’t be where I am. I hope to be that teacher that makes an impact.”

Jahzar is a world-changer, Ms. Gray said, and he’s going to impart the same motivation to his students.

“He cares so much about our community and wants to see all of our students have a chance to thrive,” she said. “One of his big passions is making sure that everybody is represented, everybody knows their story, everybody sees themselves in his classroom."

A leadership or political role is still a possibility, Jahzar said — like maybe Superintendent, or School Board member.

“He’s telling me he’s going to be my boss someday,” Ms. Gray said, “and I would not hate it.”

It took a lot of hard work to become the first person in his family to go to college, Jahzar said. He gives himself credit for charting his own path, but acknowledges he couldn’t have done it alone.

“As long as you dig into it and do hard work you can get great things out of any situation,” he said. “But I always say ‘great people make great people.’ I’m a great person, but it took great people around me to get me where I’m at.”

CTE Teachers of the Year Announced

The Career and Technical Education Department four teachers as finalists for the NHCS CTE Teacher of the Year (www.nccat.org/ctetoy):

  • Carolanne Keim - New Hanover High School
  • Amanda Penegar - Trask Middle School
  • Jose Chaverra Say - Hoggard High School
  • Gayle Woodcock - SEA Tech

After an interview process with members from the NHCS Leadership Team, Jose Chaverra Say was named the New Hanover County Schools Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year. Congratulations, Mr. Say! We are excited to have you represent our district.

Delores Overby Completes Distinguished Leadership Program

Wrightsboro Elementary Principal Delores Overby recently completed the Distinguished Leadership in Practice Program (DLP), a year-long leadership development program for practicing school principals from all regions of the state. The program is designed and provided by the North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principal’s Association (NCPAPA) and sponsored by the North Carolina Alliance for School Leadership Development (NCASLD.)

The Distinguished Leadership in Practice Program (DLP) uses a non-traditional professional development model that is aligned to the performance evaluation standards adopted by the State Board of Education for North Carolina’s school leaders. This unique cohort-based program gives principals the chance to engage in a series of authentic activities throughout the year-long experience that are designed to build the capacity of their schools and their own capacity as “Distinguished” school leaders.

“The leadership of the school principal is by far one of the most important factors in school quality. By completing this very rigorous program, our DLP graduates have demonstrated their commitment to continuous improvement by working to improve their leadership skills as they simultaneously improve their schools. We are proud to include them in the ranks of successful DLP completers,” said Dr. Shirley Prince, NCPAPA Executive Director.

The North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals’ Association (NCPAPA), in existence since 1976, is the preeminent organization and state voice for principals, assistant principals and aspiring school leaders. NCPAPA represents 5,000+ members from across the state and serves as the state’s principal affiliate of the N.C. Association of School Administrators (NCASA), the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP.)

Deanna Leake 'Principal of Merit'

One day we were all overwhelmed...imagine that!. There was some sort of "accident" in a bathroom. The custodial staff was not in at that time. There was a call on the walkie for help and all staff were involved. Our principal, Deanna Leake, responded that she would take care of it. NEVER in my many years working in multiple school districts have I ever witnessed someone in her position step up and offer to do it herself. She is a "hands on principal." There will always be those who feel their supervisor expects too much or is unfair, but I personally feel that Deanna is top shelf!

- Maureen Miller, Language Facilitator, Carolina Beach Elementary

Contribute to Inside NHCS

Our staff are the heart of our district, and we know great things are happening in every division and school across the county. We wanted to create a space to share news and stories with one another, to cheer each other on, and to lift each other up. We look forward to showcasing your great work.

If you know of someone who should be featured in Inside NHCS, please email Christina Beam at christina.beam@nhcs.net or call ext. 4109.

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