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Gov. Josh Stein and the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) have awarded 10 educators across the state the Governor’s Educator Discovery Award.
“Our students benefit when their teachers prioritize their own continued education,” Stein said in a press release. “I am proud to award these professional development grants to teachers who are striving for excellence, and I am excited to hear how they leverage this additional education in the classroom.”
NCBCE is a business-led, education nonprofit that operates out of the Office of the Governor. The award includes a stipend of up to $1,000 for professional development, funded by NCBCE member companies.
The 2024 winners were from the twelfth and thirteenth cycles of teachers to receive the award since its inception in 2019.
Daniel Fussell | Innovation Early College High School, Pitt County Schools
A social studies teacher, Fussell attended the North Carolina Technology in Education Society (NCTIES) conference in Raleigh, where he learned about innovative technologies to support a classroom that prepares students for a future-oriented workforce. In the past, NCTIES has inspired Fussell to introduce TinkerCad and 3D printers into his classroom.
Cori Greer-Banks | The Exploris School
A former humanities and expedition teacher, Greer-Banks used the stipend toward three different professional development opportunities. First, the Monticello Teacher Institute is an immersive professional development program that allows social studies teachers to research and study at Monticello and the Jefferson Library in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The other two fellowships are offered through the National Endowment for the Humanities — Little Tokyo: How History Shapes a Community Across Generations, and Grand Coulee Dam: The Intersection of Modernity and Indigenous Cultures. Engaging in these programs allowed Greer-Banks to expand the number of perspectives in her American history curriculum.
Pamela Jordan | Warren County High School, Warren County Schools
A career development coordinator, Jordan used the grant for the National Career Development Association (NCDA) Summer Conference in San Diego, California, last June. The conference topics highlighted the state of the workplace and the need for connecting mental and physical health with career success.
Jordan seeks to gain additional insights on strategies and techniques to support students as they explore career options following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lauren Wilmot | North Pitt High School, Pitt County Schools
An animal science, veterinary assisting, and horticulture teacher, Wilmot attended the NC Career and Technical Education (CTE) Summer Conference in Winston-Salem thanks to the grant. The conference provided numerous workshops and professional development opportunities regarding CTE curriculum updates, as well as hands-on labs that can be used in the classroom.
Teachers also had the opportunity to collaborate with fellow educators in their content area from across the state.
Rong Zhang | East Cary Magnet Middle School, Wake County Public Schools
A Mandarin Chinese teacher, Zhang applied the award toward the 2024 MSU STARTALK for Chinese Language Teachers Program. STARTALK, funded by the National Security Agency (NSA), is designed to increase the number of U.S. citizens proficient in critical-need foreign languages, with a particular emphasis on Chinese.
The program includes a learning phase to curriculum development and language assessment, a summer professional development program focused on unit development and refinement, and classroom implementation and evaluation.
Franchone Bey | West Charlotte High School, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
An English teacher, Bey attended the National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention in Boston. The event offered ELA educators the chance to collaborate with teachers from across the country, meet research scholars, and hear from prominent authors like keynote speaker Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
By the end of the event, participants could integrate real-world writing experiences into their classrooms, employing cross-curricular inquiry methods and project-based learning to enhance student writing skills.
Darren Rhym | Columbia Early College High School, Tyrrell County Schools
An English teacher, Rhym also attended the NCTE Annual Convention in Boston, learning about ways to utilize NC Writing Standards in his clean energy unit and emphasizing the importance of cross-curricular learning. Through various sessions presented by research scholars and authors, Rhym was able to gather a unit of materials for developing project-based learning experiences to enhance student writing and employability.
Alicia D’joi | J.M. Alexander Middle School, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
A STEM teacher and robotics coach, D’joi used the grant to attend the AIM Conference hosted by the Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh. D’joi led a session titled “Robotics for Rookies: Your First Steps into the Future,” where she provided an exciting and hands-on introduction to the world of robotics. In her session, rookie participants learned to design, build, and code a robot.
Through this event, D’joi shared her vast knowledge with colleagues across the state and heard from other educators and educational leaders.
Jessamyn Bailey | High Point Central High School, Guilford County Schools
A visual arts and photography teacher, Bailey attended the North Carolina Arts Educator Association (NCAEA) Annual Conference in Asheville. The conference offered a wide range of professional development opportunities, including workshops on fiber arts, photography, curriculum development, and new art-making techniques.
Sessions focused on hands-on learning while providing networking opportunities with practicing artists and art organizations, allowing educators to bring career exploration and work-based learning opportunities into their classrooms.
Ameriki Somers | Lowrance Middle School, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools
A media coordinator, Somers will use the award this year to attend the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Lowrance Middle School is an alternate learning environment that serves students with fundamental disabilities in grades 6-10.
The conference will provide Somers with innovative strategies and resources to create specifically tailored hands-on work experiences that meet the accessibility needs of her students. Somers hopes to provide her students with the opportunity to explore careers and develop real-world skills through the inclusive learning environments, adaptive technologies, and differentiated instructional methods.
Here is more information about the award for educators who may want to apply in the next award cycle.
