Reich College of Education

Kudos

Diane Barber and the staff of Adult Basic Skills programming for receiving grant funds over $400,000 from the North Carolina Community College System to support activities for the coming year.

John Spagnolo and the RCOE TAC Committee for what appears to have been a very successful iPad initiative; discussions of results that occurred in the session Friday were enthusiastic and positive.

All of our faculty award winners, Lis Gross (C&I) for Outstanding Teaching; Terri Mitchell (C&I) for Outstanding Mentoring/Service; Carol Soule (FCS) for Outstanding Adjunct Teaching; Jeff Goodman (C&I) for promoting a Community of Practice. Special thanks to all staff members who have served the RCOE so well this year and a very special thank you to our retirees, Gary Moorman (RESE), David Considine (C&I) and Ken Jenkins (LES) for their outstanding contributions to the profession and to the RCOE.

NC Teacher of the Year an ASU Graduate

Darcy Grimes, a third grade teacher at Bethel Elementary School (Watauga County schools), was named the 2012-13 North Carolina Teacher of the Year at a luncheon held in Cary. Grimes succeeds Tyronna Hooker, an exceptional children teacher at Graham Middle School (Alamance-Burlington Schools). Grimes has received several awards including Northwest NC Regional Teacher of the Year (Jan. 2012), Watauga County Teacher of the Year (May 2011), Bethel Elementary School Teacher of the Year (Feb. 2011), Watauga Education Foundation Grant Recipient (Fall 2010/Fall 2009), and Intel Master Teacher (Oct. 2009).

She completed her undergraduate studies at Appalachian State University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education K-6 and minored in Social Sciences. She also successfully completed coursework for add-on licenses for Social Studies 6-9 and Language Arts 6-9 in 2009. Grimes is currently working on her master’s degree in Instructional Technology at Appalachian.

As North Carolina Teacher of the Year, Grimes will spend the next school year traveling the state as an ambassador for the teaching profession. She will receive an automobile to use during the year thanks to Flow Automotive in Winston-Salem, an engraved vase, a one-time cash award of $7,500, a trip to the National Teacher of the Year conference, the opportunity to travel abroad through an endowment at the North Carolina Center for International Understanding, and a technology package valued at more than $11,000 from SMART Technologies. She also will serve as an advisor to the State Board of Education for two years and as a member for the NC Public School Forum for one year. In addition, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction will sponsor her enrollment and completion of the Education Policy Fellowship Program. Darcy has been teaching for five years.

Commencement

Don’t forget that the Graduate School Commencement occurs this Friday, May 11, at 6 p.m. in the Convocation Center. RCOE Undergraduate Commencement is Sunday, May 13, at 12:30. Hope to see you at both!

Dean’s Update on Summer Hiatus

With the exception of occasional information sharing, the Dean’s Update will take a break for the summer. For those who might wish to catch up on past issues, they are archived off the main web page. I wish to thank everyone in the RCOE for a very productive year, one that seemed to just whip by. I know that budgetary issues were on everyone’s mind. We can hope that the General Assembly in its short session beginning this month will see fit to make some budget adjustments in our favor. Should that occur, we will certainly keep you informed. Have a good summer and don’t be strangers! Charlie

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“Change is a Journey, not a Destination.” – M. Fullan