UNC Asheville Teaching Fellows Visit Southern Schools

Some 35 UNC Asheville students recently spent a week visiting Montgomery, Birmingham, Atlanta and New Orleans with UNC Asheville’s North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program. The Teaching Fellows traveled to these southern cities to learn about education in a multicultural setting and to observe innovative approaches to teaching.

Those participating were: Kylie Agnew, Grant Baker, Sarah Baker, Amanda Barnes, Melissa Beaver, Nathaniel Blalock, Ashley Bowman, Stephanie Casey, Amber Chapman, Emily Collins, Allison Cooper, Lauren Crozier, Amy DeGiralamo, Kristen Drum, Claudia Friar, Ashley Hoyle, Katy Mashburn, Nicholas Mauriello, Rochelle McFarland, Morgan Militzer, Mary Catherine Mills, Jackie Naylor, Cassie Papaj, Liz Poole, Alyssa Ray, Andrea Robinson, Bridget Robinson, Jennifer Rogers, Shanna Russell, Rebecca Schuyler, Laina Stapleton, Linda Simthong, Ariel Vetter, Tony Wall, and Jenny Ward.

“In the inner-city schools in Montgomery, Birmingham, Atlanta and New Orleans, we were able to observe passionate and dedicated teachers in schools whose students represent a range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds,” said Brenda Hopper, director of UNC Asheville Teaching Fellows Program. “Our purpose was to visit successful schools that use a variety of programs and approaches to education and bring these ideas back to classrooms in North Carolina.”

The University’s Teaching Fellows selected schools in major southern cities that have strong ties to the history of integration. Schools chosen represent a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds but all have strong teacher involvement. The Teaching Fellows visited Stuart Bradley Elementary in Orleans Parrish District Seven, a school that has limited monetary and personnel resources but excellent achievement. They also visited Isidore Newman School, the only co-education, non-sectarian independent day school in New Orleans. The school’s college preparatory curriculum is complemented by philanthropic, artistic, athletic and forensic activities. Some 99 percent of the graduating classes enter a four-year college upon completion of high school.

While in Montgomery, the group visited the First White House of the Confederacy, the Dexter Street Avenue Church and the Civil Rights Memorial. Students toured the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham and listened to jazz at Preservation Hall in New Orleans. Students also explored swamps and bayous by boat and toured the D-Day museum where they met and talked with a veteran of the Normandy Invasion.

The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program is designed to attract high school seniors into the teaching field. Each year the program awards 400 North Carolina High School Seniors a $26,000 scholarship for four years of undergraduate study. In return students must teach four years in a North Carolina Public School. UNC Asheville is one of the 14 public and private North Carolina colleges and universities approved to participate in the Teaching Fellows Program.

The University of North Carolina at Asheville, a four-year public liberal arts university located in the mountains of western North Carolina, has earned national reputation for its programs in the humanities, undergraduate research and environmental studies. UNC Asheville ranks fourth in the nation among public liberal arts colleges in the newest U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges.” For more information about UNC Asheville, call the Admissions Office at 800/531-9842.

Media Contacts:

• Brenda Hopper, UNC Asheville Teaching Fellows Director, 828/251-6901
• Jill Yarnall, UNC Asheville Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526