Teaching ‘a work of heart’ for award’s three finalists

Three young women who put their hearts into teaching Lenoir County Public Schools’ youngest students have surfaced as finalists for the district honor of 2021-2022 Teacher of the Year.

Selection of Shalona Newkirk of Northwest Elementary School, Heather Sloan of Banks Elementary School and Darylanne Towery of Contentnea-Savannah K-8 School was announced Wednesday afternoon after a panel of judges had completed virtual interviews with 18 nominees – each school’s choice as Teacher of the Year for 2021-2022.

“Let me say you are all winners,” district human resources director Pam Health, who directs the Teacher of the Year program, told nominees gathered virtually for the announcement of finalists. “It was so hard to narrow down. There are only three slots and every one of you deserves one of those three slots. You made us so proud.”

The three slots went to women who have a combine 19 years in elementary education, who are leaders at their schools and who, in the portfolios nominees prepared as part of the selection process, wrote about a “passion” for seeing children succeed as a prerequisite for successful teaching.

One of them will be named LCPS Teacher of the Year – following 2020-2021 winner Ryan Gardner, the Science Department chair at South Lenoir High School – in late April after the judges conduct classroom observations. The winner represents LCPS in the regional Teacher of the Year selection process.

Newkirk teaches fifth grade reading, science and social studies at the school where she was an elementary student. She’s been at Northwest for four years and previously taught for five years at Northeast Elementary.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from Winston-Salem State University and AIG certification from UNC-Wilmington. At Northwest, she’s served as grade chair, a mentor for beginning teachers and a member of the School Improvement Team.

“She gives her students 100 percent of herself and does not give up on them,” Northwest principal Dr. Heather Walston wrote in her letter of recommendation. “It does not matter the caliber of student Ms. Newkirk is teaching; she will teach them and they will grow in her classroom.”

Newkirk thinks setting high expectations and forming relationships with students are key to her teaching success, especially in a classroom where many students are “growing up in poverty,” she wrote in her portfolio. “When they are within the walls of my classroom, it is my goal to provide them with a safe, healthy and supportive learning atmosphere.”

A kindergarten teacher at Banks, Sloan has taught at the school for five years. She holds an associate degree from Lenoir Community College, a bachelor’s degree from East Carolina University and a master of higher education degree from Liberty University. She is kindergarten grade level chair and a member of Banks’ Curriculum/Professional Development Committee and its accreditation team.

“Heather has a true passion for teaching kindergarten and does not take lightly the magnitude of her position,” Banks principal Jan Tucker wrote in her recommendation. “Her commitment to the social, emotional and academic needs of her students is evident on a daily basis.”

After teaching fourth grade and first grade at Banks, Sloan jumped at the chance to move into a kindergarten classroom for the 2019 school year because kindergarten “had my heart,” she wrote in her portfolio. “My philosophy of teaching is simply that ‘teaching is a work of heart.’ I believe that teaching is a passion and not a job. To be a successful teacher, you must truly want to see students succeed and grow academically and emotionally.”

Towery has spent four of her six years in education as a third-grade teacher at CSS. She graduated from UNC-Greensboro with a bachelor’s degree and is a working toward a masters in school administration degree from UNC-Wilmington. At CSS, she has served as a mentor to beginning teachers and is the school’s Read to Achieve representative and trainer. 

“As the demands on teachers increase, Mrs. Towery embraces the challenge,” CSS principal Rhonda Greene wrote in her recommendation. “Her belief that as educators we can all make a difference in our students’ lives touches and affects everyone in our school community.”

A teacher whose remembers herself as a student challenged by her own teachers to exceed expectations, Towery carries forward the empathy and encouragement from which she benefited, according to her portfolio. “I have a job that allows me to be an advocate, to lead, learn and most importantly grow our community’s children into great citizens of Lenoir County. It is a role I do not take lightly and I strive to show my students the importance of fighting for what you believe in,” she wrote.

In addition to Newkirk, Sloan and Towery, 15 teachers were honored as Teacher of the Year by their school and by the LCPS Pre-K program. Those honorees are: Kristin Stroud, La Grange Elementary; Jordan Gray, Moss Hill Elementary; Cassandra Wooten, Northeast Elementary; Shanella Roberts, Southeast Elementary; Michelle Bowen, Southeast Pre-K; Ashley Ledford, Southwood Elementary; Michaela Mozingo, Pink Hill Elementary; Chadwick Stokes, E.B. Frink Middle; Tracy Newkirk, Lenoir County Learning Academy; Hannah Jimenez, Rochelle Middle; Mazella Sloan, Kinston High; David Jenkins, Lenoir County Early College High School; Josh Ayers, North Lenoir High; and Tracy Judkins, South Lenoir High.

All came in for praise from current LCPS Teacher of the Year Ryan Gardner, a member of the panel of judges.

“You were all very impressive,” he said before announcing the three finalists. “It makes me feel good as a 20-year veteran of Lenoir County and a student of Lenoir County Public Schools to know that the children are in your hands. Keep doing what you’re doing.”