Meet Me Greene County... Dr. Uvonda Willis
Snow Hill – Snow Hill - Neuse News is beginning a series to introduce Greene County readers to some of the influential, interesting, and decision-making leaders of our community. Consider this “Meet Me Greene County” column a look into what makes Greene County the special place it is to live, work and play. This week, we feature the newest Principal in Greene County, Dr. Uvonda Willis at Greene County Intermediate School.
Dr. Willis is no stranger to Greene County. She has spent the last eight years as one of the Assistant Principals at Greene Central High School. Willis said about her start in education “All Roads lead back to Dr. Patrick Greene.” While serving as an AP at JH Rose, Dr. Greene hired Willis to teach English. She said over the years, the two worked extremely well together, and two years after Dr. Greene came to Greene Central and she had completed her administration degree, he called her and she interviewed and joined the Greene Central staff. Dr. Willis has been in education for 20 years. She is married to Delmus Willis and has three children, the youngest of which is a senior at Greene Central, and his older brother also graduated from Greene Central.
In her new role, Dr. Willis said she wants to take her experiences from high school and help be the “bridge between elementary and middle school for students.” She said, “At the high school we are the bridge preparing students for college or careers; here I want to help my students prepare for middle school and develop their academic and social skills to be successful when they cross the street.” One of the areas she is most proud of from her time in Greene County is her ability to connect with young women and help them to find their strengths. She said at Greene Central, her goal was to help “build young women into successful leaders.”
One of her biggest goals in her new role is as she said, “build on the awesome legacy that is already here at GCIS.” She wants to find ways to build capacity in 4th and 5th graders. She also wants to build a “bridge” to parents letting them know that she would love for them to be in the building and find creative ways to get inside of communities. She also stated she wants to create ways to connect with local businesses to show students that there are amazing opportunities right here in Greene County.
When it comes to challenges in Greene County, she said that to her the biggest challenge is the lack of infrastructure for helping students outside of academics in the community. “There is not a lot for students to do and experience and we need to find ways to help students identify their interests and grow those.” She would love to connect with the community, families, and businesses to foster those connections to help students in and outside of the school building.
Dr. Willis has an extensive educational background. She earned her BA in English at UNC-Chapel Hill, MAED in English Education at UNC-Greensboro, MS in Administration, Ed.S. in Education Leadership, and most recently was awarded her Ed.D in Education Leadership, all from Liberty University.
When asked for 1 thought or words of wisdom for the Neuse News Readers, she said “We have pretty awesome students in the district, and it's going to take everybody planting seeds to reach their potential.”
Dr. Willis began her tenure at GCIS as Principal right before Spring Break. She invites you to come by Greene County Intermediate and see the awesome things that are happening. If you do go by, tell them Neuse News sent you.
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