Apr 18

Apr 18 Erin Greene of Northwest Elementary honored as LCPS Teacher of the Year

Erin Greene of Northwest Elementary School is the LCPS Teacher of the Year for 2024-2025. With her are Superintendent Brent Williams, left, and Bruce Hill, chair of the Lenoir County Board of Education.

Erin Greene, the third-grade teacher at Northwest Elementary School who was a finalist for the state’s Beginning Teacher of the Year award in 2019, moved higher in the echelon of educators Tuesday night when she was named LCPS Teacher of the Year for 2024-2025.

Competition for the district’s top annual award for teachers came to a climax at the LCPS Employee Recognition Banquet with the crowning of Greene, the celebration of fellow Teacher of the Year finalists Alicia Davis of La Grange Elementary and Daree Edmondson of Rochelle Middle and the recognition of all Teacher of the Year winners at their schools.

Also in the spotlight were Lauren Artis of Banks Elementary School, the 2024-2025 Teacher Assistant of the Year, and Bonnie Whitehurst of Northwest Elementary School, the 2024-2025 Non-Instructional Employee of the Year.

“Tonight is a celebration,” Superintendent Brent Williams told the crowd of 270 gathered at the Lenoir County Shrine Club. “It’s a celebration of these Teachers of the Year, it’s a celebration of our classified staff members of the year, it’s a celebration of teaching and learning, it’s a celebration of excellence. But more than that, it’s a celebration of service.”

A native of Lenoir County who is now teaching at the school she attended as a child, Greene made teaching a career goal early on. “Pinpointing one single event that pushed me into becoming a teacher is impossible, because I’m stitched together by multiple passionate teachers who showed me the joys and wonders of this profession,” Greene said during her portion of the time set aside during the banquet for remarks from the finalists.

“I believe even on the hard days I still have the best job in the world. I get to love, guide and teach the next generation,” she said. “I hope that when my students think of their third-grade year they remember that teacher who tells them she loves them every day and who pushes them to believe in themselves and the classroom family that they will always belong to. Becoming a teacher has always been my dream and I don’t take that for granted.”

A 2018 graduate of East Carolina University, Greene joined the faculty of Northwest Elementary in the fall of that year. In 2019, she was named a finalist by the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) for its first-ever Beginning Teacher of the Year Award. She is currently a teacher mentor.

She is a member of Northwest’s School Improvement Team and has worked with communications, hospitality, curriculum and technology teams. She has served as a Science Olympiad coach and volunteer, helped plan school events like Literacy Night and STEM Night and extended her workday as an after-school tutor. She was LCPS’s elementary-grades representative for a N.C. Department of Public Instruction study of curriculum standards.

She and fellow finalists Davis and Edmondson were chosen from a field of 18 educators named as their school’s Teacher of the Year, based on interviews with a selection committee and a review of the candidates’ written portfolios, including their work history and an essay on their teaching philosophy. The committee also spent time observing the finalists at work in their classrooms.

What they saw was excellence in action, according to Pam Heath, LCPS Human Resources director, whose department organizes the Teacher of the Year selection process and awards banquet. “These were all outstanding nominees,” Heath said. “Choosing the most outstanding was very difficult. That’s a good problem to have, because it means we have many great teachers.”

Davis, who joined the faculty at La Grange Elementary in 2005 after moving here from New York fresh out of college, agreed with that assessment in her remarks. “As I look around the room, I want to acknowledge the amazing educators we have representing Lenoir County tonight,” the fifth-grade teacher said. “We undoubtedly have some of the most innovative, kind and dedicated teachers in North Carolina. I know that my strengths as a teacher are because of the interactions I’ve had with educators in this room.”

An Exceptional Children’s teacher at Rochelle, Edmondson started with LCPS as a teacher assistant and, in her remarks, credited the support of her colleagues in helping her achieve the East Carolina University degree that made her a classroom teacher. “I have found not only a career, but a calling,” Edmondson said. ”I am grateful every day for the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of all children, especially exceptional children.”

The three finalists were presented cash awards by the Lenoir County Education Foundation, represented by board chair Ginny Moody, and by the Foundation’s parent organization, the Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce, represented by Cale Grady, president and CEO.

As the LCPS Teacher of the Year, Greene will represent the district in regional competition next December. A state Teacher of the Year is chosen from regional winners.

Alicia Davis

Daree Edmondson

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