Lexington City & Western NC - April 12-16

With her first 100 days as superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction complete, capped off by Eugenia Floyd being named the North Carolina 2021 Teacher of the Year, Superintendent Catherine Truitt embarked on her first of many stops on DPI’s District Visits and Voices Tour. Truitt joined her team who had visited all 16 districts in March as they listened to and learned from educators and students, totaling 39 public schools and one charter school in their first month visits.

The visit to Lexington City Schools in the Piedmont Triad Region began on April 11 with dinner with Mayor Newell Clark. Throughout Monday’s visit to Lexington City Schools, Truitt and her team participated in science experiments, literacy instruction, dual language immersion and an introductory lacrosse lesson. The team was guided by student leaders as they visited classrooms to see students and teachers engaged in learning. The growth mindset in Lexington City sparked a community-driven district transformation to see community representation evident beyond the classroom.

Student leaders led Truitt and the DPI staff throughout her time in Lexington City. Truitt spent time with senator Steve Jarvis and Representative Larry Potts to share about the impact of schools on the Lexington City community.

The week wrapped up in the western region where Tuitt spoke with the 2021 Prudential NC Beginning Teacher of the Year finalists at NCCAT in Cullowhee, N.C. on Thursday.

“You all have put that stake in the ground as a beginning teacher,” Truitt said. “With risk and bravery, you have already shown you are Teacher Leaders. Thank you!”

Truitt and Agency staff continued the District Visits and Voices tour Friday in Jackson, Macon, Swain and Haywood counties. Throughout the visit, teachers were highly engaged and empowered which translated to student energy, excitement, and attitude. In Jackson county, Truitt and her team learned about Amelia Earhart in a captivating presentation by an elementary school student. The Swain High Junior Chefs served their award-winning lunch that earned the team third place in the state competition.

Going back to her roots as a teacher, Truitt sat crisscross applesauce with a pre-k class and saw an emphasis on the science of reading. 

The DPI staff learned about Western Carolina University’s Call Me MISTER. Originating at Clemson University in 2000, the mission of Call Me MISTER, an acronym for Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models, is to increase the pool of available male teachers of color in the Western North Carolina region and across the state. This is an initiative that aligns closely with Superintendent Truitt’s human capital pipeline priority, as the state looks to increase efforts to recruit and retain high-quality teachers.

Now What? Throughout this week’s visits, the emphasis was on the importance of early learning. There was a noticeable community-driven transformation on the investment in teachers and early literacy, specifically pre-k. Seeing this in action inspires and motivates the department to continue to advocate for more pre-k slots

This blog is related to:

https://www.dpi.nc.gov/blog/2021/04/12/lexington-city-western-nc-april-12-16