Biology teacher at East Forsyth chosen as Teacher of the Year

By Kim Underwood: Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools

Allison Weavil, who teaches biology at East Forsyth High School, is the 2016-17 Teacher of the Year for Winton-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

Weavil has a gift for making learning fun, her students say, and she cares about them as people.

“She has a passion for learning that no other teacher has,” said sophomore MacKenzie Smoak. “She makes biology learnable and so much fun…She is hilarious.”

If Weavil thinks that standing up on top of a desk and becoming a tree will help her students understand photosynthesis, she will do it. What matters is keeping students engaged, Weavil said. “I do not hesitate to make a fool of myself if students are learning.”

Her students appreciate that effort. “She always explained things really, really well,” said sophomore Aryn Young.

“She makes learning in the classroom extremely fun,” said freshman Alexi Muse.

On Thursday morning, Superintendent Beverley Emory, Principal Rodney Bass and others surprised Weavil in her classroom. When Emory said, “This is our 2016-17 Teacher of the Year,” Weavil said she was truly surprised.

“I don’t think this is a surprise to anybody else,” said Emory, who went on to talk about how much students, teachers and others respect her and appreciate what she does.

She’s an outstanding teacher, Bass said. She has a great rapport with students and she teaches “from bell to bell.”

As the school system’s Principal of the Year, Rusty Hall, who is the principal at Old Town Elementary, served on the selection committee. When he dropped by her class to observe one day, he discovered just how engaging she is as a teacher.

“I found myself transported back to being a student, and I wanted to take notes and participate in her class,” he said.

Cindy Neugent, who is an administrative assistant in the front office, also knows Weavil as a parent. Her sophomore son, Alec, is one of Weavil’s students.  “She is awesome in her teaching abilities,” Neugent said. “She has been so willing to tutor and to go the extra mile.”

After talking about Weavil’s kindness to everyone and concern for her students, front-office secretary Betty Ann Brandis brought up her gift for coming up with innovative solutions. Buying kits that test Ph costs money that isn’t always available. “Yesterday she boiled cabbage in a crock pot,” Brandis said. “She made her own Ph solution.”

“You never know when a knowledge of biology might serve you,” Weavil said. “It might be when you’re planting seeds in a garden or sitting on a jury listening to a lawyer present DNA evidence.”

Weavil grew up in Gilbert, a small town in South Carolina. “It didn’t even have a stoplight when I was growing up,” she said. “It does now.”

She comes from a family of educators. Aunts were teachers. Cousins grew up to become teachers. Her mother, Diane Jumper, was a teacher who became an assistant principal. So she often thought about becoming a teacher herself. It was in high school, though, that three teachers – Valerie Waites, Nancy Bickley and Sandra Strange – inspired her to get serious about following that path.

“They taught me what it means to be a good teacher,” Weavil said. “They inspired not just me but all of their students to work and love learning.”

Having become a teacher, Weavil believes she found her calling. “I’m a woman of faith, and I believe we all have a calling – something we are supposed to fulfill in our lives,” she said. “I am meant to be a teacher, and I have been given an opportunity to do that.”

Weavil started teaching with WSFCS in 1999, just after she and her husband, Jeff, married. Jeff was already working in the area, and that August she took her first teaching job at West Forsyth High School.

When Weavil started teaching at West, fellow biology teacher Judy Felder served as her mentor. Her respect for her students, her passion for teaching and her ability to work well with others were evident from the start, Felder said. “She loves her students, she loves what she does, she is a great co-worker.”

While Weavil was at West, she earned her master’s degree in education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2006. Weavil was the Teacher of the Year at West in 2007, and, in 2010, she became the chair of the science department. She taught at West until 2013 when she went to East Forsyth.

Trish Gainey, who is now the school system’s Executive Principal for Leadership Development, was the principal of East at the time. “She truly tries to make a connection with every child in her classroom and goes above and beyond in finding a way to connect with a student,” Gainey said.

Once, when Weavil was having trouble finding a way to connect with a student, Gainey said, she approached a coach who worked with the student and asked for advice. The coach was helpful and Weavil was able to make a solid connection with the student.

“She cares so much about her students, not just what goes on in the classroom,” said sophomore Sierra Dillard.

Jeff Weavil appreciates just what a wonderful person and teacher his wife is. “She cares not only about helping them learn but helping them grow as young people. She is dedicated. She is loyal.”

Their daughter, Grayson, is a sixth-grader at Hanes Magnet School. “She is just amazing, and she is always there for me,” Grayson sad. “I know that I can count on her. She has so much enthusiasm for students.” Her mother’s sense of humor comes home with her at the end of the day. “She tells corny jokes; she will dance around in the kitchen,” Grayson said.

The family goes to Glenn View Baptist Church in Kernersville. There, she has been a Sunday School teacher, served on church committees, and, inspired by her daughter’s question about what to do when they saw a homeless person holding a sign, established Bags of Hope ministry. Church members pack gallon-sized zip-lock bags with cans of beans, cups of applesauce and other food that doesn’t have to be cooked, along with toiletries and other necessities to give to people who are homeless.

When Weavil has time to call her own, she likes to read – Pat Conroy is at the top her list – and to cook. She also enjoys traveling. She particularly enjoys cruises.

If Weavil could change one thing about education, it would be to get people to understand how important it is to provide more money for education so that teachers can be paid what they should be paid, so that programs such as the N.C. Teaching Fellows can be restored and so that enough teacher assistants can be hired to serve students in the lower grades. In conjunction with that, she would like to see people working to elect people who understand that.

As the celebration was breaking up and people were returning to their regular duties, Julie Riggins, who teaches math at East Forsyth, came over to tell Weavil that she hopes that the honor will help Weavil understand just how great a teacher she is. “You are so humble,” Riggins said. “It validates you as a teacher. You don’t give yourself enough credit. You need this to tell you that you are great.”

As teacher Amanda Frederico put it, “Her heart is engulfed with her students. She only wants the absolute best for all of her kids all of the time.”

As Weavil sees it, she is just one of many, many teachers who are working hard to do their best for their students. And, for her, this honor is for everyone at East.

“East Forsyth High is a family,” she said. “When I look at this award, I look on it as an award for the entire school. We work together for the needs of our students.”

By Staff

The end of each school year brings lots of standardized tests. And to make sure that all goes as smoothly as possible, the school system needs volunteers to serve as proctors.

A proctor’s primarily responsibility is to work with test administrators to make sure that everything is done in a fair and uniform way.

This year, proctors are needed from May 27 through June 10.

“Every year, schools struggle with making sure they have enough proctors set up for test administrators,” said Dana Wrights, the chief program officer for accountability services. “The earlier the schools can get that planned, the better.”

Hundreds of proctors are needed. Although most standardized tests are given to groups of students, some students’ special needs mean that, in some cases, a test might be administered to a single student. Testing sessions can vary from 200 for an elementary school, to around 500 for a middle or high school. That means most schools need from 25-50 proctors to be able to administer tests. There are 81 schools in the district serving 54,000 students.

“There is not going to be a school that won’t need proctors,” Wrights said.

The proctors are needed because, like other states, North Carolina requires that another adult be in the classroom with the teacher when a standardized test is given. Proctors receive training, which is required, as part of the state’s efforts to make sure that everything is done fairly. The training is basic and essentially provides guidelines such as proctors cannot help students with questions or do anything that might suggest to a student that he might want to reconsider an answer.

“It’s an important job,” Wrights said.

In addition to monitoring testing sessions, proctors assist in dealing with situations that come up such as a child becoming sick or needing to go to the bathroom.

Although many proctors are relatives (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles) of children who attend the school or adults who teach at the school, that is not a requirement. At some schools, churches and community organizations regularly supply proctors.

“You don’t have to be connected to the school – just a responsible adult over 18 who would like to volunteer some time to a neighborhood school,” Wrights said.

Additional information for potential Proctors:

• A testing session might last from two to four hours.
• Although each school needs proctors for a number of days, people can volunteer for one day only.
• Before volunteering, proctors receive the training and often the training is done in conjunction with the first session as a volunteer.
• Proctors need to be at least 18 years old. Because public school students cannot be proctors, high school students aren’t eligible even if they are 18.
• People don’t serve as proctors in classes where they have relatives.
• While serving as a proctor, volunteers are required to turn off their cell phones and other electronic devices.
• People with limited mobility are welcome to volunteer as proctors as long as they can move around a classroom. Someone who uses wheelchair could serve outside of a classroom as a hall monitor.

People who would like to volunteer as a proctor should get in touch with the testing coordinator at the school where they want to help. For an interactive map of all schools in the district as well as a list of schools with contact information, click HERE .

By Staff

According to a press release sent out Wednesday, the Children’s Home Board of Trustees has approved its affiliation with The Crossnore School, a residential foster care home for children in crisis located in Crossnore, NC. The affiliation intends to create an organization that will provide highly effective trauma-informed care within a wide range of services available at both locations. Most importantly, the affiliation combines the efforts of both organizations to create a sanctuary of hope and healing for children in western North Carolina who are suffering from the effects of trauma caused by abuse and neglect.

“Our board and staff undertook a lengthy and deliberate process to determine how The Children’s Home can continue to provide the best care for the thousands of abused and neglected children in our region. The Crossnore School has long been recognized for its innovation and leadership in providing hope and healing for children. We believe this is an opportunity for The Children’s Home to realize its full potential and re-focus our programming on the changing needs of children and families.” – Katheryn Northington, Board Chair for The Children’s Home.

Brett A. Loftis, JD, Chief Executive Officer of The Crossnore School, will assume executive leadership of the combined efforts of The Crossnore School and The Children’s Home, including administrative, operational, and programming functions. Integration of services across both campuses will take place in the coming months while the governing Boards of both organizations work together to determine the appropriate governance structure for combined services to support healing children. Together, The Crossnore School and The Children’s Home leadership teams will evaluate opportunities relating to programs, facilities, land, and staffing at The Children’s Home. This is not a merger. This is a parent subsidiary model. The Crossnore School is becoming the parent organization and The Children’s Home is the subsidiary. Both governing boards are engaged and active in all decision making.

This affiliation will bring the highly successful and internationally recognized Sanctuary Model® of care to the Winston-Salem campus. The Sanctuary Model® helps organizations succeed in focusing on the treatment of children affected by the trauma of neglect and abuse. The Model is also transformational for staff serving the children and creates a cultural change in the environment where treatment takes place. The Crossnore School obtained Sanctuary certification in 2011 and was re-certified in 2014.

“Today in North Carolina there are more than 10,000 children in foster care. Our current residential capacity at The Crossnore School is 83, and will rise to more than 100 with the opening of three new cottages this spring. That number is certainly meaningful in the lives of the children we serve, but is not enough in the scope of all the children who need help,” says Brett Loftis, CEO of The Crossnore School. “The goal of our strategic planning process has always been to serve more children. This affiliation with The Children’s Home will expand our capability to provide more services for more children. Our ultimate goal is to become the premier provider of children’s services in western North Carolina.”

For more than a century, both organizations have worked to transform the lives of thousands of children through therapeutic treatment programs provided in group home, single-family foster care, and educational settings. Combining efforts across two campuses provides a greater continuum of care for children in need. The Farm will continue to operate, and will be utilized as a vocational classroom for children, where they will learn about food, farming, and running a business, as well as earning their own money from part-time employment. The Crossnore School has four businesses on their campus that operate in the same manner (Miracle Grounds Coffee Shop & Café, Blair Fraley Sales Store, Crossnore Weavers and Crossnore Fine Arts Gallery).

What will happened to the unused land on the Children’s Home property? According to the Children’s Home Board of Trustees the Children’s Home 212-acre campus has served children well for over 100 years. Recognizing the value of this land, the leadership teams of The Children’s Home and The Crossnore School will be exploring ways to utilize the land to best serve children.

“The Crossnore School Board of Trustees is thrilled with the results of our strategic planning process. We are excited that The Children’s Home is uniting with us to increase our capacity to serve more children in crisis from North Carolina,” says John Blackburn, board chair of The Crossnore School. “The Children’s Home is placing their trust in us, and we are grateful for this opportunity to work together.”