School & District News
More than $40,000 in grant awards will allow Lenoir County Public School educators to provide special
learning opportunities for thousands of students this school year, all thanks to the community’s support of
annual fundraising events championed by the Lenoir County Education Foundation and its parent
organization, the Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce.
Checks totaling $40,386 were distributed to 94 winners at 16 schools in December by a touring,
balloon-bearing prize patrol led by Chamber of Commerce President Cale Grady and LCPS
Superintendent Brent Williams. In its more than 20 years, the mini-grant program has never awarded
more money to more educators.
Two major fundraisers – the Education Foundation Superball Golf Tournament and the Chamber’s Adult
Spelling Bee – make the mini-grant effort possible at ever-increasing levels. Through participation,
sponsorships and individual donations, both fundraisers solicit support for LCPS classrooms from across
the county.
Mini-grants are capped at $500 each.
North Lenoir High School won the most mini-grants with 14. Northwest led elementary schools with
nine and Woodington paced middle schools with eight. Contentnea-Savannah, a k-8 school, won 10.
Winners by school were:
Banks – Jennifer Oliver, Nicole Harrison, Kelly Vinson, William Sawyer, Dawn Hill, the team of
Deanna Morris, Jessica Trull, Ashley Grady and Jessica Barber
La Grange – Jenna Manning, Kelsey Turner, Shavonda Brown, Jenny Daughety, Alicia Davis, Yvonne
Hardy, Brittany Holder
Moss Hill – Kristina Jones, Sharon Dellinger, Melissa Small, Lara Colie, Allyson Heath, April Lee,
Glenda Kennedy, the team of Cassie Wetherington, Riley Price and Valerie Jones
Northeast – Jordyn Gaskins, Yolonda Holmes, Roslinn Warren, Jennifer Johnson, Rachel Cohoon, the
team of Tamika Gaskill and Konya Houston
Northwest – the team of Stephaine Parris and Melissa Manning; the team of Kendall Cash, Ashley
Avery, Raelynn Sheffield and Hailey Forehand (two mini-grants); April Modlin; Heather Clark; Nicolette
Morgan; Kaitlyn Stroud; Rachel Hill; the team of Melissa Manning, Erin Greene, Emily Tribula, Ashley
Stephens and Katherine Hart
Pink Hill – Breanna Tyndall, Gina Daniels, Jodi Peele, Jennifer McLawhorn, Allie Padgett, Thomas
Earp, Skylar Pearson
Southeast – Victoria Goodall, Casey Godbold, Latoya Phillips
Southwood – Jamieson Griffin
Contentnea-Savannah – Adrienne Evans, Sullivan McRae, Timothy Sanderson, Kristin Taylor, Traci
Howard, Danielle Groseclose, Jessie Van Cura, Amanda Price, the team of Tracy Rayner and Diane
Tilghman, the team of Madison Bell, Lena Carroll, Melissa Barwick and Sarah Winnie
Frink – Pamela Pate, Samantha Hawkins, Lily Hartsell, Ashlynn Holloman
Woodington – Shannon Jones, Bryan Potter, Caroline Lancaster, Carolina Baker, Amelia Swenby, Haley
Quarles, Mari Hatcher Turner, Kelly Dawson Stainback
Early College High School – Dr. Travis Towne
Kinston – Crystal Payton-Demry, Laura Dove, Ashley Andrews
Learning Academy – Ella Joyner, Tonya Brooks, Marilyn BrimmageNorth Lenoir – Cameron Sherrer, Katie Bain-Herring, Samantha Newcomb, Brandi Stallings, Teresa
Harper, Kimberly Jenkins, Aaryn Fazakerly, Alicia Dale, Michelle Taylor, Christy Burkett, Brittany
Harrison, Joshua Wallace, Elizabeth Espino, the team of Breonna Baker and Teresa Harper
South Lenoir – Sydney Edwards, Courtney Strickland, Ashley Turnage
Career Development Month is a time when schools across the nation celebrate the importance of helping students explore their interests, build practical skills, and imagine the future that fits them best. In Lenoir County Public Schools, that commitment extends far beyond a single month. It is built into the daily work of helping students discover what is possible through hands-on learning, exploration, and strong partnerships with local industries.
At the center of this work is Workforce Ignite Lenoir, a new initiative that strengthens internships, job shadowing, and hands-on connections with local industry. Dr. Amy Jones, LCPS Director of Career and Technical Education, explained why this approach matters. “It empowers them to explore their strengths, build essential skills, and imagine a future filled with opportunity,” she said. “During Career Development Month, we are proud to partner with our schools and community to help every student take the next step toward a meaningful career.”
The path toward that future begins long before high school graduation. Pamela Pate, LCPS Middle School Career Development Coordinator, believes early exposure changes lives. “Career development in middle school offers students exposure to careers they may not know exist,” she said. “At home, you know what your parents do, but you don’t really know what is outside that spectrum.” To help broaden their view, she coordinates industry tours, brings programs like BetaBox to campus, and partners with Lenoir Community College to introduce students to hands-on fields. “We want them to be confident enough to ask questions,” she said. “Not just ‘how much does this job pay,’ but ‘how do I get there and what does this work mean.’”
Pate’s own story illustrates why exploration matters. “I started out as a dental assistant, and I did not like it,” she said. “Finding something you don’t like is just as valuable as finding something you do.” She went on to earn a degree in biology, worked in research, and later discovered a passion for teaching and STEM. “I have personally learned so much from visiting local industries,” she said. “There were businesses in Kinston I had never stepped into until I took students there.” She described moments when students suddenly connect with a speaker or a career in front of them. “I had three boys at one of our middle schools who hung on every word a Public Services employee said. They told me, ‘When I get to high school, I am going to apply for that internship.’ It sparked something in them they did not know existed.”
As students move into high school, Career Development Coordinators help them turn that spark into direction. At Kinston High School, Ashley Andrews sees her counseling background as an essential part of her work. “My counseling background helps me create a safe space where students feel seen and supported,” she said. “School counseling focuses on academic, career, and social emotional development, and I use that lens to focus on the whole child.” When she stepped into the CDC role, she felt immediately at home. “Being a CDC allows me to focus on the career piece, which is truly my passion,” she said. “I absolutely love helping students feel confident about their plans after high school.”
One project she is especially proud of is reinstating the National Technical Honor Society at Kinston High. “Working with the advisors to bring NTHS back is something we are really proud of,” Andrews said. “NTHS is just one example of the many opportunities that taking a Level I and Level II CTE course can provide.” In her daily work, she helps students prepare résumés, practice interviewing, explore apprenticeships, and meet professionals in fields they may never have considered. “There is an option for everybody,” she said. “My goal is for students to feel confident, no matter which path they choose.”
At both North Lenoir and South Lenoir, Brittany Harrison and Melanie Smith work closely with students to connect them to experiences that show them what is possible. Harrison, the district’s lead CDC, has spent nearly twenty years helping students explore the world beyond their own communities. “You do not know what you do not know,” she said. “Every opportunity helps students discover what they want and what they do not want.” Smith, who comes from a business education background, uses that foundation to help students understand the skills and expectations of the modern workplace. Whether coordinating job shadowing, supporting CTE teachers, or connecting students with local organizations, she plays a key role in making sure opportunities are accessible and relevant. Together, the full team of CDCs collaborates across schools to expand programs such as Careers on Wheels, district job fairs, guest speaker series, and career readiness workshops that prepare students for interviews and apprenticeships.
Harrison helps to coordinate many of the district’s most visible career programs, such as Careers on Wheels, fifth grade high school visits, and the districtwide job fair. She also supports preparation for apprenticeship interviews and job placement. Her philosophy is straightforward. “You don’t know what you don’t know,” she said. “Every opportunity helps students understand what they want and what they don’t want.”
Central to all of this work is the district’s partnership with local employers. Workforce Ignite Lenoir has strengthened these relationships and created new opportunities for students. “Crown Equipment has been an incredible partner,” Andrews said. “The apprenticeship program gives students a direct path into a skilled career.” The connection with Kinston Public Services has also grown. “Some of our students hear about public utilities or engineering for the first time when Kinston Public Services comes to speak,” Pate added. “And sometimes you can see right away that it clicks.”
LCPS students have also gained new opportunities with the Lenoir County Council on Aging, the Arts Council, the Down East Bird Dawgs, and several small businesses that have opened their doors to job shadowing and internships. “It could be two students or twenty,” Andrews said. “Any chance for them to step inside a workplace is a chance for them to grow.”
Dr. Jones sees these partnerships as essential to LCPS’s mission. “Our Career Development Coordinators collaborate closely with Career and Technical Education teachers, school counselors, and school administrators to ensure students are connected to experiences that align with their goals or help them discover new interests,” she said. “Through the Workforce Ignite Lenoir initiative, students participate in résumé workshops, interview practice sessions, workforce-focused field trips, competitive events, and many other experiences that prepare them for life after graduation.”
Across the district, students are gaining a clearer understanding of their own future paths. Elementary students begin with early awareness activities. Middle school students learn to ask questions and explore new fields. High school students prepare résumés, interact with employers, train for apprenticeships, and step into real workplaces. Career Development Day offers a national moment of recognition, but in LCPS the work happens all year long. As Dr. Jones summarized, “Career and Technical Education opens doors for students, and Workforce Ignite Lenoir places them on a focused and intentional pathway toward their future.”
Career development in Lenoir County Public Schools is rooted in exploration, empowerment, and community partnership. As students continue discovering what inspires them, the district remains committed to guiding them toward futures filled with opportunity and purpose.
Lenoir County Public Schools educators have once again proven that innovation thrives in their classrooms, and this year their bright ideas are shining brighter than ever.
For the 2025-2026 school year, 65 LCPS teachers have been selected to receive Bright Ideas Grants from Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation, earning a combined $51,602.16 to bring creative, hands-on learning projects to life. This marks a new high for LCPS, surpassing last year’s record of 62 winners and $47,685.41 in grant funding.
Tri-County EMC, which serves parts of Duplin, Wayne, and Lenoir counties, received 338 applications for this year’s competition. From those applications, 130 educators were selected to receive funding totaling $102,146.33. LCPS teachers make up exactly half of all winners, continuing the district’s long-running tradition of excellence in the Bright Ideas program.
Superintendent Brent Williams said this success reflects both the ingenuity of LCPS teachers and the supportive culture that encourages them to think creatively for their students.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment and a testament to the innovative spirit of our teachers,” Williams said. “They continually find new ways to make learning engaging and meaningful, and the Bright Ideas program helps turn those ideas into real classroom experiences. We’re deeply grateful to Tri-County EMC for its continued partnership in recognizing and supporting our educators.”
Bright Ideas Grants fund original classroom projects that go beyond standard curriculum, including STEM experiments, literacy initiatives, art, history, and environmental studies. The grants empower teachers to explore creative approaches that make lessons more interactive and impactful.
LCPS’s success in the program is particularly notable given that only nine district schools are eligible to participate because they fall within Tri-County’s service area, compared to 18 schools each in Duplin and Wayne counties. Despite the smaller number of eligible schools, LCPS teachers consistently secure a majority of the awards, underscoring the district’s leadership in instructional innovation.
Over the past decade, LCPS educators have consistently earned significant Bright Ideas funding, supporting hundreds of creative classroom projects across the district. Tri-County EMC recognized all 2025-2026 Bright Ideas recipients and their principals during a floating awards ceremony on Monday, November 3, from 5–7 p.m. at the cooperative’s headquarters.
“Every Bright Ideas project represents a teacher’s belief that students learn best when they can explore, question, and create,” Williams said. “We are incredibly proud of our 65 winners and the impact their ideas will have in classrooms across Lenoir County.”
With another record-breaking year, LCPS teachers continue to light the way for inspired learning and demonstrate that when creativity meets opportunity, great things happen for students.
When the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education added to the roster of STEM Schools of Distinction with a high-profile announcement last month, no school district in the state added more names to that list than Lenoir County Public Schools.
The recognition of Northwest Elementary School, EB Frink Middle School and Contentnea-Savannah K-8 School made LCPS one of only two districts with multiple honorees this year and, on the list of 63 STEM Schools of Distinction accumulating since 2014, one of only four districts with three or more recognized schools.
The honor, according to the schools’ principals, recognizes an ongoing effort to create an inquiry-based system of instruction that takes STEM values into all classrooms, rather than those focused on science, technology, engineering and math.
“I think this award lets the community know what we already know about our students and our school,” CSS principal Dr. Heather Walston said. “We are delivering a top-notch education to our students and they have a lot of opportunities here. We want the community to know that we’re working hard inside the walls of our building to provide the best for their children and that we’re thankful every day for the opportunity to do that.”
CSS, among the first in the state to earn STEM School of Distinction status 11 years ago, now holds that distinction along with national STEM certification from Cognia, the global nonprofit working in school accreditation and assessment. It is also the only traditional K-8 school on the state’s STEM School of Distinction list. The credit for achieving those honors goes to CSS teachers and staff for “giving our students what they need, which are strategies that engage the mind,” she said.
“STEM is not a ‘program’ at schools with recognition. It’s a mindset and approach to teaching and learning,” Dr. Stephanie Harrell, LCPS’s STEM coordinator, said. “STEM learning prepares students with the critical thinking, problem-solving and collaboration skills they will need in a rapidly changing world. By emphasizing STEM, LCPS is ensuring that students are not only mastering core academic content but also developing the creativity and adaptability that employers and colleges are looking for.”
The five key attributes of a STEM School of Distinction are student outcomes, leadership, professional capacity, school culture and community connections. A year-long review of a school’s accomplishments in these areas by its teachers and staff form the basis for the application to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (DPI). After the application is reviewed
at DPI, schools that advance in the process earn a site visit from the review team, which makes a final evaluation and a recommendation to the State Board of Education.
“It’s not possible to put on a dog-and-pony show for this distinction,” Dr. Michael Moon, EB Frink principal, said. “It is absolutely not possible to put together an empty application that looks good on paper and send it to Raleigh and get a ribbon. That’s not what this is.” The school’s site visit this past spring “was our opportunity to show people that what’s on paper is happening in reality every single day in the classroom,” Moon said. “As a school we talk all the time about ‘every child, every opportunity, every time’ and that’s what this STEM site visit really showcased. It’s not just something that’s happening in isolation in certain classrooms. You could have walked into any classroom and seen STEM strategies in action.”
Generating curiosity, empowering student creativity, encouraging resilience – LCPS extends those classroom goals into extracurricular activities that run the gamut from Science Olympiad and Science Fair competitions to technology clubs to Quiz Bowl, Battle of the Books and the statewide Quill Writing competition.
“The engineering design process is obvious when you’re in a STEM-centered classroom, but you find students using that model, the continuous cycle of improvement, in reading, math, social studies, pretty much everywhere,” Moon said.
Students today learn in a much different way than they did when Northwest Elementary principal Christy Eubanks began her career as an educator. “I think it comes down to engagement,” said Eubanks, a classroom teacher for 15 years. “Now, we’re competing for their attention against a host of distractions and STEM brings out that engagement. STEM activities are where the kids get to collaborate, they get to design together, they get to problem-solve together and it helps keep them engaged.”
Focusing on the STEM School of Distinction process encouraged Northwest teachers to create more hands-on, interactive lessons and, Eubanks believes, helped the school exceed state standards for students’ academic growth in last spring’s accountability testing. “Students were engaged in learning and they wanted to come to school because they knew it was going to be a fun project,” Eubanks said. “It all ties together with our academic goals.”
“This achievement represents the incredible work happening every day in our classrooms,” Williams said. “Our teachers, administrators and students have embraced a vision of learning that prepares young people not only for academic success, but for success in life. We’re proud that LCPS led all districts in North Carolina this year with the most schools earning STEM School of Distinction honors. That speaks volumes about the consistency, dedication and excellence across our entire school community.”
Innovating to meet the needs of 21st century students is hardly a new role for LCPS, which brought digital learning and iPads to all K-12 classrooms a decade ago and now boasts 15 schools with Apple Distinguished School designations, the most of any school system in the nation. “The district has invested heavily in the schools for us to have some of these processes and programs in place,” Moon said. “This STEM distinction is bigger than any one school.”
With local employers hungry for qualified workers and more students anxious to go to work, Lenoir County Public Schools has stepped up with instructional programs and personalized assistance that high school graduates can literally take to the bank.
For the vast majority of LCPS seniors, a diploma is a steppingstone to college; but for about 10 percent of graduates – a figure typified by the recent Class of 2025 – a diploma is an admission ticket to the workforce. Students who feel they are ready to work and earn a paycheck are typically moved along that path by Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses that help them identify a potential career, prepare them for a workplace setting and provide the background they need to get started. Career development coordinators at each of LCPS’s three traditional high schools pinpoint employment opportunities and acquaint students with apprenticeship and internship programs that directly connect them to local employers.
Student and employer participation in LCPS’s work-based learning programs has tripled in recent years, according to Dr. Amy Jones, the district’s director of high school education and CTE.
“We understand that success looks different for every student. While college is one path, many of our graduates are eager to enter the workforce and start building their future right away,” Jones said. “It is our responsibility to honor those ambitions by preparing them with real-world skills, industry credentials and hands-on experiences through strong career and technical education programs and work-based learning.”
The Class of 2025 added auto mechanics, electric linemen, welders, truck drivers and restaurant cooks, among other occupations, to the payrolls of employers in the area. Each year, about 20 students become certified nurse assistants through their high school health science curriculum, which can lead to a job and, for some, a way to finance their studies toward a nursing degree.
Five spring graduates now have jobs at Kinston’s Crown Equipment after completing a year-long apprenticeship program, where success means the guarantee of a high-wage job and continued schooling.
Over six years, 18 students have completed the program and a half-dozen continue to work at Crown, a manufacturer of lift trucks sold worldwide. Seven students came aboard as apprentices as Crown’s partnership with LCPS enters its seventh year.
Eight 2025 graduates and current seniors from Kinston, North Lenoir and South Lenoir high schools earned practical experience in five different areas of work – from engineering to street maintenance – as paid summer interns with the City of Kinston’s Public Services Department, a new partnership that offers the possibility of full-time employment and access to the department’s own career development programs.
“For our department, probably 85 percent of our positions do not require any college education, so we are looking for students coming straight out of high school who are interested in joining the workforce,” said Steve Miller, the city’s public services director, said. “We weren’t getting applications from people coming out of school, so we wanted to make sure they became aware of the careers that we have.”
The internship program grew out of the complementary interests of Public Services and LCPS’s CTE program and owes much to Tristan Harrison, a senior at South Lenoir High School who, as the lone intern last fall, leveraged his interest and training in auto mechanics to land a spot in Public Service’s Fleet Maintenance operation. Tristan’s praise-worthy work paved the way for the expanded summer internships and, as importantly, earned Tristan a part-time job last school year, a full-time job this summer and the promise of permanent employment with Fleet Maintenance after he graduates, possibly as soon as December.
“I love it,” Tristan, 17, said of auto mechanics, a skill he’s developed by tinkering at home and working on his truck. “This is something I’ve always wanted to do when I got older.”
South Lenoir -- particularly Melanie Smith, the school’s career development coordinator – helped make that wish a reality by encouraging Tristan’s natural aptitude through auto mechanics classes, ushering him into the internship program and tweaking his high school schedule to accommodate his work schedule.
“The internship is really designed for students who don’t think they’ll immediately go to college, but they’re still looking for good employment locally,” said Smith, who is LCPS’s point person for the partnership with the city. In Tristan’s case, the next step could be certification in his field, instruction the city would pay for, according to Smith.
For students with a ready-to-work mindset, schooling can follow the parallel lines of hands-on experience and formal instruction. Tristan, for one, values the practical training he’s found with Fleet Maintenance – “Before I came in here I thought I knew about everything, but it turned out there’s a lot I didn’t know,” he said – and yet he can see the value of something more.
“I can probably get certified in mechanics,” he said. “Going to college shows how much care I put into my work.”
Like Tristan, North Lenoir High graduates Fisher Hartsell and Cooper Tilghman turned a long-held interest into a vocation. Finishing high school early last December, they enrolled in a 16-week program at Nash Community College and earned certification in electric line construction. Fisher landed a job with C-Phase Services, a Kinston-based utilities contractor, and Cooper, with Pitt-Greene EMC.
For Fisher, 18, the job feels like the beginning of a career. “I really enjoy it,” he said. “All through high school, that’s what I was looking at doing. I know a lot of linemen and talked a lot with those people and it just sounded like something I’d be interested in. I like working with my hands and building stuff.”
Down the road, he expects to acquire an associate degree, building on the college credits he earned at Lenoir Community College while in high school; but he’s intent on charting his own course on his own schedule. “My brother is starting a master’s program at East Carolina, but that’s not for me,” Fisher said. “I’m a hands-on guy.”
If students are becoming more aware of such options, so is LCPS. “Our community has tremendous career opportunities right here in Lenoir County and we want to ensure that our graduates are prepared and are ready to tap into them,” Dr. Jones said. “There is a growing awareness across our high schools that we must create opportunities for all students, especially those who want to go straight to work.”