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“Are you in?”
2024-25 Iredell-Statesville Schools (ISS) Teacher of the Year Adrien Bowie posed this question at the conclusion of this year’s convocation.
As the district ushers in a new academic year, Bowie encouraged her colleagues to set their intentions on leading together in a way that inspires students to lead and learn among each other. According to Bowie, that is what helps to build lifelong skills that students will not only remember but use in their future.
Her remarks reflect this year’s district-wide theme, “Lead, learn, win.” At convocation, Dr. Billie Berry, deputy superintendent of ISS, stated that the theme is important because it brings to life the district’s vision statement:“Together, ensuring student success by igniting a passion for learning.”
Dr. Berry emphasized “together.”
What does it mean to lead together?
“True leadership is a team effort. When we lead together, we create a shared vision and a collective purpose. Leading together acknowledges that every person here — teachers, bus drivers, support staff, TAs, doesn’t matter who you are — every single one of you has a unique skill that contributes to our success.”
Dr. Billie Berry, deputy superintendent of Iredell-Statesville Schools
ISS is made up of 38 schools serving over 20,000 students. The school system is the second largest employer in the county. Below you’ll find more data on Iredell County from U.S. Census Quick Facts and the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
In alignment with the goal of “leading together,” superintendent Dr. Jeff James named the district’s ability to collaborate as a key focus for increasing postsecondary access and strengthening the county’s workforce pipeline.
He specifically emphasized the significance of Iredell Ready, which is a partnership between Iredell-Statesville Schools, NCWorks Career Centers, Centralina Workforce Development Board, Greater Statesville Chamber of Commerce, Iredell County, Iredell County Economic Development Corporation, Mitchell Community College, and Mooresville Graded School District.
According to the website, Iredell Ready is “an initiative designed to help students and residents, K-12 through retirement, identify the opportunities to pursue their individual career pathways and gainful employment with industry.”
The Doosan Bobcat pre-apprenticeship program is one example of a partnership that targets the workforce pipeline. Todd Williams, the executive director of industry, trade, and business development for ISS, worked with Doosan’s site manager, Kevin Smith, to establish a program for 16- to 18-year-old students to get hands-on experience. Upon graduating, students that opt to continue into the full-time apprenticeship simultaneously enroll in courses at Mitchell Community College to earn their degree.
“When I was in high school, not all of us knew exactly what we wanted to do, and so I saw this as a great opportunity to be able to go throughout the company, work with different departments, and get a real understanding of just real life application to the different departments to work together for the common good of the company, and it’s really important to just get that real life hands-on experience.”
Jaron Wenzel, Mitchell Community College student and Doosan Bobcat apprentice
Overall, Iredell Ready was developed in alignment with myFutureNC’s statewide educational attainment goal of achieving 2 million high-quality credentials or postsecondary degrees for individuals aged 25-44 by 2030.
Dr. James shared that they have been able to increase the number of high school students receiving career and technical education certifications to over 5,500, in comparison to around 1,300 in years prior.
Dr. James said that the district is being intentional with identifying current workforce opportunities as well as industries that are anticipating growth and working backward to match those with skills being built as early as kindergarten.
What should learning together look like?
“Learning together is an ongoing effort. Learning is about so much more than just the acquisition of knowledge. Learning together is about growing and evolving as a team. When we learn together, we not only create a shared vision, but we create a culture of curiosity and of continuous improvement.”
Dr. Billie Berry, deputy superintendent of ISS
For first grade teacher Bowie and her Woodland Heights Elementary team, “One degree makes a whole difference.” Analogous to how water can reach a boiling point by increasing from 211 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, Woodland’s principal, Kristie Spenner, asks her staff to push one more degree each day.
Spenner highlighted the school’s science of reading implementation as an exemplar of her team’s commitment. While the school began training several years ago, last year they specifically began their implementation of UFLI Foundations, developed by the University of Florida Literacy Institute.
“What we are seeing is that if we do this with fidelity in the younger grades, we don’t need to close as many gaps for trying to teach how to read. You can actually now understand how to read through that metacognition when you get to the third, fourth, and fifth,” Spenner said.
Spenner is adamant that her student outcomes are anchored in her staff’s willingness to learn together through their extensive amount of summer training and frequent professional development.
As the only NC STEM School of Distinction in the district, principal Chris Grace of Lakeshore Elementary said learning at his school looks like constantly integrating STEM in the classroom. For example, Melissa Loflin, Lakeshore’s media coordinator, integrated phoneme segmentation with robotic coding in one lesson. The school is also awaiting the completion of their outdoor classroom as a means for creating opportunities for STEM learning.
At East Iredell Elementary, principal Jennifer Ribbeck says diversity is a pillar of learning. As a dual immersion school, this year they hired six new teachers through Participate Learning, two of whom teach dual immersion Spanish classes while the others teach standard English courses.
Beginning in kindergarten, students engage in courses that are 90% in Spanish. In the years following, content is split 50/50 between English and Spanish. Notably, Ribbeck shared that even Spanish teachers are implementing the science of reading.
This school year, dual immersion is available at two elementary schools (East Iredell Elementary and Lake Norman Elementary) and two middle schools (East Iredell Middle School and Woodland Heights Middle School). The expansion is viewed as another way to increase pathways for students. Ribbeck believes that it helps “prepare them for the workforce and makes [students] so much more marketable for jobs in the future.”
Winning as a team
“Success in education is almost never a solo effort. Success comes as a result of every single person here. We can’t just be successful because of one person. …When we win together, we win because we’ve supported each other. We win because we’ve worked together to solve problems. And when we win as a team, success is that much sweeter.”
Dr. Billie Berry, deputy superintendent of ISS
North Iredell High School is led by Diana Jones, the 2024-25 Principal of the Year for ISS. It is also where Jones has implemented the “95-95-95” model, which represents the goal of 95% positive behaviors, 95% grades and academics on track, and 95% attendance.
“Really good instruction is able to happen when we keep the discipline down, the grades up, and attendance up,” she said.
Jones added that student buy-in has been a significant factor in moving toward this goal. A dashboard was created to track progress, and the school has conducted focus groups with students who haven’t reached the goal each nine weeks to identify areas for improvement and support.
For the school, winning significantly depends on upperclassmen serving as mentors to younger students.
Take senior Christopher Corona-Plancarte, for instance. In his sophomore year, he helped start a student-driven tutoring program. Co-sponsored by English teacher Hunter Tharpe, the club has maintained around 30 student tutors and provides services in both English and Spanish.
“One of the pillars of portrait of a graduate is personal responsibility. This was entirely their idea. Chris and his little crew of people came and asked about doing this, but it was their idea. I just helped them along with it. They started it, they ran it, and they still do it. They are very, very responsible, and tutoring has definitely helped them just develop even more in that regard.”
Hunter Tharpe, North Iredell High School English teacher
Jones believes that they have built a culture where students want to help each other and overall be involved.
Future Farmers of America is another highlight of the engagement of students at the school. With approximately 675 students participating, the program has five agriculture teachers with an intercurricular component that is utilized across 26 courses. The program also involves a number of trips and professional opportunities each year. Agriculture teacher Bryant York said this is yet another way the school helps students acquire career skills.
In Mooresville, one sports team is looking for a title of their own as they enter a new season this academic year.
Tre McKinnon said the memory of the student section storming the court after his first time in a conference championship win is among the top highlights in his high school basketball career. Now a senior for the Lake Norman High men’s basketball team, he is hoping to relive that moment — and more.
He is accompanied by Josh Yates (senior), Taurean McKinnon (junior), Nick Arnold (junior), and the remainder of the Wildcats team, who are entering the 2024-25 season with redemption on their mind following a tough loss in the NC 4A semifinals to North Mecklenburg last year.
“I have just one goal, that’s just winning states,” Arnold said. “The feeling after losing that game is just something you don’t want to feel… I feel like anything short of a state championship this year is just not what we’re working for.”
The team recognizes that winning begins off the court. Taurean McKinnon shared that as student athletes, they are looked upon as leaders in the school, which means respecting teachers, doing their work, and overall setting a positive example. Yates added that they are entering the year with a focus on building relationships with their teachers.
The team also knows the value of each person doing their part.
“We’re all strong in our own positions and play our roles good,” Taurean McKinnon said. “We could definitely go for it all.”
Overall, across the district, the ability to win is anchored in the ability to work as a team. In Bowie’s convocation speech, she offered a promise to her colleagues that regardless of their role, “if we lead together, and learn together, we will win together.”
Correction: This article incorrectly stated that principal Ribbeck’s first name was Jessica. It is Jennifer.
