News

Twenty-seven teachers across North Carolina have been selected as finalists for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) Empower Beginning Teacher of the Year Award for their dedication, innovation, and ability to inspire students to achieve. One of these talented educators will be named the 2023 NCCAT Empower Beginning Teacher of the Year. The award will be presented on March 9, 2023, at the NCCAT Cullowhee Campus.

Normally NCCAT is buzzing with teachers collaborating about ideas for their classrooms. December 19th was a special holiday treat as about 20 kindergarteners from our good friends and Cullowhee neighbors Jackson County Public Schools, NC  Fairview School visited us for a time of read-alouds, making things, and testing digital tools all designed to add to the joy of learning.

More than 80 educators from across North Carolina attended the second North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) Literacy Leaders Conference in Cullowhee Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2022. The three-day conference featured general session presenters, breakout sessions and collaboration to help Literacy Leaders take steps to support literacy instruction in NC.

A new year is coming and it means new professional development opportunities from NCCAT.  Topics include digital learning, early grades literacy, secondary literacy, differentiated instruction, math, teacher leadership, STEM and more. A complete upcoming schedule can be found at https://www.nccat.org/programs

A celebration of the Beulah Padgett Whichard Honored Educator Scholarship took place on November 28, 2022, at the Clay County Board of Education Meeting in Hayesville, NC. This scholarship was established in honor of the late Beulah Padgett Whichard, who was a native of Clay County and taught in Clay and Durham County Schools for 30 years. The Honorable Willis P. Whichard, a retired college law school dean, retired judge, and former legislator, established this scholarship in honor of his mother.

NCCAT will be hosting education leaders from across the state in Cullowhee for the Literacy Leaders Conference Wednesday through Friday. The primary conference goal is to support the statewide efforts for improving early grades literacy. Follow the conference on NCCAT social media at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. NCCAT will be using the hashtag #nccatllc22

Kelly Anderson,  a teacher at Lakeshore Elementary School in Iredell-Statesville Schools  received the A. Craig Phillips II NCCAT Honored Scholarship recently during a professional development program at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT). Ms. Anderson attended "Shifting from the Sage on the Stage to the Guide on the Side in the Science and STEM Classroom" in Cullowhee.

The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching was honored to be part of recognizing the first NCCAT Career & Technical Teacher of the Year Missy Swain of Currituck County Schools at the Currituck County Board of Education meeting Thursday evening to honor her and the important work Currituck CTE does for students and families.

Group of North Carolina teachers are in Washington D.C. for the NCCAT program "Teaching the Holocaust: Resources and Reflection." The aim of this program is to gain an understanding of the precursors, events, and consequences of the Holocaust and to grapple with the problem of how best to convey this history and the meaning that it can have in the lives and civic practices of our students.

Spring registration has opened for The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching, a recognized national leader in professional development. Programs are available to North Carolina educators at the Cullowhee and Ocracoke campuses, online and with NCCAT faculty visiting school districts. NCCAT presents professional development programs designed for the needs of North Carolina teachers.

The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) Cullowhee Campus Building Project Committee Meeting will convene a meeting on at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at the NCCAT Cullowhee campus, located at 276 NCCAT Drive, Cullowhee, NC 28723. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the NCCAT Cullowhee Campus Capital Project.

Brittany Williams, a sixth grade math teacher at Southeastern Randolph Middle School in the Randolph County School System, has received the Lynda Petty NCCAT Honored Scholarship.

More than 100 teachers from across western North Carolina came to the NCCAT campus in Cullowhee for the "Amie Dean – Behavioral Interventions that Work" program. 

Join NCCAT on December 5th from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. to grow in your skills as a beginning educator. This one-day program will explore how to build relationships with the school community, defining best practices to initiate collaboration and communication with all stakeholders.

The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) Ocracoke Campus Long‐Range Facility Planning Committee Meeting will convene a meeting on at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, November 7, 2022 at the NCCAT Ocracoke campus, located at 2 Irvin Garrish Highway, Ocracoke, NC 27960. The purpose of the meeting is to review and discuss the long‐range facility plan for the NCCAT Ocracoke Campus.