Elon University’s Teaching Fellows hosted a panel discussion on March 10 where past students shared their professional pathways and explained how they had achieved their places of leadership.
The panel included John Denning ’93, Tom McCarthy ’93, April Hewett Post ’01 and Kebbler McGhee Williams ’98. The university alumni offered expert advice on what administrators look for in teacher candidates and how to obtain leadership roles in schools without taking on too much the first year.
Elon junior Addie Carr, the Teaching Fellows special events chair, served as moderator and posed questions from current juniors and freshmen in the Teaching Fellows program.
Background on the panelists:
John Denning (1993) – Sr. Director for Policy and Engagement for the NC New Schools Project
Denning is responsible for the overall management and leadership for strategic partnerships, research, communications and government relations for the NC New Schools Project. A North Carolina Teaching Fellow himself, Denning was appointed chair of the NC Teaching Fellows Commission in 2007 by then-Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue. An award-winning social studies teacher, Denning is a graduate of the NC Education Policy Fellowship Program and a former member of Gov. James B. Hunt’s Teacher Advisory Committee. Denning serves as a Perdue appointee to the board of directors of the Public School Forum of North Carolina.
Tom McCarthy (1993) – Principal at Arapahoe Charter in Arapahoe, N.C.
Running a charter school is not without challenges, said McCarthy, who holds a bachelor’s degree in social sciences education from Elon and a master’s degree in education administration from East Carolina University. He joined Arapahoe Charter School in August 2008 after working 14 years in the public school system, where he served as a teacher and then an administrator at the junior high level.
April Hewett Post (2001) – Senior Lecturer of Spanish at Elon University
Post graduated from Elon in 2001 with a degree in Spanish with K-12 teaching certification. She was a NC Teaching Fellow and immediately started teaching Spanish at Eastern Alamance High School. While teaching, she earned her master’s degree in Spanish from California State University-Sacramento by taking summer classes abroad. After finishing her degree in 2004, she was invited to join the Department of Foreign Languages at Elon and has recently been granted senior lecturer status.
Keebler McGhee Williams (1998) – Principal at Franklinville Elementary School in Randolph County (N.C.)
Keebler was a NC Teaching Fellow at Elon, an Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellow, and an Honors Fellow. She graduated with a degree in Elementary Education in 1998 and later became a NC Principal Fellow at N.C. State University, where she graduated in 2004 with a master’s degree in school administration. Keebler is currently working on a doctorate in educational leadership at UNC-Chapel Hill. She has completed all coursework and comprehensive exams, and she is in the very early stages of writing her dissertation. Prior to coming to Franklinville in August 2009, Keebler was a teacher and assistant principal in the Wake County Public School System.