Six New Teachers! Meet Them All.
Returning principal Walt Padgett and his staff welcomed six new faculty members: Patricia Piland, Meg Poore Bittner, Rebecca Gallaher, Allison Moote, Crystal Canterbury, and Trisha Ballance.
Ocracoke Current was on the scene as the new teachers cleaned, inventoried, unpacked, organized, decorated, labeled, and made themselves at home in their new spaces. Each was happy to share their excitement for the new school year and reluctant to have their picture taken for the Current. But we like putting names to faces, so please let us introduce....
Patricia Piland, Middle School Science:
Patricia has taught science for 11 years, mostly at the high school level. She became a teacher through lateral entry with an undergrad degree in biology. She says she's a "late bloomer," adding "It's never to late to go back to school."
Patricia has lived her whole life in Northeastern North Carolina, and came to Ocracoke for the first time as a child. Her grandfather had converted an old school bus into a camper, and the family would stay at the Park Service campground when it was down base where the big parking area is now. She's vacationed on the Outer Banks ever since. She grew up in Ahoskie, spent some time in Gates County, and more recently lived (and taught) in Currituck and Pitt counties.
The word has gotten around that she's Nick Piland's mom, and that's true. Her son, Jeremy, also lived on Ocracoke several years ago. Living on the island is a family tradition that Patricia is happy to continue.
"I was looking for something different," she said. "I like the small classes and the intimate community on Ocracoke. And I'm excited about the age group, and getting to teach middle school."
Patricia's experience with high school science courses will benefit her students.
"I know what these young people need to get ready for high school science," she said.
Meg Poore Bittner, 5th Grade
Meg is a 1983 graduate of Ocracoke School, who's returning to the island for a change of scenery, trading the mountains and desert for a home on the water.
For the last 22 years, she's been teaching in Flagstaff, AZ where she grew up. Her parents own a house on Silver Lake, and took a sabbatical here in 1982 when Meg was in high school. She has visited Ocracoke with her parents almost every summer since then.
Meg is also an artist, a painter of abstract landscapes, and she trained at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston before becoming a teacher. She originally planned this move to Ocracoke just to paint, but then the position opened up at the school.
"I'm super excited to be here," she said. "And happy about the new opportunities."
She's taught art, and been a classroom teacher and reading specialist, but this will be her first year with a full classroom of 5th graders.
Meg's also a yoga instructor, and an ultra-trail runner. For the past ten years she has been training for and running ultra-distance courses and high mountain-desert trails. The flat, humid, sea-level Outer Banks Marathon will be a new experience for her.
Meg brought another new face to Ocracoke School. Her daughter, Annie Bittner, will be a sophomore. Annie's a gymnast and has also played volleyball, and will join the Ocracoke volleyball team this week.
Rebecca Gallaher, Middle School Language Arts
Rebecca will start out the school year already counting down the three weeks until she leaves.
She and her husband, Aaron, are expecting a baby boy due September 18th, and Rebecca will be on maternity leave until just before Christmas break.
Rebecca used to teach English in both regular and special education classes at Sanderson High School in Raleigh. One year, she decided to spend a summer on Ocracoke, working at the Pelican Restaurant (now Dajio.) She didn't plan to stay, but says "I could not stop coming back." Her one summer has turned into ten years.
During that time, she worked on adding Middle School Language Arts certification to her list of credentials. In 2011, she was offered and accepted the same position she has now. She was pregnant, then, too, and had to give up the job before school started to go on bed rest. The whole island was heartbroken for Rebecca and Aaron when their twin baby girls were born too early to survive.
Last year, Rebecca taught 4th grade as the interim teacher when Rita Thiel was on medical leave and disability. A teaching job, a healthy pregnancy – everything is now the way it should be.
"When I had to quit, Mr. Padgett said to me, 'Don't worry, things will work out' and now he's back, and I'm back in the position I was hoping for," she said, looking radiant.
Rebecca's been planning for her maternity leave with her sub, retired first grade teacher Mary Ellen Piland. She's also been communicating with Shea Youell, who had the position for two years and left to join the Peace Corps.
"I wish Shea was still here, but it's so nice in this job to focus on one subject area, which is my favorite," she said. "I'd like to keep the momentum that he had going – I like the way he had things set up here."
She's excited about the books that the middle schoolers will be reading. The 8th graders will start with a Revolutionary War story and study American Literature in chronological order, while taking American History with Gwen Austin. 6th and 7th graders read World Literature; 6th grade will start with a novel about child slavery in Pakistan and 7th graders will read about young Sudanese refugees. Way to give the kids some perspective!
Trisha Ballance, 4th Grade
Trisha comes to us from Chatham County Schools, where she was a curriculum coach, helping her fellow teachers with their lesson plans and teaching methods. Before she got her Master's in curriculum instruction, she was a classroom teacher and spent five years teaching 4th grade in Montgomery County.
"It's my favorite grade," she said. "I love to teach North Carolina history, and expose the students to what an amazing state we live in, both geographically and historically."
Her theme for the year will be "From the Mountains to the Sea," which is also the slogan for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching.
NCCAT is what first brought Trisha to Ocracoke in 2008 (she admits she's "more of a mountain girl" having attended Appalachian State University) and she immediately loved the sense of community on the island.
Now that she's married to Ocracoke native Alton Ballance, his family history makes her love this place even more. They have a 7 month-old daughter that Trisha is happy to be raising in Alton's grandmother's house.
"Emma Reese needs to be here where her roots are," she said, adding that Uncle Kenny lives right next door. Alton is the center fellow at Ocracoke's NCCAT campus and also owns the Crew's Inn Bed and Breakfast.
Trisha is excited about working at Ocracoke School. She sees how the community works together on a common goal: providing what's best for the students.
"Even though one might consider the students isolated because they live on an island, we can bring the world to them," she said.
Crystal Canterbury, Exceptional Child Kindergarten Aide
Crystal started her new job at Ocracoke School exactly three years to the day of her move to the island.
Originally from West Virginia (and a proud Mountaineer graduate of WVU), Crystal came here to work at Ocracoke Child Care. She'd been visiting since she was seven years old, and decided to fulfill her childhood dream of living on Ocracoke.
Crystal moonlights as a trombonist and vocalist in the Ocracoke Jazz Band, a.k.a. Lightnin' Lou and the Blackouts, and can be found onstage at various island venues.
In February she married sweetheart Will Canterbury, who works as a manager at Zillie's. Crystal and Will met on Ocracoke.
"He was a tourist," she said. "And we decided he shouldn't leave."
During her time at OCC, she worked in every classroom with all the kids. Her undergrad degree is in music education, but she has been studying early child education online through Carteret Community College.
"I'm thrilled to have this opportunity to be in the public school system," she said.
Her duties will be to "aid any child who needs extra attention," she said. The 12 students who will start Kindergarten today are her former daycare charges, and they know and love Miss Crystal very well already.
Allison Moote, Library Aide
Allison is "very excited" about her new job working with teachers and students as the school librarian.
"I'm excited to help the students with finding books, doing research, and learning how to use the library effectively," she said. Now that she's the library aide, Allison can use her degree, her great love of books, and her creativity in the job she's been working toward for several years.
She got her undergrad degree in history from Warren Wilson College, and then completed a Master's in Library Science in 2011 through an online course at Clarion University.
Allison's been involved with Ocracoke Library as a member of the Friends of the Library board, and a volunteer for the summer reading program. She was also a Girl Scout leader for three years.
Allison came to Ocracoke as a Cobb House girl, and lived there from 1996 until 2003, when she flew the nest to start a family. Her son, Jackson, will be in 4th grade this year, and just as you might expect, he's an avid reader. Little Chloe, who's 18 months old, loves books, too.
Allison recently left her position in customer service at Tideland EMC, where she worked for six years with her partner, Bobby O'Neal. Now she gets to be colleagues with her sister, Claudia Lewis, who teaches 2nd grade at Ocracoke School.
Ocracoke Library is a joint venture between Ocracoke School and the Beaufort-Hyde-Martin counties' library system. Allison will work with the Mattamuskeet School librarians on navigating the new Common Core curriculum for Hyde County Schools. She'll also collaborate with BHM librarian Peter Vankevich to ensure that the library is meeting the students' and patrons' needs. She plans to start a full inventory of the collection right away.
Ocracoke School is lucky to have these accomplished and dedicated new additions to the faculty. The Ocracoke Current wishes everyone a great school year!
