Among the 10 recipients of the Governor’s Educator Discovery Award, which provides grants for educators to participate in professional development, was a trio of Spartans – Rong Zhang, Jessamyn Bailey, and Ameriki Somers.
Zhang currently teaches Mandarin Chinese at East Cary Magnet Middle School and is currently pursuing an add-on ESL license. Zhang used the award to participate in the 2024 MSU STARTALK for Chinese Language Teachers Program. The program, funded by the National Security Agency (NSA), works to increase the number of U.S. citizens who are proficient in criticial-need foreign languages, including Chinese.
Bailey, a 2021 completer of a licensure-only arts education program, is a visual arts and photography teacher at High Point Central High School. Bailey applied the award to attendance at the North Carolina Arts Educator Association Annual Conference that was held in Asheville. Among the opportunities available at the conference were workshops on photography curriculum development and new art-making techniques.
Somers, who graduated in 2022 with an MLIS (School Media Coordinator) is a media coordinator at Lowrance Middle School. Somers will use the grant to attend the American Association of School Librarians Conference in October. The conference will feature daily keynotes, more than 150 concurrent sessions, and research into practice sessions.
The Governor’s Educator Discovery Award is funded by member companies of the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE). The NCBCE is an education nonprofit which operates out of the Office of the Governor.
