By most measures, it’s safe to say that educators — particularly at the primary and secondary levels — have very difficult jobs.
Look at any job opening for a teacher and you will find, no matter the school system or grade level or subject, the requirements list is usually extensive. And that list usually doesn’t detail the day-to-day responsibilities, the difficult phone calls with parents, the challenges adjusting to new requirements and laws, and the varied backgrounds and personalities that enter their classrooms or schools every day.
Each year, Cumberland County Schools recognized four individuals for their work in and around the classrooms of the county: Steven Barbour of Terry Sanford High School, Erica Fenner-McAdoo of Howard Hall Elementary School, Kristle Rouse from Westover High School and Sade’ Mangum from Seventy-First High School. These four were cited by their peers as the “best of” for 2023-24, earning Teacher, Principal, Assistant Principal, and Beginning Teacher of the Year respectively.
In a statement spotlighting the honors, CCS Superintendent Dr. Marvin Connelly Jr. stated that the winners “highlight how our teachers and administrators are skilled, caring, dedicated and united for student success.” By honoring these four, the district says these individuals are not just meeting the requirements of their jobs but going above and beyond and rewarding them for it.
Coming to the profession
Barbour, a history teacher at Terry Sanford High, was no stranger to Cumberland County when he first came to the district to teach in 2000. He’s an alumnus of South View High School in Hope Mills, and in a district video earlier this year, cited his old AP U.S. history teacher at South View as his inspiration for getting into teaching. Twenty-four years later, he was honored as the top teacher in that same district.
“I believe in the mission of public education,” he said. “I believe it’s essential for democracy. On a personal level, I enjoy being a part of young people’s personal growth.”
It’s that same process — helping young people grow and succeed — and that same type of personnel (a former teacher) that inspired Fenner-McAdoo, the district’s Principal of the Year from Howard Hall Elementary in Fayetteville. She referenced her kindergarten teacher Mr. Jordan, who “loved me” and “made school fun.” But even before then, Fenner-McAdoo says, the teaching bug had bit. Her mother helped her turn a backyard playhouse into a classroom for baby dolls with discarded textbooks when she was 8 years old.
“In my mind, I was a teacher, and as I grew up, I never lost that passion,” she said. “I wanted to be a ‘Ms. Jordan’ in the life of a student one day.”
Featured as the WRAL News Teacher of the Week in mid-December 2023, Mangum is also a CCS alum, graduating from the same school at which she now teaches. In 2021, she started working as the junior varsity cheerleading coach at Seventy-First. During that time, she says, she developed a desire to be more involved in her charges’ academic careers.
“I wanted to be closer to my students and support them both on and off the field,” she said. “Once I took on the role of an educator, I quickly realized the profound impact I could have, not just on student athletes but on all students. Witnessing their growth, guiding them through challenges, and celebrating their successes has been incredibly fulfilling.”
Similar to Fenner-McAdoo, Rouse’s education career started early. She also played school growing up, enlisting her younger sister and teddy bears to sit under her tutelage. After starting as a science teacher in the district in 2013, she became assistant principal at Westover High in 2020.
“Education has always been an option for me,” Rouse said. “Even though we may have tough days, my ‘why’ is always the students. I show up every day because they do, for some of our students, we are their constant.”
For the students
Each of these four educators, when speaking about why they got into education, referenced “students.” Students are the purpose, they say, the ones who are the recipients of all the work educators do.
Challenges with students are becoming one of the most significant sources of stress for teachers nationwide. In a 2024 nationally representative survey from the nonprofit public policy group RAND Corporation, 45% of all teachers said “managing student behavior” was a source of job-related stress, top on the list. Additional sources of stress included supporting learning lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic and supporting students’ mental health and well-being. Despite these stressors, and reported well-being worse than that of similar working adults, teachers who answered the survey were “as likely to say that they intend to leave their jobs as similar working adults.”
Put simply, Mangum and her colleagues want their students to grow; they say engaging these students is the key to making education successful. The reigning Beginning Teacher of the Year said she works to try to create “a dynamic and inclusive learning environment” in order to “motivate and inspire students to stay excited about their education.”
“To keep students engaged, I make lessons relevant to their lives, incorporate hands-on activities, and use interactive projects,” she said. “Differentiated instruction ensures that all students can access the content, and building strong relationships fosters a supportive classroom community. Additionally, utilizing technology and multimedia resources adds an interactive dimension to lessons.”
Fenner-McAdoo cited the late educator Rita Pierson, who said in a 2013 TED Talk that “children don’t learn from people they don’t like.” Fenner-McAdoo encourages teachers at her school and helps establish programs at Howard Hall Elementary to try to build relationships with students to engage them in learning.
“The first key to student engagement is building relationships,” she said. “This goes back to my education philosophy about leading and teaching with heart. … Students must trust their teacher and know he or she has their best interest at heart. Building the relationship is half the battle sometimes.”
Rouse turns also to a quote, this one from author and leadership guru John C. Maxwell: “Students don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”
“Students do not learn from … people they feel do not care about their overall well-being,” she said, adding that “building and maintaining relationships” with students is the key to keeping those students engaged in the educational process.
Barbour cites numerous factors that keep students engaged, including a “supportive family structure, highly qualified teachers, properly funded schools and relevant lessons.” In his Teacher of the Year nomination portfolio, Barbour also cited the importance of connecting with students.
“Students need to feel personally invested in their learning to be successful,” he wrote. “Building meaningful relationships with students is an important component of that investment — empowerment is the other.”
Staying fresh
The RAND survey found that almost twice as many teachers had “frequent job-related stress or burnout” compared to similar working adults, and around three times as many educators “reported difficulty coping” with that kind of stress.
So how do these educators cope? Fenner-McAdoo cited community outside the school, including her family and her church, as a critical piece of decompressing and recharging.
“I love spending time with my family,” she said. “I unplug and live in the moment with them. Time is one thing we can not get back. Being intentional about listening, laughing, and loving on them is always my target.”
Rouse also referenced church “because it helps keep me grounded and centered on my purpose,” and added that reading “helps stimulate my mind and allows for continued growth.” Traveling is also helpful for her. Barbour spends time outside, coaching the boys and girls soccer teams at Terry Sanford, exercising, and cycling while also prioritizing family time. Mangum also says family time is critical, along with trips to the spa.
“These activities help me unwind and maintain a healthy work-life balance,” she said. “They rejuvenate me and provide a mental break, allowing me to return to the classroom refreshed and energized.”
As we welcome August and classrooms prepare to open back up for the 2024-25 school year, each of these four individuals — along with the more than 3,000 teachers across Cumberland County Schools — will return to their purpose, taking the summertime refresh and going back to the grind.
After all, there are students who need to learn, students who have an opportunity to grow.
“Ultimately, education is very existential in nature,” Barbour said. “Education is a tool for a person [to] maximize their human potential and develop their identity.”
Rouse adds: “As educators, we are there to help guide children into the next levels and phases of their lives. So, my goal is to equip my students with the skills necessary to move to the next phase in their lives.”
Read CityView Magazine’s “Back to School” August 2024 e-edition here.