Merelhth
February 12,2003
Herald
Volume XVIV, Issue 18
North Carolina first lady Mary Easley
speaks at School of Education banquet
Easley shares per
sonal experiences
and upcoming
legislation with
teachers and
Interns.
MARGARET ANN
COONEY
Features Editor
Meredith College was
pleased to welcome North
Carolina’s first lady Mary
Easley on Monday night.
Easley was the honorary
speaker at the School of
Education's Banquet honor
ing cooperating teachers
and Meredith College
interns.
Dr. Linda R. Hubbard,
dean of the School of
Education, started off the
banquet by acknowledging
the room fiill of teachers
and the important roles
they play in children’s
lives. "As a teacher you
have been called to serve,"
said Hubbard. "Always
remember children look to
you for guidance, support
and encouragement. The
greatest gift you can give to
any child is yourself, their
teacher."
Easley was invited to
speak because one of her
first initiatives as first lady
has been teacher recruit
ment.
"Mary Easley is a women
who understands the power
of education," said Tricia
Willoughby, director of the
Elementary Program for
cooperating teachers. "She
is really happy with us
because we [Meredith
College] have recruited a
lot of people to be teachers
here."
Even though she has a
law background, Easley
knows what it
is like to be a
teacher.
Besides being
the First Lady
since January
of 2001, she is
a clinical pro
fessor at the
North Carolina
Central
University
School of Law
in Durham and
teaches in the
Administrative
Officers’
Management
Program at
N.C. State.
Easley compared
Meredith students to those
at her alma mater, Wake
Forest University. "There is
no question that that same
focus, that same drive, that
same assertiveness is there,
and I see a lot of kindred
spirits in this room from
my Wake Forest experience
because a Meredith woman
is also veiy special and dif
ferent from other co-eds
that are enrolled in univer
sities and colleges," EasJey
said.
Easley took the time to
explain the various pro-
vice President Rosalind Relchard (L) presents Easley
with a Meredith blanket
Photo courtesy of Marketing & Communlcatloiis
grams her husband
Governor Easley is hoping
to implement in North
Carolina that will improve
the education system.
These include lowering
class sizes, which has
already been achieved in
kindergarten and first
grade. "I don't know how
you all do it with 25 kids in
a class," Easley said. "It is
the most amazing skill or
art, probably a combination
of both."
With smaller numbers, it
will be easier for a teacher
to control the classroom,
enabling
children to
learn more.
To the
applause of
the audience,
Easley also
explained
how
Governor
Easley is
pushing for
another step
increase in
teacher pay.
Within Ae
last few
years. North
Carolina has
risen from
46th in the nation in
teacher pay to 23rd as of
the 2001-2002 school year.
Another of Gov. Easley’s
focuses will be workplace
conditions for teachers.
Teachers all over North
Carolina are currently fill
ing out a survey on this
subject. North Carolina is
the only state in the U.S. to
do so.
Much of Easley's time
was spent sharing parallels
between her experiences as
a lawyer and a teacher.
Easley stated, "Both of
them [law and teaching]
require a lifetime of prac
ticing." She later told the
audience, "You are practic
ing. You will learn from the
experience and go forward,
and you have got to get
comfortable with that idea
because change is life and
change is growth."
The purpose of Monday
night’s banquet was to
honor those Meredith stu
dents who are spending
their spring semester stu
dent teaching and to
acknowledge the cooperat
ing teachers who have sup
ported the Meredith educa
tion department and its stu
dents.
On the inside:
Meet the candidates for SGA Find out about Meredith’s is Shanghai Knights worth
president. latest theatre performance. the price of admission?
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