FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CHAPEL HILL, NC – The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Commission has selected 114 individuals for the 2020 class of North Carolina Teaching Fellows. The commission received nearly 200 applications. The commission used GPA, standardized test scores, leadership and experience, and written essays to narrow this pool of applicants down to roughly 140 finalists. The commission determined the list of Fellows after conducting interviews with each finalist, which were held at four different locations around the state or by phone.
Those named as Fellows may attend any of the program’s five partner institutions: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, North Carolina State University, Elon University or Meredith College.
“The NC Teaching Fellows program is a vital program that recruits and supports our state’s best and brightest, encouraging them to pursue fulfilling careers in our schools,” said UNC System Interim President Bill Roper. “I congratulate each Fellow on their achievement. Their success is also our state’s success, because their talent and dedication will help increase student success in North Carolina’s K-12 classrooms and contribute to a promising future.”
The following individuals have been named as 2020 Teaching Fellows:
| Name | City (In NC unless otherwise noted) |
|---|---|
| Sophie Adgate | Wake Forest |
| Robyn Allaway | Cary |
| Gayatri Aluri | Matthews |
| Adrian Antonescu | Morrisville |
| Luis Aviles | Fayetteville |
| Halee Baker | Monroe |
| Eric Baptist | Charlotte |
| Clay Beasley | Princeton |
| Nicola Bridges | Forest City |
| Breanna Brummett | Wake Forest |
| Abby Cash | Burlington |
| Melissa Cavagnini | Asheville |
| Emma Chapman | Apex |
| John Church | Youngsville |
| MacKenna Clifton | Salisbury |
| Elizabeth Cohen | Reisterstown, Maryland |
| Caroline Congleton | Ayden |
| Lauren Cox | Eden |
| Ashleigh Cutrell | Fayetteville |
| Austin Denning Four | Oaks |
| Nick Doyle | Fuquay-Varina |
| Madeline Duchesne | Hendersonville |
| Kylie Dunbar | Ayden |
| Maddie Dwyer | Raleigh |
| Ijeoma Eke | Raleigh |
| Sarah Elam | Cary |
| Sandrika Freeman | Windsor |
| Ashley Frye | Wilmington |
| Savannah Garbark | Mint Hill |
| Brooke Grady | Kinston |
| Abby Gribble | Concord |
| Avery Harper | Deep Run |
| Lashonda Harris | Knightdale |
| Rachel Harshman | Hickory |
| Jordan Hasenfus | Cary |
| Abby Haydon | Matthews |
| Sarah Henderson | Lexington |
| Isabelle Herzog | Ogden, Utah |
| Rolanda Hines | Roxboro |
| Ashley Hinson | Greenville |
| Samantha Holmes | Garner |
| Cheyenne Hoppes | Marshall |
| Laina Hosey | Raleigh |
| Hannah Houk | Morganton |
| Marissa Hunter | Waynesville |
| Celeste Huntington | Carrboro |
| Hannah Huntsinger | Hickory |
| John Jackson | Etowah |
| Hannah Grace Jacob | Durham |
| Ashton Jones | Greenville |
| George Katsoulis | Greenville |
| Macie Korn | Maiden |
| Heidy Labra-Franco | Warrenton |
| Rod Lasster | Concord |
| Emerson Lawrence | Emerald Isle |
| Eujin Lee | Cary |
| Jack Maggio | Cary |
| Neely Mariee | Fuquay-Varina |
| Alexander Marler | Benson |
| Madi Joy Marlowe | Deep Gap |
| Curtis McGehee | Reidsville |
| Lonnie McRavin | Wadesboro |
| Kate Meares | Raleigh |
| Casey Mentch | Hendersonville |
| Grace Milkes | Wilmington |
| Abram Muniz | Oakboro |
| Madison Neal | Lexington |
| Trevor Newport | Graham |
| Kennedy Odom | Pikeville |
| Jada Page | Davidson |
| Chandler Parrish | Louisburg |
| Demaree Persson | Apex |
| Matthew Reep | Newland |
| Zoe Rein | Lakewood, Colorado |
| Alliyah Rich | Midland |
| Tesla Rider | Danbury |
| Sean Ryan | Garner |
| Giovanni Samuels | Charlotte |
| Grace Saunders | Concord |
| Emily Schofield | Apex |
| Sarah Shiflett | Apex |
| Leia Simmons | Lincolnton |
| Celia Skulnik | Silver Spring, Maryland |
| Dan Sobkowiak | Kannapolis |
| Emily Southard | Raleigh |
| Sarah Spartz | Sanford |
| Lindsey Stechschulte | Columbus |
| Madigan Stevenson | Wake Forest |
| Jackie Stoehr | Charlotte |
| Sarah Stoll | Newport |
| Amanda Stone | Monroe |
| Kathryn Streahle | Pinehurst |
| Parker Sutton | Cary |
| Cameron Tenpenny | Arden |
| Bailie Tew | Goldsboro |
| Alexa Tomlinson | Hampstead |
| Liset Trejo Ruiz | Snow Hill |
| Ana Treschl | Efland |
| Maddie Tucker | Concord |
| Sydney Tumey | Haw River |
| Kaila Umstead | High Point |
| Kathryn Vandergrift | Matthews |
| Abigail Wall | Kannapolis |
| Camille Walters | Charlotte |
| Hannah Washburn | Oakboro |
| Shelby Watson | Boone |
| Tori Weiss | Asheboro |
| Brantley Wiggins | Pikeville |
| Amaya Wilkins | High Point |
| Faelynn Williams | Edenton |
| Emily Willis | Asheville |
| TraVaye Worrell, Sr. | Raleigh |
| Lara Wright | Wanchese |
The mission of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program is to recruit, prepare, and support the state’s most promising students to attend North Carolina’s top education programs. Fellows will receive up to $4,125 per semester in forgivable loans if they commit to teach in a STEM or a special education area. The program is specifically designed to attract high-quality teachers to low-performing schools by offering an accelerated loan forgiveness schedule for Teaching Fellows who agree to teach in a low-performing school in North Carolina.
The Commission is comprised of four deans from educator preparation programs, teachers, principals, a member from business and industry and a local school board member. The NC Teacher of the Year, Principal of the Year, Superintendent of the Year, Chair of the State Education Assistance Authority (SEAA) Board of Directors and Director of the Teaching Fellows Program all serve as ex-officio members of the Commission.
North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program Highlights:
- The application for prospective Teaching Fellows will be made available in early October.
- The amount of the forgivable loan is up to $4,125 per semester.
- Any student with a high school, associate’s or bachelor’s degree is eligible. Even students who wish to transfer or change their majors are eligible.
- In order to qualify for loan forgiveness, Fellows are required to serve one year in a low-performing school or two years in another public school for every year they were awarded a loan. Fellows who leave the profession have 10 years to pay back the loan.