HIGH POINT, N.C., April 2, 2015 – High Point University’s School of Education hosted Sean McComb, National Teacher of the Year, on March 31.
McComb, a high school English teacher from Maryland, was named the 64th National Teacher of the Year for 2014. He teaches at Patapsco High School & Center for the Arts in Baltimore, where he has spent his eight-year teaching career. In addition to teaching, McComb supports his Patapsco colleagues through coaching and training as the school’s staff development teacher. He also served as a curriculum writer for the school system and an adjunct instructor in education and writing at Towson University.
During McComb’s visit, he spoke to HPU students, faculty and staff as well as teachers, principals and superintendents from the community. He talked about how great teaching requires a balance of supporting the growth and development of habits and character, along with specific content skills. According to McComb, to meet this immense challenge, the culture of both schools and classrooms must constantly evolve toward a community characterized by support, collaboration and improvement.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to listen to McComb speak at HPU,” said Erin Sullivan, HPU education major. “I took to heart his main message about sparking hope in the classroom with your students. Every student brings something special to the table, and as an educator, it is your job to bring that out of them. As a soon to be educator, I hope to take his advice and use it with my future students.”
“McComb’s message was refreshingly positive about teaching and public education,” says Dr. Mariann Tillery, dean of the School of Education. “At a time when tremendous challenges exist, particularly in our state, we need voices from both teacher preparation programs and the public schools to advocate for the rights of all children to receive a quality education.”