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Master Teachers

Professional Development System

The PDS Master Teacher initiative is designed to recognize teachers in our partnership schools who have demonstrated excellence in teaching. These teachers will receive 30 hours of professional development and will work closely with our academic programs to impact their instruction and student learning. This is a three-year appointment.

The Mission of the Master Teacher Program

The mission of the master teacher program is to collaborate with professional educators to reflect on practices and impact the educational environment by:

  • Creating a safe, comfortable and caring environment where all children can learn.
  • Making decisions based on what is best for all students.
  • Engaging children in interesting and meaningful ways
  • Fostering the "whole" child to build connections that address their social, emotional and physical needs.
  • Reflecting on current and past practices to continually improve the learner's experience.

Believing that all students can learn, MASTER Teachers provide:

  • Opportunity - to learn, explore, face challenges
  • Inspiration - to create, design, discover
  • Encouragement - to try again, do their best, do it better, work harder, never-give-up
  • Connections - to the world beyond the classroom and community
  • Nurturing-Relationship - a caring adult
  • Cooperative engagement - to work with peers, challenge others, evaluate learning

 

Congratulations to our 2022-2025 Cohort 4 PDS Master Teachers

Marisol Soto

Marisol Soto is a Spanish teacher at Topsail High School in Pender County. She currently teaches Spanish levels one and two. She is also part of the school leadership team and has provided learning experiences for beginning teachers.

Marisol Soto headshot

Christine Sawyer

Christine Sawyer has a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art from Barton College, as well as her Elementary Education license and Master’s Degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from UNCW.

Christian Sawyer headshot

Chris Capen

Chris Capen is in her twenty-nineth year of teaching. She started out her teaching career in South Jersey before moving to North Carolina. She attended Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ and earned a B.A. in English/Liberal Arts.

Chris Capen headshot

Brad Hodges

Brad Hodges has been a teacher at Charles P. Murray Middle School in Wilmington, North Carolina for 9 years and currently teaches 8th grade Social Studies.

Brad Hodges headshot

Brittany Riggs

Brittany Riggs is currently in her ninth year of teaching. In her years of teaching, two were in Craven County, one in Guilford County, and the remainder in Onslow County.

Brittany Riggs headshot

Lauren Flythe

Lauren Flythe is a graduate of UNCW where she received her degree in Elementary Education. She has taught in New Hanover County for 14 years and teaches second grade at Murrayville Elementary. She has been a Nationally Board Certified Teacher since 2018 and recently maintained certification in 2022.

Lauren Flythe headshot

Hannah Moon

Hannah Moon is an English educator in New Hanover County, where all 19 of her years of experience have been at Laney High School. She has experience teaching all grade levels, but has a special affinity for her current assignment of English II, English IV, and AP Literature

Hannah Moon headshot

Katelyn Durkin

Katelyn Durkin is currently the Instructional Coach and MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) Coordinator at Ogden Elementary School in New Hanover County, where she has worked for the past 17 years.

Katelyn Durkin headshot

Gabrielle Riesner

Gabrielle is in her 18th year in education and is currently teaching biology and marine science at Southeast Area Technical High School. Prior to this she taught at New Hanover High School, in DC Public Schools, a bilingual school in San Pedro Sula Honduras, and a rural high school in Burnsville, NC.

Gabrielle Riesner headshot
Past Master Teachers
  • Amy Stuart
  • Dixie Smith
  • Gwendolyn Abraham
  • Jennifer Booher
  • LeAnne Vella
  • Nakita Thomas
  • Nick Jupena
  • Ryan Redd
  • Sara Haukos
  • Timothy Mills
  • Dorian Barnes
  • Carrie Barrett
  • Jessica Croson
  • Craig Mann
  • Victoria Minshew
  • Katie Snyder Fink
  • Jennifer Waring
  • Bridget Wortman
  • Alison Bellamy
  • Jennifer Choate
  • Rebecca Ham
  • Peter Hunt
  • Ashley Huygens
  • Carly Kanzler
  • Caroline Kemmerer
  • Brooke Kenworthy
  • Kylee Maarschalk
  • Christa Tompkins