Carteret County Schools

Carteret County Public Schools in partnership with Citizens for Diversity in Education (CDE) applied for an EOC Network Affinity Group Support Award to offer professional enrichment opportunities for teacher assistants of color who wish to pursue a bachelor’s and advanced degree in education.

Members of Citizens for Diversity in Education along with Jessica Emory, Carteret County Public Schools’ director of Secondary Education led the district’s initiative. CDE began in 2016 as a sub-committee of the local NAACP. Now an independent affinity group composed largely of retired educators, CDE continues to advocate as “A Bridge to Diversity'' by ”Supporting an enhanced space for minority students to explore, learn, and develop, by evaluating our own biases, insensitivities and accountability.”

As plans got underway, the group decided to utilize their Minority Networking Group and include non-certified support staff within the county. They held quarterly online Zoom meetings with the Minority Network Group and realized that they could be more effective with their goal to increase the number of teachers of color in Carteret County Public Schools so that students of color will have teachers they can look to as mentors and role models with an EOC Network Affinity Group Support Award.

Citizens for Diversity in Education are encouraged with the responses that they have received and have now expanded with Mini Trainings for minority high school students that support and encourage careers in education.

Opportunities in the district the group hopes to capitalize on include Teacher Cadet programs at our three local high schools, the Big Rock Teaching Fellows Program through our Carteret Community College and students tutoring in afterschool programs that provide Apprenticeships.

Citizens of Diversity in Education members include: Lucy Bond (retired Elementary School Teacher), Rev. Curtis Oden (retired Environmental Specialist and Minister), Melissa Oden (Engineer), JoEllen Essex (retired Business Education Teacher), Sherrill Moraven (retired Administrator), Dr. Susan Schurer (retired German History Professor), Pauline Walker (retired high school Social Studies Teacher), and Hattie Whitfield (Substitution Teacher and retired Support Personnel).

For more information on the Educators of Color Network, please visit the EOC Network website.