ROANOKE RAPIDS — Halifax County Schools’ teachers and other instructional staff recently completed an intensive two weeks of professional development with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

Contributed photo | Daily Herald Southeast Halifax High School teachers on a team building project — balancing six nails atop a single, standing nail. The many different solutions to the task not only got the teachers to work collaboratively on a difficult project, but also showed the teachers that there are many different ways to reach and educate students. Southeast Principal Tonya Mewborn holds the instructions for the group of teachers who first accomplished the feat. Advertisement

During the two-week training sessions, instructional staff learned the importance of better collaboration, more rigorous instruction and the essentials of higher expectations for students.

They also created lesson plans that incorporated differentiated instruction and more rigor and relevance so that all students in their classrooms, regardless of grade level, would not only know the facts, but be able to answer tougher questions such as “why.”

The teachers then presented their lessons to fellow teachers in their schools and in their grade levels to see if they could be made more accessible and more engaging to students, as well as giving students the opportunity to see the lesson in a broader and deeper context.

A couple of dozen experts in all fields of education from DPI were on hand to  help the teachers.

The first day of training started with brief presentations by Superintendent Geraldine Middleton, State Board of Education Chairman Bill Harrison, HCS School Board Chairwoman Debbie Hardy, DPI Transformation Director Pat Ashley and two Halifax County students — eighth grader Embria Jones and fourth grader Johntia King — who told the teachers what they want and need to prepare for their futures.

During the final week of professional development, instructional staff was also greeted by State Superintendent June Atkinson, Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning and by video by Gov. Beverly Perdue.

In a recent interview, Northwest Halifax High School band teacher Teicher Patterson, who also serves as president of the Halifax County branch of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said the professional development was very helpful.

Patterson said that while many educators have had these kinds of training sessions in the past, this was the first time that every teacher received the same intensive professional development together at the same time.

It allowed teachers to not only work on team-building skills within their schools, but to also collaborate with peers in other schools. Through team building and collaboration, teachers will be able to reach out to others to strengthen lesson plans so that all students are reached at a high level of education, district officials said.

“This has been a very good experience,” said Enfield Middle School English teacher Yolanda Wiggins. “We need this assistance and this is quality assistance.”

 Michael Hickman, one of the chief DPI Transition team members, praised the teachers for their hard work over the two-week period. “This is a true partnership,” he said. “We have high expectations of this instructional staff, which will mean only positive results for the students in Halifax County.”