Gaston County Schools has nominated five principals for the school district’s annual Principal of the Year recognition.
The finalists are Loretta Reed of Woodhill Elementary, Torben Ross of Robinwood Elementary, Jill Payne of Hawks Nest STEAM Academy, Kevin Doran of Cherryville High and Tyler West of Pinewood Elementary.
Gaston County s 2021-22 Teacher of the Year will be named spring 2021 during the district s Evening of Excellence program.
About the finalists:
Loretta Reed began her Gaston County Schools career as a teacher at Hancock Elementary School, which was replaced by Brookside Elementary when it opened in 1994.
She taught at Brookside, Holbrook and Southwest middle schools and Ashbrook High. After teaching in Charlotte briefly, she became assistant principal at North Gaston High School and later moved on to York Chester Middle School. She served Grier Middle School as principal for four years before transferring to Woodhill Elementary ahead of the 2018-19 school y
Students at Gaston County Schools have yet another choice in educational programs and pathways.
Denise McLean, Gaston County Schools’ executive director of student support services, recently announced the launch of the Gaston Early College of Medical Sciences – a healthcare-driven high school with four- and five-year pathways – ahead of the 2021-22 school year.
It’s the school districts 21st student choice program ever to be offered.
Students can earn their high school diploma, as well as an associate degree from Gaston College, while sticking to one of a number of concentrations, which include nursing, human services, human services technology, pre-medicine, biotechnology and medical office administration.
Gastonia Mayor Walker Reid was expecting a mundane City Council meeting on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 5.
Instead, the meeting turned out to be a high point in his life as he was named to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor available in North Carolina. Total and tremendous surprise, he recalled. My family knew. The staff knew. The council knew. Everyone knew but me.
Reid knew something was up, however, when his wife and brother walked into the council chambers and when Sen. Kathy Harrington s face appeared via Zoom on the room s large viewing screen.
Iemaan Baagil, owner of You 1st Pharmacy on Garrison Boulevard in Gastonia, sums up her business philosophy with a question:
“A lot of pharmacies offer home delivery, but with how many of them are you going to look up and see the pharmacist at your door?”
Yet at You 1st, that is exactly what will happen for the small business has only two employees. Pharmacist and owner Baagil and pharmacist Sue Chen.
No support staff. No clerical personnel. Just them.
The two have known each other more than 25 years, with most of those years spent working together at large chain pharmacies.
Gaston County Schools continues to lead the state in Career and Technical Education, but the school district recently reached another milestone.
Based on CTE data from the 2019-20 school year, Gaston County Schools not only achieved the highest number of credentials earned by students in North Carolina, but also achieved the highest percentage of students who earned more than one credential in a particular trade. It’s the first time a school district earned both top rankings in the same school year, according to the state Board of Education.
In a nutshell, a credential represents a workforce skill that’s been mastered.