From the University of North Carolina — Asheville:
Brook Thompson Named 2016-17 North Carolina – West Education Policy Fellow
Brook Thompson, UNC Asheville teacher recruitment and retention liaison, has been named a 2016-17 North Carolina – West Education Policy Fellow by the North Carolina Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP), a leadership and policy development program for mid-career professionals who work in public, private and nonprofit institutions in education, health and human services, business, community development and other areas.
Through this fellowship, participants work to better understand the history and structure of education policy and policy-making in North Carolina, engage in leadership development, and work with specific issues affecting students, families, and educators in an informed and collegial environment.
“I am very excited to engage with professionals across the state who are eager to better understand the intricacies of education policy,” Thompson says. “I hope to take what I learn and share it with our teacher licensure students so that they can effectively advocate for their profession.”
In addition to her duties as the teacher recruitment and retention liaison, Thompson coordinates the lateral entry distance education program, serves as the director of the University School Teacher Education Partnership, and advises the university’s chapter of the Student North Carolina Association of Educators.
Thompson’s career in education includes working as program instructor at the Close Up Foundation, a civic education organization in Washington, D.C.; as program coordinator for Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, where she worked with local elementary schools and afterschool groups; and as the family and community facilitator and student services coordinator for GEAR UP in McDowell County Schools. She also volunteers with UNC Asheville’s Juntos program, which serves Latino youth in Asheville City and Buncombe County Schools. Thompson holds an M.A. in teaching, secondary social studies education from Western Carolina University.
UNC Asheville Associate Professor of Education Tiece Ruffin also received a fellowship this year, and Andrea Martinez, the university’s director of pre-college outreach, received a fellowship last year.
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