APA is fortunate to add three alumni to our faculty this year. Samantha (Waida) Rouse, Class of 2013, is our new Lower and Middle School Art teacher. She earned a B.S. in Elementary Education with a concentration in Visual Arts at Appalachian State. Reflecting on her first few weeks, Samantha said, “One big change I’ve noticed is how much Parrott has grown not only as a school, but also in the programs offered here. There were a lot of opportunities when I was a student, but now there are so many more!”
Heather (Minges) Wiggins, Class of 1995, has stepped into the 1st grade classroom. With a Bachelor’s in Social Work from Meredith and an MAT in Elementary Ed from ECU, Heather has taught previously in Pitt and Greene counties. After a few years at home with her three children (all now at Parrott), she came as a First Grade Assistant last year and is now heading her own class. She loves the family feeling she still finds on the APA campus.
Margaret Ellen (Edwards) Atkinson, Class of 2012, has replaced retiring Ashely Rudolph in 2nd grade. With an Elementary Education degree from ECU, she’s had three years teaching experience at Snow Hill Primary. “I’m honored to work alongside so many of my past teachers that I’ve admired throughout the years,” she said.
These three “newcomers” join the following faculty and staff who are all Patriot Proud alums: Karen Barker, Amy Calhoun, Malia Ervin, Candi Beaman, Kimberly Whitley, Erin Grimes, Julie Blythe, Mary Katherine Hill, Matt Beaman, Penny Manning, and Jane Newton.
Parrott Academy’s middle school bible study groups welcomed Rector Tom Warren, APA Class of 1999, as a guest speaker on Wednesday, April 11. Reverend Warren talked to the middle schoolers about our attempts to make plans and how sometimes things go as planned and sometimes they don’t. His message was that God has a plan. Reverend Warren shared a slideshow of his life including playing basketball at Parrott, serving in the Coast Guard, and starting a family. We congratulate him on his appointment as Rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Kinston, NC and thank him for returning to his alma mater and sharing his experiences with our students!
creating a garment. I basically gave them an overview of the entire process and introduced them to the various areas/different paths of apparel development. I brought in different items and examples from my projects to allow them to visualize everything that goes into developing a piece from idea to final garment. I briefly went over each step which included concept creation, different seam/stitch types, pattern making, cutting, basic sewing terminology, prototypes and the final pieces that I had made for my senior collection. I also brought in textile fabrics that I had designed on different computer software programs (mainly Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop) that I had printed onto fabric to introduce them to textile design. When most people think of fashion design they mostly think about the sewing stage, which actually is one of the smaller stages in development- so my main goal was to show them all of the stages and different possibilities in fashion design because it’s something I wish I had been introduced to before I had gone to college. The students were awesome-they had really neat ideas and showed a lot of interest!
Will Cannon, APA class of ’98, has been selected as the winner of the Outstanding Achievement Pro Bono Award for the NCBA IP Section (North Carolina Bar Association Intellectual Property Section). Will is being honored for his exceptional pro bono efforts in the last year. Throughout 2016, Will sought out and provided legal support to organizations including Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and Sow Much Good. These organizations are dedicated to the distribution of fresh food to impoverished areas of the state. He has also worked with nonprofits that provided support to women, as well as ecological conservation groups. Will’s community service work began at Parrott where he was one of the students who founded SERV! Will is a partner in the intellectual property group at Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, based in the Raleigh office.
rd Law. I still work on pro bono criminal matters, though the majority of my work involves civil litigation.
The Class of 1976 alumni recently celebrated their 40th reunion in November, 2016. Jo Allen, Chuck Ball, Doug Shackelford, and Nancy Sauls organized the event. Jo Allen hosted in her home. Hugh Pollock, our assistant headmaster, was able to catch up with Doug Shackelford, APA ’76. Doug is the dean of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School. He also serves as the Meade H. Willis Distinguished Professor of Taxation.
ade to discuss girls’ and women’s health issues and rights Morgan felt the conference was, “a phenomenal opportunity to engage in the international conversation on global maternal health, sustainability, and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.” During the four-day event, Barbre heard presenters such as Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Margaret Chan, and Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation. But the speaker who most impressed Morgan was a midwife from Nakaseke Hospital in Uganda. The woman’s fierceness and dedication to her profession left their mark on Morgan. The entire experience inspired her to plan several speaker events this fall at NC State.
f Wolfpack basketball season. This semester, Cannon planned PackHowl, NC State’s sold-out Homecoming concert. Cannon also secured the Country Music Association’s endorsement to launch a chapter of its college outreach program, CMA EDU, at NC State. Amanda spent this past summer interning in marketing at the Grand Ole Opry. After graduating from NC State in the spring of 2017, Amanda plans to relocate to Nashville and begin a career in the music industry.
APA Alumni News 