• Congratulations to our Teacher of the Year for 2021-22:

    Mrs. Michele Lee!

     

     MLee

    Hello, my name is Michele Moore Lee, and the 2021-2022 school year will be my 18th year teaching. I am proud to say that every one of these years has been teaching our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students at Erwin Elementary School. Erwin, our school and our community, is near and dear to my heart for many reasons. Both of my parents were born in Erwin, Mama at Good Hope Hospital and Daddy in a house, which no longer exists, on the corner of E Street and South 13th Street. My daddy, all his brothers and sisters, my cousins, my husband, myself, and my son all attended Erwin School in one or more of its many phases. I entered the field of education at the age of 34 after having worked in about every area of newspaper for USA Today, at the Daily Record in Dunn, as well as newspapers in Garner, Benson, Four Oaks, and Clayton. One of the responsibilities I enjoyed the most while working in the newspaper was going out to the schools to report on all the things that were happening, as well as learning about people and their journeys through life. I worked at Morganite for a few years before I ended up going back to school at Fayetteville State University. After taking classes at UNC Charlotte, NC State, and CCCC, I finally earned my bachelor’s degree in education from FSU, then went on to receive my master’s in education from Campbell University. I also have AIG and ELL certifications. 

     

    Why did it take me so long to realize my purpose in this world? I have always loved learning, but sometimes we just need to experience different situations before we understand what we are destined to be. I realized that I wanted to inspire in children the love of learning, and I wanted to be the one to provide them with experiences like they had never had before. COVID restrictions have put a big damper on many of the activities we would usually do in the classroom, but we have pushed forward to try to make the learning environment more loving, accepting, and understanding of each other and our different situations. I truly believe I was put here to make the world a better place, so I try to do that daily with our students, staff, in my neighborhood and community. I may teach reading, math, science, social studies, and health, but the most important thing for me is to teach the children and adults of this world to be kind, to be compassionate, and to be able to empathize with others, even when their lives and experiences are very different from ours.