Staff meetings are common and expected at the start of every new school year, but this year’s meeting for Exceptional Children teachers had one educator crying happy tears in a room full of her clapping peers.
This year, the district representative for the North Carolina’s Exceptional Children’s Educator of Excellence was announced at the end of the Exceptional Children staff meeting – different than it’s been in years past.
Up until now, teachers were surprised in their classrooms by Exceptional Children Director Lynn Metcalf, who would deliver the news that they’d be representing Henderson County Public Schools as an Educator of Excellence at the statewide annual conference. Metcalf said the local educators winning the award deserved to be recognized by their peers at home, in addition to the EC teachers at the state conference. So she announced the district’s 2017 EC Educator of Excellence in August, at the end of the countywide staff meeting.
A leader at Flat Rock Middle and throughout the Exceptional Children educational community, Beth Julian was chosen as Henderson County’s representative for the North Carolina’s Exceptional Children’s Teacher of Excellence, for her leadership and service both in and out of the classroom.
Julian was also recently recognized as Teacher of the Year at Flat Rock, where she mentors new teachers and regularly hosts student teachers from neighboring universities. Julian also serves as chairperson for the district’s Exceptional Children team and is Flat Rock’s representative on the Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council.
“One of Julian’s greatest strengths is her ability to reach out to her students’ parents and create relationships that foster student success,” said Metcalf. “She builds trusting relationships with each family, setting the tone for their child’s whole school experience.”
“It’s a team effort,” Julian said, referring to her EC teacher peers. “We conference about everything. That’s how you learn.”
“I’m as good as the people around me,” Julian said.
 – By Molly McGowan Gorsuch
Public Information Officer
