Education

NC's new teacher of the year is named Freebird

Freebird McKinney, a social studies teacher in Burlington, tells crowd to "walk the path of the dragon slayer."

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2018 NC Teacher of the Year Freebird McKinney
By
Travis Fain
, WRAL statehouse reporter
CARY, N.C. — North Carolina's newest teacher of the year is a Burlington high school teacher named Freebird McKinney, and he says he was born to fly.

McKinney teaches social studies at Walter M. Williams High School. He was named the 2018 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year in a Friday ceremony attended by Gov. Roy Cooper, Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson and McKinney's fellow eight finalists.

McKinney calls himself "a village teacher." He told the luncheon crowd at The Umstead Hotel that he grew up wanting to be a hero: a Jedi knight, or Indiana Jones, or someone from a fantasy book. Instead, he found his calling.

"Walk the path of the dragon slayer," McKinney told the crowd. "My dragon is ignorance."

McKinney has been a teacher since 2004. He'll spend the next school year on a sabbatical of sorts, traveling North Carolina as an ambassador for teaching and going to Mexico as part of an endowment sponsored by Go Global NC. He'll also serve as an adviser to the State Board of Education.

McKinney said he tries to teach his students "to be a better human being than they were yesterday."

"I want them, each and every day, to leave my class in a moment of reflection: Was I better than I was yesterday?" he said. "I want them to do that by understanding their place in the story. I want them to do that by understanding their purpose and their calling. And we work on that all year, to make sure that you have something that you're willing to wake up for every single day, to live for, to fight for, a purpose, a calling.

"If they can do that," McKinney said, "then my job as an educator is done."

The other regional finalists for this year's state Teacher of the Year award were: Kaley Kiffner of Perquimans County Middle School, Cameron Gupton of Greene Early College High School, Kedecia Stewart of Pinkston Street Elementary School, Lindsey Sise of West Hoke Middle School, Lisa Wall of Burke Middle College, Julie Pittman of R-S Central High School and Courtney Samuelson of The Capitol Encore Academy.

The 2018 North Carolina Regional Teachers of the Year are:

  • Northeast: Kaley Kiffner, Perquimans County Middle (Perquimans County Schools);
  • Southeast: Cameron Gupton, Greene Early College High (Greene County Schools);
  • North Central: Kedecia Stewart, Pinkston Street Elementary School (Vance County Schools);
  • Sandhills: Lindsey Sise, West Hoke Middle (Hoke County Schools);
  • Piedmont-Triad: Bryan McKinney, Walter M. Williams High (Alamance-Burlington Schools);
  • Southwest: Samone Graham, Mooresville High (Mooresville Graded School District);
  • Northwest: Lisa Wall, Burke Middle College (Burke County Public Schools);
  • Western: Julie Pittman, R-S Central High (Rutherford County Schools); and
  • Charter Schools: Courtney Samuelson, The Capitol Encore Academy (Fayetteville)

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