Be Nice.
Also honesty, self-discipline, and responsibility, among other good things.
“We read stories and talk about the characters, and about using problem-solving skills and relationship skills,” she said.
Elementary students have regular guidance classes every other week. Stacie interweaves the NC standards for counseling programs with the real world of the students.
“I like responding to what the classroom needs,” she said, and notes that it almost always comes down to kindness. “We’re always talking about how to care for each other.”
She uses music and puppets to help reinforce her message. She has a “Be Honest” song and a “Responsibility” song, and has recently starting teaching the “I Care” rules. (#1: We listen to each other. Read the rest here.)
January is self-discipline month, and the children are talking about self-control and the complementary concepts of loyalty, effort, and commitment
Each student made a personal goal for the month. Some examples:
“I will use self-control by raising my hand.” – Maren
“I will use self-control and keep my hands to myself.” – Nicholas C.
“I will use self-control and listen to the teacher.” Valerie
These worthy goals decorate Stacie’s bulletin board and remind students of their responsibilities.
While elementary and middle school students have guidance class time, the high schoolers have different needs. Part of Stacie’s job is to help older students with scheduling, online classes, college applications, scholarships, and transcripts.
Stacie’s also available to students and parents for one-on-one services. She says parents are always welcome to discuss anything with her, and that she can meet with kids to work on specific needs and issues.
She’s the middle school girls’ basketball coach, as well. She started out co-coaching with Noel Goodwin, but took over the team when Noel’s baby was born in late November. The girls are having a great season with a 5–0 record. Go Dolphins!
Stacie came to Ocracoke in October by way of Mattamuskeet School.
She had been staying with some friends in Canada, and looking for a job on the coast of North Carolina, as close to water as possible. She found an opening at Mattamuskeet School and moved to Hyde County sight unseen last August.
She said the mainlanders she met “went out of their way to be the nicest kindest people. They genuinely want to make you feel welcome.”
Stacie was settling into her job at Mattamuskeet, until one day when the Hyde County Superintendent dropped by her room.
“Dr. Latimore told me he had bad news and good news,” she said. “Because of budget cuts, my position was cut. But there was a new opening at Ocracoke because Mary McKnight was leaving.”
Stacie jumped at the chance to move even closer to the waves (she took up surfing five years ago.)
“I feel extremely lucky to be here,” she said. “I’m enjoying the opportunity to be in the water when I can, and I’m excited for warmer weather in the spring.”
Deciding to embrace the local culture, Stacie bought a boat and a fishing pole. And she appreciates how welcoming the community is.
“I feel like I’ve landed in a really good spot,” she said.
That’s nice to hear, considering how many places she’s been before Ocracoke. Stacie was born in Illinois, went to college in Alabama (undergrad at Auburn University) and Maine (grad school at University of Southern Maine). She decided to leave Maine eventually, she said, because “I got tired of being cold.”
That’s when she decided to try North Carolina. Stacie spent three years at a high school in western NC, then starting working for the Department of Defense. She signed on for an elementary guidance position at Guantanamo Bay, teaching the children of the naval station. That sounds like a small place, and it is, but still bigger than Ocracoke.
Guantanamo was a “tough place to live” Stacie said. She couldn’t easily leave the island and although she could see Cuba over the fence, she couldn’t go there. The frustrations of intermittent ferry service on Ocracoke are small in comparison.
When she left Gitmo, Stacie decided to take a break from teaching and do something totally different. She moved to Boulder, Utah (not Colorado!) and worked at a farm-to-table organic farm and restaurant.
”I like to experience different things,” she said. In all, Stacie has been a special education teacher for ten years and a guidance counselor for six years.
Now she’s happy to be back into teaching and counseling.
“I love what I’m doing. I can’t believe how lucky I am,” she said.
As for her students, they are lucky to have a guidance counselor so committed to spreading good will.
“I just want people to be good neighbors,” Stacie said. “If we focus on that, the world will be a kinder place.”
