Only 15 educators from across the state were selected from among nearly 100 applications for this collaborative effort between UNC’s Southern Oral History Program and Carolina K-12.
The program will provide middle and high school teachers with an intensive exploration of how to utilize oral histories that relate to the long Civil Rights Movement in the classroom. Participants will hear content presentations and seminar discussions on the movement with university scholars and explore various concepts, strategies, and resources for instruction. Fellows receive a stipend as well as Continuing Education Credits.
Pierce attended the Understanding the American South Teachers Summit last summer at UNC and was tapped from that fellowship to present at the N.C. Council for the Social Studies State Conference in February.
He was named one of the two Most Outstanding Beginning Teachers in Halifax County Schools for the 2017-18 academic year and led a group of the district’s middle and high school social studies teachers in developing a curriculum for the Tillery History House.
He intends to use this fellowship to compile an oral histories database of the civil rights struggle in the county.
“I feel blessed and fortunate to receive another fellowship to UNC,” Pierce said today. “The last time I got the opportunity to present at the state level I learned a lot about the history of the American South.”
Said Pierce: “With my transition to eighth grade social studies which focuses on state history and national history combined with the county’s rich history in civil rights I look forward to what I will learn this time and what may arise out of it.”
Pierce said he was appreciative of the support leading him to this fellowship. “I would like to thank the county’s leading instructional coach Charlene Nicholson for encouraging me to apply and the administration of the district as well as Davie for their support.”
An Halifax County Schools alumnus, Pierce serves as the SGA adviser and Social Studies Content Area Lead at William R. Davie.
He is also a member of the district’s Public Relations Committee.
