Coach Carleen Goodwin appeals to the Roanoke Rapids Graded School Board

Randy Wrenn

rrspin.com

For 31 of her 34 years, Roanoke Rapids High School has been Carleen Goodwin's home.

That all changed, she said, by a phone call on June 27 at 10:15 p.m. from Roanoke Rapids Graded School Superintendent Dennis Sawyer, who informed her she was being transferred from RRHS to Manning Elementary for the 2013-14 school year effective August 19.

Those events led Goodwin this evening to appeal that decision before the school board as at least 50 supporters listened to her.

Goodwin has been a physical education teacher and girl’s softball coach for 31 years. “To my knowledge I am the third softball coach that RRHS has ever had,” she said.

She was the founder of the school’s volleyball program and performed many other duties, explaining she has worked for 11 different principals, 23 assistant principals, five athletic directors and five superintendents. “I’ve spent so many hours at Roanoke Rapids High School it’s my second home.”

Coach Goodwin (Right) talks to students before the Board meeting.

Goodwin said she has taken pride in her softball field and created a softball complex that is second to none in the state, a complex in which the players take ownership and pride in.

Involved in a car crash that nearly took her life, Goodwin said when she was told she had blood issues, she responded, “I know my blood is not red. It is black and gold. I asked when could I go back to work.”

Despite family deaths and personal knee surgeries, Goodwin said her first and foremost concern has always been her job and responsibilities to the school.

A recipient of the Homer Thompson Eight Who Make a Difference award, Goodwin said the honor recognizes coaches who make a difference in their community. A Life 101 program was designed to inspire students after she was burned.

With no principal in place, Goodwin met with Sawyer about her job, explaining she would like to retire from the school she has been at the past 31 years, a school, she said, “That holds the bond with all her peers.”

She requested 90 to 120 days for her retirement papers to go through, explaining it affects her financial future. She said, however, the request was denied.

The school board has not immediately acted on the matter and went into closed session to discuss it further.