By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
Susan Beard, a longtime Rowan County guidance counselor, said she always advises students to shoot for the stars when making life plans.
But, Beard said, on the outside chance those dreams are just a tad out of reach, she also advises students to have a backup plan, a Plan B.
And, so, a few years ago, when she heard Alexandrea Worthy, one of her brighter, more beautiful students at North Rowan High School, tell her she planned to study to be an actress, Beard told her to go for it.
But, just to be on the safe side … well, you know.
“She said, ‘Mrs. Beard, I have a Plan B, yes,’ ” Beard recalled to a group gathered Thursday night at Salisbury’s Holiday Inn. “Plan B is, I’m going to medical school.”
Everyone in attendance chuckled.
Thursday’s gathering was the annual Star Teacher Awards, an event sponsored by Time Warner Cable. It was an evening when two students from each of Rowan County’s seven high schools had the opportunity to honor an educator who had the most significant impact on his or her life.
Educators selected for those honors ran the gamut ó from high school guidance counselors like Beard to kindergarten teachers like Sheryl Belk of Mt. Ulla Elementary.
Each student stepped to a lectern to speak, followed by the educator they’d chosen to recognize.
To a person, each educator said the selection was one of the biggest honors of their lives.
Beard, now at West Rowan High, laughed that Worthy, soon to be enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, had promised she’d mention her when she wins her first Academy Award.
“Tonight is almost that special,” Beard said.
Students selected to participate in the Star Teacher Award were named “Best All Around” by their senior classmates. Some of their stories were touching.
Others were amusing.
Belk, the kindergarten teacher from Mt. Ulla, was selected by Brantley Horton, who recently received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.
Horton said Belk got his career in education off to a positive start, though he recalled one incident toward the end of his kindergarten campaign that was a bit of a downer.
Horton said that in Belk’s class, students who misbehaved had to turn a star on their desks over. He said he made it his goal to make it through the year without having to flip that star, a dream that unraveled with just two weeks remaining until summer break.
Horton said one day, he and several of his classmates were told to flip their stars when they’d been caught misbehaving as a group.
“I never forgot,” Horton said, pausing before continuing, “the girl who told on me.”
One of the teachers and coaches selected from East Rowan was Barry Justus. He was tabbed by Colton Boone.
Boone was a star wrestler and cross-country runner who almost died a few years ago when he contracted a virus that temporarily paralyzed him from the chest down.
He said Justus came to visit him in the hospital. “He’s a big, tall man who walks and talks slow,” Boone said.
The two hugged before Justus stepped to the lectern.
“Do real men cry?” Justus asked. “The answer is yes. When I think of Colton, water flows from every facial orifice I have.”
Chad Sturdivant, a student at Henderson Independent, honored Keith Howe, the band director at North Rowan.
“Mr. Howe,” Sturdivant said, “you’re a great father ó I was going to say wonderful husband, but I’ll leave that for Mrs. Howe ó an outstanding teacher and a very good friend.”
North Rowan’s Josh Young chose to honor Ella Woods, a former English teacher at North Rowan Middle who is now a literacy coach. Woods said she was told to be at the awards ceremony, but said that until she arrived, she didn’t know which student had selected her.
Woods said she figured it out when she sat down beside Young in the lobby prior to the ceremony.
“I’m sure I brought back memories because I popped him upside the head,” Woods said, laughing. “Then I gave him a big hug.”
Time Warner will air the ceremony in its entirety at 9:30 p.m. on March 14 on channel 19. The ceremony is also available on Time Warner’s Videos on Demand on channel 1234.
Teachers chosen for Star Awards and the students who selected them are:
– Willie Boyd, retired from Granite Quarry Elementary, selected by Emily Graczyk of East Rowan.
– Barry Justus of East Rowan, selected by Colton Boone.
– Sherry Alexander of Henderson Independent, selected by Karessa Gray.
– Keith Howe of North Rowan High, selected by Chad Sturdivant, a student at Henderson Independent.
– Jeff Street of Carson High, selected by Katelyn Garcia.
– Nicole Scheidt of Carson High, selected by Alex Basinger.
– Susan Beard of West Rowan High, and formerly of North Rowan, selected by Alexandrea Worthy.
– Ella Woods, formerly of North Rowan Middle, selected by Josh Young.
– Sandra Sullivan of Salisbury High, selected by Suncica Dragas.
– Gregory Kuhn of Salisbury High, selected by Seth Morris.
– Jan Gore of South Rowan High, selected by Lindsay Frye.
– Linn Williams of South Rowan High, selected by Seth Walker.
– Cindy Morgan of West Rowan High, selected by Christine Lazina.
– Sheryl Belk of Mt. Ulla Elementary, selected by Brantley Horton.