When interviewed for a 2016 UNCG Magazine cover story, Leslie Ross ’97, ’08 MEd said, “Teaching is a work of the heart.” An educator and activist, she’d recently returned from a US Department of Education panel on high-need schools and a White House lunch with then-President Obama.
She’d won national recognition, as she’d been selected from more than 400 teachers in 39 states to receive the first annual Fishman Prize, an award given by The New Teacher Project to four educators working in high-need schools. She was making her mark supporting these students – essential work, as she knew very well as a first-generation college graduate from a high-need background.
Since then, she has continued as Educator Preparation Program Specialist for Guilford County Schools, playing an important role in the transition to and from virtual course delivery during the COVID pandemic. Also, she is in the early stages of developing an educational consulting and professional development company that will allow her to serve smaller school districts around North Carolina. Her goal is to help teachers build skills that will allow them to better support their students. When she someday retires from her current position, she plans to focus all her energy on the company, allowing her to continue supporting teachers and students statewide, in a different way.
One thing that did not make the earlier article: Leslie is a foster parent with her husband. Together they have fostered ten children over thirteen years. “We are extremely proud of their accomplishments.”
See 2016 video on Leslie Ross. https://uc.uncg.edu/magazine/2016_fall/video-leslie-ross/
By Vivian Campbell ’20