Recognizing Melanie Sellers: A Student Teacher of the Year Finalist

Melanie Sellers ranked as a top five finalist for the 2024 NC Association of College for Teacher Education Student Teacher of the Year. She was recently recognized at the NCACTE Fall Forum Student Teacher of the Year Awards Ceremony in Raleigh. Melanie student taught at WNCSource Children’s Center in Hendersonville, NC while completing her program at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. At the Fall Forum excerpts from the letters of support for her nomination were shared and follow here below.

Dr. Harriette Bailey, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of the Birth to Kindergarten Program at UNC-Greensboro states that Melanie is “ethical, responsible, reflective, respectful, receptive to feedback, collaborative, equitable and committed to the profession.” Dr. Bailey also noted that she is “willing and eager to learn, engaged in coursework, and worked collaboratively” with others. Amy Smith, Head Start / NC Pre-K Program Manager at WNCSource Children’s Center, wrote this about her: “Melanie possesses great communication skills - communicating with clarity, empathy, and professionalism, while fostering open and constructive dialogue with children, colleagues, parents, and other stakeholders.” Ashley McCarl, Site Supervisor and Melanie’s Clinical Educator at WNCSource Children’s Center, had this to say about her: “she works tirelessly to plan and implement research based and engaging activities that will help children learn and grow. She works to build relationships in her classroom with not only the children, but also the families. Melanie advocates for children and helps provide resources to families to help them support their children, working hard with intervention teams and therapists to find support when needed.” Ms. McCarl also noted that Melanie’s “teaching style is kind and nurturing as well as fair” all while maintaining a “calm, safe [learning] environment” that “helps children build independence skills as well as encourages them to explore and grow their interests.”

Melanie possesses a high degree of professionalism and is a nurturing teacher who advocates for children and families. She describes herself as having two passions, “the first is mentoring families on how to advocate for their children and themselves, and the second is fostering family involvement within their child’s education from a very early age. She is currently teaching at WNCSource Children’s Center in Hendersonville, NC.