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By Peter Vankevich
With the new school year underway, two new teachers have joined the faculty.
High school students will get an experienced new math teacher. Beth Layton has taught throughout the state and all things math from the seventh grade through advanced placement (AP) and college calculus. Her teaching assignments include Wake, Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County and Stokes Counties.
Hailing from Boone, she got her bachelor’s degree with a double major in mathematics and sociology from Appalachian State University and a master’s degree from NCSU in sociology with a concentration in demography and statistics. She is currently a vice-president of the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She has also taught online courses through NC Virtual Public Schools (NCVPS).
At the college level, Layton has taught classes at Appalachian State, Winston-Salem State and Forsyth Tech. She will replace Lynn King-Bowen.
An avid walker, for the past six years Beth has participated in the two-day Avon 39 The Walk to End Breast
Cancer fundraiser. This endurance event starts with a marathon distance and concludes with a half marathon on the second day, making it a total of 39.3 miles.
Claire Ross is teaching third grade.
She replaced Paige Bennett, who is teaching fifth grade. From Reidsville, Ross received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2008 and has been teaching kindergarten in Chapel Hill for the last eight years.
For two years, she served as her school’s positive behavioral interventions and support coach, and helped start and coach the school’s first Girls on the Run team.
This year she was honored with the Sockwell Chair for Excellence in Teaching Primary Grades for the Chapel Hill Carrboro City School District.
Out of the classroom, Claire enjoys biking, kayaking and tennis.
