Teaching Fellows
Faculty & Staff
Cheryl Horton, Director
Faculty Profile
(919) 843-3612
chorton@unc.edu
Clinical Associate Professor Cheryl T. Horton teaches science education methods courses to pre-service elementary and middle school teachers. Her diverse teaching background includes public school science experience on the elementary, middle and high school levels and at the university level as Middle Grades Program Coordinator for North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina.
Horton has been involved in several major organizations including the National Association of Research for Science Teachers, North Carolina Science Teachers Association, Association for Science Teacher Education and State Science Fair where she currently serves as judging coordinator. She has presented at various state and national science education conferences and reviewed grant proposals for the National Science Foundation.
Stésha Little, Program Manager
(919) 962-0743
stesha_little@unc.edu
Stésha Little is the program manager for the Carolina Teaching Fellows program. She will be coordinating events and activities for Teaching Fellows. Also, she will serve as the advisor to the First year students.
Stésha graduated from UNC in 2000 with a degree in journalism/public relations. After graduating, she worked in the fields of Telecommunications and Banking. She attended North Carolina A&T State University for graduate school and earned a master's degree in adult education in the fall of 2004. She is excited about focusing on recruitment and retention of North Carolina Teaching Fellows.
Heather Coffey
Heather Coffey is currently teaching the EDUC 601 course to the Junior MAT-bound fellows. She is a second year doctoral student in the Ph.D. in Education program in Culture, Curriculum and Change. Heather's main areas of research include teacher education, English education and social foundations of education.
Heather graduated from the Teaching Fellows program at Elon University in 1998 with a degree in Secondary English Education. After teaching language arts and social studies to seventh graders for five years, Heather decided to attend UNCG to work on a master's degree in Education. While working on a master's degree, Heather taught English and speech and debate to high school students in at The Early College at Guilford in Greensboro, NC for two years before returning to school at UNC. Heather hopes to become a teacher educator in a university after she completes her doctorate.
Daniella Ann Cook
Daniella Ann Cook is currently teaching the senior EDUC 521 course. She is a fourth year doctoral student in the Ph.D. in Education program in Culture, Curriculum and Change. Her research interests include multicultural education, critical race theory and creatively and effectively bridging gaps between schools and communities. This summer she was the Project Coordinator for The National Coalition for Quality Education in New Orleans (NCQENO), an ad hoc group of national and New Orleans scholars and educators who are working together to help insure that post-Katrina schooling in New Orleans provides excellent education for all children, especially children who have historically been least well served – those from low-income communities and communities of color. A primary principle under-girding our work is that communities have the right and responsibility to define and develop their educational institutions.
Daniella received her Bachelor of Arts in Education and History from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and her Master of Arts in Education from UNC Chapel Hill. As a high school teacher Daniella received numerous awards including the Sally Mae First Year Teaching Award, an Independent Weekly 2001 Citizens Award, and the Raleigh News & Observer "10 to Watch in 2002" award.
Beth Dawkins
Beth K. Dawkins is a teaching assistant with the Teaching Fellows program, teaching the EDUC 221 and 222 to the sophomore class of Teaching Fellows. Beth is a second year doctoral student in the Ph.D. in Education program in Early Childhood, Families and Literacy. Her research interests include children’s literature, reading engagement, and how the content of literature influences the level of engagement students have with text.
Beth attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she received a bachelor’s degree in education/child and family development. She subsequently taught pre-K Starmount Elementary School in Charlotte for two years. Desiring more knowledge about literacy and teaching, she ventured to the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, where she received a master’s degree in education. Beth has extensive international experience; she served as an intern in the developing country of Albania, and wrote/published a book in the languages of Albanian and English. She also taught for one year in Guadalajara, Mexico. Beth is please to be working with the Teaching Fellows program!
Cary Gillenwater
Cary Gillenwater is a doctoral student in the School of Education. His current interests lie in the intersection of literacy and the media culture in which adolescents are immersed in beyond the classroom setting. Cary taught middle school Language Arts for five years in North Carolina, and prior to teaching worked in Hollywood, CA in the film and television industry. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of North Carolina.