Poole has been in education for more than 30 years, and has been teaching at JHS two years. She spent 10 years working with the Cumberland County Schools Web Academy, which laid the foundation for the North Carolina Virtual Public School, the state online program.

While teaching at Seventy First Senior High School in Fayetteville, she helped start its mentoring program.

“There was no formal system to observe and support new teachers,” she said. “I saw there was a need and talked to the principal about creating something.”

She wanted to be a mentor because she remembers what it was like when she was a new teacher in the 1970s.

“There were five of us and we had to support each other — we were like five little monkeys clinging together in a cage,” she said.

She said mentoring is very rewarding.

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