Mellie (Micky) Hamilton Cope and Sally Austin Hundley
Waynesville Middle School
Waynesville, NC

"Ownership is increased when students research & and prepare instruction for a technique called paradoxical teaching. Students cite goals from the state curriculum guides to support their choices, address multiple learning styles, and choose topics that will instruct us."

"Each year I'm amazed at what these students are learning. These teachers are facilitators - the students take responsibility for their own learning. They have a way of telling students what to look for without telling them what to see."

"My son had been chosen for their program because he wasn't working up to his potential. I went several times to observe the class. Mrs Cope & Mrs. Hundley were working on all students' weaknesses by putting responsibility into the students own hands, having faith in the children and showing how to accomplish it by working in the areas they needed the most help in. What the students didn't realize, and honestly neither did most parents, was that as the students became more proficient in their "bad" subjects, the confidence went over to their good subjects and they excelled more."

Micky and Sally's classrooms are innovative, and unique because they created an environment, the Saoi "see" Program, tailored to the needs of non-traditional learners. Saoi is the Gaelic word for wisdom and their motto states that they are "an innovative approach to learning and community." Students join them in the eighth grade because of grades, test scores, attendance, free lunch status, and/or behavioral issues in previous years. These are the students at-risk to fuel our county's increasing dropout rate. Because of their background distrust of school, Micky and Sally have eliminated use of textbooks, homework, and teacher-made tests and created a program focused on both service- and experiential-learning.

Other Highlights:
Mickey:

• Nationally Board certified, 2001
• Mentor to ILT (Initially Licensed Teachers) and student interns
• Published online lesson plans for the Library of Congress American Memory Project -An Adventure of the American Mind in collaboration with Western Carolina University
• Member of TARA (Teachers as Researchers Academy)
• Received $3000 Learning and Leadership grant from NEA Foundation to aid in development of the Saoi Program of Waynesville Middle School, 2002
• Model Clinical Faculty Member at Western Carolina University, 2004
• Member of NCAE (North Carolina Educators' Association), 1990-present
• Recipient of the Margaret Kooiman Reeves Drop Out Prevention Teacher of the Year Award in Haywood County, 2002/2003
• B.S. & M.A. Ed. Middle Grades Education- College of Education and Allied Professions Western Carolina University
• Received $35,000 HP Technology for Teaching grant

Sally:

• Nationally Board certified, 2001
• North Carolina Teaching Fellow, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
• Created the Saoi Program with teammate to meet the needs of at-risk students at WMS, 2002
• Creative Teacher of the Year at WMS, 1997
• 2002-2003 Mildred Kooiman Reeves Dropout Prevention Teacher of the Year
• NCAE Leadership Grant Recipient
• Blue Ridge Math and Science Grant Recipient
• HP Technology for Teaching Grant Recipient
• Digital Edge Program through NBPTS, ISTE, AT&T Foundation and Apple Computers, 2002-2003
• Member Teachers as Researchers Academy (TARA) in partnership with WCU
• Model Clinical Faculty Member at WCU, 2004
• Mentor to Initially Licensed Teachers and Student Interns