MHS Principal Ben Talbert recently received the honor that recognizes outstanding principals in each county of North Carolina. He now moves onto the state selection portion of the competition where he could be chosen as the 2013 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year.
For the last eight years, McDowell High School Principal Ben Talbert has helped guide students through what some believe are the toughest years of school for a child.
Growing up in Aiken, South Carolina, I was very involved in school life---however--- I never dreamed of becoming an educator.
After graduation from high school I headed West to Texas where I attended Baylor University. Plans to become a doctor soon faded as I discovered literature, which challenged me, inspired me, and ultimately changed my direction for life. Still, I never intended to teach, but uncertain of what the future might hold for me, I took the minimum hours to earn a Texas teaching certificate for grades one through eight.
I married Nancy Walker, who grew up in Marion, and after one year teaching fourth grade in Waco (Texas), we moved to Wake Forest, North Carolina where I enrolled as a divinity student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Three years later with a degree in hand yet uncertainty about my career in my heart, I returned to full-time teaching, securing a position teaching eighth grade English at Swannanoa Middle School.
Somewhat unexpectedly, I discovered teaching to be my joy.
While teaching, I also coached track for ten years, earned my school bus driver’s license, sponsored such clubs as student government and Beta club, facilitated Odyssey of the Mind teams, officiated high school football, and earned teacher of the year honors twice. Following 13 1/2 delightful years in the classroom at Swannanoa and Charles D. Owen Middle School, I accepted an assistant principal’s position at Valley Springs Middle School. There, through the University of South Carolina, I completed my Masters in School Administration degree, gaining self-confidence and a determined belief that as an administrator I could facilitate positive changes in education that reached beyond the scope of most classroom teachers.
In the fall of 1999, I transferred to Charles D. Owen High School where I strengthened my administrative skills, broadened my educational experiences, and grew a love for high school students and those individuals who sought to teach them.
Now, as I serve as principal at McDowell High School, I cannot imagine being anything other than an educator. My goal at McDowell is simple: to create a learning environment where teachers can effectively inspire students to reach beyond their initial expectations to become productive citizens and lifelong learners.
MHS Principal Ben Talbert recently received the honor that recognizes outstanding principals in each county of North Carolina. He now moves onto the state selection portion of the competition where he could be chosen as the 2013 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year.
