Carrboro Elementary teacher wins district award

Corke, who teaches the fourth grade Spanish Dual Language class, was named the Gold Star Teacher by SunTrust and presented with a check for $1,000 and various gift certificates from local area businesses. She will represent the district in the regional Teacher of the Year competition.

She began her teaching career in 2003, when she came to Carrboro Elementary. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education and a bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"In choosing to become a teacher, I wanted to examine how students’ resilient attributes could be utilized in making them high achievers instead of at risk for academic failure. I feel now, as I did when I chose to become a teacher, that all children are capable of academic excellence, regardless of their hardships," she said.

Corke has been a mentor teacher for novice teachers since 2005. She organized the school’s Hispanic Parent Night in February 2008, and she does home visits for struggling students, meeting with families in their homes to share strategies and activities that can be done at home to support students’ learning.