North Carolina Teaching Fellows men of color: Where are they now?

For more than two decades, North Carolina's Teaching Fellows program recruited more than 10,000 top-performing students to study teaching. To many, the program was a success and a national model of how state funds could be used to recruit more teachers. But one area where it didn’t fare as well was diversity.

WRAL News reached out to dozens of men of color who were part of the Teaching Fellows program to find out why they applied, what the experience was like and whether they have stayed in education. Here are 21 of their stories.

These interviews were conducted by email as part of a series on teacher diversity in North Carolina. Read the full series:

• Part 1: NC's teacher diversity gap: 'Where are the black and brown teachers?'
• Part 2: What's the future of teacher diversity in NC? Colleges of education may hold the answer

Dion Beary

2008-2012 Teaching Fellow, Queens University

"Colleges need to treat men and people of color as if the colleges are in competition for some extremely valuable members of their workforce. Rather, most education programs I've seen tend to treat men of color as missing father figures within underperforming schools." (Read more)

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Channing Bennett

2006-2010 Teaching Fellow, UNC-Chapel Hill

"Programs such as the NC Teaching Fellows program provide an incentive for students to pursue education. I also think it is important to embed experiences that expose students to a variety of settings and opportunities in education." (Read more)

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Danny Bland

1990-1994 Teaching Fellow, North Carolina Central University

"I have remained committed to the profession of education because of the passion instilled in me by the Teaching Fellows Program. The NC Teaching Fellows Program gave me a sense of purpose and made me feel as though I was 'needed.'" (Read more)

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Matthew Blue

2004-2008 Teaching Fellow, UNC-Pembroke

"I was a good math student in high school and wanted a career where I could encourage others to learn and appreciate the fun that math offers. Coming into college with the others in the program gave me an instant family." (Read more)

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Aaron Fernandez

2009-2013 Teaching Fellow, Western Carolina University

"While I felt I learned a lot in the Teaching Fellows program, I was also disappointed that I was unable to find a teaching job after graduation. Now, I will be forced to pay it back plus the 10 percent interest (on top of my student loans)." (Read more)

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Eric Hart

1993-1997 Teaching Fellow, Appalachian State University

"The Teaching Fellows experience was outstanding, from the faculty to the students of whom I frequently spent a bit of time with. The downside, however, is that for the entire four years at Appalachian State University, I was the only African-American male Elementary Education major and often felt alone being the 'single voice' for all things African-American and male." (Read more)

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Cory Hogans

1989-1993 Teaching Fellow, NC A&T State University

"Education is a rewarding field that continues to be personally fulfilling for me, provides me with a life of the mind and allows me to continue to work in service of my community. " (Read more)

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Tremain Holloway

2006-2010 Teaching Fellow, NC Central University

"She ingrained in me the importance of education at an early age and always encouraged me to give back to the generations coming behind me to ensure they would have educational knowledge for the future. Hence, my reasons for applying for NC Teaching Fellows." (Read more)

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Jason Jowers

2003-2007 Teaching Fellow, NC Central University

"I was interested in teaching somewhat, but I was more interested in the financial school assistance. In the process, I found out that education was my calling so I don’t think that becoming a Teaching Fellow was a mistake but more so a blessing." (Read more)

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Christopher Kelly

2003-2008 Teaching Fellow, UNC-Chapel Hill

"The program has affected every aspect of my life because this is the career I have chosen. I even met my wife in the Teaching Fellows program." (Read more)

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Greg McLeod

1989-1993 Teaching Fellow, UNC-Chapel Hill

"While my heart remained in education, my middle school experience and feeling of little support made it easy for me to accept the opportunity to go to Corporate America when I did." (Read more)

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Diego Mureño

2011-2015 Teaching Fellow, Lenoir-Rhyne University

"I applied with no real expectations and actually got it. It has allowed me to develop a passion for education and students. I do not regret ever applying." (Read more)

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Ramon Ruiz

2005-2008 Teaching Fellow, UNC-Pembroke

"Colleges are quick to spend thousands of dollars on recruiting athletes. Are we implying that we can't send a representative to local high schools around the state to do open interviews?" (Read more)

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Shelton Shepherd

1988-1992 Teaching Fellow, NC State University

"It very important that colleges understand how their environment is perceived by people of color. Does it feel welcoming? Can people of color envision themselves succeeding there? Is there an established support system?" (Read more)

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Anthony White

2003-2007 Teaching Fellow, NC Central University

"The Teaching Fellows recipients were deemed to be the cream of the crop of future educators. I realized that this designation would help prepare me for the teaching profession and also make me stand out as I began to look for jobs in the future." (Read more)

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Brandon DeWayne Wilson

2009-2013 Teaching Fellow, Western Carolina University

"Nobody in my direct family was a teacher. However, my best relationships with adults were teachers, and I grew to love and appreciate everything they did for me and how they took care of me as if I was their personal child. I knew I wanted to become a teacher since the 5th grade." (Read more)

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Edgar Zamora

2007-2011, Appalachian State University

"Not only did it help me pay for college, but it also ensured that I was well-prepared to go into my first years of teaching. I never really felt the famous overwhelming feeling of being a first-year educator, and I attribute that entirely to preparation by Teaching Fellows and the excellent professors at the Reich College of Education." (Read more)

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Travis Blackwell

2002-2006 Teaching Fellow, NC State University

"I was greatly impacted by the teachers I had in high school and wanted to continue their legacy as a teacher myself. The program provided a lot of opportunities to collaborate with people with the same passion and explore innovative ways to work in the classroom." (Read more)

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Terry McCann

1989-1993 Teaching Fellow, UNC-Chapel Hill

"Colleges need to recruit teachers in the same way that colleges recruit athletes to play sports. They need to go after the best and the brightest and offer scholarships and stipends and summer enrichment." (Read more)

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Douglas McCullough

2006-2010 Teaching Fellow, NC State University

"Upon being accepted, it made a dream that I never realized I wanted come true. It wasn't until my sophomore year of high school that I even believed I could go to college, so I would say that the Teaching Fellows program was pretty life changing by helping that dream become a reality." (Read more)

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Ian Solomon

1990-1994 Teaching Fellow, NC A&T State University

"While not teaching, I made the choice to stay in education because I view it as the most important variable in giving all students, particularly students of color, a legitimate opportunity to live a fulfilling, prosperous life." (Read more)

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