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Created in 1985, the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) is a system affiliate of the University of North Carolina.^[1] The center trains North Carolina public school teachers in a variety of teaching methods and technologies. Its main campus is located in Cullowhee, North Carolina, with a second campus on Ocracoke Island.

Contents 1 History 2 NCCAT's Mission 3 References 4 External links

[edit] History

The 1983 North Carolina Teacher of the Year, Jean Powell of Clinton, North Carolina was an invited guest speaker to the North Carolina Commission on Education for Economic Growth. Powell told the commission that North Carolina should create a place where teachers could go to become enthusiastic about learning again and could pass this enthusiasm on to their students. "To attract and retain the best teachers, we must find a way to enhance their self-worth, pride of accomplishment, and enthusiasm," she said.

The commission liked Powell's idea. The Chancellor of Western Carolina University, H.F. Robinson, was appointed to head a planning committee. In 1985 the NC General Assembly established NCCAT as part of the University of North Carolina system. The Center was modeled after the Aspen Institute.^[2] Operations began in 1986 on the campus of Western Carolina University and in 1990 a new facility was constructed for the NCCAT in Cullowhee. A board of trustees representing all of the state's educational districts governs the center. A second campus of NCCAT is under construction on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, on the site of a former Coast Guard station, although the project has been long delayed.^[3] When it opens, the Ocracoke campus will make NCCAT programs more accessible to teachers who live and work in the eastern part of the state.

In 1999, NCCAT joined the GLOBE Program and assumed responsibility for training teachers, mentoring students and recruiting schools to the program within North Carolina.^[4]

[edit] NCCAT's Mission

NCCAT's mission "is to provide a dynamic environment, in an atmosphere of respect and dignity, where North Carolina teachers engage in scholarly activities structured to stimulate intellectual curiosity, create thinking, inquiry, and discussion; examine and challenge ideas; have time for reflection, inspiration, and professional networking; and develop renewed enthusiasm for teaching NCCAT's programs and seminars are designed to provide North Carolina teachers activities structured to develop renewed enthusiasm for teachingThe focus of NCCAT is year-round series of five-day residential seminars that incorporate the N. C. Standard Course of Study, which is the prescribed curriculum for public schools in North Carolina.

• Seminars conducted by NCCAT are free; applications for programs are posted on the its web site
• Seminars are designed to strengthen teachers’ classroom expertise
• Seminar topics include the humanities, health, arts, sciences, technology and communication
• Seminars designed for pre-school through twelfth-grade teachers, including counselors, nurses, social workers,librarians, psychologists, and media specialists
• Support seminars for beginning teachers
• Seminars for teachers who are candidates for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
• Teacher-Scholar-in-Residence Program
• NCCAT funds travel, lodging, meals, materials

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching
• North Carolina Adds Second Getaway Location for Teachers
• NCCAT
• Scoland County Schools
• 21st Century Schools
• North Carolina Needs You
• Our Retreat
• A Report to the Second Annual Governor's Conference on Teaching & North Carolina's Future

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