Get to know the 2022 Principal of the Year
Dr. Cassie Eley is the 2022-2023 UCPS Principal of the Year. A distinction she has earned through hard work but never imagined. She always knew she wanted to be a teacher. Her desire to become a principal came later in her career, thanks to the encouragement of colleagues and mentors.
Dr. Eley is originally from Union County and graduated from Forest Hills High. She has spent her entire 13-year career with UCPS. Before joining Piedmont Middle, Dr. Eley served as principal of third through fifth grades at Walter Bickett Elementary. She also served as an assistant principal at Parkwood High and an English teacher at Forest Hills High.
Growing up in Union County
Dr. Eley has fond memories of her childhood. Her favorite hobby was racing go-karts. Her father had built a track near his house, so she would frequently ride there. When she wasn't on a go-kart, she could be found painting or playing a school teacher with her older sister.
"I enjoyed painting and drawing so much that I initially wanted to become an art teacher," she said. "My grandmother got me involved in drawing because she was an artist. She and my grandfather had a woodshop where he would build cabinets. He would cut different wood for her to paint. She got me into all things crafty."
As Dr. Eley grew older, her parents recognized her talent for art and arranged for her to receive formal training. Flowers are Dr. Eley's favorite subject to paint, while her grandmother was skilled at painting landscapes.
"My grandmother got into the Bob Ross collection and painted three beautiful landscapes. I, my older sister and my mother all have one," she said. "She had a big impact on me when it came to exploring my creativity."
Dr. Eley can recall only one time in elementary school when she wanted to be something other than a teacher.
"Somewhere in someone's hope chest is an article cutout of a "What do you want to be when you grow up?" project. I drew myself as Dolly Parton. She inspires me. I wanted to be her," she said.
As a child, Dr. Eley had a lot of practice playing a teacher in a classroom of one. Playing school was Dr. Eley's favorite game, but it wasn't necessarily her older sister's.
"She'd get so upset with me because I made her be the student all the time," said Dr. Eley. "Interestingly, I was about 14 when my youngest sister was born. She went through school when I was a teacher, so I got to teach her at Forest Hills High."
Road to becoming a principal
Although Dr. Eley did well in math in high school, she didn't like it. During this time, her teaching career ambitions started to take shape thanks to her teachers' sound advice and guidance.
"At Forest Hills, I had some strong teachers. I remember one teacher, Jennifer Whitley, who had a pivotal role in my wanting to be a high school teacher. I also remember my math teacher, Sheila Horn, telling me to teach what I love, not what I am good at. I started pursuing an art education degree at Appalachian State because I loved it."
Later, Dr. Eley decided to continue with elementary education to broaden her expertise. She quickly recognized that her personality suited secondary education, specifically English Language Arts. She found she could use her creativity.
"To me, you can do many different things with English literature. I remember we read Shakespeare. I would steal my son's plastic collapsible swords to recreate fight scenes. I'd have rich conversations with kids who didn't enjoy English literature before taking my class," she said. "Building connections with them was important. I had one student I taught all four years of high school."
Dr. Eley's shift to administration came because she desired more challenges and a broader impact. However, it was not the only path she had considered.
"I thought about going into instructional technology because I liked utilizing it for differentiation in high school. That fizzled out," she said. "Dr. Kevin Plue is the person who put it into my head to go back and get an admin degree. When I enrolled in my master's program, I fell in love with it."
Dr. Eley said she had some big shoes to fill when she became principal at Piedmont Middle.
"I was following in the footsteps of Dr. Tracey Strickland. She was a Spanish teacher at Parkwood when I did my student teaching. I remember how kind and supportive she was towards me, even though she wasn't my cooperative teacher. Tracey was also my assistant principal when I was a teacher at Forest Hills," she said. "Tracey helped me transition into my principalship for weeks. It's such a great memory of how I started here."
The focus at Piedmont Middle
Dr. Eley is passionate about changing the status quo to reflect what students need as they grow older and enter the real world. This year the school's focus has been on its career exploration program.
"We are doing out-of-the-box thinking for how we approach career readiness for our middle schoolers," she said. "We dove into career exploration through a platform available from the district. My passion for this in middle school is because I see in high school how long it takes for students to go through that process. While students figure out who they are and what they want to do, they may miss out on possibilities, especially in UCPS. We have so many career pathways."
Dr. Eley understands that career exploration in middle school gives students a better idea of what classes they might want to take in high school. It may also reveal what they don't want to study. She and her team spent the summer building strong community and industry partnerships to take it to the next level.
"We've allowed our students to choose career clusters they want to learn more about. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they take a course in that career. We have speakers who come in from those careers. Students are also able to work on project-based learning. We are working now on providing some job shadowing opportunities, too," she said.
Final thoughts
The recognition of being the UCPS Principal of the Year has not fully sunk in. However, when one of her many mentors reached out, Dr. Eley said it began to hit home.
"I keep having those full-circle moments. One of my many mentors, Dr. Wanda Little, sent me a trinket recognizing my achievement. She was my assistant principal when I was a student. She also hired me to run a program where I taught English," she said. "Anytime one of my mentors, friends, family or staff recognizes this honor, I'm thankful."
Dr. Eley's passion for teaching has never subsided. It is as strong as ever. You can sometimes find her covering classes at Piedmont Middle when needed.
"When I retire, you'll find me teaching somewhere," she said.
11/28/2022