Powell thought that providing a time and place 

 for teachers to become students again would give 

 them a renewed perspective of the student's role. 



Then-Gov.Jim Hunt and the N.C. General 

 Assembly shared Powell's vision and setup NCCAT 

 in 1 985. One year later, full-time operations began 

 on the campus ofWestem Carolina University in 

 Cullowhee. 



Residential seminars are the heart of 

 the NCCAT experience. Each year, the center 

 sponsors more than 70 seminars. This year, the 

 themes ranged from the history and culture of 

 the Cherokees ,to the struggle of black women in 

 America. 



Besides seminars, the NCCATTeacher 

 Scholar Program provides opportunities for 

 professional research and independent study, 

 including preparation for national teacher 

 certification. 



Since its inception, more than 70,000 

 teachers have participated in NCCAT seminars. 

 Dunng the 2004 school year, more than 5,000 

 teachers spent up to five days at various NCCAT 

 programs. 



"Whether you have taught five years or 25 

 years, you need to get away from the classroom," 

 says Hooks. "When you step away from what you 

 are doing, you come back more inspired." 



When Hooks got back to her classroom, her 

 students told her she seemed happy and energetic 

 — like dunng the first week of school. 



"The seminar reminded me of how much I 

 loved to learn," she says. "It helped me to be more 

 creative in my lesson plans and put me in the kids' 

 shoes." 



For many participants, the seminars are so 

 invigorating that they return again as alumni. 



"I have been teaching 36 years," says 

 Lindberg. "This was my second NCCAT seminar. 

 It was an interesting and relaxing week. You got to 

 meet a lot of cool people. You also got pampered." 



IMPROVING TEACHER RETENTION 



Across the country, teacher retention is a 

 major problem for public schools. 



Dunng the 2003-2004 school year, North 

 Carolina's local school systems reported an 

 average teacher turnover rate of more than 1 2 

 percent, according to the N.C. Department of 

 Public Instruction. Of the 1 1 ,399 teachers reported 

 leaving, 31 .5 percent had tenure. 



"When a teacher quits, it is a huge expense 

 for the state," says Williams. "One of NCCATs 

 visions is to make it possible for teachers to stay in 



teaching and save the state money." 



Over the years, the center has become a 

 national model. In 1995, U.S. leaders of education, 

 business and government gathered in Cullowhee 

 for a meeting of the National Commission on 

 Teaching and America's future. In recent years, 

 delegations of educators, community leaders and 

 politicians from across the United States have 

 traveled to the center to study its model. 



Georgia has a center north of Atlanta that 

 is modeled after NCCAT. There, teachers learn 

 to become advocates for reform in their schools. 

 There also are similar programs in San Francisco, 

 Minnesota and Flonda. 



'Teachers tend to get boxed in and bogged 

 down with day-to-day details of teaching," says 

 Terri Kirby Hathaway, North Carolina Sea Grant 

 marine education specialist, who has participated 

 in NCCAT workshops. "NCCAT offers these 

 teachers a way to break out of that box and refresh 

 their learning skills." 



COASTAL ENVIRONMENT 



As teachers gather at the Trinity Center's 

 Beach House overlooking the Atlantic, Slatertakes 

 them back to an era when seamen set their own 

 time by bells and hourglasses. 



"They were out there in the wet weather and 

 spray," says Slater. "Nobody carried a watch. But 

 they did use a bell to announce the passage of 

 time." 



He says that each watch lasted four hours. 

 At the end of each half hour, a sailor would ring 

 the bell. 



"Each time the sailor struck the bell, he would 

 turn the hourglass," says Slater. 



To set the starboard 

 or early morning watch, 

 Burnsville elementary teacher 

 Brenda Phetteplace goes 

 up to the bell and stnkes it 

 twice. She then turns over the 

 hourglass. 



"The ship was a 

 universe unto itself," says 



TOP TO BOTTOM: Wendy 

 Milligan rings a ship's bell for the 

 noon watch duringa seminar at 

 the Trinity Center. • Brenda 

 Phetteplace admires a model of 

 the USS Constitution. • Capt. 

 Ron White gives teachers a quick 

 lesson on sailing. 



8 AUTUMN 2005 



