Educating EducatorsSSNC believes that educating other educators about LGBTQ+ issues and inclusive learning environments is one of the best ways to make schools welcoming for all students. Whether you are an individual educator, a school administrator, or a district superintendent, we'd love to talk with you about how SSNC can help you support K-12 students.
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Linking You To ResourcesSSNC wants to help anyone connected to a K-12 NC school (students, parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, school board members, etc.) find the resources or support they need to feel safe or help others feel safe in school. If we can't help you, we'll find someone who will. Please reach out, we are happy to help in any way that we can!
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Meet The Board
The board of Safe Schools NC is a hardworking, dedicated group of individuals who are driven by their own personal stories to make the voices and stories of ALL LGTBQ+ Staff and Students heard and valued.
Feel free to contact us all at board@safeschoolsnc.org
Feel free to contact us all at board@safeschoolsnc.org
Board Chair
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JP Przewoznik JP Przewoznik, MSW(she/her/hers, or anything respectfully), is a trainer, technical assistance provider, practitioner and program evaluator with over 20 years of experience working with and within LGBTQ+ and women’s communities. She is currently the Director of Prevention and Evaluation at the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NCCASA) where she provides training and technical assistance to rape crisis centers and college campuses working on sexual violence prevention efforts, co-chairs the NC Campus Consortium, and is NC’s technical assistance provider for CDC’s Rape Prevention Education (RPE) Program. JP is on the Board of Directors for Safe Schools NC and is on the National Leadership Team for Force: Upsetting Rape Culture. JP is also the founder of Switchback Consulting, a firm that supports professional and institutional growth in the areas of program design and evaluation, strategic planning, and LGBTQ+-affirming practice. She lives happily in Durham, NC, with wonderful friends, an incredible partner, and many fur babies. In her spare time you can find JP very unironically listening to The Boss’s Born in the USA on vinyl.
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Secretary
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Courtney Parker WestCourtney Parker West (she/her/hers) is a writer, consultant, and community organizer working in education via a leadership development non-profit. She is a first-generation college graduate of The University of Iowa (which sits on the ancestral land of her people, the Meskwaki & Sac of the Mississippi) where she studied Religion, English, Creative Writing, & African American Studies. In 2008, she relocated to North Carolina where she taught middle school language arts for 5 years in Vance County before joining staff with the Eastern North Carolina regional team of Teach For America as a teacher coach. After 4 years of coaching, she worked as Director, Alumni Impact - Racial Equity & Values-based Leadership for the region. Currently she serves on the Teach For America National Team as Managing Director, Leadership Development Strategy & Capacity Building. Outside of her primary work, she is co-founder of Radical Roots Consulting and sits on the boards for Selah and Revolve, two Jewish leadership organizations, and Profound Ladies, an organization for supporting womxn of color in education, in addition to her work at Safe Schools NC.
Courtney is a Black & Indigenous Jewish woman of color who operates from her superpower of being a cultural interloper unapologetically taking up space and leading from her values and emotions. She is most passionate about intersectional, cross-generational anti-racist work, coalition-building, and healing activism especially as it pertains to communities who have been subjected to multi-generational trauma. She lives with her spouse, a public school leader, in Zebulon, NC. She is an opinionated introvert who loves wine, reading, and watching Star Trek reruns. |
Board Vice Chair / Treasurer
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Stephenie ClarkStephenie Clark (she/her) is an Instructional Review Coach with the state. Stephenie earned a B.S. in Business Administration and an MBA from Hampton University (The Standard of Excellence) in Hampton, VA. She got her start in education teaching fourth grade in a charter school in Durham as a 2012 Teach For America corps member. She is excited to continue contributing to the Safe Schools NC board by bringing her passion for education, equity, and problem solving to help educators across the state create safe learning environments where all students are supported to grow and thrive within their own intersectionality.
She lives in Raleigh, NC with her wife and their fur-babies Jack, Mickey and Evie. In her spare time, she enjoys creating art, watching movies, listening to music, and solving the Rubik’s cube. You can connect with Stephenie by following her on Twitter @WorkplaceFairy. |
Board Member
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Michelle Henderson Michelle (she/her) is a theatre teacher at Wake Forest Middle School, and has been in education ever since graduating from Meredith College in 2014 (Go ODDS!). She is also Fine Arts Department Head, part of the SIP team, director of all things theatrical, and advises her schools Sexuality and Gender Awareness club (SAGA).
Growing up in a very small, rural town in North Carolina didn't do much for educating her on the differences of other people and experiences, nor did it incline her towards understanding her own preferences. College in a larger city made all the difference, and she has been a vocal advocate for students and their safety since pursuing education as a career (and life!) choice. Helping students grow within their own intersectionality, and helping them find their voices has been the most rewarding part of being an educator. She lives with her partner, also in education as an orchestra teacher in DPS, and one year old in Raleigh, plus their fur-babies. They live close to her family, whom they see A LOT of. When not busy with school things, she enjoys being outside (not in the heat though), watching animated films with the kid (Coco is her current obsession), and reading (trying to get through all 27 of the battle of the books books). |
Board Member
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Alex BarkerAlex Barker (they/them) works with NC State University coordinating the 4-H Life Skills program focused on supporting students within Hoke County. Prior to their current role, Alex developed a youth peer support program in West Virginia and focused efforts on LGBTQ youths’ support needs. Alex holds a Bachelor’s in Social Work and has experience working within rural communities and implementing youth and young adult voices. Alex is passionate about creating environments that support youth and young adults in reaching their goals.
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Board Member
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Dana M. StachowiakDana M. Stachowiak (she/her/hers) is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Women’s Studies Program and Resource Center at The University of North Carolina Wilmington. Prior to her tenure at UNCW, she was a classroom teacher and literacy coach at both the elementary and middle schools. Dana researches, writes, and speaks on topics of gender justice, supporting trans students and faculty, and creating equitable curriculum.
Dana is the founder and curator for Queer[ed] Storyscapes, an ongoing project providing space for LGBTQ people to learn about and share their experiences of being queer in Wilmington, through art and expression. She also serves as the Vice-Chair of the National Council for Teachers of English’s Genders and Sexualities Equity Alliance, an assembly that provides a forum for ongoing and sustained discussion among all individuals who share a professional commitment to LGBTQ students, teachers, issues, and academic materials as they pertain to the teaching of English at all levels of instruction. |
Board Member
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Kelly J. Barber-LesterKelly J. Barber-Lester (she/her), PhD, is a mother, a teacher, and a scholar. She has recently completed her doctorate in Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She grew up in Statesville, NC and is a proud product of North Carolina’s public schools from kindergarten to PhD. Before going to graduate school, Kelly taught upper elementary grades 3-5 in Connecticut and North Carolina. Her experience in the classroom helped her understand more deeply the ways in which our systems of education are inequitable and oppressive. Kelly’s scholarship is focused on the pursuit of educational and social equity. In her dissertation research, she sought to understand the types of experiences that shaped White teachers in coming to think in critically conscious ways about their work and the world.
Kelly lives in Durham, NC, with her partner, their three awesome kiddos, and their dog, Shamus. In her free time, Kelly likes to be outside (reading, cycling, hiking, swimming) and to go treasure hunting at yard sales and thrift shops. She also loves water slides. |
Board Member
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Michelle FalterMichelle Falter, PhD (she/her/hers) is currently an Assistant Professor of English Education and Literacy in the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences at North Carolina State University, in Raleigh, NC. Previously, Michelle worked as a middle and high school English teacher both in Wisconsin, and abroad in Germany and the Dominican Republic, and also as a high school instructional coach in Georgia. Her research, teaching, and scholarship demonstrate a deep commitment to diversity and social justice, helping English language arts and literacy educators’ co-construct knowledge with their students using critical, feminist, and dialogical teaching practices.
At the heart of her work as a scholar and teacher is advocacy and allyship for and with teachers and students. She works to prepare teachers to be inclusive of all students in their classes and demand equity and justice for the betterment of students. Michelle is currently also a member of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English and has written numerous published articles about how to include, advocate for, and support LGBTQ content and students in the classroom. In her free time, Michelle loves to spend time with her two kittens, George and Lennie, and read as many Young Adult texts she can get her hands on. You can connect with Michelle on twitter @MFalterPhD. |
Board Member
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Mary Alicia LyonsMary Alicia Lyons (she/her/hers) has been a North Carolina public school teacher for 27 years. Having come to the Triangle region to attend UNC-Chapel Hill as a Teaching Fellow, where she earned a BA in Elementary Education, a BS in Psychology and an MEd in Reading, she settled down in Durham for the long haul. She is currently an instructional coach at Morris Grove Elementary (Go Geckos!) in Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools. She is passionate about all things reading and her new favorite picture books are “Sparkle Boy” and “Pink is for Boys, Blue is for Girls”.
Mary Alicia has long been an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. She previously served on the Lesbian Health Resource Center’s board and founded Triangle Families, a group for LGBTQ+ families in the Triangle region. When not knee deep in work or advocacy, she enjoys hanging out with her partner and kid, going to movies, reading, playing board games and fostering kittens. Mary Alicia is excited to be a part of the Safe Schools NC board and to have the opportunity to advocate for LBGTQ+ students and educators statewide. |
Board Member
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Sam LevertSam (she/her/hers) is a 7th grade Language Arts teacher and Equity team member at Dillard Drive Magnet Middle School. She earned a BS in Middle Grades Education with a concentration in Language Arts and Social Studies at North Carolina State University, in Raleigh. She is passionate about fostering an inclusive, accepting, and welcoming school environment for both students and educators. She is excited to work with Safe Schools NC in deepening her capability to advocate for LGBTQ+ educators and students in North Carolina.
When she isn't in the classroom, Sam loves to attend hockey games (Go Canes) or listen to live music. She also spends most of her weekends in local farmers' markets trying to find a new house plant to take home! |
Board Member
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Maximillian MatthewsMaximillian (all pronouns respectfully) is a proud Durham native, abolitionist, and writer. Maximillian has been working in higher education for over ten years. Maximillian received a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Elon University and a Master’s of Education in Higher Education Administration from North Carolina State University. Maximillian has been published by the National Academic Advising Association, National Career Development Association, Inside Higher Ed, Rethinking Schools & Black Youth Project. Maximillian’s passions include LGBTQ+ youth of color, abolition, and how marginalized folks strive to dismantle systems of oppression.
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Board Member
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Daniel WheelerDaniel Wheeler (he/him/his) is an educator who has been working in formal and informal settings for over 25 years, with specialties in science and natural history. He has a BA in Environmental Studies from Warren Wilson College, and a Master's in Teaching from Western Carolina University.
He is a rarity in the Triangle, a North Carolina native, having been born and growing up in Raleigh. He lived in Asheville for 10 years while going to undergraduate and graduate school, then moved back to Durham in 2010 and has resided there since. Daniel has been involved with LGBTQ+ activism and advocacy since high school when he joined Enloe's GSA. When he's not playing or designing games you can find him outside cataloging all the wildlife in his yard, or inside baking, reading SFF, or being furniture for his sleepy wife and cat. |
Board Member
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Leah SperisenLeah Sperisen (she/her/hers) is a Kindergarten teacher for Durham Public Schools. She specializes in Early Childhood Education, and has worked in different educational settings around the world in the past 5 years. Along with being an educator she is a small business owner, PTA board member, and equity advocate.
Leah earned her Bachelor's of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education, Psychology with an emphasis on Family and Child Science. She is passionate about advocacy in education for the most marginalized communities and does what she can to bridge the gap within her classroom. She speaks out to create a comfortable and inclusive environment for her young students and isn't afraid to address topics that pertain to LGBTQ+, racism, sexism, etc. Leah loves to read multicultural texts to her students such as, 'Julian in a Mermaid', 'Anti-Racist Baby', 'Sulwe', 'King of Kindergarten', and many more. She lives in Durham, NC with her wife who is an educational leader in the Triangle, and their dog Tanner. In her spare time she enjoys cooking vegan meals, supporting black owned businesses, hiking, going on adventures big and small, and spending quality time with her loved ones. |
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Safe Schools NCc/o LGBTQ Center of Durham
114 Hunt St. Durham, NC 27701 Copyright © 2018
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