Educating Educators

SSNC 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 K12 students.

Linking You To Resources

SSNC 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!

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Meet The Board

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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 ​

Board Chair

Holly Jordan   ​

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Holly (she/her) has been a public school teacher for eleven years, all of them at Hillside High School in Durham, NC, where she teaches International Baccalaureate English, coordinates Hillside’s Teacher Cadet program, and advises the Hillside Gay-Straight Alliance. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education and English at Concordia University Wisconsin and is a National Board Certified Teacher.  
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Both inside and outside the classroom, Holly is passionate about social justice. In addition to working with SSNC, she has been active in the Durham Association of Educators, Organize 2020 (the social justice caucus of the North Carolina Association of Educators), and the NC Moral Monday movement. 

Board Vice-Chair

Emily Chavez   ​

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Emily Susanna Chávez (she/her) has worked in education for over twelve years. She was a high school teacher for six years, first in Philadelphia, then in Durham. For five years she served as the Outreach Program Coordinator for the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Duke University, where she developed an expansive set of programs and resources to support teachers and students in learning about Latin American and Caribbean studies. She is currently the Associate Director in the Center for Multicultural Affairs at Duke, where she provides social justice education and leadership development training to students. She serves as the co-chair for the Durham Public Schools Budget Process Advisory Committee, and she is on the review committee of the Américas Award for children's and young adult literature about Latin America, the Caribbean and Latinos in the U.S. Since coming out as a queer teenager and throughout her career, Emily has been dedicated to the cultivation of networks and support for LGBTQ people and youth in particular, with a focus on LGBTQ youth of color. She holds a B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology and Education with a minor in Women's Studies from Swarthmore College, an M.A. in Teaching from Duke University, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from North Carolina State University. 

Treasurer

Bud Harrelson  ​

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Bud (he/him) is a Ph.D in Education student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research focuses on creating safe and welcoming environments for LGBTQIA students, educators, and parents / guardians. Prior to returning to school full-time, Bud served as the director of school improvement for the Winston-Salem / Forsyth County Schools. He possesses experience across the pre-K through 12 grade span as a teacher, curriculum facilitator, school leader, academic coach, and gifted and talented program director. Bud is an Elon University alum; he recently joined Elon’s LGBTQIA Alumni Network board. Bud enjoys spending time with his black lab, Brody.

Secretary

Kelly Eppley

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Kelly (she/her) has been a social worker in community practice and program administration for 14 years. Her work across this time has focused primarily on supporting and advocating for children and families in a variety of settings. In her current role, she works to ensure families living on low incomes are able to access high quality child care so their children are better equipped to make the transition to Kindergarten, setting the stage for success in school. She is passionate about creating a strong start and an even playing field for all children to have their best chance to shine. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a writing emphasis from Columbia College and a Master of Social Work degree from The University of South Carolina, both in Columbia, SC.
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Kelly enjoys spending time with her partner and young daughter as well as baking, reading, hiking, traveling, spending time with friends, and serving as a co-leader for her daughter’s Girl Scout troop. 

Board Member

Michelle Henderson  ​

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Michelle (she/her) is a Theatre teacher at Wake Forest Middle School in Wake County. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre with a minor in communications, a K-12 license to teach theatre, and a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) certification from Meredith College (Go ODDS!).

This is her third year teaching theatre to middle school students, but she has been doing theatre herself, both onstage and behind the scenes, since she was 14. Most recently Michelle was attached to a troupe through Granville Little Theatre where she and four other women performed over 40 parts in a show about Shakespeare that traveled to local area schools. Bringing the arts and live performance to students who may not have access to it is a passion that she continually strives to achieve. Michelle also helps coordinate the Poetry Slam, is a consultant to the Mock Trial team, and a part of the Student Climate Taskforce at WFMS.

Michelle is thrilled to join this amazing board that is dedicated to creating safe spaces in public schools across North Carolina. Her close work with students every day continues to re-emphasize the need for more visible LGBTQ staff, and more positive environments for students, and staff, to feel protected and authentic in themselves.

Board Member

JP Przewoznik   ​

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JP, MSW (she/her), 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.

​JP organizes with The LGBTQ Center of Durham, is the Durham-based organizer for Gender Reel, a national film festival by and about Trans*, Genderqueer, and Gender Non-Conforming people, and is on the National Leadership Team for Force: Upsetting Rape Culture. She lives happily in Durham with wonderful friends, an amazing girlfriend, and many furry babies. In her spare time you can find JP very unironically listening to The Boss’s Born in the USA on vinyl.

Ex-Officio Board Member

Susanne Schmal

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Susanne (she/her) is a public health practitioner with over 15 years of experience in building community and cultures of health. In her current role with NC Department of Public Instruction, she supports schools and builds upon their success exemplary sexual health education, access to sexual health services, and safe and supportive school environments.

​She engages with national, state, and local partners to enhance practices and policies in North Carolina that will lead to better health and academic outcomes. Some of the professional development provided to schools through her current role include trainings that address inclusivity and  gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.  Additionally, Susanne enjoys being outside and active, spending time with friends, and just hanging out on her porch with her 2 dogs, cat, and partner.

Board Member

Stephen Schloss

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Stephen (he/him) has been in public education for over ten years, six of which have been in Durham, NC. Stephen has a passion for students with disabilities, and when he was in the classroom, he worked with students on the autism spectrum and students with emotional, behavioral, and social-related disabilities. Stephen is focused on work that empowers students to discover their authentic voice in order to advocate for themselves. He most recently earned a Master of School Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also holds an M.S.Ed. in Special Education from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Stephen attended The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina for his first 3 years of college before earning his B.S. in Psychology from Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA.

He currently works at Jordan High School in Durham, NC as the Exceptional Children's Program Facilitator where he works with special education teachers, school administrators, parents, and students to develop student-focused programs designed to empower children with the skills they need to be successful advocates for their own future. Stephen believes passionately in equity and social justice for all students. It was his own personal experiences as a student, together with his professional and academic experiences in the classroom and in graduate school, that led him to work as a leader and an advocate as a board member for Safe Schools NC.

Board Member

Courtney Parker West

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Courtney Parker West (she/her/hers) is a first-generation college graduate of The University of Iowa, where she studied Religion Studies, English, & African American Studies. In 2008, she relocated to North Carolina where she taught middle school language arts for 5 years in Vance County, NC, before joining staff with the Eastern NC regional team of Teach For America as a teacher coach. After 4 years of coaching, Courtney moved into her current position working with alumni of the program focusing on racial equity and values-based leadership development. Courtney is a writer, consultant, and community organizer with Raleigh Organizing Against Racism in Wake County. She is also a founding member of the The Collective (TFA ENC’s alumni of color organization), and engages in community work with a number of social justice advocacy groups throughout Eastern NC.

​Courtney is most passionate about intersectional anti-racist work, coalition-building and activism between and among advantaged and marginalized communities, and is interested in going back to school in the next couple of years to get a PhD in curriculum & instruction for the purposes of better integrating the narratives of black and brown and other marginalized perspectives into school content and learning, especially as it pertains to communities who have been subjected to multi generational racial trauma.

Board Member

David Balmer   ​

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David Balmer (he/him) currently serves as an Instructional Technology Facilitator at Heritage & Wake Forest High Schools in Wake County, North Carolina. Before this position, he spent 4.5 years in the High School Social Studies classroom teaching Civics & Economics, American, and World Histories. As a classroom teacher, David also served as GSA Advisor and many more student clubs. David earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Appalachian State University in History, Secondary Education and  a Master of Education in Digital Learning & Teaching from North Carolina State University.
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David strongly believes in the power of the human story and that every student has the right to live out their story on their own terms. His passion is to encourage students to find their place in history and live boldly no matter their sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, race, socioeconomic background, religion or place in life. David also encourages LGBT Educators to live proudly and go where you are celebrated, not just tolerated because you can make the difference in the life of students you may never even know about.

David is absolutely ecstatic to be a part of the Safe Schools NC Board and can’t wait to work with you and your schools to provide a safe place and positive learning environment for all students and educators. David loves to travel the globe, hang out with friends and family, and watch whatever the new Netflix Original Series is. You can connect with David by following him on twitter @synergyined or by visiting  www.synergyined.com

Board Member

Lauren Smith

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Lauren Smith (she/her) is a ferociously passionate human being who is currently an Assistant Director in the Durham office of Grassroots Campaigns, a progressive organization dedicated to fundraising for groups such as Doctors Without Borders, Planned Parenthood, and Southern Poverty Law Center. Lauren is also a current member of the North Carolina Alliance for Athletics, Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Dance and Sports Management. She recently graduated from East Carolina University with a bachelor’s degree in Health Education, with a special focus on Sexual Health. During her time at ECU, she was a volunteer at the LGBT Resource Office for 3 years, Secretary for the Sexuality and Gender Alliance (formerly GLBT Student Union), and a part of the Health Education Honor Society Eta Sigma Gamma. Through these organizations, she also volunteered with organizations like the American Red Cross and the American Cancer Society. Additionally, during her junior year she also planned, wrote, and was approved for a study focused on the marginalization of LGBT individuals in terms of consent laws and policies on college campuses and beyond.

As education remains her number one passion, Lauren hopes to one day return to public schools but until then hopes to affect change on a higher level and help bring comprehensive sexuality and diversity education to all schools in the future. Though she is young and doesn’t have the years on her yet, Lauren is excited to serve on the Safe Schools NC board and bring a younger perspective on many issues and use her direct connections with youth to make our work the absolute best it can be. If you really asked her what she’s passionate about other than education and social justice, she’d say three things: family, friends, and media that provides People of Color (POC), LGBTQIA+ Individuals, and other marginalized groups with the representation they deserve.