Lisa Covington
Hi. I'm a 46-year old Libra, mother, wife, and educator who currently teaches grades 9, 10 & 12 at Enloe Magnet High School in the heart of Raleigh, NC. Enloe is a dynamic environment as students from all over Wake County apply to our school so as to take advantage of our celebrated arts programs and the vast number of electives and accelerated/AP/IB courses offered. To keep our school diverse, 40% of our population also comes from downtown Raleigh, which has led to Enloe's complex & sometimes troubling reputation of possessing a "school within a school." I teach Standard, ESL, Honors and AP students, so I work with every "type" of student that Enloe serves (that's people), with varying degrees of success. This past spring (2013), I was excited and shocked to become part of NCSU's Integrated Writing and Technology class, and in retrospect, I know that the course and the people I've worked with have changed my life and my view of what constitutes good teaching. Prior to my recent graduate experience at NC State and in England, I paid lip service to the need for a "21st century" classroom and the constant (allegedly effective) incorporation of technology into our daily lessons. Now, I believe I've gained the knowledge and skills to enrich my students' learning beyond a data projector, computer lab, Word program, Prezis, or Youtube. I'm embracing the "terrible beauty" of technology, and now I'm not drowning OR waving--instead, I'm surfing.
Some agricultural background . . .
I currently reside on a small farm in Clayton, NC, having relocated from a tiny house beside the NC State Fairgrounds. At left is Tucker the Turkey, a fowl most foul. Tucker replaced our beloved Tom Turkey, who sadly crossed the river last spring. After purchasing Tucker at the NC State Fair last fall, he revealed much promise as a successor to Tom, but since the warm weather has arrived, Tucker has regressed into a vicious attack bird, lunging at us with his blue head and trying (he's too heavy to leave the ground much) to impale us with his impressive talons. Tucker may meet his own demise this Thanksgiving. Below is a photo of my beloved Henry, a jackass extraordinaire, who has recently followed Tucker's lead by biting the hell out of my thigh while I lopped trees over spring break.
Having been born and raised an FSU Seminole, I briefly attended Florida State University before dropping out of college and waiting tables for a year. I then transferred to Appalachian State in Boone, NC and received my BA in English. Not knowing what to do with myself or my degree, I continued to work, mainly waiting tables, and finally entered NC State in 1991? to study in the English graduate program. Some years later, after much success in classes but also after an equally serious struggle (for years!) with my graduate thesis paper, I received my MA degree. During this time, I moved back to the mountains and waited some more tables at an "Inland Seafood Restaurant." Once again, I wasn't sure what to do with myself, so I attended Meredith College (Yes, I was briefly an "Angel") and received my teacher's certification in both history and English. I lucked out, acquiring a job at Enloe High School in 1997, and I fell in love with both the magnet and IB programs during my first tenure there. Since then, I've taught 8th grade at Ligon Middle School, 9th, 11th, and 12th grades at Leesville HIgh School, and this year have returned to Enloe High where in 2013, I taught C&C Honors 10th grade, 10th grade standard/ESL, and a sheltered English 9 ESL class.