Melissa Faetz

In addition to her role as Regional Director for North Carolina New Teacher Support Program, Melissa Faetz is the Elementary Education program coordinator and faculty member in the College of Education and Allied Professions at Western Carolina University.  She previously taught first and third grade in Macon County for 12 years.  She was the 2014 North Carolina Region 8 Teacher of the Year and a 2015 NC Hope Street Group Teacher Voice Fellow.  She is a two-time graduate of Western Carolina University and is currently pursuing her Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Virginia. She lives in Macon County with her husband and fellow educator, Tyler, and their twin 18-year-old sons. Her research interests include integrating science, STEM, and literacy in the elementary classroom and developing cultural proficiencies in pre-service teachers.