NewsRelease

Meg Sheehan of Colfax to Receive UNCG Young Alumni Award Oct. 12

GREENSBORO — Dr. Anne M. “Meg” Sheehan of Colfax, principal of Broadview Middle School in Burlington, will receive the Young Alumni Award at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Saturday, Oct. 12, in the Alumni House.

The presentation will take place during the Alumni Association Life Members Reception, which starts at 4 p.m. The award honors a UNCG graduate under the age of 41 for exceptional community service and professional achievement. Recipients must exemplify outstanding professional and personal development either through traditional channels or innovative approaches.

"This award recognizes the contributions of our younger alumni," said Laurie Weaver, associate director of alumni affairs. "Meg Sheehan is making a difference in her profession and her community, and she inspired positive change at her school. She is an excellent choice as the 2002 Young Alumni Award recipient.”

In addition to her B.S. and M.Ed. degrees from UNCG, Sheehan also received an M.S. degree from N.C. A&T State University and a doctoral degree from UNC-Chapel Hill, both in educational leadership. Since graduating from UNCG in 1987, Sheehan has received a number of awards, beginning in 1991 with the Altamahaw-Ossippee Elementary School’s Teacher of the Year Award.  She has since received the 1992 E.J. Hooks Young Professional Award, a 1997 Smallwood Fellowship at UNC-Chapel Hill and the 2000 Wachovia Principal of the Year Award for the Alamance-Burlington School System. Her school, North Graham Elementary, was named a “Signature School” by the Piedmont Triad Education Consortium and the recipient of the 2001 “Lighthouse School” Award from the N.C. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Sheehan’s nominator, Dr. Kate Barrett, called Sheehan a young professional with extraordinary commitment and ability to educate children. The honors that came during her tenure as principal of North Graham Elementary are of particular significance. As principal, Sheehan entered North Graham, a school that was labeled by local administrators as “low performing.”  Since arriving in 1998, however, Sheehan successfully turned the school in a new direction. Sheehan led her staff to converting to a year-round calendar, conducted needs assessment and put action plans into place based on those assessments, applied for and received grants totaling over $515,000 from various sources, improved testing scores to the point that North Graham has received “exemplary” status in all state testing, and created a safe learning environment for children and educators.  As one of Sheehan’s teachers wrote of the accomplishment, “In less than three years, North Graham Elementary has completely reversed its course under her guidance and direction.”  Sheehan became principal at Broadview Middle School this past summer.

Sheehan’s accomplishments are an example of the contributions that UNCG Alumni make to the state, region and nation. As one of North Carolina’s premier universities, UNCG is an asset both inside and outside the classroom.  With particular strengths in the sciences, education and the study of social issues, as well as performing arts and business, UNCG offers a multi-disciplined resource for students, businesses and the public.
 
 

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