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College of Education Office of the Dean East Carolina University 154 Speight Building ● Greenville, NC 27858-4353 252-328-4260 office ● 252-328-4219 fax www.ecu.edu

May 17, 2007 For Release Page 1 of 1

ECU Graduate Selected Local Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year

Johnston County, NC- For the second year in a row an ECU College of Education Graduate has been named the local Wal-Mart teacher of the Year. Lamar Waller, 2006 COE graduate from the Middle Grades Education program, was recently named 2007 Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year for Johnston County Schools. Margo Arnold, 5th grade at Chicod Elementary was named local Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year in 2006.

Waller teaches sixth grade social studies at Riverwood Middle School in Johnston County, NC. In March, Waller was also named First Year Teacher of the Year for his school. Dr. Diana Lys, in the ECU College of Education Clinical Experiences Office said, “I had the pleasure of being Lamar's university supervisor during his internship at Ayden Middle School with Ms. Anne Booth during the spring of 2006. Together, Ms. Booth and I nominated Lamar for the Latham Awards for Teaching Excellence and while he was not the winner that year, we knew that he had all the makings of a wonderful teacher.” Dr. Lys is especially proud of Waller because spent four years teaching Riverwood Middle School prior to joining ECU. “I have the advantage of tracking Lamar’s success through my old teaching colleagues. They share all the wonderful things that Lamar does in his classroom. They are thrilled to have him on their faculty.” said Dr. Lys.

For more information contact Jessica Davenport, director of communications, College of Education 252-328-2179 or [email protected].

East Carolina University is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina. An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer