Teaching
as a State of Being: The 2006-07
Daniel-Mickel Foundation Master Teachers
Reprinted on the web from the Fall/Winter 2006
Issue of Highlights
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Communications Center
 Chris
Parsons
Grade 4, Lower School
Education: B.A., Limestone College, Elementary
Education; M.Ed., University
of South Carolina, Early Childhood Education
Years Teaching: 25
Years Teaching at CCES: 18. Chris will be retiring
at the end of this school year.
Teaching Experience: CCES, Blacksbury
Elementary (Blacksbury), Elm Street Elementary and Gaffney Day School
(Gaffney), Atlas Road Elementary (Columbia)
Volunteer Activities: Sustainer, Jr. League; Christ
Church Episcopal volunteer. Chris has also worked with the Victim
Witness Program.
Hobbies: Gardening, “being with my two grandchildren”
Praise for Chris Parsons: “Chris takes her
students to a different level of learning….She encourages,
engages, fosters, respects, and supports the children, both academically
and personally….I have been so impressed with Chris’s
work with understanding her children, the students, and their needs.
She is sensitive to a young child’s weaknesses; she encourages
not only the strong but addresses the weak. Students are able to
inquire and question without hesitation. Most importantly, she treats
a child with respect as a human being. Chris’s actions have
been passed on to her students. These actions are more valuable
than anything one could learn in a textbook.” Dena
Benedict ’78 , parent of Jeff ’12
and Kathleen ’13.
 Alice
(Munn) Ballard
Art instructor, Middle School
Education: B.S., University of Michigan, Design;
M.A., University of Michigan, Painting
Years Teaching: 30
Years Teaching at CCES: 10
Teaching Experience: CCES, Governor’s School
for the Arts and Humanities, Penland
School of Crafts, Charlotte Country
Day School, Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Coastal Carolina
Extension of University of South Carolina, Sacred Heart College,
Francis Marion College. Alice has also served as artist-in-residence
at numerous schools in the Carolinas and Alaska.
Exhibitions: Alice has had dozens of solo exhibitions
and has participated in numerous national and regional juried exhibitions.
Her work is in the permanent collection of the Renwick Collection
at the Smithsonian American Museum of Art, the Mint Museum of Art,
the Mint Museum of Craft & Design, the Greenville County Museum
of Art, the South Carolina State Art Collection, the Tennessee State
Art Collection, the American Embassy in Portugal, and numerous corporate
and private collections throughout the country.
Volunteer Activities: Metropolitan Arts Council,
Artisphere. Alice also serves as Southeast representative for the
American Crafts Council, and she donates her artwork to assist various
organizations,
such as the Penland School of Crafts, in their fundraising.
Hobbies: Gardening, travel, photography
Praise for Alice Ballard: “Over the years
I have volunteered in several schools and many different classrooms,
but I have truly never seen students literally groan when the bell
rings at the end of a class period until I was in Mrs. Munn’s
class. It is a pleasure to see the sense of joy and excitement about
art that she brings to her students.” Linda Claytor, parent
of Rachel ’10.
 Nancy
White
IB Diploma Coordinator, English instructor, Upper School
Education: B.A., Pennsylvania State University,
English; M.S., Duquesne University, Reading & Language Arts
Education
Years Teaching: 25
Years Teaching at CCES: 10
Teaching Experience: CCES, Southside HS, Greensburg
Central Catholic HS
Presentations: Nancy has presented at numerous national
conferences for IB, NAIS, and NAES. She is also one of a very select
group of nationally certified IB site visitors. In October she visited
two Canadian schools in the process of becoming authorized to offer
the IB Diploma.
Volunteer Activities: Current Board member of the
Commons Court Neighborhood, Isle of Palms. Formerly President of
the Pebble Creek CC Ladies Golf Association (1995) and Vice President
of the Greenville County Council of Teachers of English (1992-94).
Nancy also served for several years on the Advisory Council to Greenville
Memorial Medical Center.
Hobbies: Golf, knitting, sewing
Praise for Nancy White: “Her knowledge of
the IB program is invaluable, and she consistently and positively
promotes the values of the IB program to the school community. Give
her a challenge, and she will make it work! Nancy White is to be
credited with broadening the scope of IB courses and programs at
CCES to a level that is to be envied by other schools, both public
and private, and she has encouraged her colleagues and their students
to challenge themselves with new curricula, assessments, and methodologies
that were unthinkable to them ten years ago. Mrs. White genuinely
cares about each of her students and will go to great lengths to
ensure their success, not only in their IB courses, but more importantly,
in their lives beyond CCES.” Margot Stewart, Assistant Upper
School Director “Nancy White is a person who will guide you
in the right direction, encourage you along the way, and celebrate
with you when you achieve your goals. She is the epitome of a teacher
who genuinely cares for her students and prides herself in their
success.” Abby DeFronzo ’02
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