Pitt County Schools recently announced that Allison Setser, Principal of H.B. Sugg and Sam D. Bundy Elementary Schools, has been named the district’s Principal of the Year for 2017. Willie Joyner, Assistant Principal of North Pitt High School, has been named Assistant Principal of the Year. The 2017 winners were chosen by a selection committee that included Monica Jacobson, last year’s Principal of the Year and current principal of J.H. Rose High School, Elizabeth Sanderson, last year’s Assistant Principal of the Year, Dr. Ve-Lecia Council, assistant superintendent of human resources for PCS, and Kylene Dibble, Executive Director of Parents for Public Schools.
Setser and Joyner are both admired for their outstanding work both within their schools and in their larger school communities. Setser is known for her positive, energetic leadership and her focus on connecting schools and communities, as evidenced by Farmville’s popular School-a–palooza event, which she spearheaded two years ago. Joyner works tirelessly to support his teachers, particularly beginning teachers. He is also well known for having a positive impact on his community through the step and dance team he began, HYPE (Helping Yourself with Pride Through Education).
Both winners received various gifts from the sponsors of the event. The Pitt County Educational Foundation also gave both Setser and Joyner $500 to spend on themselves and $500 to spend on their schools. The two also received free bread for a year from the Great Harvest Bread Company in addition to other gift cards and cash prizes.
The 2017 winners came from an extremely talented and accomplished group of nominees. The nominees for principal of the year were:
- Dr. Chena Cayton, Ayden-Grifton High School
- Colleen Burt, Elmhurst Elementary School
- Paul Briney, Farmville Middle School
- Allison Setser, H.B. Sugg & Sam D. Bundy Elementary Schools
- LaVette Ford, Lakeforest Elementary School
- Lakeesha Lynch, South Greenville Elementary School
The nominees for assistant principal of the year were:
- Linda Brantley, A.G. Cox Middle School
- Richard Hutchinson, Ayden-Grifton High School
- Reed Potts, D.H. Conley High School
- Diana Denham, H. B. Sugg Elementary School
- Willie Joyner, North Pitt High School
- Nydra Jones, Pactolus School
- Tabitha Stormer Maye, Wahl-Coates Elementary School
- Melanie Harrison, Wellcome Middle School
- Megan Newman, Wintergreen Primary School
