An educator with a wide variety of educational experience has joined the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) faculty.
Tamara Houchard has been named a Senior Content Specialist. Houchard joins the NCCAT faculty, which served all school districts in North Carolina last year. NCCAT provides teachers with new knowledge, skills, teaching methods, best practices, and information to take back to the classroom.
Houchard has been a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) Specialist and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) Coordinator in Gaston and Mitchell County Schools and a Curriculum Coordinator and K-12 teacher in Mitchell and Avery counties. She has taught in classrooms from kindergarten to college seniors. Houchard was recognized as Teacher of the Year twice in Mitchell County and Central Office Administrator of the Year last year for Gaston County Schools. She has a long relationship with NCCAT as a presenter and participant.
"I have been blessed to be both a participant and a guest presenter at NCCAT and knew from the first time I set foot on the campus that this is a place and people who truly treasure educators in a way that re-lights the fires and fills the buckets of resilience," Houchard said.
Houchard graduated from Avery County High School, and earned a BS in Elementary Education from Appalachian State University and a double masters at Western Carolina University in Curriculum & Instruction/Supervision and Administration. Houchard was a Gillingham Classroom Instructor and is a National Board Certified Teacher.
"Ms. Houchard brings a wealth of experience and depth of knowledge to us at NCCAT," NCCAT Executive Director Dr. M. Brock Womble said. "We are thrilled to have her joining us to help advance our professional development programming."
Houchard has already started leading professional development at NCCAT.
"My past teaching, supporting, and training experiences have given me a wide variety of experiences upon which to draw," she said. "My work in both literacy and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support continue to be areas that are needed, as well as a focus on social and emotional learning. It is my great privilege to provide support to educators who have so generously poured their efforts into helping me reach my potential. I am honored to be a part of the NCCAT faculty."