Patrice Hardy

Patrice Hardy is a thirty-year public school educator who loves her chosen craft and career. She counts it a joy to "teach herself happy" daily to teens who keep her young and inspired. As a granddaughter of educators and a proud alumna of Bennett College for Women and North Carolina A&T State University, she is old school in thought and practice. She believes that our presence in the building makes a difference and how we show up matters. You can find her with her signature pearls around her neck and that voice ringing through the halls daily to remind us of all of the reasons for the pushing and pulling and work. As the ELA department chair and the co-advisor for Student Government, co-advisor for the National Achievers Society, and co-chair of the School Improvement Team at Willow Spring High School, her presence is felt and heard. Patrice says “what we do matters...in every way and every interaction, we touch the future. Teaching is how I positively impact future generations. My ancestors paid too great a price for me to turn back now.”

Read Patrice's blog post "Bring Beauty, Balance and Bounty to Your Classroom with DNCR"

See why Patrice thinks place-based and experiential learning is so important to both teachers and students, and how she was able to take a fully funded field trip with the Learning Happens Here Field Trip Fund.