Elmhurst, Lakeforest leaders recognized during National Principals Month

Two second-generation educators have been named principal and assistant principal of the year for Pitt County Schools.

Elmhurst Elementary School Principal Megan Newman and Lakeforest Elementary School Assistant Principal Katy Swain were honored Tuesday at Rock Springs Center during a banquet sponsored by Pitt County Farm Bureau. The awards are given each October in celebration of National Principals Month.

Newman, a Winterville native, is the daughter of former Pitt County Schools educator Carol Riggs, a longtime teacher at W.H. Robinson Elementary School

.

“I come from a family full of educators,” Newman said in an interview. “That, I think, sparked the interest in me.”

Newman, who has an undergraduate degree and two master’s degrees from East Carolina University, has spent her 14-year career in education in Pitt County Schools. Beginning as a teacher at Grifton School, she later served as coordinator of Health Sciences Academy before becoming a principal.

“There has never been a time in my life that a ceiling was set for me and it is not lost on me how fortunate I am,” she said in her acceptance speech, in which she thanked her family, colleagues and mentors.

Newman is in her first year at Elmhurst, having previously served as an assistant principal at Wintergreen and principal of Grifton and Stokes schools.

“I love being a principal,” she said, adding that she sometimes misses the day-to-day interaction in the classroom. “Being able to impact children in a bigger way is kind of what keeps me drawn to it.”

Swain spent some 15 years in the classroom before returning to school as part of the North Carolina Principal Fellows Program. Swain, whose mother, Peggy Black, taught in Guilford, Nash and Beaufort counties, received a degree in dance education from ECU in 2002. She taught for more than a decade at Jack Britt High School in Cumberland County.

“I wanted to share my passion and my love to students that might not be able to take it (dance) outside and pay for it separately in the private sector,” she said in an interview.

Seven years ago, she stepped out of her dance shoes and into another role at Lakeforest Elementary School, where she has loved working with younger students. Although she is no longer teaching dance, she has plenty of opportunities to motivate students through movement.

“Our science teachers do a lot of movement,” she said. “It’s choreography and I love it. I just have that creative side, and I think that comes from my dance background.”

Swain said Lakeforest Principal Anthony Perkins has pushed her to grow in her leadership role in a fast-paced environment where the work can seem to be never-ending.

Other award nominees for Principal of the Year included Chena Cayton of South Central High School and Jennifer Johnson of Hope Middle School. Amanda Davis of E.B. Aycock Middle School and Monique Warren of C.M. Eppes Middle School were the assistant principal candidates.

Interim Superintendent Steve Lassiter, the 2015 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year, said the nominees’ hard work and dedication have been an inspiration.

“Your leadership exemplifies the very best of what it means to serve in education,” he said. “The success of Pitt County Schools is a direct reflection of the incredible people in this room.”

Innovation Early College High School Principal Jennifer James, who was last year’s Principal of the Year award recipient, said principals are the heart of their schools, setting the tone for students, staff and the community.

“The role of a principal is not an easy one,” she said. “The level of dedication is not just work. It is a calling.”

James, who presented this year’s awards along with last year’s Assistant Principal of the Year winner J’celyn Bryson of Ayden-Grifton High School, said that it is sometimes difficult for people outside of education to understand the challenges that school administrators face.

“You are the unsung heroes of public education,” she told her colleagues. “Your work may not always be acknowledged in headlines or celebrated in public forums, but it is vital to the fabric of our society. Your leadership shapes the future and your commitment makes a lasting impact that ripples far beyond the walls of your school.”

As district-level principal of the year, Newman will go on to Northeast Region competition. The most recent PCS educator to earn that title was South Greenville Elementary School Principal Alison Covington in 2021.