Dr. Tracy Smith, a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Appalachian’s Reich College of Education (RCOE), has been named recipient of the C. Kenneth McEwin Distinguished Service in Middle Grades Education Award. The award was presented at the 2019 North Carolina Association for Middle Level Education conference.
The award is named for Appalachian State University professor emeritus, C. Kenneth McEwin. McEwin developed the first middle grades licensure and degree programs in North Carolina and at Appalachian. The award is presented to an individual (or to a school or organization) who has had a significant long-term impact on the advancement of middle-level education in North Carolina. The contribution can be in service, leadership, and/or research.
“Dr. McEwin was my mentor when I was hired here at Appalachian,” said Smith. “[He] introduced me to all the leaders in the middle grades field, since he was there from the beginning.”
“Fearing that their voices would be lost, we spent ten years interviewing those leaders of middle grades education, and have argued that the Middle Grades Movement was a critical social movement to come out of the 1960s. Together, Dr. McEwin and I wrote The Legacy of Middle School Leaders: In Their Own Words,” continued Smith.
“After some years of teaching students in the College of Education, I was able to help cultivate a network of middle grades teachers across the state who continued to stay in touch with me - and with each other. What bound us together was a continued conviction that young adolescents possess unlimited potential and promise. Each day, we must work to reject stereotypes about the age group and convince them and others that our collective future is in their hands - and that the years they spend in the ‘middle’ are some of the most important developmental years of their lives,” said Smith
“When [Dr. McEwin] heard that I was to be the recipient of the award, he came to the conference to present the award to me,” noted Smith. “Receiving the award that bears his name from Dr. McEwin himself was more of an honor than I could express. Like the other early leaders in middle grades education, Dr. McEwin believed decades ago that young adolescents needed a different type of education than was being provided to younger elementary-aged children and older adolescents in high school. For about 50 years, he advocated for developmentally-responsive practices for young adolescents and their teachers and families. He is to me, and to many, a legend.”
Smith earned her Ph.D. in curriculum and teaching at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, her master’s in curriculum specialist at Appalachian State University, and her bachelor’s in education at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She joined the RCOE faculty in 2000.
“I chose and continue to choose Appalachian State because of its long and rich history and commitment to teaching excellence,” stated Smith.
About NCMLE
The North Carolina Association for Middle Level Education is an organization of educators, schools, and institutions who are equally as passionate about the advocacy for and work of Middle Level Education.
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