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BOARD MEMBERS

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Dr. Rose Marie Lowry-Townsend, Chair

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Dr. Rose Marie Lowry-Townsend is a lifelong resident of Pembroke, North Carolina. She currently serves as the Manager of Youth Services for the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. She and her staff provide after-school programming to over 500 members as well as a summer enrichment program to over 600 members. She is a retired educator with over 35 years in education serving as a classroom teacher, Director of Federal Project, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and Superintendent. She holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration, an Educational Specialist Degree in School Administration, two Master’s Degrees one in Elementary Education and one in Curriculum and Instruction. She also has Master’s Certification in Education Administration. Her BS degree is in Elementary Education.

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Dr. Brenda Dial Deese, Vice Chair

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Dr. Brenda Dial Deese is a lifelong resident of Robeson County. She is a retired educator with the state of North Carolina. Current professional experiences include working with AmeriCorps Vista at the Boys & Girls Clubs- Lumbee Country, Program Coordinator for the Intertribal Talking Circle for the Prevention of Substance Abuse in Native Youth, External Evaluator for programs, and adjunct faculty with the University of North Carolina Pembroke, College of Health Sciences in Professional School Counseling. She serves on the National Indian Education Association Subcommittee on Native Research, Assessment and Evaluation. Dr. Deese is founder and owner of Cinnamon Wit, LLC a consulting company, offering services in partnering with educational systems for leadership development, consultation, grant writing and designing methodologies for curriculum standards. She holds a PhD in Curriculum, Instruction and Counselor Education from North Carolina State University and earned licenses as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor and a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC). She earned a master’s degree in School Counseling, certification in Educational Administration and Supervision and a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education.

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Dr. Denise Hunt, School Board Member

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Dr. Denise Hunt is a resident of Robeson County, and she has been working in the field of education for over twenty years. Throughout these years, Denise has held various teaching roles: classroom teacher, mentor, clinical teacher, curriculum facilitator, and instructional coach. Denise is passionate about education, and she believes every student deserves a highly qualified teacher.

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Dr. Tiffany Locklear, School Board Member

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Dr. Tiffany Locklear is a Robeson County resident, more specifically of the Prospect Community. She is an Assistant Professor in the Teacher Education Program in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. As an educator and former administrator, she is committed to supporting and inspiring students teaching in the graduate and undergraduate programs at UNC-Pembroke and supervising elementary education interns who are student teaching and/or completing EdTPA. Dr. Locklear currently serves on the State Advisory Council for Indian Education as well as various University level committees. She has served as a mentor for the First Americans’ Educational Leadership Grant Program in which she supported aspiring American Indian administrators in an effort to increase the number of highly effective American Indian administrators and improve educational outcomes for American Indian students in North Carolina. Dr. Locklear is a Gate’s Millennium Scholar. Research interests include new ways of teaching and learning, culturally responsive pedagogy, and mathematics education. Dr. Locklear’s representation in Old Main STREAM is based on the belief that our community deserves the influence afforded inside rigorous educational opportunities.

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John Lowery, School Board Member

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John Lowery currently works for the North Carolina Department of Commerce as a Regional Operations Director. He previously served as the Tribal Relations Manager for the United States Department of Agriculture within the Office of the Secretary. He has spent time working on federal Indian policy for the National Congress of American Indians and was an educator with the Public Schools of Robeson County for 5 years. John has a Master of Public Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Master of Teaching from UNC-Pembroke. He has an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Public Administration from UNC-Pembroke. John currently serves as a Director for the Kiwanis Club of Robeson-Lumberton and was recently appointed as a Board of Director for the Pembroke Area Chamber of Commerce. He serves on the Robeson County Farm Bureau’s Communication Subcommittee and remains active with the Nu Alpha Professional Chapter of Phi Sigma Nu. He is married with two children.

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