Meet Mr Ward

Hi! I joined the Alderman team in 2015. The 2021/22 school year will be my seventh year at the school, and my fourteenth year in elementary education. We have an awesome team and we can't wait to get to know you!

Here's my life story in a nut shell! I grew up in South East England and after college began a five year career in IT training. I moved to southern Thailand in September 2007, working for two years at a public school in Suratthani, teaching both Kindergarten and First Grade. I met my wife, Clair, whilst living in town, and in April 2010 we moved to South Korea. We spent two years working in Changwon and Daegu, teaching elementary ed, middle school and business English classes.

I returned home to England in August 2012 to complete my teacher training at Bourton Meadow Academy in Buckingham. I worked at the school for three years as a classroom teacher in both Kindergarten and 5th Grade. Clair and I got married in Memphis, Tennessee in April 2015 and, after a short time in Boston, relocated down to Wilmington. Clair is now a 3rd grade teacher at the Friends School of Wilmington. In April 2020, we welcomed to the world our first child, Ruby Catheryne Ward!

We loved our international travels, and I love to incorporate global learning into the 2nd grade curriculum. Expect your children to come home saying good morning in a few new languages. We try to learn one a week!

When I'm not working, I am most likely scheming up my next training plan. I'm a runner, swimmer and triathlete and ran my fourth marathon in April 2020. I have run the Boston Marathon twice ('17 & '18), but the real highlight of my running career was winning the 2016 NHCS 5K Teacher Trot! I have a very nice apple on a pole to prove it! Other crazy endeavors include the 2016 'Swim The Loop', a 3.5 mile swim around the Intra-Coastal Waterway at Wrightsville Beach; the Pier to Pier swim, 2019; a full Ironman, in Texas, in 2019 and the Uharrie 20 mile trail race in 2020, which was TOUGH!

I love to give back and pass on my passion for running to the local community. I am a volunteer coach for Kids Run The Nation, a turn-key, after school, running club held at UNCW track. Find out more here: http://www.krtnilm.org/ . I love it when Alderman students join our program. It's cheap and a great way to get kids into running and blow off some steam after school.

I also sit on the board of the Wilmington Road Runners Club, as chair for the club's Scholarship Committee. We annually award scholarships to high school senior runners within the Cape Fear Region. Find out more here: https://wilmingtonroadrunners.wildapricot.org/WRRC-Scholarship

I have recently taken up the ukulele and love to cook, so after wearing myself out, I might be practicing a new strumming pattern or cooking up some Thai food. The spicier the better!