Team Bios

Ms. Julie Blocker, CTE and NAF Academy Coordinator, has facilitated administrative duties and discussion with community partners.

I transitioned from a large daycare center Director to a Family and Consumer Science teacher in 1999. I worked as a Daycare Director and Accountant for 8 years after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a Bachelor’s in Accounting.

After teaching Early Childhood at Mooresville High School for six years, I obtained my Master’s in School Administration from Gardner Webb University in 2005. I transferred to Mooresville Intermediate School as an Assistant Principal and held that position for 3 years. Mooresville Graded School District created a CTE Coordinator position in 2008 and I transferred back to Career and Technical Education as the CTE Coordinator for Middle and High School.

During the 2019-2020 school year, Mooresville High School opened a National Academy Foundation Academy of Engineering and I am currently the Academy Coordinator; as well as, the CTE Coordinator. My educational purpose is to ensure all CTE students leave high school prepared to be excellent employees and citizens of their community while possessing hands-on skills needed to be successful in life.

Ms. Renee Parkman, Engineering and Computer Science CTE teacher, organized communication and meetings between students and community partners. Ms. Parkman’s Intro to Engineering students (17 students) researched ideas for the CubeSat components and wrote specifications.

I began my teaching career as a lateral-entry math teacher having worked as a municipal engineer and environmental consultant for 10 years. I have a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Professional Engineer’s license in North Carolina. After teaching high school math for 10 years, Mooresville High School opened a NAF academy in 2019 which gave me the opportunity to teach engineering courses something that I’d been interested in doing. My research and educational interests include teaching and modeling growth mindset especially as it relates to math and science; bringing project based learning to the engineering classroom; connecting students to real world applications, education and job training based on their interests. I also hold a Master’s in Secondary Mathematics Education from UNC- Charlotte.

Mr. Estes, Mathematics and Computer Science teacher, guidance and support for data analytics.

I have been a mathematics teacher for the high school for the past three years and I am currently a Math 2, and AP Computer Science Principles teacher at Mooresville High School. This has been my first teaching experience after graduating from Appalachian State University with a Master’s in Mathematics Education. This is my first experience in the world of computer science as well as engineering. This experience has afforded me the opportunity to research and learn more professionally about data science can benefit real world issues that affect our communities. As a teacher, my goals for my students are for them to leave questioning more about life and the world around them than when they entered the classroom.

Ms. Smith, Environmental Science teacher, AP Environmental Science class (19 students), the opportunity to research local environmental issues that could be answered by data from a CubeSat. The students wrote scientific hypotheses and brief outlines of why, how and what they would research and collect.

I have been in the teaching profession for the past nineteen years and I am currently a Marine Science, Environmental Earth Science, and AP Environmental Science teacher at Mooresville High School. Prior to Mooresville, I taught for seven years outside the city of Detroit, MI. Additionally, I was an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow for two terms with the NOAA Office of Education in Washington, DC.

My passions as a science teacher are to bring science to all learners, including students with disabilities and lower elementary students. I invite students of all abilities into my classroom and provide experiences where everyone has the opportunity to participate and be inspired by science. My other passion is to connect my students to scientists and real-time data inspiring them to be the next generation of scientists. I participated in the Ocean Exploration Trust Science Communications Fellowship, NOAA Teacher at Sea, and the NSF PolarTREC program.

Through these experiences I traveled to Antarctica, the Bering Sea, Galapagos Islands, and the Caribbean Sea to bring real science into my classroom and encourage my students to be scientists too. My past awards include North Carolina Science Leadership Fellow, Macomb County Environmental Educator of the Year, South Lake High School Teacher of the Year, Mooresville School District Teacher of the Year, North Carolina Outstanding Earth Science Teacher, and the Southeast Regional Outstanding Earth Science Teacher.

Ms. Ligh, NAF Academy English teacher, provided writing support to the proposal team.

Teaching is a second career for me; I spent the first 25 years in corporate America in various management and training positions. Two years after being recruited and relocating to NC from Virginia (for a well-know company), I walked in one day only to be told that the company was facing financial issues and needed to restructure. My entire team needed to go, and I had to do the 'dirty' work. Shortly thereafter, my position was also dissolved. I decided at that moment that I was done-I wanted my life to have more meaning (as cliche as it may sound).

The loss was equivalent to death in many ways- I had never lost a job and I placed enormous value on my work. I realized in that profound moment that my 14 hour days were all in naught and I suddenly decided to become a teacher. I love writing and reading, and I remembered how painful adolescence was for me, so becoming an English teacher seemed like the perfect solution. I was blessed to acquire my first position at an early college in Lexington NC and I soon realized what it meant to do something that I loved. While I entered the profession to help others, I actually ended up gaining so much more in return.

Teaching is frustrating, and clearly we are not paid enough (I work just as hard as I did in my management positions), but teaching is incredibly rewarding and there is never a dull moment. Each day I am blessed to be a part of other young people's lives and as much as I guide and direct them, they guide and direct me. My path on this journey has been unique. I started as a jazz vocal major at the University of Miami, left school to pursue music, and went back to school many years later.

I ended up with a Bachelor of Science from Liberty University, triple majoring in psychology, business, and religion. When I decided to become a teacher, I went back to school and earned my Master's degree in teaching from UNC Charlotte. I have now been teaching for over ten years and can't imagine doing anything else.