Joshua Thaxton

District 8 Director

Nominee: Joshua Thaxton

Biographical Information on Nominee

Joshua Thaxton believes in generating curiosity, excitement, and a willingness to learn in his students. He is a veteran classroom teacher, naturalist and outdoorsman. Joshua uses his “adventures” to create interactive lessons and provide real world examples of scientific phenomena for his students. He is comfortable teaching in the traditional classroom setting and in alternate settings. While working for Cumberland County Schools, he founded and sponsored an after-school Lego robotics club, as well as coached and mentored Elementary Science Olympiad events and teams. He partnered with NASA's Sally Ride EarthKAM, letting his students apply their knowledge of geography and global weather patterns to submit image requests to the International Space Station. On the community level Joshua served on the Science Advisory and the Science Curriculum Writing Teams for Cumberland County. In these roles, he frequently participated as a presenter at professional development meetings for area educators.

Joshua currently teaches fifth grade science and mathematics at Pisgah Forest Elementary School in Brevard, North Carolina. He holds a B.S. in Elementary Education and is the 2015 recipient of a Transylvania County Schools Educational Foundation grant.

Mission Statement

I have always been an inquisitive person and enjoy exploring the unknown. As an elementary educator, one of my favorite things is guiding the natural curiosity of children and developing interactive lessons and experiments around it. If elected to this board position, I see great potential to positively affect the students of my district by making careful and informed decisions about their science education and helping, through NCSTA, other science teachers to do the same.

I feel that my previous leadership experience serving on Cumberland county boards will lend wisdom and insight into this position. I look forward to working with other Science teachers to promote and help improve Science education in North Carolina. Finally, I think this is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in my community and hope you will consider me for the board position. Thank you for your time and consideration.

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PDI Keynote Speakers

Dr. Carol O'Donnell

Dr. Carol O'Donnell is the director of the Smithsonian Science Education Center, which is dedicated to transforming K-12 Education through Science in collaboration with communities across the globe.

Dr. Nehemiah Mabry, P.E. is an Engineer, Educator and Entrepreneur based in Raleigh, North Carolina. His technical experience includes 15+ years as a NASA Researcher, Bridge Design Engineer, and Adjunct Professor.