The Dark Horse Fellows program was created with a straightforward idea: Grow Clinton City Schools’ future teachers from within.
For Woodlyn Pierre, that concept is no longer just a goal on paper.
The “Grow Your Own Teacher” initiative supports aspiring educators with forgivable loans, resources and mentorship with the goal of having them return to teach in Clinton City Schools. The program is now seeking to expand that pipeline through an Anonymous Trust challenge that could provide $100,000, including two $40,000 forgivable loans for Dark Horse Fellows seniors and another $20,000 for the program.
Pierre, a 2022 Clinton High School graduate and the first scholarship recipient through the Dark Horse Fellows program, has returned to Clinton City Schools as a student teacher at Butler Avenue Elementary. She is completing her degree at Fayetteville State University and is expected to begin her teaching career in January.
It is a homecoming that began thousands of miles from Clinton.
Pierre was born in Haiti and lived there until she was 13, when she moved to Clinton and entered Sampson Middle School. At the time, she recalled, only a handful of students spoke her language, forcing her to quickly adapt to a new country, community and school system.
“There was nobody else to communicate with, so I picked it up pretty quick,” Pierre said of learning English.
By the time she reached Clinton High School, Pierre had begun discovering another part of herself — a love for helping children learn. She initially tutored younger students during the summer and soon realized education might be more than a temporary job.
“I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I really like this,’” Pierre recalled.
She applied to become a Dark Horse Fellow and eventually headed to Fayetteville State, where she is also an N.C. Teaching Fellow. Now nearing graduation, Pierre has reached the student-teaching portion of her education and is gradually assuming classroom responsibilities at Butler Avenue.
She previously completed classroom observations and a three-week practicum with fifth-graders before moving into a second-grade classroom for her student-teaching assignment.
The adjustment has shown Pierre firsthand how different grade levels require different approaches.
With fifth-graders, she said, students generally had greater independence and needed less direction. Second-graders require more guidance and redirection, but Pierre has found something she enjoys about both age groups.
Her ideal classroom, she said, would likely be second grade or fifth grade — particularly fifth-grade math.
“I love math, so that’s what my passion is,” Pierre stressed.
That passion has family roots.
Her father was a math teacher in Haiti, while an aunt teaches elementary school there. Pierre said she also remembers enjoying opportunities to help classmates with math while she was still a student herself.
“I love helping people, especially with math,” she said. “If they didn’t get the question or if they needed extra help with the question, I was always willing to help. And I loved it.”
Butler Avenue Principal Dr. Angela Harding-Newkirk sees Pierre’s return as especially meaningful for a district working to recruit teachers while serving an increasingly diverse student population.
“This program is a wonderful asset to Clinton City Schools, especially with the need of teachers that we have,” Harding-Newkirk said. “Having someone come back home and is familiar with the community is so valuable to the students, parents and staff.”
Pierre’s Haitian heritage, Harding-Newkirk added, provides another connection to a growing demographic within Clinton City Schools.
“Her presence is even more of a plus and how much she can contribute to not only Butler Avenue, but the Dark Horse community as a whole,” she said.
The Butler principal understands the homecoming personally. A Clinton graduate herself, she returned to the district as an educator and said she wishes a program like Dark Horse Fellows had been available when she pursued her degree.
The financial component, she said, gives prospective educators an opportunity to enter the profession without beginning their careers beneath “that cloud of debt over their head.”
That was also one of the biggest attractions for Pierre.
Rather than accumulating substantial student loan debt, she said the fellowship helped cover her education with the understanding that she would return and serve the community that invested in her.
For students considering the program, Pierre said the commitment should be viewed in perspective. Someone planning a career in education could potentially teach for decades, while the fellowship asks recipients to devote only a portion of those years to Clinton City Schools in exchange for assistance with college expenses.
“All they ask is for you in return to give back to your community,” Pierre said. “I think it’s a great start.”
Pierre acknowledged young graduates may dream of leaving their hometown or moving to a larger city, and those aspirations can change with time. Returning home for several years does not prevent someone from eventually pursuing opportunities elsewhere, she said, while it could also lead them to discover that home is where they want to remain.
For Clinton City Schools leaders, Pierre represents what they hope will become a continuing cycle.
“We are excited about the impact that the Dark Horse Fellows program has on the recruitment and retention of high quality teachers in our schools,” Clinton City Board of Education Chairwoman Dr. Linda Brunson said. “Our first scholarship recipient, Woodlyn, is completing her student teaching at Butler Avenue this semester and will begin teaching in January.”
Brunson said the district is proud of its fellows and the commitment they are making to Clinton’s students.
Superintendent Dr. Wesley Johnson, likewise, said welcoming Pierre back represents a milestone for the initiative.
“Clinton City Schools is always thankful to have our former students return home and give back to the schools and community that helped shape their lives and career choices,” the superintendent said.
Pierre’s experience in JROTC has also given her a foundation in structure and leadership that Johnson believes will translate well into the classroom.
“She will be a valuable addition to whichever school is privileged to hire her, and we look forward to her long and successful tenure as an educator here in Clinton City Schools,” he said.
For Vevlyn Lowe, retired educator and creator of Dark Horse Fellows through Anonymous Trust and the Simple Gifts Fund Teacher Grant Programs, Pierre’s return represents the realization of the vision she had when launching the program in 2021.
“When I started Dark Horse Fellows in 2021, my goal was to support our local students and build our own local pipeline of dedicated teachers who know and love their community,” Lowe said. “Seeing Woodlyn student teaching and getting ready to walk into her very own classroom in January is that dream coming full circle.”
Pierre is the first, but district officials hope she will be far from the last.
The current Anonymous Trust challenge calls for 400 donations, including at least 200 from outside Clinton City Schools, by Dec. 31. If that threshold is reached, the program will receive the full $100,000; if it is not, the challenge funding will not be awarded.
For Harding-Newkirk, growing the program means creating opportunities for more stories like Pierre’s.
“I hope to see the program grow more and more, and to see more of our Dark Horse alumni come back home,” Harding-Newkirk said, “so we can continue to grow our children.”
And for Lowe, watching the first fellow make that journey — from Dark Horse student, to college student, to educator returning to the same school system that helped shape her — is precisely what the program was designed to accomplish.
“She is a wonderful example as our first recipient,” Lowe said, “and I couldn’t be prouder to see her coming home to teach.”