One of Beaufort County’s own educators took learning into her own hands and got outside of the classroom textbooks, attending a professional development program in Durham as part of the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Brenda Most, a history teacher at Washington High School, attended the “Digital Resources and Holocaust Education” seminar.  Almost 40 teachers attended, but Most was the only one from Beaufort County.

The Holocaust program strives to encourage teachers on how to help students understand the consequences of their actions, whether actions are taken as an individual or as part of a group.

Most said she also traveled to Poland this summer as part of the Holocaust education, a trip sponsored by Centropa, a Jewish history institute, and introduced to her by NCCAT.

NCCAT, established in 1985, holds several programs throughout the year to help teachers grow and improve in their profession.  The center has two locations: Cullowhee and Ocracoke Island.

It “provides a year-round curriculum of intensive cross-disciplinary programs with a focus on digital learning, early grades literacy and teacher leadership.”

According to the website, almost 5,000 teachers participate in the programs each year. Ninety-four percent of teachers reported NCCAT’s direct impact on their classroom after returning from a program, and 78 percent of principals reported seeing improvement in the teachers who attend.

Most has been actively involved with the teaching center for a while. Todd Vinyard, public communications specialist at NCCAT, said Most has attended five of the center’s Holocaust gatherings as well as two other programs with NCCAT.

Most is a Beaufort County native who attended Washington High. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history and education from Elizabeth City State University and studied political science at Utah State University. She has also earned a master’s degree in school administration.