From Beaufort County Community College

Washington County resident Jean W. Woolard has joined the Beaufort County Community College Board of Trustees, becoming the first resident of that county to serve on the college’s governing board.

Woolard is a retired teacher and former member of the State Board of Education, the governing body of the state’s public school system.

“I am delighted to have an educator with Mrs. Woolard’s experience and knowledge of the issues facing public education join the BCCC Board of Trustees,” said board chairman Laura Staton. “North Carolina’s community colleges will face many challenges in the coming years and having someone with Mrs. Woolard’s knowledge of our state’s education system, as well as our state’s political system, will help BCCC face those challenges.”

BCCC recently opened a center from which to offer classes in Washington County, located at 100 N.C. Highway 32 North, Roper.

Woolard, of Plymouth, holds a bachelor’s degree in business education and a master’s degree in education from East Carolina University.

Woolard is a veteran of some 31 years in education. She began her teaching career at Plymouth High School where she served for 12 years as a business education and history teacher before being named chairman of the Business Education Department at the school. During her teaching career, she served as advisor for the Future Business Leaders of America, the largest youth organization at the school. She also served as an instructor of data and word processing classes, among others, for adults for BCCC at Plymouth High School.

Woolard has been active in education across North Carolina. She served as a team leader and an instructor for the state Department of Public Instruction’s Business Education Division of Vocational Education. In those positions she supervised a team of business teachers in writing questions for the state test bank and instructed business teachers on incorporating computer instruction in the classroom, among other activities.

She is a lifetime member of the National Education Association and a member of the North Carolina Association of Educators. She has served on the NCAE Board of Directors and on its Government Relations Commission, among other activities for that organization. She has served as president, secretary and treasurer of the District 15 Association of Classroom Teachers and as president, secretary and treasurer, among other offices, for the Washington County NCAE.

In 2011, she was appointed by then-Gov. Bev Perdue to serve on the State Board of Education. While serving in that capacity, Woolard became involved in what she described as “one of my proudest accomplishments” — the establishment of the Northeast Regional School of Biotechnology and Agriscience, now located in Jamesville. As part of her duties, she worked with state leaders to convince the N.C. General Assembly of the importance of the school to the northeastern part of the state.

Woolard has been active in the civic affairs of Washington County, serving as a precinct secretary and sustaining fund chairman for the Democratic Party of Washington County, among numerous other activities.

Since retiring from the education field, Woolard has served as a political consultant, a member of the North Carolina Auctioneer Licensing Board and a partner in antiques shops in Plymouth and Washington.

Woolard and her husband, Tommy, have two daughters and five grandchildren.