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Barbara Fedock

University of Phoenix

United States of America - Asheville

Biography

Hello,

I am a former Buncombe County curriculum specialist and an educational consultant who has a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. I have a master’s degree in English/Language Arts and I have certifications in English 9-12, Middle School Language Art, Reading K-12, Mathematics 6-12, Academically Gifted, Superintendent, and principal. Until July 2009, I was the principal of a Virtual Early College. I am so excited because it was the first virtual early college in my state. I also worked as the Liaison to the UN for an international online school that offers high quality, low cost elementary through high school courses to students in the United States and in all global communities.

I currently teach University of Phoenix online communication courses and doctoral classes, including doctoral residencies. I am a doctoral chair, and I am a student teacher supervisor. I supervise student teachers in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. I teach on ground communication, GEN, math, UNIV, English, and visual arts courses at the Asheville, North Carolina Center where I am a content area chair and lead teacher. I am the university writing and math coach. In July 2012, I was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Teacher of the Year award for the Charlotte, North Carolina University of Phoenix campus. I was also the university Doctor of Health Administration Teacher of the Quarter in June of 2012.

As a native of Western North Carolina, I love to roam the mountains and hike on the Blue Ridge Parkway Mountain to Sea Trail. Although I am usually not a fearful person, I do respect the trail rules about bears and copperheads. I do not feed or tease either of those animals. Now, I make sure that the same rules apply in my own backyard. Last summer, I had to take refuge in my outside storage building for about forty-five minutes while a huge black bear tried to rip off the shed door. Since the bear had eaten all of my neighbor's corn and his pet rabbit the night before, I imagine that the bear wanted to eat me for his next meal. What a fright! Of course, if I had known at the time that the shed was also the home of a six foot copperhead, I think that I would have preferred taking my chances with the bear.

Besides hiking and eluding wild animals, during the summer and fall, my favorite activity is tennis. I like to spend my winter week-ends playing cards such as Rook and Hearts. I love to shop any time of the year, and I usually buy at least one or two pairs of colorful heels, a silky shawl, a purple outfit, or any unusual garment that is on sale.

I like the theater. When "Dirty Dancing" was filmed near Asheville, my hometown, I was a stand-in for Baby, Jennifer Grey. I was selected because I was the same size as Jennifer. It was a wonderful experience, and I spent long hours on the set. I learned that being an actor or actress is not all glamour and excitement.

Though I am very creative, I prefer teaching to acting, and I love going to school. I received my doctorate from Western North Carolina University in 2003. Being a student was very difficult because I worked as an English and math consultant at the North Carolina Department of Education in Raleigh, a five hour drive from my home. I traveled at least a 1,000 miles and stayed in hotels five nights per week. No matter how tired I was, each Monday through Thursday evening, I would run to my hotel room and set up my laptop. I forced myself to work on my dissertation for two or three hours each night. Oh, woe, it was a chore, but I am so glad that I stuck to my goals.

For fun, I took courses to develop, create, and teach online classes. Of course, the classes weren't the same type of fun as playing tennis, but online learning was a new adventure that I found to be very exciting.