My name is Courtney Maready. I have been teaching in North Carolina for 5 years and love every second of working with my students! I am a native North Carolinian from Pine Level, North Carolina and a proud graduate of Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. I graduated from Lee in 2015 with a BS in Interdisciplinary studies and Elementary Education Prek-3 and K-6. I started my journey in education during my time at Lee. I fell in love with the idea of having a direct hand in helping children get the best education in all circumstances. I am a firm believer is Social Emotional Learning. I believe that building relationships through SEL and using a lens of equity are the foundations to true learning. It is my passion to fight for every student that comes across my path and their access to the education they deserve.

I was born and raised in South Africa, where I studied and earned a Bachelors degree to be a high school language teacher. After getting married, I moved to the USA. I worked as an armed nuclear security officer and then day care provider, until I went back to college at NCCU to obtain a teaching license in North Carolina. While studying, I worked as an instructional assistant. I taught fourth grade and fifth grade in Wake County. I took a brief detour to work as a senior administrative specialist at Duke Energy for two years, before the longing for the classroom became too strong. I returned to the classroom as a fifth grade teacher in Harnett County, where I now live. After two years, I decided to give middle school a try. I taught seventh grade math for two years, and then I moved on to eighth grade math. However, for the past couple years I have been yearning to return to my first love: fifth grade. I am so happy to finally be back where I belong!