Education

New State Superintendent Mark Johnson Begins Listening Tour of Schools

By Keri Brown

Published February 2, 2017 at 5:34 PM EST

Republican Mark Johnson began his new role as the state superintendent in January. Photo credit: North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

North Carolina's new Superintendent of Public Instruction starts his listening tour in Forsyth County Friday.

Republican Mark Johnson will visit Glenn High School in Kernersville to meet with teachers, part of his NC Education and Innovation Tour. The Department of Instruction says the school has made significant progress over the past two years moving its School Performance Grade up a full letter grade.

The event is closed to the media, but a briefing is expected following the event.

Johnson is a former teacher and is among the youngest statewide elected officials in the country. He won the race against longtime incumbent and Democrat June Atkinson last November.

After the election, the General Assembly passed a law that shifts some powers from the State Board of Education to his office. But a temporary restraining order has put the law on hold.

Johnson's visit to Forsyth County will bring him back to his home district. He previously served on the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education and was an attorney for a local company.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

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Keri Brown

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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New State Superintendent Mark Johnson Begins Listening Tour of Schools

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