Mrs. Beverly Owens
Mrs. Beverly Owens is an 8th grade science teacher at Kings Mountain Middle School in Cleveland County. She also teaches online Earth and Environmental Science, and coaches her school’s Science Olympiad team. Owens works closely with her Professional Learning Community, the “Science Squad,” and they implement a unique model of science-inclusive blended learning in their classes.
Mrs. Owens has more than 15 years experience as an educator. In addition to working as a classroom teacher, she has been a part-time Program Specialist at the Schiele Museum of Natural History for 13 years, and worked for two years as the Program Manager of Professional Development at the Discovery Place Education Studio.
In 2006, Owens graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Middle Grades Education from Gardner-Webb University, where she also received her Bachelor of Science degree in 2003. Mrs. Owens is a National Board Certified Teacher, and an NC Certified Environmental Educator. Owens currently serves as the Director-at-Large for the North Carolina Science Leadership Association, and is a former NCSLA Science Leadership Fellow.
Mrs. Owens has presented about STEM at numerous conferences at the local, state, and national level. She has been recognized for excellence in teaching by the NCSMT Outstanding K-8 Educator Award, the NC Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Award, the NCSTA District 6 Outstanding Science Teacher Award, and the Kings Mountain Middle School Teacher of the Year.
In her free time, Mrs. Owens enjoys learning about science by participating in field experiences. In 2005, Owens accomplished her life-long dream of getting to go on a dinosaur dig, and then was able to lead groups of teachers and students on a Jurassic Expedition with the Schiele Museum for the next five years. In 2015, Mrs. Owens served as a Science Communication Fellow on Titanic discoverer Dr. Robert Ballard’s ship, the E/V Nautilus. Owens has also been a NOAA Teacher at Sea, and has studied a variety of STEM topics including: subseafloor sedimentology in Hawaii with the EARTH Program, engineering at the US Naval Academy, deep sea corals as an Educator at Sea with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, and Ancestral Puebloan archaeology in Colorado.
These STEM fellowships are what inspired Mrs. Owens’ CASMT proposal. Over the next five years, middle school science teachers in Cleveland County will be participating in a variety of field experiences to study the natural resources in North Carolina, and to increase capacity as a district-wide science team.
Aside from teaching, Mrs. Owens enjoys reading and painting. She loves spending time with her family, and helping her daughter identify rocks and fossils.