By Emmy Trivette, Editor-in-Chief

For the first time in 40 years, one of the most genuine of smiles, most confident of personalities, and most nurturing of people will be absent from school.

This transition into retirement will be difficult for Caroline Pearce. Since 1979, August always meant the first day of a new school year. Since 2004, August meant welcoming students to First Flight High School.

This August, she’s made it a point to take a trip to coincide with the first day of school.

“So that I’ll be going somewhere since I won’t be coming here, I will be traveling to visit family and friends who want to celebrate my 40-year career with Dare County Schools,” Pearce said.

Pearce announced in July that she was retiring after 40 years in the school system. Her long career consisted of shifting from math teacher to French teacher to assistant principal to interim principal, her final position with the Nighthawks. Students, parents and colleagues alike will miss her dedication and talent, which was recognized over the years with awards such as being named Teacher of the Year at her schools in both 1982 and 2004. As First Flight High School’s first Teacher of the Year, Pearce went on to win Dare County and regional TOY honors, then advanced to the statewide competition and served on the NC TOY Team from 2005-2006.

Many grow tired of the same workspace, but for Pearce it was getting up and going to another day of school that made it all the better. Retired school counselor Susan Lee, a friend of 26 years, can easily attest to Pearce’s pure excitement for her job.

“One thing she really missed as interim principal, because you’re pulled in so many directions and confined to the office, was the day-to-day contact with the students,” Lee said. “That was one thing that was very difficult for her, because she loves being with the kids.”

Like she was for many of her other friends, Pearce was part of Lee’s family, usually acting as “Aunt” Caroline when she was supporting Lee as she raised her son Barry. 

“She puts other people first, always other people ahead of herself,” Lee said. “There are students who literally would not have graduated if it were not for her – and I think that stands for her commitment to the students and the staff.”

Pearce’s commitment even stood out with the athletes she coached. Media center coordinator Susan Sawin reminisced back to the first football game she attended when she began teaching at the school.

“You know the first face that I saw when I was entering the stands was Mrs. Pearce, when she was the cheerleading coach,” Sawin said. “She would sit front and center and her eyes were glued on her girls the whole time.”

When Sawin arrived at FFHS and began working alongside Pearce, the duo already had a long history together. Sawin met Pearce for the first time as a 16-year-old when Pearce took over the French classes at Manteo High School. Pearce taught Sawin until graduation, and once Sawin moved back to the Outer Banks, Pearce watched all four of Sawin’s children make their way through FFHS. 

The Sawin family is one of many that Pearce has taught generation to generation. Her strong relationships with students also come from spending four years of working closely together. 

“There is a group of girls who cheered for her from ninth to 12th grade,” former cheerleader and current third-grade teacher Ashlyn Powers said. “When we graduated and went to college, every summer we came back we would always go get dinner with her and every Christmas break we’d have dinner with her.”

These annual meetings, which also include third-grade Manteo teacher Sabrina Ramirez, speak to the way Pearce knew students not just as a student, but as a person, too.

“When I met her, she was this very important person, seemed very serious. I was a little intimidated,” Ramirez said. “As I got to know her over time, I got to know her as someone very warm and very nurturing.”

Many former students and colleagues will continue to share an out-of-school relationship with Pearce, but now that she has left FFHS, there are those who will miss sharing the day with her. 

“I think we worked together every single day, and she was always just incredibly genuine and warm,” new First Flight Principal Chuck Lansing said. “Every single day she was always putting students first. I’ve never worked with anybody as caring as her.”

First Flight Middle School Principal Diane Childress spent a year as an administrative intern working alongside Pearce and learning how to shift from being a teacher to being an administrator.

“I’ve been in education for 27 years: Out of people I could truly call mentors, she’s probably in the top three,” Childress said. “She included me in everything, she’d always give me choices and ask for my opinion. She’d let me sit in on meetings, and I remember I would hang on every word because just the way she would approach conversations, difficult situations, it was truly amazing to watch.”

And even in difficult situations from moderating heated parent conversations to disciplining students, it was hard to be upset with Mrs. Pearce.

“Just her positivity and warmth always brightened a room, even when she was sending someone to silent lunch,” alumnus Shane McKenna said with a laugh.

**Pearce’s school email account has been deactivated, but anyone wishing to reach out may contact her at pearceca311@gmail.com.**

Senior Emmy Trivette can be reached at trivetteem0626@daretolearn.org.