As the new school year kicks off, there are many new faces at Apex High. New students, parents, coaches, and teachers. One of Apex’s newest teachers, this year, is Ms. Edwards, who is a part of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) department. 

Although this is her first year at Apex, Ms. Edwards has been teaching for seven years at East Wake High School. This year, Ms. Edwards will be teaching Marketing, Sports and Entertainment Marketing, and Hospitality and Tourism, which are all marketing based classes. At East Wake, Ms. Edwards taught all of these courses as well as Fashion Merchandising, which is not currently offered at Apex, but is available at other schools in the county. Ms Edwards says that she loved teaching this course because she is “all about the creative side of marketing…and that allows you to be free.” She hopes to be able to bring this course to Apex in the future. 

Ms. Edwards grew up in Elizabeth City, NC. She graduated from Elizabeth City State University (ECSU), which is one of the twelve Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs) located in North Carolina, and one of 107 HBCUs in the United States. Ms. Edwards’ mother is also an ECSU almuna. 

One of Ms. Edwards favorite aspects of teaching Hospitality and Tourism is the North Carolina State Fair, hosted in Raleigh every October. Ms Edwards says, “we are the capital of North Carolina, so everybody comes here for our state fair.” She uses the state fair as a teaching tool because it is a prime example of how events drive tourism and revenue to an area.

Outside of school, Ms. Edwards enjoys spending time with her ten year old daughter. Although she spends most of her time being a mom, she hopes to be able to research the Vikings and Norse Mythology, as she is very interested in learning more about these topics. 

Ms. Edwards is very excited for the year ahead and to see what her students bring to the table in her various classes because she teaches “things that students can relate to and see around them everyday. Marketing is everywhere.”