It is an honor and a privilege to serve as the principal of WB Wicker for the 2024-2025 school year. I am a P.P.E.E.R.S. (Principal Preparation for Excellence and Equity in Rural Schools) cohort 3 graduate who completed my internship here at W.B. Wicker Elementary School during the 2021-2022 school year under the leadership of Mrs. Petrarca. Prior to transitioning to W.B. Wicker Elementary, I was a high school English teacher at Bragg Street Academy here in Lee County Schools. I taught on the alternative school campus for 6 years prior to moving into school administration. Prior to working for Lee County Schools, I worked as a special education teacher (3 year-olds) for 1 year and an NCPK teacher (4 and 5 year-olds) for 4 years. I believe that every child deserves a quality education and I feel it is our duty as school leaders to ensure that this happens.
I am a northeastern North Carolina native. I was born and raised in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. I currently reside in Fayetteville, NC with my partner and 2 teenage sons. We have 2 dogs, Champ and Reigny that keep us all very busy in our home. In my leisure time I like to travel and read good books.
I am a 3rd generation educator. I originally wanted to become an emergency room trauma nurse. After taking a teacher assistant position in Pitt County at the beginning of my career, I found that the work that I was doing was highly impactful to the students that I was serving and from there I began to take courses to begin my teaching certification. I am licensed in: Birth through kindergarten, Middle grades ELA, and high school ELA.
My passion for education revolves around social emotional learning, parent involvement, and closing the achievement gap. As a school leader on this historic campus, my role is to ensure that W.B. Wicker returns to being one of the great educational campuses (now of Lee County Schools) that it was once built to be. As Baruti Kafele (NJ, 09), a current educational leader states:
"We've got to make sure that we're ambassadors for education and that we're talking about the significance of education. We've got to make sure that young people see that education is still relevant, still powerful, and still the key to their success."
I plan to be one of those many ambassadors on our campus this year for our tigers (both students and staff)!
Phone: 919-897-5400 ext. 4701
Email: James Beasley-Mungin
