Love stories abound in Burke County Public Schools

There is so much to love about February: Black History, Groundhogs, Presidents, Career and Technical Education, School Counselors, Bus Drivers and, of course, our Valentines! Among our February features is a spotlight on Burke County Public Schools employees who are married couples. Meet them, find out what they do, how long they have served a,nd how they met. These stories are sure to make you go, “Aw, how sweet!”

Katherine and Brian King

What they do: She is an occupational therapist. He is the data manager at Icard.

Combined years of service: 3

Years married: 1.5

How they met: In high school at East Burke

He says: "We both attended BYU. We met in high school but didn’t start dating until college. We love working in the community that we grew up in."

Family and Hobbies: They are parents to a 3-month-old puppy named Clover. They love to travel and be outdoors.

Stacey and Travis Ledford

What they do: She is a TA at WA Young. He is a plumber in maintenance.

Combined years of service: 46

Years married: 18

How they met: At work

Family: They have 2 boys, ages 10 and 6 months.

Hobbies: They love spending time together and hunting and fishing with the boys and sitting by campfire at the creek with friends..

Brian and Anna Lowman

What they do: She is a fifth grade teacher at Hillcrest. He is the PE teacher at Salem.

Combined years of service to BCPS: 20

Years married: 11

How they met: In high school through mutual friends

She says: "We actually went to elementary school together (didn’t know each other then)! We love raising our family in the same school district that invested in us so many years ago!

Family and Hobbies: They have three children, a fourth grader, a second grader, and a preschooler who are actively involved in sports and clubs.

Darren and Tonya Smith

What they do: She is the media coordinator at Icard. He is a technology engineer.

Combined years of service to BCPS: 29

Years married: 30

How they met: Their friends set them up on a blind date.

How he proposed: Darren proposed to Tonya in his parents’ kitchen after a romantic steak dinner. He was wearing a tuxedo and carrying long stem red roses.

Family: They have one son, Corey, who is 27, and a Yorkshire Terrier named Rosie.

Gina and Chris Bailey

What they do: She is a visual impairment specialist. He is an EC teacher at Walter Johnson.

Combined years of service to BCPS: 6

Years married: 22

How they met: Through the deaf ministry at Gordon College

He says: "We actually really disliked each other at first, but after being forced to spend time together, we each realized the other wasn’t so bad, we became best friends, and eventually fell in love.

Family and Hobbies: They have two daughters in college and a son at NCSD. They love to travel and experience other places and cultures. They know American Sign Language and are learning Spanish together.

Hannah and Lee Crawford

What they do: She is an EC self-contained teacher at Ray Childers. He is a history teacher at Patton.

Combined years of service to BCPS: 8

Years married: 6

How they met: Through mutual friends at an ice cream shop in Gastonia.

She says: "We met in July of 2015 and were married a little over a year later. We became foster parents and later had the opportunity to adopt our 9-year-old daughter. We also have a 3-year-old son.”

Hobbies, Interests, and Pets: We spend as much time as possible outdoors and like to take on home projects together. We have an 11 year old pit bull named Dolly Parton.

Samantha and Tyler Martin

What they do: She is a teacher and coach at Freedom. He is a teacher and coach at Draughn.

Combined years of service: 10

Years married: 5

How they met: We met while we were both at Freedom High School in the car rider line!

She says: "Tyler and I met at FHS when he was a Senior and I was a Junior. We finished high school together, went to WPCC together, transferred to Mars Hill University together, and then came back to work at BCPS together!

Family and Hobbies: The Martins have two children Maddox (Max), 2, and Marleigh, 1, plus a dog and a cat. Tyler teaches Social Studies at DHS and is the head JV Boys Basketball Coach and Tennis Coach. Samantha teaches English at FHS and Coach Cross Country and Track and Field.

Misty and Bob Acord

What they do: She is an elementary instructional coach at Salem and George Hildebrand. He is the director of Auxiliary Services.

Combined years of service: 49

Years married: 19

How they met: In prison. She says, "No joke, we were teaching Western Piedmont GED classes at the prison at night.

Family and Hobbies: Bob is from West Virginia and Misty is from Virginia. Their jobs brought them to Morganton back in the late 1990s. Twenty-five years later, they still live in Morganton with their daughter Kinley, an eighth grade student at Liberty Middle School. The Acord family enjoys attending sporting events, concerts, and spending time with friends. They also have two dogs and a cat and live in the middle of the woods with lots of other wildlife.

Olivia and Dustin Haigler

What they do: They are both agriculture teachers at Freedom High School.

Combined years of service: 8

Years married: 7

How they met: They went to college together at NC State. They never dated in college but after graduating, their paths re-crossed as they began their careers as ag teachers and started after attending summer CTE conferences. They had a long-distance relationship for about 9 months and then got engaged which is what brought Dustin to Freedom to be the ag teacher.

She says: "It’s always been a goal of ours to teach ag at the same high school, and we were so excited this past summer when that goal became a reality! We are really happy to be a part of Burke County Public Schools and Freedom High School!

Family and Hobbies: They have a daughter, Kimber. They also have a Christmas tree farm that they live on and operate called Twin Pines Nursery.

Erin and Daniel Wall

What they do: She is the principal at Ray Childers and he is the head lunch lady, AKA director of Child Nutrition.

Combined years of service: 44

Years married: 22

How they met: On a blind date in high school set up by a mutual friend

Family and Hobbies: They have two boys, Davis (16) and Jackson (12), they live on a farm, enjoy traveling and pull for opposing ACC basketball teams

Ashley and Steven St. Louis

What they do: She is a middle school EC teacher at Hallyburton and he is a science teacher at Hallyburton.

Combined years of service: 21

Years married: 7

How they met: At trivia night

She says: Their love story is still going strong!

Family and Hobbies: They have two daughters, two dogs, and a hamster. They love the outdoors, especially kayaking and canoeing.

Jordan and Jeremiah Ferrell

What they do: She is the assistant principal at Ray Childers. He is a school resource officer at Freedom.

Combined years of service: 6

Years married: 9

How they met: In high school at East Burke, but were not sweethearts

She says: “It was after high school that we finally connected. Our story doesn’t begin with a traditional first date, but instead me hopping on a plane to Germany to visit him while he was serving in the military. It was there where our story began. Our journey has taken us many places in these nine, almost 10 years, but to be brought back here, Burke Count, where we first met and now raise our boys is special.

Family and Hobbies: They have two boys, Jaxon, 6, and Jace, 4. They go on a lot of adventures together to make special memories with both of them.

Hope and Jacob Gibson

What they do: She is the PE teacher at Hillcrest. He is a painter in Maintenance.

Combined years of service: 1

Years married: 9 months

How they met: On a blind date at Texas Roadhouse

She says: “God brought us together and there is no denying that. We currently do not have any kids or pets. Our families are both in ministry and my parents are both educators for BCPS. Some of our favorite hobbies are fishing, going to the beach, and going on adventures to new places.”

Angel and Tim Barnsback

What they do: She is a reading specialist at Liberty and he teaches civics at Burke Middle College.

Combined years of service: 44

Years married: 22

How they met: They attended Florida State University and were part of the Greek system. Their fraternity and sorority houses were a few doors down from one another so it was natural for the two to have socials together, which is where they first met and became fast friends. Their relationship developed and they fell in love while working together at a popular restaurant in Tallahassee, Florida called The Mill.

She says: “We were engaged in 2000, married on Ft. Myers Beach, Florida in 2001 and moved to North Carolina three months later on a whim. We went to a job fair in Lenoir the weekend after our honeymoon and both of us were hired to work at Liberty Middle School. We rode to school every day for 10 years.

Early in our new life, we spent our time exploring Western NC together. We learned the best hiking and camping spots and explored nearby towns and cities. We tried for a child for 5 years and were told we would never conceive. Then, while going through the process to become foster parents, we found out we were miraculously pregnant with Miles! Devastating news came the very next day when we discovered that Tim had cancer. (He has been cancer free for 16 years)!

Fast forward to 2022 and together, we survived another battle with cancer, this time mine. (I have been cancer free since April 2022)! Around the same time, we got custody of our son’s best friend, George. We are now a family of four!”

Hobbies: “We keep things interesting by surprising one another with things like a trip to NYC during Christmas Time, or tickets to see Coach K at Duke before he retired. We LOVE traveling in our big red van named Ernestine VanGo. Our family zoo includes three dogs, three cats, and 4 lazy, non-egg-laying chickens.”

Heather and Charles Williams

What they do: She is an interventionist and substitute teacher. He is the principal at Valdese.

Combined years of service: 40

Years married: 23

How they met: In high school, but didn’t start dating until they worked together. They got engaged in, you will never guess - a school media center!

He says: “Heather and I went to high school together, but we met again at BCPS New Teacher Orientation in 1997. We broke up several times (Heather says it's my fault) and we would always get back together at fourth grade teacher trainings. The last one Heather's teammates made her promise that she would not go to lunch with me if I asked. Well, I did and there was no looking back! It’s a long story, but soooo worth the time to hear it!

In March of 1997, we were engaged in the Media Center at George Hildebrand Elementary! Heather and I were both teaching fourth grade and writing was a huge test for our grade. I taught training sessions for writing through the district and other teacher organizations.

Heather always wanted to hear how people met and their ‘story’ so I had to give her her own. I invited about 50 close friends, family and both faculties from George Hildebrand and Hildebrand Elementary were there! The friends and family hid in the gym until Heather arrived. Principals and Central Office staff sent fake memos as there was no real training. It became Heather's story, and she was late!

Family and Interests: We have 3 kids and lead a Marriage Ministry at our church. We take 4 couples twice a year to an undisclosed location for 48 hours and they have a life-changing experience for their marriage and their personal relationship with Christ.

Dia and Jeff McCarrick

What they do: She is a behavior specialist. He is a health and PE teacher at Walter Johnson.

Combined years of service: 41

Years married: 16

How they met: On a blind date

She says: "Like any love story, it's always a process, but he SURE IS LUCKY! LOL!

Family and Hobbies: They have three children; 2 have already graduated from BCPS (go Panthers!) and 1 currently at WJMS (go Jackets!). They allow their three pets to run the house; a dog (Bodine) and 2 cats (Fella and Shadow). Their family is spread between NY, VA and NC.

Jeff plays basketball whenever he can, enjoys working out at the gym, an occasional game of golf (when the stars align) and riding his Spyder. Dia enjoys working in the yard (when she can), the continuous home improvement to-do list, watching a few TV shows that she is more than a little addicted to and LOVE to read pure.old.trash.

They enjoy going to concerts whenever they can, college football, the Buffalo Bills, working with honey bees, and they LOVE taking their boat out on the lake with family and friends.

Susan and David McGee

What they do: She is a spoken language facilitator at East Burke High and he is the retired director of Student Accountability.

Combined years of service: 55

Years married: 33

How they met: They met during Susan’s first year teaching at Glen Alpine Elementary in 1989. David was teaching fourth grade; Susan was teaching sixth grade. Their first date was the end of October. They got engaged the following Feb. 14 (yes, that was 3 1/2 months after their first date!). They were married May 26, 1990, at the end of her first year of teaching.

She says: “The faculty and students at Glen Alpine Elementary got us together. They schemed all year! At our wedding, the entire faculty was present, and both our classes had special seating.

The irony of this match-up is that both of us were teaching out of field. David was a Spanish teacher teaching fourth grade. Susan was a middle school teacher in an elementary school. Our honeymoon was a trip to Myrtle Beach David won in the school fundraiser that year!

Family and Hobbies: They have a daughter, Britainy (DHS Class of 2011), who has been married to Michael Rash (EBHS Class of 2008) for 6 1/2 years. They have two children: Meredith 3 (who is in the STEPS Academy) and Maverick, almost 6 months. They live in Morgan Trace in Valdese, surrounded by current and retired BCPS employees!