GSV - Meet the Faculty

2008 Faculty & Staff

Brittany D. Childress | Ronald Childress | Stella Yates
Anthony Roberts | Karen Webb Smith

Brittany D. Childress (Administrative Assistant) was born in Richlands, Virginia and grew up in Buchanan County. She graduated 3rd in her class at Twin Valley High School. She was a two time Governor’s School attendee, a member of the Beta Club, Science Seminar, and an AIMS Scholar. Brittany played basketball, volleyball and tennis while in high school. She was awarded Most Valuable Player in Volleyball her senior year.

Brittany, a graduate of Bluefield College, is currently working on her Master’s Degree in Mathematics. She is a graduate with an Associates Degree in Science from Southwest Virginia Community College. Her freshman year she was awarded the National Science Foundation Scholarship and later the Glenn Fox Scholarship for future math teachers. She is currently teaching math at Richlands Middle School.

During the summer when she is not at Governor’s School she works with young children teaching them how to swim and catches up on her reading. She also enjoys playing with her dog, Zoë and her cat, Shy. Brittany lives with her parents Bonnie and Ron Childress on Compton Mountain.

Ronald Childress (Environmental Science) was born in Rowe, Virginia and grew up in Buchanan County. He attended Vance, Street and Garden Elementary School and graduated from Garden High School. He enrolled in Bluefield College and transferred to Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) where he earned a BS degree with a major in chemistry. He also graduated from the University of Virginia with a M. Ed. degree in science teaching.

He has been a teacher for 34 years. He taught chemistry, physics, visual basic programming and a variety of mathematics courses including algebra, trigonometry and AP calculus at Whitewood High School. In addition, he has been an adjunct faculty member of Southwest Virginia Community College for about 16 years, teaching Chemistry for Health Sciences, Basic Math, Algebra I and Algebra II. He is currently a career coach at SwVCC.

Ron is married to Bonnie. They have one daughter, Brittany, who teaches at Richlands Middle School. They live on Compton Mountain.

Stella Yates (Engineering) was born in Richlands, Virginia, and grew up in Grundy, Virginia, and attended Grundy High School. There she was a member of the Beta Club, SCA, TriHiY, and a football cheerleader.

Upon graduation, she attended Cincinnati Bible Seminary for one year and then transferred to the University of Cincinnati. She married Paul Yates and transferred to Pikeville College where she received a BS degree in mathematics with a minor in Psychology. She received a MS degree in Education with an emphasis in Science from Radford University.

She has taught 30 years at Grundy High School. She is currently teaching AP Calculus, Physics, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. She teaches the Kaplan SAT Preparatory Course, teaches Algebra I, and Basic Math and Algebra I 03-04 as an adjunct faculty member of Southwest Virginia Community College for 9 years. She also taught Special Education for 4 years and does homebound teaching for Grundy High School. She also teaches math for teachers for Virginia Intermont and is a sponsor for science seminar for Grundy High School.

Mrs. Yates lives in Grundy, Virginia, with her husband Paul and is the mother of two daughters. She loves sports and both daughters have played college basketball.

One daughter owns and practices at Buchanan Physical Therapy and the other is a Pharmacist in the Bristol area. She is grandmother to 5 yr old Kenndi Shantell Plymal, who is a joy to all.

She was influenced to be a teacher by her mother, Linda Vandyke. Her father influenced her math career. Her mother never said to be a teacher but she loved it herself. Mrs. Yates knew that is what she wanted to do and she loves to teach. She taught the Ladies class at church and vacation bible school where she has taught all ages.

She travels with seniors on their trips each year and enjoys taking her physics class and science seminar on trips also. She loves to travel and plan school trips to make them very exciting for all involved.

Anthony A. “Tony” Roberts (Cutting Edge Technology) was born in Abingdon, Virginia and grew up in the Bristol and Abingdon area. After graduating from Abingdon High School he attended Virginia Highlands Community College where he received an A.A.S. degree in Drafting and Design.

After completing his degree he spent about five years in industry working as a design draftsman for several major corporations including Texas Instruments and Raytheon Missile Systems. While working in industry he gained valuable experience in machine design, tool design, and CAD/CAM technology.

Tony continued his education at East Tennessee State University where he completed both B.S. and M.S. degrees in Engineering Technology. While at ETSU he was able to take advantage of some of the latest technology by taking courses in digital imaging, animation, and robotics.

After completing his graduate coursework Mr. Roberts was hired as an instructor and program head for Drafting and Design at Southwest Virginia Community College. Today he is an Assistant Professor of Computer Aided Drafting and Design and teaches courses in technical drawing, architectural drafting, civil drafting, parametric solids modeling, and NURBS-based modeling and rendering.

Tony and his wife, Renee, reside in Abingdon, Virginia along with their two children Thomas and Maggie. Tony enjoys riding his BMW motorcycle, skiing, and reading spy novels.

Karen Webb Smith was raised in Erwin, Tennessee, and graduated from Unicoi County High School. Mrs. Smith grew up with an appreciation of the health field and became a Certified Nursing Assistant at the age of 16. She worked in the hospital as often as her schedule would permit. To this day she is grateful to the people at the Erwin hospital for their help and guidance. Mrs. Smith entered the pre-med program at Milligan College, and at her father’s request included teaching certification with a triple major in biology, chemistry, and Latin. After 2 summers of chemical research at Tennessee Eastman Kodak, she knew her heart was in the classroom and with students. Mrs. Smith completed graduate work in Biology at Wake Forest University, East Tennessee State University, and an MS ScEd at Milligan College.

Since 1998, Mrs. Smith, has been an Instructor of Anatomy & Physiology at A. Linwood Holton Governor’s School, our nation’s first Virtual School. This school serves almost 300 gifted and talented students in 28 different high schools in Southwest Virginia. The Internet provides the classroom for this asynchronous as well as synchronous e-learning experience. The instructors at this Virtual High School not only have to be competent in their subject areas, but are required to have expertise in the newest technologies. They have to be able to motivate students and have realistic expectations that prevent tradition from getting in the way. The instructors have to think outside the “bricks and mortar classroom box.” From Mrs. Smith, “This has been a wonderful opportunity and I never thought I would ever be teaching this way! My students are coming to class from school, home, a library, a ski resort, or anywhere in the world that an Internet connection can be made. They do not miss class.”

Mrs. Smith has recently been an adjunct professor of Biology for Southwest Community College and Virginia Highlands Community College as well as an adjunct professor in the Graduate Department of Science Education at Milligan College. For the past 2 years Mrs. Smith has been an adjunct professor with the University of Virginia’s Graduate School of Science Education and has been teaching “Rethinking the Teaching of Science” to secondary science teachers in Southwest Virginia via the Internet.

Mrs. Smith is a musician and an instructor of piano and keyboard. She also plays the organ and violin. She and her husband, Len, love traveling and have become very interested in the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Reading historical novels is included in her free time as well as spending time with her 2 granddaughters.

...

Question or Comments? Email the Webmaster

Home
		...