Former teachers help CMS prioritize diversity

Tyler Adams knew before he stepped into a Charlotte classroom nearly three years ago that he was in the minority.

Across the country at the time, only 2% of Black men were in education, Adams said, and that fact fueled his passion to become a teacher.

“It caused me to realize that representation is important,” Adams told Observer education writer Anna Maria Della Costa, “and that students need to see themselves and their lived experiences represented in the classroom.”

Adams, who teaches fifth-grade literacy at Newell Elementary School, is one of 10 male teachers from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools participating in a pilot program the district embarked on this fall with Profound Gentlemen, a national organization focused on retaining male educators of color.

Most students in CMS — 62.5% — are Black or Latino, yet the district’s teachers and leadership are predominantly white.

“This program is important for CMS because it is not often that you see men of color in the classroom, and a program like this allows us to come together and share our classroom experiences,” Adams said.

Mental health for LGBTQ+ folks

Paige Dula came out as a transgender woman in 2008. The next holiday she spent with her family was her last.

For several years after, Dula would either spend Christmas by herself or get together with friends in Charlotte, often queer or trans people like herself. Now she’s building her own traditions, with a family of her own.

The holiday season can be difficult for everyone, but especially for LGBTQ+ people who are sometimes estranged from their families because of their identities.

LGBTQ people also are more likely year-round to experience mental health issues, but particularly during this time of year, experts say.

“It can be doubly tough because you see all these pictures people post of being with their family,” Dula told Observer staff writer Devna Bose. “It just tends to reinforce what you don’t have sometimes.”

From Disney to towers

Brian Natwick’s first job out of the University of Florida was as an entry-level project manager for a company that built resorts for The Walt Disney Co.

He told the Observer’s Gordon Rago that the Disney experience led him to his current job: In October, Natwick was named CEO of Crescent Communities, one of the oldest and most prominent developers in Charlotte.

Natwick, who has lived in the area with his family for the past 20 years, replaced Todd Mansfield.

“That experience ... planted the seed with me. I like construction management, but I really love what the folks are doing on the other side of the table. The development side.”

Housing chief’s exit interview

Pamela Wideman has seen Charlotte morph and grow several times over. She’s also been at the helm of addressing one of the city’s most pressing challenges: a dire lack of affordable housing.

The city’s involvement in affordable housing has greatly grown in recent years, most notably with the expansion of the city’s Housing Trust Fund, which is funded with voter-approved bonds every two years, from $15 million to $50 million in 2018. Charlotte voters overwhelmingly approved another $50 million in November 2020.

Wideman, the director of Housing and Neighborhood Services, will retire at the end of the year after a career with the city that began in 1999.

Asked why this is the right time to leave, Wideman said she was taking “the Michael Jordan approach.”

“You know, you just go out on top.”

They said it

”Rest easy hero, we have watch from here.”

-- Tweet from CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings after announcing Officer Mia Goodwin was killed in an I-85 crash