Good afternoon Parents, 

  I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself and let you know what we have been working on these first couple of weeks of the new school year.  First, I am Mr. Mowell, and this will be my third year with Richlands High and my second full year as an EC teacher.  Prior to this I severed 22 years in the Marine Corps and retired as an E8/ Master Sergeant. Most of my service time was spent as an instructor. I was a Drill Instructor at MCRD San Diego and a Formal Instructor/Chief Instructor at the Marine Corps Food Service schools at Fort Lee VA.  I have always had a passion for teaching. I chose to become an EC teacher primarily because of my oldest son who has Down Syndrome and is currently a Senior at Jacksonville High. All three of my sons are in high school here in Onslow County.  My wife is also and educator and EC teacher with Onslow County Schools.  We love being near the coast and spending time on the water as a family on our boat.  That played a big part in our decision to remain in the Jacksonville area after retiring from the Marine Corps. 

When I found out that the Occupational Course of Study position would be open for this school year, I immediately approached Richlands High Administration and told them I was interested in the position.  I'm excited to work with your children and help prepare them to be successful young adults.  I particularly like the purpose of the Occupational Course of Study program because it doesn't only focus on academics but also preparing the students to enter the workforce right after High School or a Community College for further occupational studies.  My goal for our students is after their four years in the program they will have the skills and confidence to pursue the jobs and careers they choose.  We will focus on both growing academically and hone our soft skills like communication, time management, research, problem solving, self-awareness and self-advocacy.  We have already hit the ground running. The past couple of weeks we have started working in our core academic classes through NCVPS which is an online platform. We have learned about SMART goals and identified a couple for ourselves this school year.  We have started researching jobs using Indeed.com and some self-awareness through our “My Timeline” project.  Although we are all dealing with the limitations and uncertainty of the COVID 19 Pandemic, the students have demonstrated great resilience and resolve by being present in class and online on the remote days.  We are in this together and we will all learn some remarkable problem-solving skills together.   

  I’m sorry for such a long email but I wanted to let you all know how we have been doing these first couple of weeks.  I plan to send an email every couple of weeks to give everyone an update on the things we are accomplishing. I will do my best to keep them shorter in the future.  If there is ever a concern or question, please feel free to email or call me.   

Thank you