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Michele Wayman Breaks New Ground

Greensboro native to serve as school board President

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DENTON – Even though she made history the evening of Dec. 3, Michele Wayman promised, simply, “I will do the very best that I can do.”

The new president of the 5-member Caroline County Board of Education is the second Black woman to serve as president. It is the high point of her career as an educator, she said in a Jan. 9 interview.

Victoria Goldsborough, an appointed school board member, served briefly as president the last six months of 2012.

Troy Plutschak nominated Wayman, who was elected unanimously to succeed Rick Barton. She took her new center seat and gavel without fanfare.

“In a way, I feel a degree of pressure, almost, to continue to do my best with all children in mind and staying level-headed, as I intend to.” she said.

Mark Jones will serve as vice president. New board members Stefanie Johnson and Chrissy Bartz were sworn in at the meeting.

“Some may look at (my election) as a huge honor,” Wayman said. “I look at it as a high point in my career – of years of being a compassionate educator for all children.”

Wayman was appointed to complete a 4-year term in 2021, followed by an appointment by Gov. Wes Moore to a 4-year term in 2022.

A Lifelong Teacher

Wayman, 73, feels right at home in her new role. Arevia Michele Taylor was born in Easton but spent her entire young life in Greensboro, the youngest of five children.

The longtime educator knew from a very young age she wanted to be a teacher.

“I used to teach my doll babies – to sit them up and teach them ABCs,” she said. “And I had a couple of favorite teachers. Mrs. Naomi Foxwell I dearly loved.” She taught third grade at the segregated Ridgely Elementary School. “Mrs. Hannah Henry taught me first grade.”

Both teachers influenced Wayman “100%” to become a teacher.

Wayman is a member North Caroline High School’s Class of 1969. She went on to earn her bachelor of arts degree in Elementary Education from Morgan State University.

“I love, love, love Morgan,” she said. “I definitely grew up at Morgan.”

“I had lots of exposure to cultural activities,” she said. “Growing up here, we didn't really have concerts, we didn't have national speakers come in, or anything of that sort. I was exposed to a lot more Black culture than was ever around here – than is now, actually. So, I feel like I grew up as a person when I was at Morgan.”

Wayman returned to Caroline County to teach first grade at Federalsburg Elementary School, a place that “still has a special place in my heart,” she said.

“And then I went to Denton one year as a Title 1 reading teacher, and from there, I went to Greensboro Elementary and taught first grade for about 13 years, and taught third grade at Greensboro, as well,” Wayman said. “And when Lockerman was moving the sixth grade classes to middle school, that's when I went to middle school. I wanted a change, and I got it,” she said, laughing.

In the early 1990s, she earned her master’s in Elementary Education and Education Administration. In 2000, she took an administrative position with Caroline County Public Schools. At the board office, she supervised the English Language Learner (ELL) program, and earned a certificate in ELL from George Washington University.

Retiring after 36 years, she then became a literacy coach in Delaware “because I love teaching,” she said.

She only stopped because her mother became ill, and Wayman quit to take care of her. A few years later, she became the coordinator of Diversity and Inclusion at Chesapeake College until the Covid pandemic put a stop to in-person learning.

Looking Towards the Future

Wayman will call upon her wealth of experience as she leads the school board to examine trends in education as they apply to Caroline students. Besides navigating the demands of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future and bolstering support for students and parents, teachers and support staff, she sees other areas worthy of emphasis.

She said strengthening STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs, elementary through high school, will help prepare students for the worlds of work and higher education.

“I think another big trend is early childhood education and helping parents to see the need, the necessary, and the importance of taking advantage of early childhood opportunities for our children,” she said.

While Wayman feels the school district has improved in educating an increasingly multicultural population, “we have room for improvement,” she said.

“We need to look at the fact that we have multiple languages here in Caroline County, and yet we provide pretty much only translation in Spanish and Haitian languages,” she said. “We have other cultures that we need to prepare ourselves to communicate with.”

“I'd like to see our schools do more diversity in activities such as clubs, so the kids have the opportunity to express themselves in positive ways, to share their culture in positive ways,” Wayman said, adding that providing opportunities for students to share their strengths has to be “more than lip service.”

“I've seen generations of family who are products of Caroline County Schools, and they've gone on to do great things,” she said. “I want to see all students reach their potential and build on the legacy of what Caroline County can be.”

“I've seen several families from this area – Black, white, Hispanic – who have (produced) young people who have gone on and are doing well. That's the legacy that I want to see continued,” Wayman said.

Family of Achievers

Working hard and pursuing higher education came naturally to Wayman, with her entire family modeling success. Her father Wayman Taylor, who grew up in the Greensboro area, was a graduate of a military school in New Jersey, a tradition among her New Jersey kin. Her mother Evelyn was from the Tuckahoe area and graduated from Lockerman High School.

Of her four siblings, one brother retired as a magistrate judge, one retired from the military, a sister is a nurse and realtor, and her late sister, the eldest sibling, was a nurse, as well.

Wayman and her husband Henry, a carpenter, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in July 2024. They have two children: son Brian and his wife Annica, and daughter Dawn all live on the western shore. The couple lives in Hillsboro, but spend a lot of time across the Bay Bridge attending their three grandsons’ sports and school activities.

“My husband and I are not sit-at-home people,” Wayman said. “We love to work and we love to play.” Henry Wayman is president of the Eastern Shore chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers & Troopers Motorcycle Club, and works part time for West & Callahan in Easton.

Wayman is active in the community as a member and trustee of Fellowship Chapter #58 Order of the Eastern Star, Allen AME Church, the Lockerman Alumni Association, the Mid-Shore Foundation, the Caroline County Branch of the NAACP, and the Morgan State University Alumni Association and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Cambridge Alumnae Chapter.

The online version of this story was revised Jan. 28, 2025.