Influential Woman · Education

Shannon Bullock

Principal, Middle School

Henderson, NC

17Years experience

1Award received

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Associate's Degree from Vance Granville Community College Degree Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education with K-12 Reading Certification from East Carolina University Degree Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from High Point University Degree Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership from Liberty University (2021) Cert Distinguished Leadership Program from NC Principal and Assistant Principal Association Member Phi Delta Kappa

Her Story

About Shannon

I am a principal with 15 years of experience in the education field, serving in Henderson, North Carolina. My responsibilities involve building a culture that is conducive to learning and ensuring that the culture is safe for everyone. As the lead learner in the building, I make sure that learning and teaching is going on every day. I focus on ensuring there is high-quality teaching with our teachers so that our students can learn on their level and produce to their fullest potential. My educational background includes an associate's degree from Vance Granville Community College, a bachelor's degree in elementary education with K-12 reading certification from East Carolina University, a master's degree in Educational Leadership from High Point University, and a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from Liberty University, which I completed in 2021. I am a member of Phi Delta Kappa, an educational sorority whose goal is to empower youth to be the best that they can be, extend the profession of education, and support one another in the educational field. I have been nominated for District Principal of the Year for three consecutive years and recently completed a Distinguished Leadership Program from the NC Principal and Assistant Principal Association. My most notable professional achievement is building culture and being able to have people collaborate and work together towards a common goal. My passion is not just to educate children, but to change the community through education, knowing that what I achieve with my students will help them become honest, producing citizens contributing to society.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Shannon

01What do you attribute your success to?

I attribute my success to my passion for what I do. My goal is not just to educate children, but it's to change the community, and we do that through educating our children. That's what drives me - knowing that what I achieve with my students, they're going to go out and I have confidence that they're going to exercise that and practice that in the community. Eventually, the community will change to be a thriving community where you have honest, producing citizens contributing to society in the community. So knowing that I am technically changing the world, that's what thrives, that's what drives me.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

The best career advice I have received was to try to balance home and school, my personal life and career. That's very hard to do, and I haven't mastered that yet, but that is advice that I pay attention to, making sure that I'm not overworking myself. I think the best is trying to balance home and the work life. And also, to not take things that happen at school personally - don't make it personal.

03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

The advice I would give to young women entering this field today would be to stay true to yourself, stay true to your faith, whatever that may be. Just stay true to yourself, and if you fail once, don't give up. Keep trying.

04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

Some of the biggest challenges are parental and community involvement, funding, and student absences - that's challenging for the learning piece. But the opportunities that we have is the fact that there are so many certified educators in the field who believe like I believe. They believe that they're here for a purpose, and they're not going to give up on our children. So I think if we take advantage of the opportunities and have that collaboration amongst educators, the ability to be able to collaborate with educators is a great opportunity to keep, to stay strong, and to keep the workforce going.

05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

In my work and personal life, character, your true character, is very important in both. I would say character and trust - you gotta have trust, because trust is hard to get, but easy to lose. And compassion - you gotta have compassion for people in the personal life, as well as in my work life. Your true character, building a true character of yourself, that's what you're doing when nobody's watching, personally or professionally. Your character is gonna speak volumes, that's your true colors.

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