Mr. Wil Meiners

My name is Wil Meiners. I've been teaching in North Carolina for the past 15 years, but am excited about joining Choice Plus Academy and JCPS this year. My story is a good example of a wide variety of experiences and being open to pursuing new opportunities. I was born in North Dakota...in January...brrrrr! When I was 2 years old, my family moved to Kenya as missionaries. Initially we lived in a very rural part of Kenya, but then later moved to the city of Nairobi. I graduated from high school there and then moved to Lookout Mountain, GA to attend Covenant College. I started out as a pre-engineering major, but over the course of my freshman year I developed an interest in youth ministry. I changed my major and spent that summer and the next working as a youth ministry intern. After college, I moved to Maryland, where I had lived for a few years off-and-on growing up. I met and married my wife while in Maryland. We spent our first year of marriage in Ocala, Florida, where I worked as a Middle School History and Bible teacher. We then moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee while my wife finished college and I worked in a GED and Life Skills program for out-of-school youth. Our last big move brought us to Murphy, North Carolina, where we eventually started a family (I have two daughters) and a small farm with ponies, goats, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, and a garden. I started out working in youth ministry here, but then became a high school Social Studies teacher in 2007. I taught Social Studies at the same school for 10 years, but then had the opportunity to start teaching math. Shortly after that, I had the opportunity to transfer to the Early College in the same school district. The last couple of years have opened up a whole new realm of opportunities in Virtual Education, which have brought me to Choice Plus Academy! I'm excited to be working in a school that is creatively addressing the various needs of students and their families. I look forward to learning about your experiences and being a part of helping you discover and pursue the opportunies ahead of you!