My name is Candace Westbrook and it is an honor and privilege to serve as one of the assistant principals here at Polenta.  I am a Johnston County native and have lived here all my life.  After graduating from Smithfield-Selma High School, I attended the University of Mount Olive.  I began my teaching career in Wayne County as an Elementary music teacher and later in Johnston County at Riverwood Middle School.  Over the past twenty two years, I have had the opportunity to learn and serve in a variety of places, including Duplin and Johnston Counties serving as a school administrator.  

My husband Scott and I have been married for 26 years and we have two wonderful sons. In our free time, our boys keep us very busy spending time with them since both of them play year-round sports.  On any given weekend during the fall, you will find our family at all ECU home football games, GO PIRATES!

As a leader, I  believe in bringing all stakeholders together to share leadership by involvement with the school environment.  I look forward to building relationships with students, parents, staff and community members throughout the school year. As Tom Peters once stated, “Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.”   It is my belief that every person can be a teacher, every place a classroom, every experience is a lesson and every child a promise.

     My name is Emem Thompson and I am excited about joining the Polenta Puma family as one of the assistant principals. I was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. I received my undergraduate degree from UNC-Greensboro in Elementary Education. I then continued to complete my Masters in Elementary Education at Campbell University. I have been exposed to all grades in a variety of ways but spent majority of my teaching career in Kindergarten in Durham. Before coming to Polenta, I served as an Intervention coach in Wake County. I graduated from NC State as a Principal Fellow with a Masters in School Administration last year. I have been in education 13 years and am honored to be starting my administrative career off at Polenta.
     My husband Tony and I have been married 10 years and have been blessed with four beautiful children, two of which will be joining me here at Polenta. My oldest two boys will be in third grade and kindergarten. I also have a daughter who is 3 and another son who is 11 months old. In our free time we love going to the park, movies, and taking road trips to the beach. We are very musical; I love to sing and my husband is a musician.
     As a leader I strive to be excellent on purpose by leading forward with love in a capacity that empowers, appreciates, develops and ignites an unwavering passion towards learning through commitment, collaboration and consistency amongst all stakeholders. I aim to build sustainable relationships where everyone is respected, supported and challenged to be the best version of themselves. I am looking forward to a wonderful first year of building relationships with students, staff, families, and the community!