|
Mr. Cowan's Biography
Welcome to Assistant Principal Chris Cowan's webpage
C.T. Koontz Intermediate School
Assistant Principal
Cell Phone 828-552-2263
My life began as the youngest of five children in a
small town 20 miles north of Pittsburgh, PA. Without question, most of my
earliest memories are of my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers and their 4 Super Bowls in the 1970s. Although I haven't lived there for
over 20 years, Pittsburgh will always be my home, and Sundays will
forever be devoted to the Steelers!
The 2021-22 school year will be my 25th year as a public school educator and ninth year as the Assistant Principal of Charles T. Koontz Intermediate.
I began my college experience by first attending Old Dominion University from 1989-1992 and then graduating from Duquesne
University in Pittsbugh in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts in History.
During some time away from formal schooling, I learned some life
lessons, and I decided it was time to get on with my life's work and
pursue a career in public education.
In 1997, after graduating from Duquesne University with
a Masters Degree in Elementary Education, I set off for Williamsburg,
Virginia to begin my first teaching assignment. I taught third grade
from 1997-2000 before I realized the sleepy hamlet was not enough
action for young adulthood, and I ventured to Northern Virginia in
search of a teaching position in Fairfax County. At Laurel Ridge
Elementary, I taught third and fifth grades from 2000-2005.
It was in 2001 that I met my future wife Amy while
attending a Widespread Panic concert in Atlanta, Georgia, and soon
afterward I convinced her to move from Boulder, Colorado to Fairfax,
which was no easy feat. Living in the fast pace of NOVA took its toll
on our souls, and we longed for the mountains and a slower pace of
life.
A Widespread Panic show in Asheville in May 2005 was all that was needed to
spur a relocation to this picturesque location of Western NC. Winning a Harley Davidson Sportster motorcycle from Harris Teeter certainly helped with the moving expenses.
|
|
In July 2005, we moved to Asheville and I accepted my first teaching position in Buncombe County Schools at Valley Springs Middle School in 7th grade. The following year, I moved to 8th grade ELA/Social Studies and taught there until 2011.
In January 2010, after three years as Head Football Coach at Valley Springs Middle School, I resigned to start a family and begin pursuing my goal to become and public school administrator.
Amy and I welcomed our first child, Annalee,
into this world on the morning of October 31, 2010, just in time for a
Steelers game that night.
In August 2011, I seized the opportunity to be founding staff member at Charles T. Koontz Intermediate School by accepting a fifth grade ELA/SS position.
I then completed my Post-Masters Certificate in Educational Leadership from Western Carolina Univeristy in August of 2012, and was offered the Assistant Principal position in the summer of 2013.
Amy, Annalee and I live in Fletcher with our Border Collie/Aussie Shephard Kaya.
|