March 8, 2021

As most of you are aware, Mrs. Susan Jennings will be retiring at the end of this school year. We look forward to celebrating her legacy and retirement in the coming weeks. Today, I am pleased to introduce you to the upcoming elementary and early childhood administration for the 2021-2022 school year. Next school year, Gaston Christian will be served by an Elementary and Early Childhood (ES/EC) Principal and an ES/EC Assistant Principal.

Mrs. Bethany Meekins (pictured right) will be serving as the ES/EC Principal. She currently lives in Sarasota, FL, where she has recently relocated after serving in Ecuador at the Alliance Academy for the past 12 years. While at the Alliance Academy International, she has served as an English language specialist, a kindergarten teacher, early childhood department chair, early childhood administrator, and most recently as the elementary principal for three years. She earned her undergraduate degree in Social Work from Messiah College (PA), her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership (2017) from the American College of Indiana, and her M.S. in Multidisciplinary Studies from SUNY Buffalo (2010). She is married to Santiago and we look forward to welcoming her to GCS on June 1st.

Mrs. Denika Alston (center picture right) will be serving as the ES/EC Assistant Principal. Her family has recently relocated to Kings Mountain, but before that lived in Buford, Georgia, where she has served as the Early Childhood & Elementary Principal at Bethlehem Christian Academy (K-12) from 2017 to the present. She earned her undergraduate degree in Organizational Leadership from Mercer University (Ga) and her M.Ed. in Independent & Charter School Leadership (2018) from Mercer also. Her family attends Rivers of Life church in Shelby. We look forward to her joining our team in August.

Please join me in praying for both of these families as they relocate to North Carolina. I know they will find GCS to be a warm and welcoming community.

Sincerely yours,

Dr. Joel Uecker, Associate Head of School