Helen Avis, Ph.D.
Secretary,
NPJS Board of Directors
Leader,
NPJS Education of At-Risk & Delinquent Youth Discipline Group
Statesville, North Carolina
Dr. Helen Avis's passion and work have always revolved around seeking the highest quality of education for marginalized children. She began her career as an elementary teaching assistant in a high-needs school while completing her Bachelor's degree in Middle Grades English Language Arts and Social Studies at Western Carolina University. She then taught middle grades English and Social Studies for five years while earning her National Board Certification.
She transitioned into an advocacy role for middle and high school special education students and their parents while working to earn her Master's Degree from North Carolina State University in Reading Education and New Literacies and Technology. She then continued her education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning her Ph.D. in Education Policy, Leadership, and School Reform and her administrator's license. She focused on Juvenile Justice Education throughout her graduate work, including obtaining an English teaching position in a youth prison for three years to gain a better perspective and real-world experience.
Dr. Avis took on an educational leadership role, teaching and supervising teachers with Methodist Home for Children, and then served as the Operations Manager of a Juvenile Crisis and Assessment Center for justice-involved youth. She is now the Coordinator of Education and Outcomes for the agency. In her current role, she supervises the education programming within nine residential facilities housing adjudicated youth, collects and analyzes data for all of the agency's programs, and serves as the primary educational resource for the agency. She also enjoys serving on the Education Advisory Board at Compass Rose Academy and being an active member in several professional organizations, primarily the National Partnership for Juvenile Justice and the Teaching-Family Association. She has worked as a consultant and speaker for these organizations and continues to look for ways to learn and improve educational outcomes for justice-involved youth.