A Wilson native and career educator plays a prominent role in a new U.S. Marine Corps promotional video.

Cheryl Curtis, a 1988 Beddingfield High School graduate, is a former math and science teacher at Forest Hills and Toisnot middle schools.

Curtis currently is the director of educational enhancement services and is the dedicated veteran advocate in the student affairs office at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte.

“In the 153 years of the institution, I am the very first veterans advocate,” Curtis said. “I didn’t seek this position here at Johnson C. Smith University. It was created for me. So I am very proud of that work, and that is why I will continue to do that work.”

Curtis learned about the challenges of being a military spouse after traveling around the world with her husband, U.S, Army veteran George Sydney Curtis Jr., a 1986 Fike High School graduate.

Curtis lived in Wilson County on and off the majority of her life, but she left for good when her husband received orders to serve in Germany.

“It was easy for me. I had a teaching certificate and I had a principal certificate, so when we went to different places, I could find employment. But other spouses struggle with that,” Curtis said. “When veterans leave the service, the first thing they lose is their job and their housing. That is a big issue for veterans.”

Curtis started conducting advocacy work to support veterans around 2008.

“When I did my doctoral internship, part of the research that I did involved supporting veterans,” Curtis said.

Curtis has worked at Johnson C. Smith University for five and a half years.

“My service is to make sure that veterans have the support they need so that they can successfully transfer, find adequate employment, find a successful career, live in adequate housing and things like that, so I have been involved in the various aspects of making sure that the veterans have the support that they need,” Curtis said. “Our family has done well, and I think other veterans should have the same as well.”

In 2019, the university hosted a Marine Corps leadership seminar.

“The director asked: Would I go to an educators’ workshop that was in Quantico, Virginia?” Curtis said. “I spent a week in Quantico in 2019 going through boot camp so that we as educators of higher ed could actually see what our students go through should they decide to go to officers’ training or do cadet studies.”

The workshop led to Curtis being asked to participate in a national campaign that culminated in the video called Partnership Opportunities that promotes partnerships between educators and the Marine Corps.

“There is nothing like it in this world. They really foster a spirit of collaboration,” Curtis said of her boot camp experience in the video.

Curtis said the Marines spared no expense on the national photo shoot, bringing a film production crew from Atlanta to shoot in Charlotte.

“The job of the educator is to help train the minds of students,” Curtis says in the video. “When students express an interest or a desire, I connect them with the resources that will make them successful. We want leaders who are dedicated and have an attitude of service to our country, our community and to oneself. There is a shared purpose around what the Marine Corps does and what we are trying to do for our students.”

Curtis is part of N.C. STRIVE, an acronym for Student Transition Resource Initiative for Veterans’ Education, which is part of the Governor’s Working Group.

“What it does is help the veterans, their spouses and their military dependents utilize higher education in their transition from service to civilian life,” Curtis said.

Additionally, Curtis is producing an hourlong program along with PBS and N.C. STRIVE that will air at 1 p.m. on May 6.

The Governor’s Working Group will house the video on its website, https://strive.ncgwg.org.