Verita Woods, Exceptional Educator

Mrs. Verita Woods, Director of Shaw University Asheville CAPE.   Photo: Urban News

by Sarah Williams

Mrs. Verita Woods has been an educator for most of her working life. She earned her BS degree in Business Education from Fayetteville State University, where she met her future husband, fellow student Melvin Woods. The couple married and moved to Asheville, and Verita later attended Western Carolina University, where she earned a Masters degree in Business Administration and Education Administration.

She has had an illustrious career working for the Asheville City Schools system. She began as a teacher at Asheville High School, later becoming Dean of Girls at Asheville Junior High School. After serving as Assistant Principal at Asheville Junior High, she was appointed Director of Career and Technical programs and Student Services for the city schools.

Once an educator, always an educator: Mrs. Woods is now Director of Shaw University Asheville CAPE (College of Adults and Professional Education). CAPE students do not have to interrupt their working life. Evening and night classes with low teacher/student ratios are available, helping to lead students toward a degree in their chosen fields. The staff and students are a family.

Shaw’s CAPE is designed to help adult students grow by establishing an
atmosphere where they feel they belong. In that atmosphere, it becomes
a place that strongly encourages learning achievement.

Students can major in Business Administration, Philosophy and Religion,
Public Administration with a concentration in Emergency Management,
Sociology, and Sociology with a concentration in Criminal Justice. In
addition to the courses in each major program, students also take core
curriculum courses. These general education courses will teach them
valuable problem-solving skills, assist them in understanding society,
and help them to assess their personal ethics and values.

Although Mrs. Woods is busy as an educator, she finds, or makes, time
for civic activities. She serves on the advisory board of the State
Employees’ Credit Union; on the board of the Asheville City Schools
Foundation; and as chairman of Mount Zion Community Development. She
has held several offices as an active member of Gamma Gamma Omega
Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and she is a member of Mount
Zion Missionary Baptist Church and the City-Wide Usher Union.

Mrs. Woods does all that she does and still maintains a sweet spirit, a
nurturing and loving attitude, and dedication to lifelong learning. She
makes clear her vision for Shaw University Asheville CAPE.

“We hope the enrollment will continue to increase, because we want the
school to be full of educational activities. I envision a place
populated by a mixture of people who are seeking alternative career
paths. The Asheville CAPE embraces the customs and pedagogical style of
a strong HBCU, Shaw University.”

Ms. Woods strongly advises young people to “graduate from high school,
but never consider that to be the end of learning. Continue on to
achieve your highest potential.”