Beloved Charlotte educator honored on ‘Drew Barrymore Show’

CHARLOTTE — A Charlotte woman returned from the trip of a lifetime after her hard work at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools caught the attention of “The Drew Barrymore Show.”

Jessica Spann, a behavior support coordinator at Huntingtowne Farms Elementary School, was flown to New York City for a taping, and Channel 9’s Elsa Gillis got to tag along.

At school, Spann spends her days in classrooms, walking the halls and in what she calls her “reset room.” There, she works to calm, comfort and support her 600 kids with books, toys, snacks, toiletries — even a cozy corner to rest, if needed.

“I can help develop the teachers, the students and navigate the parents through difficult times,” she said.

Many of her students come from lower income homes, and they support a large immigrant family population.

“You’re looking at the students coming in and having all these big emotions and big problems in these small bodies,” she said. “You have to find a way to help them express that the safest way and the right way.”

Spann, a Charlotte native, is the youngest of six, including her biological brother and four foster siblings.

“No matter how many people needed help, or whoever needed help, we still welcomed them in,” she told Gillis. “Even if it wasn’t the best situations, you still open your heart up to make sure that they’re ok. My goal is to make sure that our children grow up to be the best versions of themselves.”

Spann doesn’t stop there. She works another job at the Ivory Baker Recreation Center, in part to fund her reset room.

Always looking to support her students, she recently shared a fundraising campaign for items for the room on NextDoor. That campaign is what led her to the Big Apple.

Drew Barrymore’s team flew Spann to New York alongside her mom. Channel 9 watched as Barrymore and her crew spoke with her and surprised her with $10,000 for her reset room and a trip to Aruba.

Well-deserved gift in hand, Spann was already thinking of the kids just minutes later.

“That is the best part, like just being able to do something to set them up to have better days and celebrate their wins, because it’s not all about the negative behaviors,” Spann said. “We have to celebrate the positive behaviors as well, and that was the goal for this year, so this just made it all come true.”

Even after that life-changing experience, her mind was back at Huntingtowne Farms Elementary.

©2026 Cox Media Group