Second Grade

Meet The Team

Nikki Allen | nmallen@wcpss.net |

Mrs. Allen will be in her fourth year of teaching at Weatherstone Elementary School and 17th year of teaching! She grew up in Oconto Falls, Wisconsin. GO PACKERS. She has her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education, Masters Degree in ESOL, Administrative Degree, and National Boards Certification. Mrs. Allen has taught in Kansas, Missouri, and Texas! She has taught Grades 2-6 all different subjects. She is married with three children: Austin(12), Emma(11) and Riley (8). She loves being outside in nature, hiking, running, and playing sports! Teaching is her dream job!  

Bethany Cagle | bcagle@wcpss.net |

Mrs. Cagle grew up in Cary and attended Meredith College where she majored in Psychology and earned a K-6 teaching licensure. Her entire family still lives around here including her two older brothers who live minutes away from her and her husband. In July 2018, she married her husband Chris. She spends most of her free time with her family, which is usually centered around food. Mrs. Cagle loves going to her family lake house and tubing, laying on the dock, and playing card games. She also enjoys hiking, working out, spending time with friends, and of course teaching.

Eileen Lucas | ejlucas@wcpss.net |

Mrs. Lucas is so excited to be a Weatherstone Explorer!  She recently moved to North Carolina with her family. She is originally from New Jersey where she spent 12 years as a classroom teacher before she had her son, Andrew. When he was old enough to begin school, she worked as an Instructional Assistant in various elementary schools.

She loves to be outdoors. She enjoys walking, biking, and enjoying the beauty of nature on the Greenways of NC. Se also enjoys baking, reading and spending time with her amazing family. She is really looking forward to a great school year!

Hanna-Mari Parkkila | hparkkila@wcpss.net | 

Mrs. Parkkila has a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Master’s degree in Education, specializing in Educational Psychology from the University of Oulu, Finland. She is a licensed teacher of educational sciences and psychology in Finland, and has an NC teaching license for grades K-6 from East Carolina University. Mrs. Parkkila has a strong background in behavioral sciences, child development, curriculum planning, and teaching children K-5. She is very passionate about teaching children new academic and life skills and supporting their social and emotional well-being. Mrs. Parkkila is married to her high school sweetheart, and they have three children, their oldest child is a junior at NC State University and studies applied math and computer science, and their two other children attend WCPSS schools (junior and freshman in high school). Mrs. Parkkila loves doing sports with her children, cooking, baking, and playing with her puppy. Mrs. Parkkila learned five languages at school. She is interested in different countries and cultures, their habits and food, and she loves to travel. Before moving to NC in 2013, her family enjoyed living three years in Berkeley, CA.  

Jennifer Wharton | jwharton@wcpss.net | 

Mrs. Wharton was born and raised in Queens, New York. She attended both Pace University and Teachers College, Columbia University in NYC where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and a Master of Arts Degree in Reading. She has gained much of her experience within the NYC Public School System teaching in Brooklyn, as well as the Wake County Public School System assisting in the CCK and Pre-K classes at Green Hope Elementary school. Her husband John is a retired New York City police officer. They have three beautiful thriving children Rowan, Ava, and William who attend Wake County Public Schools. They have two Beagles. Mrs. Wharton loves to read, dance, spend time with family and friends, garden, and take long walks. She is so excited to be a part of the Weatherstone family!

Raynee McCraw  | rwombacher@wcpss.net | 

Mrs. McCraw graduated from the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2021, with a degree in Elementary Education. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio but has lived in Apex, North Carolina most of her life. Mrs. McCraw enjoys spending time with family and friends, visiting the beach, and going swimming. She is looking forward to a great school year and getting to know everyone. 

Second Grade Assistants

Carolina Navia

Ms. Navia was born in Cali, Colombia. She is trilingual, and fluent in Spanish and German, and enjoys studying different cultures. She graduated from Colegio Aleman, a prestigious high school in Cali, Colombia, then attended the Autonomous University of the West,  where she studied Social Communication and Journalism. She is a Licensed Massage Therapist and a Physical Therapy Aide. Her passion is to help people and work with kids!. She enjoys spending time with her son, Matthew, family and friends. In her free time, she enjoys exercise, reading, journaling, travel, watching movies and admiring the beautiful nature native to North Carolina.

Annie Perry

Mrs. Perry is a Raleigh native who graduated from UNC-CH before teaching in Durham and Wake County schools for 10 years.  She spent an additional 17 years at a local preschool.  This is her 2nd year as an IA in Special Ed at Weatherstone.  Mrs. Perry lives with her husband Bill, and she is so proud to have 3 amazing Cary High graduates.  Her daughters graduated from UNCW and UNC-CH this spring and her son attends NC State.  She loves reading, walking, crafting and tinkering in her yard.  If you ask Mrs. Perry what she loves about teaching, she will tell you that she lives for the “light bulb" moments!