Teachers
Laura Kouns
Laura Kouns has lived in Roswell for 25 years and has taught at Roswell High School for 18 years. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Georgia State University and a Master’s Degree in Secondary English Education from Kennesaw State University and currently serves as the chairperson for the Talented and Gifted program. She approves Directed Study requests, assists with internship placements, approves seminar offerings, and hosts informational sessions for parents throughout the school year. She is also the lead teacher for 12th grade AP Literature, having taught the course for 16 years and is currently serving as a mentor to new AP teachers for the College Board.
She enjoys spending time with her husband and three children whose favorite activities include hiking trails around town, catching waves in Seaside, and visiting family in Nashville. Their least favorite activity is (unanimously) standing in line at IKEA.
You can reach Mrs. Kouns at kouns@fultonschools.org
Molly Bethune
Molly Bethune is entering her 13th year of teaching, most of them at Roswell High School. She teaches AP U.S. Government, AP Comparative Government and On-level American Government. Given her government background, she loves teaching a seminar that focuses on how to determine the plausibility of conspiracy theories. She also is active in Roswell athletics, assisting in the volleyball and swim programs as well as serving as director of the boys and girls lacrosse programs.
Molly’s two sons are Roswell High graduates. One is also a graduate of the Economics program at Auburn University and the other is studying Economics at Georgia State University. She and her husband enjoy kayaking, hiking, and quoting classic movies.
You can reach Mrs. Bethune at bethunem@fultonschools.org
Jeff Pickard
Jeffrey Pickard is the newest addition to the TAG department. A retired pilot with a Bachelor’s degree in Ceramics and Art Education and a Master’s in Art Education, he has a well rounded and unique perspective which helps him to teach such classes as Directed Studies, a variety of seminars, and a number of art classes like Introduction to Art, Photography, and Ceramics. Jeff is the head coach for the boys golf program and hosts an after school gamers club.
He will be celebrating his 20th anniversary with his wife and has one daughter, who all live in Roswell.
You can reach Mr. Pickard at pickardj@fultonschools.org
Laura Hunter
Laura Hunter is a Roswell native who has taught in Fulton County for 13 years. She has an undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of South Carolina and a Masters of Science Education from Georgia State University. This is her 7th year teaching at Roswell High School. She teaches 2 sections of TAG Directed Study, TAG Seminars and 2 sections of Honors Biology. Past TAG seminars include Craft Wars, Outbreak, Forensics, Careers in STEM and the Deep Blue Sea. In addition to teaching in the TAG department, Laura also works with the TAG Eligibility Process and is the adviser for 12th grade TAG students.
Outside of the TAG department at Roswell, Laura is in charge of the Roswell High School Science Fair, sponsors the UNICEF and HOSA clubs, and serves on the School Governance Council. At home, Laura enjoys tennis, her two boston terriers, and spending time with her family.
You can reach Ms. Hunter at hunterLS@fultonschools.org
Derek Shackelford
Derek Shackelford has been at Roswell for 20 years and has taken TAG students on the Roswell Ghost tour more times than he can count. He has taught all four grade levels of English but has been the mainstay in 11th American Lit for the last 10 years. He also teaches the Mythology class so his TAG seminars tend to be about ghosts, aliens, monsters, and Star Wars. His educational background includes a Bachelors of English from The University of Georgia, a Masters in English Education from The University of Georgia, and a Specialist of Leadership from Lincoln Memorial University in Chattanooga.
In addition, he is the Girls Varsity Tennis Coach and was the 2012 State Coach of the Year, the Region 5-AAAAAA Coach of the Year, and his team was the 2012 Girls Varsity Tennis State Champions with an undefeated record of 22-0.
You can reach Mr. Shackelford at ShackelfordD@fultonschools.org
Meredith Drummond
Meredith Drummond has lived in the Roswell area for the last 20 years. She has three children, eleven year old boy/girl twins and an eight year old girl, who all attend Roswell North Elementary school and are future Hornets. She attended Montana State University- Bozeman where she gained her Bachelors Degree in History and English with an option on Secondary Education. She also attended Georgia State University and gained a Masters in Secondary Social Studies Education.
This is her 2nd year at RHS, but she spent ten years at Alpharetta High School, two years at Northwestern Middle School, and five years working for the district office. Her specialties include TAG instruction and Psychology. She taught AP Psychology for ten years at AHS and is now starting an on-level Psychology course at RHS.
Meredith enjoys spending time with her husband and children, much of which is spent on sports fields. Both of her girls play soccer for Santos and her son is a 5th grade Jr. Hornet in football.
You can reach Mrs. Drummond at DrummondM2@fultonschools.org
Megan Fairchild
Megan Fairchild is an Atlanta native who has taught at both the middle and high school level. This is her 5th year at Roswell High School and she is teaching TAG Gifted Internship, the Hire Me seminar, and Accelerated Geometry/Algebra 2 Honors this year. Megan graduated with a Master of Arts in Teaching degree in secondary math from Georgia State University in 2012 and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design.
Megan is also our unofficial department tech guru. She has 2 young children and enjoys tennis, art, detective shows, and spending time with her family.
You can reach Mrs. Fairchild at fairchild@fultonschools.org