Mrs. Erica (Fugate) Gardner is an Algebra 1 and Geometry teacher at Dobyns-Bennett EXCEL.  Erica attended high school in Gate City, Virginia and went on to further her education at East Tennessee State University with a major in Mathematics and a minor in Secondary Education.  

Mrs. Gardner worked as a substitute teacher for Kingsport City Schools and a sales associate for Old Navy before joining the DBE team! She absolutely loves to cook, especially if she is baking. She is fond of kayaking, Project Runway, and embroidering. She is mildly obsessed with her dogs-- Teddy, Jax, and Lily-- and enjoys giving her embroidered goods to those she loves. When Erica is not sewing gifts for loved ones or floating down the river in her kayak, she can be found in the kitchen canning her home-grown garden goods.

Erica is youngest of four; she has one sister and two brothers. Teaching runs in Mrs. Gardner’s family – her mother-in-law was her high school math teacher.  She was happily married to her high school sweetheart this past summer.

Though Mrs. Gardner is new to DBE, she is extremely excited to be working in a collaborative environment surround by teachers and students who are excited about learning and who embrace all avenues and environments in which learning takes place!