Across the state, our 58 community colleges are welcoming students back for instruction during a fall semester like no other. We recently caught up with Kandi Deitemeyer to discuss how all of the challenges of college during Covid-19 will unfold as she continues her leadership of Central Piedmont Community College, and as she steps into her new role as president of the NC Community Colleges President’s Association. Listen here!

Liz Bell, Education NC's early childhood reporter, spent a week listening to early childhood educators and experts describe how COVID-19 has impacted our state's youngest learners. During 10+ interviews, Bell asked each guest what the pandemic is teaching them. Here are their answers.

Emmie Rose is also a rising 9th grader, and spent her middle school years at Myrtle Grove Middle School involved in the principal’s cabinet and student improvement team. Her journey with student voice started during student council in elementary school. This is our last episode in this mini series on student voice in New Hanover county. Thank you for listening!

Rose Castro is a rising 9th grader, who recently graduated from Myrtle Grove Middle School and has been involved with many student voice efforts in her school including the principal's cabinet. We discussed how her teachers inspired her to use her voice, and what is keeping her hopeful right now. She will start at Wilmington Early College High School in the fall. And, we virtually hear from her dog Eros, who you might hear pop up in this interview.

Kayce Smith is the MTSS coordinator at Myrtle Grove Middle School. The MTSS coordinator is essentially an academic and behavior success coach. Kayce is also a doctoral student in educational leadership at UNCW. She shares about her experience cultivating and elevating student voices, and how this work takes on a new meaning during such an unprecedented time in human history.

Mark Poarch, President of CCC&TI, explains the decision points involved in maintaining safety protocols while expanding face-to-face instruction for students this fall.

Recently we traveled to Western NC to visit community colleges. On the trip, my colleague Alli Lindenberg and I visited with John Gossett at McDowell Tech. I asked him about his last months at MTCC, how the college has adjusted to the COVID-19 pandemic, and his upcoming transition to AB-Tech, where he will start his tenure as President next week.

Michael Helmick has a career in education spanning decades. For the past 10 years, he's been a leader in the NC community college system. We sat down with him to listen to his reflection as he leaves Western Piedmont Community College and moves into retirement.

For this episode, you’ll hear from Elijah King: a senior at Riverdale High School and a journalist for his school newspaper, the Pirate Hook. When COVID-19 hit, he knew he wanted to serve his neighbors. In early April, he started the Durham Free Lunch Initiative, which has served over 4,000 meals to students, frontline workers, and people experiencing homelessness.

In this episode you will hear from Janet Spriggs. Dr. Spriggs is the president of Forsyth Technical Community College. She joins us to talk about the Forsyth Tech Cares program and how they've been taking care of their students' needs.