EducationNC

Danny Miller told us, "If you wanted to rob a bank in Haywood County, that's the night to do it."

In Haywood County, there is a one football game that means more than all the others. It's gone by many monikers - The Paper Bowl, The County Clash, The Mill vs. the Hill, but everyone mostly refers to it as The Game. Two rival high schools meet once a year on the field and we went to see if the matchup was going to mean more in 2023 in light of challenging times. We went in assuming one thing, and as it usually happens, walked away with a different answer. 

In Canton, the paper mill is such a big part of town that Pisgah High School offers pulp and paper classes to its students. WC Godfrey is the pulp and paper teacher at Pisgah High School, and overall, the success of the class can be credited to him. The Canton paper mill closure isn't Godfrey's first, and he has hope that Canton will make it through.

In this episode, we hear from Danny Miller and Lori Fox — career educators who are also family. Fox, the principal at Haywood Early College, showed us around Haywood County where she pointed out the damage done by recent tropical storms. Miller told us about Canton during its heyday.

In this episode, we talk with Zeb Smathers, mayor of Canton, and David Francis, Haywood County economic development director. Francis says the closure of the mill will have a "tsunami" effect on the town, region, and state. Both say the town is resilient and will bounce back — as it always does.

The Power of Papertown is a series of audio stories highlighting the closure of the paper mill in Canton, North Carolina. In this episode, Haywood County Schools employees talk mill closure, community support, and resiliency. 

Welcome back to Season 2 of The Hummingbird Stories! This week, Donnell and Jenny are learning about the Leandro case in North Carolina and dreaming about what it means to go Beyond Leandro. They talk to EdNC.org's Rupen Fofaria and hear from education leaders Aylon Samouha of Transcend Education, Sonn Sam of Big Picture Learning, and Carol Bower of GALS Denver. Learn more about Aylon Samouha’s work at transcendeducation.org, Sonn Sam’s work at bigpicture.org, and Carol Bower's work at galsdenver.org.

We want to hear from you! Our weekly question is: Everyone in our state is talking about a sound, basic education. But what would an extraordinary education look like? Visit SayHi.chat backslash hummingbird to chime in.

Artwork by 11th grade student Jocelyn H. Check out her work at @celyns_arts on Instagram.

Sherry Thomas talks pandemic, IEPs, and funding for students with disabilities.

In April, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt laid out Operation Polaris -- her vision for operation of the public education system. At the center is the Office of Learning Recovery & Acceleration, where Michael Maher is executive director.

In April, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt laid out her vision for operation of the public education system. It's called Operation Polaris, and at the center sits a new office -- the Office of Learning Recovery & Acceleration. Michael Maher, a 25-year educator, is its first executive director. He spent some time with us to talk about learning recovery and acceleration, a competency-based education platform, and some of the office's early initiatives.

At their August second meeting, Craven County Commissioners voted in support of an anti-critical race theory resolution. At the meeting, members of the community gave their opinions on the resolution and discussed what the board’s decision will mean for Craven County Schools.