A National Park Service ranger who has focused on the scientific and educational significance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for more than 20 years earned national praise in this year’s Public Lands Alliance awards ceremony, held Feb. 27 in Denver, Colorado.

Susan Sachs, education branch chief for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, received the 2019 PLA Agency Leadership Award for cultivating and leading partnerships, the result of a nomination from the Great Smoky Mountains Association.

Summit Charter School in Cashiers has chosen a new director to take over from interim director Billy Leonard, who has served since July 2018.

Both my parents were teachers. My earliest memories are of my dad sitting at our dining room table grading papers or writing grants. Once I started school, my afternoon routine was to hang out in the media center at my mom’s school, munching on snacks from the vending machine, while she wrapped up for the day. 

When I vote, I take a broad perspective. I care about the present and its immediate requirements, but I also consider the long-range view, and by melding the two, I try to vote wisely and compassionately. 

Though not a one-issue voter, I am a voter whose career-long focus has been on public education and poverty, undoubtedly ad nauseum to those who know me best.

By Lori Wright • Guest Columnist

To all of my fellow teachers and parents, I only have one question: how much more do we have to endure? School has started again, and with that comes a yearly tradition. Once again, teachers like me are being forced to beg for basic school supplies. Some supplies I will be able to get from generous friends and families, but what will I do for the supplies I can’t get through donations? The same thing public school teachers are forced to do every year — pay for these basic classroom supplies out of our own pockets. 

Heaters that won’t heat. Lights that won’t light. Pipes that won’t pipe.

The modern conveniences most people have taken for granted are just that — taken for granted — until something goes awry. And when the basement’s full of sewage, who ya gonna call?

Mary Ann Morgan was a one-woman show with a shoestring budget for more than 40 years but still, she managed to change the lives of hundreds of people who walked into her office without much hope for their future.

Jackson County Schools showed mostly level performance over last year with the release of statewide school performance data for 2017-18 this month. 

Schools and other educational organizations in Western North Carolina have the opportunity to bring wildlife education programs to their home turf through the Mountain Wildlife Outreach program. 

A public input session on the question of whether Jackson County should form a middle school drew split opinion during a public hearing Tuesday, Aug. 7.