“It’s really different teaching kids in a mask where they can’t see your expression and trying to figure out what their expression is based on their eyes.”

— Mary Stoddard, seventh-grade English teacher at Southeast Middle School who has taught for 25 years but has seen nothing like the first day of school this year

 

“Safety is our focus. We will practice implementing extreme safety measures to keep our students and
staff safe.”

— Lynn Moody, Rowan-Salisbury Schools superintendent on the reopening

 

“There are a lot of minor things that should be handled in school. … You don’t want nonviolent school offenses to be in the court system. The purpose of the juvenile system was not to punish people. To rehabilitate people is the main focus.”

— Marshall Bickett, Rowan County District Judge discussing the School Justice Partnership, which seeks to prevent school children from ending up in court for minor discipline issues

 

“It really matters who occupies elected office.”

— U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, who urged people to vote while speaking at a North Carolina HBCU Students for Biden virtual back-to-school event

 

“One day you are going to be walking so fast that the best thing is going to pass you by.”

— Amelia Rhodes, recalling what her late husband told her when they met. Wendell Rhodes was struck and killed by a car while walking his dog

 

“I cannot state how important it is that we know our history.”

— Emily Perry, Dixonville Memorial Task Force Chair on efforts to create an interpretive walk and seating area at the Dixonville-Lincoln Memorial

 

“We’re just trying intricate ways to bring people out here. A lot of people know that we’re open, they know that we’re a park, but they don’t necessarily get to see behind the scenes.”

— Rachel Kilinski, special events manager for the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers on ways to bring fans out to see the new ballpark

 

“We were ahead of schedule for a while, then had a lot of rain starting around Thanksgiving. We’ve had other issues caused by COVID from materials not getting here to manufacturing and shipping to labor. It was a perfect storm.”

— Jason Walser, vice president of Bell Tower Green Park  on the delays in getting the project completed on time