Mooresville, NC

Innovative and interactive education is the common thread throughout the variety of programs in the Mooresville area. For little ones, it starts in places like The Goddard School and extends to higher education at Mitchell Community College and Central Piedmont Community College, as well as the nearby, four-year programs at Davidson College, Catawba College, Pfeiffer University and Appalachian State University.

At the School of Visual and Performing Arts on the campus of Statesville High School, students take their interest in the arts to a new level.

“The thing we are able to do here is allow students to pursue their dreams,” says Principal Lisa Miller.

Opening in January 2008 with just more than 100 students, Miller says upward of 300 had expressed interest in entering the school by that fall.

The grant-funded, early college program provides an accelerated curriculum for students wanting high-level performing arts experience.

Miller shows students there are careers in the arts beyond the stage, including enticing future electricians with backstage work and designers with set or costume experience.

Miller credits the city with supporting the $2.3 million restoration of Mac Gray Auditorium.

“The folks in the community have been so positive about the work that’s been done and how modern and state-of-the-art it is,” she says.

The school holds recitals at least once every nine weeks, with several hundred residents turning out to watch.

“The arts are the key to drawing young professionals to the area,” Miller says.

High school graduates interested in the automotive industry have a one-of-a-kind opportunity at Mooresville’s NASCAR Technical Institute.

“We provide the training necessary to excel in entry-level, automotive technician jobs,” says John Dodson, the institute’s community and NASCAR team relations director.

Top-performing students have an opportunity to build engines used in NASCAR races.

The institute has room for up to 1,900 students and offers 48-week and 78-week programs. Dodson says at least 80 percent of the graduates take jobs in the automotive industry, although some aim for coveted NASCAR jobs or use their knowledge to pursue Saturday night racing as a hobby. A number of graduates take jobs in one of the many supply industries supporting NASCAR.

Dodson says the institute is an active corporate citizen, donating money or volunteer hours to programs including Special Olympics and Relay for Life.

In addition, the program keeps the area supplied with a steady stream of students working part-time jobs and spending money locally on rent, groceries and entertainment.

“We are really an economic machine here,” Dodson says. “Every three weeks the hotels are filled for graduations and then filled again for families preparing students for the start of new classes.”

Families in Mooresville also have access to Mooresville Graded School District, a high-performing district with some of the top science scores in the state. The district serves about 5,400 students on seven campuses.

Technology is more than a tool in Mooresville classrooms. Every kindergarten through third-grade classroom uses a Smart Board, and the district is in the midst of one of the largest laptop distribution programs in the state, with the potential to become one of the most comprehensive technology programs in the country. Most of the fourth-through-twelfth-grade students have round-the-clock use of a laptop, with the remaining intermediate school students to receive one for the 2009 school year.

“From what we have seen in the first month of school, students see the program as relevant,” Superintendent Mark Edwards says. “If you look in the classroom, the focus is phenomenal.”

Community support has been integral to the program’s success, Edwards says.

“Lowe’s provided $250,000 to support the initiative,” he says. “We also have a $50 charge per laptop to cover insurance. The Mooresville Foundation is having a golf tournament to help pay that for families who cannot afford it. The town provided an additional $25,000 for infrastructure.”

The district is upgrading buildings, as well. Fall 2008 brought a new intermediate school. Fall 2009’s plans include opening a new elementary and middle school as well as renovating one of the older buildings to house a ninth grade academy designed to help middle school students prepare for high school.

“When business and families look at the area, they want to know there’s a firm foundation in the community,” Edwards says. “Certainly, schools play a huge role in that. [The fact] that Lowe’s and other businesses here are excited bodes very well for economic development.”