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One of the best, and most challenging, things about being a journalist is whenever you write about something, you are required to become a temporary expert on the subject. That means taking volumes of complicated information – like what’s in a county budget – and boiling it down into a concise article that still contains everything necessary for the reader to fully understand what it all means.
In order to do that, you have to be constantly learning; I told my kids growing up that while you get a nice piece of paper in college to celebrate what you’ve learned, your real education will come in the working world. Even in rural Cherokee County, every week is an opportunity to learn something you didn’t know before.
Friday was a particularly good day for that. In the morning, Editor Jared Putnam and I toured the new Cherokee County Schools of Innovation & Technology being built next to Tri-County Community College, just off U.S. 64 East Alternate in Peachtree. In the afternoon, we had the privilege of touring Core Scientific in Marble, which is “a leader in high-performance, blockchain infrastructure and software solutions,” according to corescientific.com.
(Don’t ask me to explain exactly how cryptocurrency works just yet, but I’m getting there – slowly.)
The Schools of Innovation – which, to make perfectly clear, has absolutely nothing to do with a proposed consolidated high school in Cherokee County – is essentially three schools in one: Tri-County Early College High School, which has been using extra buildings and portables for 17 years; The Oaks Academy, the county’s alternative school, which has been in the former Marble Elementary School building since that school closed a few years back; and the new Career Academy vocational school, which will help students who want to go into the workforce get on an early path to a rewarding life after graduation.
The $20 million Schools of Innovation is being built on a 27-acre site contiguous to Tri-County Community College, which is a requirement for the Early College. The project is being funded by a $15 million grant by the state and an additional $5 million from county sales tax funds that already have been set aside. It will open to students in fall 2023, and Alissa Cheek, coordinator for new school programming, just can’t wait.
Cheek’s enthusiasm and passion for the new school was evident in every step of the tour. After leading the Early College as principal through its formative years, she understands better than most how much this campus will benefit those students. And after I spent a considerable amount of time at The Oaks Academy during the last school year, I know how much being in a new building will help boost the morale of those students, who often just need additional encouragement in a different class setting.
In summary, I can’t understand how anyone could not be in favor of the Schools of Innovation. This may very well be the most important campus ever built in Cherokee County.
After a quick lunch, it was on to Core Scientific, which we have been waiting several years to explore. Their security is some of the highest in western North Carolina, which demonstrates the level of vital technology that is taking place just off old Andrews Road.
Jack Lewis, who managed the building when it was operated by Coats American, was gracious in spending a couple hours with us, and patient in describing in layman’s terms how his company does what it does. He also shared that a recent issue with foam – which was simply bulk packaging materials, not any spray or substance – at the Cherokee County Landfill was just a one-time occurrence, as a facility in Georgia is contracted to handle it.
It was amazing to see how the largest such company in the United States operates, with rows of computers busy at work mining for Bitcoin using Core Scientific’s proprietary software and hardware. The Marble location has dozens of employees, with good pay and benefits, and also helps various community causes.
And, best of all for some folks, outside noise at the plant has never been a problem with neighbors.
Positive things like the Schools of Innovation & Technology and Core Scientific only happen with astute planning, often years in the making. The Cherokee Scout will have much more information in future editions, as Cherokee County is fortunate to have both of them in our community.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 837-5122; email, dbrown@cherokeescout.com; or on Twitter
@daviddBstroh.