Congratulations to Nantahala Health Foundation board member and Graham County Schools Superintendent Angie Knight for being named the Region 8 Superintendent of the Year. Such a well-deserved honor, Angie!

“[Superintendent Knight's] efforts to ensure students are the focus of the school system have included safety programs, a rapid response to pandemic issues and promoting academics across her schools. It's clear that Angie's focus is on each student's overall success.” -- Jan Webster, Director of the Western Region Education Alliance

Angie's contributions to the leadership of Nantahala Health Foundation are appreciated most in her sharing of expertise and guidance related to our Education funding priority as an avenue to improving health outcomes for everyone living, learning, working, and playing in our region.

Within her community, Angie continues to support those in need. She and others have identified a need for structured teen activities where few are currently available. To address this need, Graham County Schools have invited youth between the ages of 13 and 21 to attend their SUMMER KNIGHTS Series, which includes free meals, cornhole tournaments with cash prizes, bonfires, and outdoor movies. This event series is a collaboration of several community agencies, churches, and individuals.

We applaud Angie and the Graham County community for offering this innovative, collaborative Summer Knights Series, which you better believe will include an education component!

With the support of a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 99% Invisible podcast creators have launched a four-part series they are calling "The Future of..." during which they are exploring how changes in the way we live, learn, work, and play could shape our health outcomes for years to come.

For example, if asked to explain how an Internet connection works, most people would stumble. Questions even more basic than this one, like "How fast or slow is it?", "Why is it so expensive or cheap?", or "Why can't I pay for a connection to my house?" have annoyed mountain residents for years.

The pandemic, however, ramped up annoyances to fatal flaws in some cases. When so many of us were isolating at home, our physical and mental needs to continue working, learning, and having access to our doctors, family, and friends did not cease. If you had a reliable Internet connection, your contact with the outside world may have looked different, but it was possible. If you didn't have an Internet connection, you likely suffered in many ways.

The lack of quality Internet access -- a fundamental element of life as we know it -- for any reason other than choice is the very definition of inequity. Knowing the complexities involved with any issue is the first step toward making a change. This podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts and at the link below, is sure to help you better understand this complicated topic in the easiest, most enjoyable way.