On February 21, 2013, a ceremony was held on the Jackson Campus of Southwestern Community College to honor the most recent GED and Adult High School graduates. Dr. Don Tomas, SCC College President, congratulated the students and handed out certificates.

Guest speakers for the evening were John Chandler and Epsy Willard. Mr. Chandler spoke to students about his life experiences and how he recently just returned to earn his GED from Southwestern at the age of 81. He encouraged all graduates to continue their education. Mr. Willard, who was the youngest of the graduates, finished his GED after only 15 days of class.

Western Carolina University will host its 43rd annual High School Mathematics Contest on Wednesday, March 20, with 466 of the region’s top high school and junior high school mathematics students competing.

The students, representing 29 schools, will compete for individual and school awards as well as advancement to regional and state mathematics contests.

Registration opens at 9:15 a.m. in the Ramsey Regional Activity Center. Orientation of the contestants starts at 10 a.m. and testing begins at 10:30 a.m. Students will have 70 minutes to complete the exams.

After the Macon County School system released a list of proposed budget cuts to account for a $2 million shortfall in next year's budget, Macon Early College students discovered that their school funding was among the $1,950,393 in possible cutbacks.

Macon Early College (MEC) is one of two schools in the district that are being considered for possible closing in order to save the school system money. According to interim Superintendent Dr. Jim Duncan, while MEC receives state funds to operate because it is considered an early college, after outside grants and state funds, Macon County pays an additional $100,000 to keep the school operating.

Nicholas J. Brow, of Franklin, N.C. has been named to the Dean's List for the fall 2012 semester at the University of Vermont. Brow is a sophomore Communication Science & Disorders major in the College of Nursing & Health Sciences.

To be named to the Dean's List, students must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or better and rank in the top 20 percent of their class in their respective college or school.

Chartered in 1791, UVM was the first college or university in the United States that did not give preference to a religious sect in its charter. UVM now has nearly 10,459 undergraduates in seven schools and colleges, 1,540 graduate students and 449 medical students. As a small, comprehensive university, it blends the academic heritage of a private university with service missions in the landgrant tradition.