Black History profile - Mary Ponds

spotts@salisburypost.com

Occupation: Mayor of Granite Quarry, retired teacher

Background: Raised in Rowan County, Granite Quarry. Lived for a while in Virginia.

Education: Graduated from Price High School, Livingstone College, did some work at Appalachian State University.

Career path/boards: A born teacher. "There's no profession on earth that you don't touch someone." Smart Start Rowan board, Communities in Schools, ARC, Rowan County Rescue Squad, Rufty-Holmes Senior Center board, Rowan Regional Medical Center board, Nazareth Children's Home board, member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina, Meals on Wheels.

Family: Daughter, son and mother.

Role models: Two teachers who prepared her to be a teacher — Abna Lancaster and Geneva Olgesby. And one sixth-grade teacher who told her that she would never amount to anything. It motivated her to prove that teacher wrong.

A quote you live by: "My glass is always half full and life is always good."

What legacy do you want to leave behind: "To put some meaning between my date of birth and my date of death. I want that dash to have an impact on someone I touched."

What does Barack Obama's win as the nation's first African-American president signify for you: "It was a time we as a nation, as a world of people could see the possibilities of what determination, being persistent, being prepared and being able to accept being in a position to accept standing on someone else's shoulders. I think what has happened is he has positioned and prepared himself that the world can now stand as one and prepare themselves and let others stand on their shoulders. It has nothing to do with color, gender, but no more than the content of your character."