By Rebecca Rider

rebecca.rider@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — Faculty and staff of North Rowan schools are excited about the upcoming school year, and want to share it with the community.

On Saturday, Aug. 19, the North district will hold a special back-to-school rally at North Rowan High School to get students and parents looking forward to the new year, and the future of North Rowan.

Since North was given the green light to form a unique community approach in October 2016, North Community Principal Alexis Cowan said he and other administrators manning the four schools have been brainstorming. Schools in Rowan-Salisbury’s North district are unique due to their geographic closeness to one another. To administrators, teachers and students, it offers unique advantages and opportunities.

North Middle’s production of Aladdin Junior last school year was one such opportunity. The play was put on entirely by middle school students, but was performed at North Rowan High School.

“We feel like the sky is the limit with how far we can go on this,” Cowan said.

Students, community members and teachers also have a chance to chip in when it comes to brainstorming North’s future. Cowan said the dream is to create “a common vocabulary, a common voice” for what a good education looks like in the North Rowan Community.

“We want this to be an ongoing conversation,” Cowan said.

The North district covers North Rowan elementary, middle and high schools along with Hanford Dole Elementary, which is the furthest removed. But administrators hope to form a strong partnership between all four schools.

“We don’t want to leave anyone out,” Cowan said.

One of the things Cowan and others hope to do is to hold more community events. Which brings them to the back to school rally.

“It’s about showcasing and sharing what we do in our schools — because there are some great things,” Cowan said.

The event will feature student-run booths from each grade level and each school, where students can show off some of what they’ve learned. There will also be parent resources including a technology station and tables for booster clubs and school PTAs. Programs such as Communities in Schools and Crosby Scholars will also be present.

There will also be food vendors, giveaways and goodie bags for students. School clubs will also be present.

“We just want to make it very festive, very exciting, very fun,” Cowan said.

The event will open at 9 a.m. in the North Rowan High School stadium with welcomes from school principals and East Spencer Mayor Barbara Mallett and Spencer Mayor Pro Tem Sylvia Chillcott.

The rally is open to everyone in the Spencer, East Spencer and Salisbury communities.

Contact reporter Rebecca Rider at 704-797-4264.