Her three pieces of art, measuring 32 inches by 40 inches, are now hanging on a wall in the clinic’s conference room. 

One painting has two hands forming a heart — the clinic’s symbol. One hand is light-skinned and one hand is dark-skinned, to represent the variety of patients the clinic serves. 

The second painting is a tree surrounded by recurring circles, because there’s a variety of things going on at the clinic, O’Neil says. 

The third painting is a landscape with trees — and hearts throughout the leaves — with a cozy cabin in the middle. It’s meant to replicate a giant mural of a tree elsewhere in the clinic, O’Neil says. 

McRae is the school’s family and community liaison. 

“I want students’ interactions with the school to be positive,” says McRae, who also serves as PTA president, band boosters president, and athletic boosters vice president. “Last year, the PTA took students their honor roll certificates. One student said, ‘I didn’t think anyone remembered me.’ To see her face light up, that really counts.” 

McKay is North Rowan High School’s new earth science and environmental science teacher. She has degrees in education and psychology, and has taught psychology. She has a master’s degree in school counseling and served in that capacity for a number of years. 

McKay applied for another job at North, but that position had just been filled. Principal Meredith Williams thought McKay would be perfect for the position she’s in now. McKay will teach earth science all year, mostly to sophomores. 

Not only does Safrit love history — he’s teaching American History I this semester to juniors — he loves trains. So much so that he became a junior volunteer at the N.C. Transportation Museum when he was 11. 

A Carson High School graduate, Safrit went to Catawba College, and halfway through, received a call to ministry. In 2018, he enrolled at Wake Forest Divinity School, and graduated this spring. In January, he’ll start the call process with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). 

Amber Gilmore is North Rowan High School’s new intervention specialist. 

Gilmore was born and raised in Salisbury, and graduated from West Rowan High School in 2011. She received her undergraduate degree from Winston-Salem State University, and just completed a master’s degree in social work from Fordham University. 

North Rowan High School junior, Aniya O’Neal gifted artwork to be displayed at the Community Care Clinic of Rowan County.