Category: Perspectives

EDITOR’S NOTE: Iredell Free News is excited to publish the winning essays in American Renaissance School’s end-of-year “I Can” Essay Contest. Participating students were encouraged to write essays inspiring their

BY M.G. SPIESE We enter this weekend, as a nation, recognizing the Memorial Day holiday. The significance of the day is generally overlooked — honoring members of the Armed Forces

BY JOHN GREEN Each May, we celebrate National Hospital Week and look to thank our healthcare team for the tireless and selfless work performed to make our community healthier. Thinking

BY JEFF JAMES On November 23, 2020, Gov. Roy Cooper signed N.C. Executive Order 180, mandating masks for North Carolinians. Gov. Cooper was able to mandate masks because of the

  BY AMY FUHRMAN The hardest words I have ever spoken were telling my two children that their Uncle D had died by suicide. Their anguish in the minutes, hours,

BY BECKY WAGNER In 2020, the American Nurses’ Association (ANA) decided to honor Florence Nightingale — who would have celebrated her 200th birthday on May 12, 2020 — with the

BY DARREN CAMPBELL We have all received one of these calls: “Good afternoon, we are trying to reach you regarding your car’s extended warranty” or “ I am Agent Jones

BY BRYAN DUNCAN Hunger hurts. We saw it. It was on the faces of many who drove through The Big Pop Up event held a few weeks ago. We saw

BY SARA LEWIS While growing up, we all heard someone tell us that the only way a community can truly be successful is to work together to chip away at

BY JANE HINSON Every single person in Iredell County has been touched by public health in some manner. If you’ve ever eaten food prepared at a restaurant or football concession

BY DARREN CAMPBELL There is no better investment of time than that which is spent working with a child. Teaching children right from wrong is one of the most important

BY JEFF JAMES As it currently stands, Iredell-Statesville Schools is operating in Plan A for students in grades K-5 and Plan B for students in grades 6-12. I-SS has worked

BY CLYDE WOOD I write today with optimism for the future and a grateful heart for our team’s resilience over the past year. The pandemic has demonstrated how interconnected we

To the Editor: The Iredell Clergy For Healing and Justice, an interfaith and interracial organization of local faith leaders, wishes to express our support for the vote of the Iredell

BY JEFF JAMES I think we can all agree that students need to return to school. After what has been an unimaginable year, it’s time to give our children the

BY SEN. VICKIE SAWYER We are currently engaging in discussions at the N.C. General Assembly about how to treat the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. In my opinion, the PPP

TO THE EDITOR: Were you upset or even just plain mad with all the issues during this past election? Are you happy that in North Carolina we didn’t have the

BY JEFF JAMES I get asked at least once a week about the N.C. Education Lottery. I’m reminded of that old Wendy’s commercial that begs the important question: “Where’s the

Editor’s Note: Bryan Duncan delivered the following address during Mitchell Community College’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Friday, January 15. BY BRYAN DUNCAN Thank you for taking time from

BY DARREN CAMPBELL In January of 2020, the world started learning about COVID-19. The following month it hit home when we learned of the first positive case in the United

BY JEFF JAMES Like many of you, my prayer was that COVID-19 would run its course by now, and we could return to some form of normalcy in our daily

BY DARREN CAMPBELL I think that it would suffice to say that this Christmas was different for most of us. This year has been met with many challenges and quite

BY JEFF JAMES Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! As we head into the holidays, my hopes and wishes for all our students, staff, and stakeholders are to have a

BY FRANCIE HARTSOG This past year has been one we will never forget. I can’t remember another time in my life coming close to the chaos we have lived through.

BY ROY COOPER RALEIGH — When I announced North Carolina had its first known COVID case on March 3, most of us didn’t expect to be living like this in

BYJEFF JAMES As a resident of Iredell County my entire life, I have watched Iredell County grow from a population of 50,000 in the 1960s to 167,000 residents in 2020.

BY JEFF JAMES COVID-19 has undoubtedly influenced our everyday life and changed the world as we know it. In March, many were sure that this pandemic would be short-lived. Unfortunately,

BY H. STEPHEN SHOEMAKER On November 9 and 10, we remember the beginning of the public and official path to the Holocaust in Hitler’s Germany. We call it Kristallnacht, The

BY JEFF JAMES One of the most challenging decisions a school district can make involves deciding when to close schools due to weather. These decisions are not made in a

BY DARREN CAMPBELL With Halloween rapidly approaching, I have received many questions about how this year’s events will be effected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses and churches have canceled

BY JEFF JAMES Known by some, but not all, Crosby Scholars is a program that all Iredell-Statesville Schools students should explore. It is free to students in grades 6-12 in

Editor’s Note: October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. BY PATTI WEST Domestic violence is an uncomfortable issue to discuss. Most would prefer to pretend it doesn’t exist or deny the

BY JEFF JAMES It is sad that our society has to deal with the issue of human and sex trafficking. Unfortunately, North Carolina is one of the top 10 states

BY DARREN CAMPBELL Over the past several weeks, the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office has received an increasing number of reports from citizens and businesses about various scams. In order to

BY DIANE HAMBY Why do decent, brilliant, fair and open-minded U.S. Supreme Court justices matter? What difference could it possibly make? Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on September 18,