Last Updated on July 26, 2025 10:28 am
Friday, July 25, 2025
We’re celebrating traditions of long-standing excellence at Appalachian State University.
We began the week hosting the North Carolina School of Banking, the state’s professional trade organization for the banking industry — and the nation’s longest running state banking school — on our Boone campus.
The program’s keynote address was delivered by Boone Area Chamber of Commerce CEO David Jackson, and I enjoyed his remarks, which showcased the significance of Western North Carolina to the health of our state’s economy. North Carolina holds impressive national rankings, being ranked No. 1 in the nation in CNBC’s “Top States for Business” rankings and No. 7 for “Best Economy” by U.S. News & World Report.
Graduates of the program are a powerful group. They represent the trusted financial institutions that help drive the economy of our state and impact our national and global economies. It was my pleasure to welcome them, and it’s a point of pride for the university that they have chosen App State as their headquarters, as they work to enhance collaboration between the banking industry and higher education in the state of North Carolina.
Today, I joined a celebration commemorating 85 years of what is now the Lucy Brock Child Development Laboratory program. It was an honor to hear more on the program’s history — as exemplified through stories shared by former App State students who taught there, former children who learned there and the many faculty and staff who have been part of the program’s evolution.
For more than 125 years, our university has carried forward a commitment to ensuring access to education. Beginning an early child development program — just 40 years into our university’s history — is a categorical illustration of this commitment. Since the earliest days, ingenuity and innovation have been hallmarks of our approach.
From pre-K to higher education, Lucy Brock’s model as a child development laboratory program offers opportunities for App State students to learn to be caring, compassionate and successful teachers. As they learn from the children in the program, and from our passionate and dedicated faculty whose expertise extends from early childhood development to graduate-level research, our students also develop a passion to continue their love for learning beyond their time at our university. Since its inception, the program has offered not only a safe, nurturing environment for young children to explore and learn about the world around them, it has also introduced generations of young children to a love and passion for learning that lasts a lifetime.
This program exemplifies the higher education mission of teaching, research and service and serves as a valuable resource to our High Country community. It was my pleasure to acknowledge the past and present leaders in the Reich College of Education who fostered and championed the development of Lucy Brock — from its earliest “nursery school” days, to its mid-life as “Appalachian State University kindergarten,” to the many sites in the area in which it operates today. In the last academic year alone — here on campus and with its partnership with Watauga County Schools — Lucy Brock served 475 students and their families.
Under the leadership of Reich College of Education Dean Melba Spooner, who has drawn from her background as a kindergarten teacher in leading and guiding the center’s continued success over the last nine years, and Dr. Andrea Anderson, who took the reins of the center in 2011 and has supported the center’s children and families for nearly 15 years, including through the significant challenges of COVID and Hurricane Helene, the program is carrying forward an important mission — 85 years in the making — into a future that will be even brighter.
This afternoon, I joined some of our university’s most ardent champions at the annual Alumni Leadership Conference. Alumni chapter and network leaders from across the country are in Boone for a weekend of connection, updates, strategy and celebration, and I enjoyed the opportunity to share with them some of the inspiring work taking place at App State. Our university has a strong and passionate alumni base, and these leaders are exemplary as ambassadors and advocates for our university.
There are incredible opportunities for faculty, staff, students and alumni to further advance App State’s mission to serve our region and the people of North Carolina together. I thank this leadership group for their lasting commitment to their alma mater, and I’m excited for the possibilities that lie ahead to work with them to build on our university’s rich legacy.
Tomorrow night will bring An Appalachian Summer to a close for another successful year. An Appalachian Summer began in 1984 as a chamber music series and retains strong roots in classical music, combined with a variety of other programming geared to almost every artistic taste and preference. The program has risen in stature to become one of the nation’s most highly respected summer series, acclaimed for the breadth and quality of its artistic programming. Thank you to the program’s founders and the many arts patrons who continue to sustain this annual celebration of the arts and make summertime in the High Country even more vibrant.
With such a strong history of achievement and culture of quality, it’s always great to be a Mountaineer!
Heather Norris
Chancellor
