By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

Little Payton Zerkle didn’t know she was the subject of a scientific experiment at the N.C. Research Campus.

The curious 16-month-old with a blond topknot just thought she was playing with neat toys and making new friends.

“It was fun for her,” mother Robyn Warren said.

Scientists with the University of North Carolina’s Nutrition Research Institute in Kannapolis will follow Payton and other babies for four months to determine if adding omega-3 fatty acids from flaxseed oil to their diet will make them smarter.

It’s the first nutrition study at the Research Campus to recruit local participants.

“I wanted her to be a part of discovering things that we don’t know yet,” Warren said about her daughter.

Dr. Carol Cheatham, a child psychologist and neuroscientist at the Nutrition Research Institute, wants to know how a child’s diet affects cognition. In other words, whether certain foods help kids think.

“It’s exciting science,” Cheatham said. “Especially now that we are narrowing down which foods help a child’s memory.”

Previous research done by Cheatham, who joined the Nutrition Research Institute’s brain research team last year from the Kansas University Medical Center, suggests that omega-3 fatty acids speed up pathways in the brain.

In her current study, she’s testing whether adding flaxseed oil to children’s diets helps them think more clearly.

Young Payton is the sixth  baby in the study. Cheatham needs 94 more 16-month-olds to complete her project.

But research on kids can be a tough sell.

“I’m afraid people imagine test tubes, chemistry labs and mad scientists,” Cheatham said.

Although children do have to give a drop of blood during their first and third visits, they spend most of their time at the Research Campus playing with novel toys.

A researcher shows the baby how to assemble a toy that requires several steps, like hanging a small gong on a crossbar and hitting it with a hammer. Or putting a coin in a slot, then pushing a button to retrieve it.

Then, the researcher hands over the toy and watches to see if the child can imitate the steps in the correct order.

The unique toys are made for Cheatham by an artist in Minnesota.

Babies are tested four times until they are 20 months old. The study pays $20 per visit, which lasts about an hour.

Between visits, a parent adds flaxseed oil to the child’s diet from capsules provided by the Nutrition Research Institute.

Cheatham suspects that the omega-3 fatty acids will improve the child’s memory. She tests both short-term and long-term memory and controls for factors like natural aptitude improvements as the child grows and additional omega-3s in the diet from other sources.

To help recruit more babies, Cheatham recently hired Kannapolis native Julie Stegall, who visits library story times, grocery stores and coffee shops to spread the word about the study and the campus.

Stegall wants 16-month-olds for the omega-3 project, but she will enroll any child or even pregnant moms in a database for future research.

Cheatham will conduct other studies calling for children up to age 6, or maybe even older. Salisbury Pediatric Associates has agreed to allow Cheatham to recruit and test babies at the Salisbury practice (see related story).

Because her research relies on families, Cheatham wants parents to have a positive experience at the Nutrition Research Institute so they will spread the word.

She places a high value on the comfort and security of both the parent and child.

“One of my personal goals in this study is to introduce the softer side of neuroscience to this area,” she said. “It is natural to be afraid of something if you don’t know much about it. I want to show the community that research can be fun.”

Colorful art created by local children decorates the long hallway in her lab at the Nutrition Research Institute. A playroom offers entertainment for siblings.

While most of Cheatham’s research on children involves observation and play, she also can read the electrical impulses in their brain using a specialized net affixed with 128 electrodes.

Like a shower cap with wires, the net fits on the child’s head and painlessly records the changes in the brain’s natural electrical activity while the child looks at a series of pictures.

The process takes about five minutes.

“Baby just sits on Mom’s lap with the net on,” Cheatham said. “Most of them don’t even know they have it on.”

Cheatham will use the net during an upcoming study with 12-month-olds, as well as another project with binge-eating adults.

When baby Payton comes for her four visits at Cheatham’s lab, her mother must recall for researchers everything the child has eaten in the past 24 hours.

This is challenging, because Warren said her daughter eats just about anything.

“I haven’t found a food that she hasn’t liked yet,” Warren said.

Warren herself has volunteered to become part of another scientific study at the Research Campus. She enrolled two weeks ago in Duke University’s long-term medical research study named for campus founder David Murdock.

Murdock, the owner of Dole Food Co., opened the $1.5 billion campus last fall on the ruins of an old textile mill he once owned in downtown Kannapolis. The life sciences hub is dedicated to nutrition, health and agriculture research.

To learn more or enroll a child in Cheatham’s research studies, call 704-250-5018, e-mail feedingbrains@ yahoo.com or visit www.uncnri.org.

News from some of the eight universities with a presence at the N.C. Research Campus.

UNC-Greensboro

The Center for Research Excellence in Bioactive Food Component

We have recently installed a liquid chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF) and a gas chromatography-TOF mass spectrometry.

Our MS-based metabolomics platform is expected to be operational starting July 1.

— Dr. Wei Jai

Co-director

Duke University

MURDOCK Study

Duke Translational Medicine Inst.

More than 775 participants have enrolled in the MURDOCK Study, a major research study named for campus founder David Murdock that stands for Measurement to Understand Reclassification of Disease of Cabarrus/Kannapolis.

In the spirit of collaboration, a local health-care advisory board has been formed to support Duke’s work on the N.C. Research Campus.  Comprised of a select, broadly-based group of health-care thought leaders from Kannapolis and Cabarrus County, the board provides insight, expertise and guidance in support of the MURDOCK Study’s efforts in Cabarrus County and Kannapolis through quarterly meetings and periodic consultations. 

— Dr. Ashley Dunham

Community Health  Project Leader

N.C. State University

Plants for Human Health Institute

Program for Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture

The blueberry genome project has made considerable progress in the first six months since its inception. More than 150 million base pairs of DNA have been generated in small and large segments, and efforts are under way to assemble these jigsaw pieces into a complete blueprint of the blueberry genome that can be utilized by researchers around the world.

Dr. Allan Brown reports that researchers from N.C. State and the David H. Murdock Research Institute, also at the N.C. Research Campus, are working together to develop original tools and strategies to assemble these sequences and make them easier to access and utilize.

“The information we are producing here in Kannapolis will be of value to generations of researchers interested in all aspects of blueberry production, genetics and evolution. Years from now, when you buy tastier, healthier blueberries with a longer shelf life, it will be due in part to the work we’re doing here in Kannapolis,” Dr. Brown said.

— Leah Chester-Davis

Coordinator of Communications & Community  Outreach and Extension Communication Specialist

Norris Dearmon

news@salisburypost.com

I do not know for sure when the first queen of the unincorporated town of Kannapolis was crowned. I suspect it was with the first May Day celebration.

The combined grammar schools probably had the first ones. Later, the high school celebrated May Day until the beginning of World War II, when all celebrations of that type were eliminated. Every thing was devoted to the war effort. 

After the war, the Communists of Russia celebrated May Day with so much pageantry and display of war weapons that the rest of the world lost interest in May Day celebrations.

In the early 1930s, McIver Elementary School began having May Day celebrations at each school, with pageantry enjoyed by many of the parents, as well. By the mid 1930’s the high school began doing the same thing except on a more elaborate scale.

The celebrations were held outside and began with the grand entrance of the queen, dressed in a long flowing white gown. She would be carrying flowers and her escorts would follow her to the throne. There she would watch the pageant held in her honor. 

The pageant would consist of various acrobatics, dances to music and sometimes there would be singing by choral groups. At the end, her maidens would dance around the May Pole holding long red or green and white ribbons. As the ribbons wrapped around the pole, a checkered design would be created on the pole. The pole was about 10 or 12 feet tall. 

At the end the queen would then leave her throne and parade out, with the escorts and maidens creating a passage way for her. The audience was generally quite large, and of course there would be photographs made.

In 1939, I took pictures of the May Day celebration, some of which are shown here. Esteele Peele (Brown) was the May Queen. As can be seen in the picture, it was a very windy day. Her attendants had a hard time holding on to her gown train.

Over the years, other queens of Kannapolis would reign for various occasions. 

One of the first, other than the May Day queens, was the selection and crowning of the Cotton Queen on May 28, 1939, in observance of National Cotton Week. It was a first for Kannapolis and the cotton industry. 

The ceremony was held in the town park. Miss Claudine Barbee (Fowler) was selected from a bevy of Kannapolis’ most beautiful young ladies. She reigned as the monarch of the Towel City’s first Cotton Festival. Instead of flowers she carried a miniature bale of cotton. The program consisted of music and an all-cotton style show with an address by Mr. J. Paul Lucas of Duke Power. The models for the style show were well known women of Kannapolis. After the program, the Queen was taken on a tour of the town in a 1939 Ford Convertible. In 1940, she reigned as Miss Kannapolis.

Miss Janet Ward Black, whose home was on North Cannon Boulevard in Kannapolis, began her reign as Miss North Carolina on June 28, 1980. She also held the title of Miss Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Her accomplishments were so many, so much  that there is not enough room in this column to list them all. She was highly intelligent and very talented. She was her high school Salutatorian and a Davidson College Honor Scholar. She is now a highly respected attorney, living in Greensboro and currently serving as president of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Soon many other queens would be crowned in Kannapolis. There are the Miss Dogwood Queens, the Miss Homecoming Queens, the Rhododendron Queens and the Miss Mary Christmas Queens.

•Norris Dearmon is a local historian and a volunteer in the History Room of the Kannapolis Branch Library.

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

This summer, someone will live in a 9-by-12-foot room at the N.C. Research Campus for 24 hours while instruments measure every breath she exhales and every bit of energy she expends.

Dr. Karen Corbin likely will be the first subject in the new $750,000 metabolic chamber at the University of North Carolina’s Nutrition Research Institute in Kannapolis. One of 11 in the country, the chamber will allow scientists to measure a subject’s metabolic rate to within 35 calories.

“This means we have the best tools available in the world to do this type of research,” said Corbin, clinical coordinator for the  Nutrition Research Institute and a registered dietitian.

The chamber looks like a small hotel room with a bed, TV and toilet. Two large windows offer views of the control room and the outdoors, and curtains will provide privacy.

In a vast arsenal of clinical assessment tools, the metabolic chamber makes the Nutrition Research Institute one of the most complete nutrition and obesity research laboratories in the country.

Scientists will use the chamber and other cutting-edge equipment to help answer questions that frustrate millions.

Why do some people lose weight while others can’t?

“Do some people burn calories at different rates than other people?” said Dr. Steven Zeisel, director of the Nutrition Research Institute. “Why do people burn more or less? Genes? Medication? The chamber can help us answer these questions.”

Zeisel and other scientists  want to understand why people have different nutritional requirements and metabolisms, which could unlock the door to new treatments and even cures for disease.

But first, someone has to spend 24 hours in a small room.

“I’m really not looking forward to it,” Corbin joked.

Corbin was in Florida, searching online for job opportunities, when she came across the N.C. Research Campus, a $1.5 billion, 350-acre life sciences complex dedicated to human health and nutrition.

“They have every tool imaginable,” she said. “I set my sights on landing a job here.”

Two years later, she won the position.

Corbin coordinates all training, testing and maintenance of the clinical equipment. She helps UNC scientist Dr. Carol Cheatham research whether omega-3 fatty acids will make kids smarter, and soon Corbin will begin her own research on fatty liver disease.

Unlike other tools that measure metabolic rate for a few minutes, the metabolic chamber takes constant readings over a 24-hour period, taking into account everything a subject would do in a normal day.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has the only other chamber on the East Coast.

The Nutrition Research Institute has three other clinical research labs in Kannapolis.

• In the metabolic kitchen, scientists will design and prepare meals with a defined nutritional composition, based on their research protocol. The kitchen hasn’t opened yet, but eventually study subjects will eat at the institute while they participate in research. 

No ingredients are measured in the kitchen. Instead, everything is weighed.

Scientists studying certain nutrients will design their diets on computers, which are connected to scales in the kitchen to ensure exact preparation of the meal.

After subjects consume prescribed meals for a certain amount of time, scientists will retest them to see how their bodies changed.

Before serving the meals, researchers will taste their own food to see “whether people would be able to swallow it,” Corbin said.

• The body composition laboratory includes several tools to measure lean and fat body mass.

The Bod Pod, a $50,000 egg-shaped pod that opens to allow a subject to enter and sit inside, measures fat and metabolism.

The $100,000 DXA scanner measures fat and bone density as well, but the scanner also shows researchers exactly where fat is located throughout the body.

Fat in the center of the body around organs is more detrimental than fat elsewhere, Corbin said.

An ultrasound machine will aid Corbin’s research on fatty liver disease.

About three-fourths of obese people suffer from fatty liver disease, a major indicator of diabetes, heart disease and other chronic disorders.

Corbin will research genetic factors that might influence fatty liver and design and test nutritional interventions.

“It’s kind of a chicken-or-the-egg,” she said. “What came first, obesity or fatty liver?”

• A laboratory with a treadmill and stationary bike allows scientists to measure a subject’s metabolic rate at rest or during exercise.

Scientists who suspect a nutrient or medication might increase or decrease metabolism will test their theories here.

The Nutrition Research Institute employs 34 people, including five faculty members, Zeisel said.

Hiring has slowed during the state budget crisis, but eventually, Zeisel said he anticipates a total of 18 faculty members with a staff of more than 100 people.

KANNAPOLIS (AP) — Authorities say they are confident that a North Carolina man charged with rape for an encounter arranged on Craigslist knew that it was not consensual.

Kannapolis Police Capt. Chuck Adams told WCNC-TV that 39-year-old Rodney Liverman Sr. of Norwood should have known that the encounter was not going to be a role-play. Authorities have said that the woman’s husband arranged the attack online, and investigators say he watched as Liverman assaulted his wife.

Liverman was arrested Friday and is charged with first-degree rape and three other sex offenses. Authorities said they do not know if Liverman has an attorney. The husband was charged earlier with first-degree rape and remains in jail on a $200,000 bond.

The attack occurred May 31 at a home in Kannapolis, about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte.

KANNAPOLIS (AP) — A man has been arrested and charged with raping a woman in an attack allegedly arranged by the victim’s husband on Craigslist, police said Saturday.

The online classified service helped authorities locate 39-year-old Rodney Liverman Sr. of Norwood and he was taken into custody at his home Friday, Kannapolis police said.

Liverman is charged with first-degree rape and three other sex offenses and remains in jail on a $250,000 bond, police said. His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.

The U.S. Secret Service also helped track Liverman, but Kannapolis Police Capt. Chuck Adams said he would not provide details of how investigators linked Liverman to the case.

Adams didn’t know if Liverman has an attorney and a phone listing for him could not be found.

The attack occurred May 31 at a home in Kannapolis. Police said a man entered a home with a knife and went into the woman’s bedroom, demanded money and ordered her to take off her clothes before raping her.

The victim’s husband was also in the room and backed away, watching the attack, investigators said.

At one point, the woman managed to grab the knife the suspect had put on the bed and threw it toward her husband, who did nothing to stop the attack, police said.

After the rape, the suspect told the woman to go into a bathroom, according to police documents. After the attacker left, the husband told his wife to take a shower and not call 911, the documents added.

The husband was charged earlier with first-degree rape and remains in jail on a $200,000 bond. Records show the husband pleaded guilty to indecent exposure for exposing himself last year to a pizza delivery woman in Virginia and received a 30-day suspended sentence.

The Associated Press does not generally identify victims of sexual assault and is not naming the man to avoid identifying his wife.

KANNAPOLIS — Children, start your imaginations.

The first-ever “Zucchini 500″ will take place June 25 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the N.C. Research Campus Farmers Market in Kannapolis.

Children of all ages can create a race car with a zucchini — think soapbox derby — and compete for prizes in five categories, including a NASCAR Theme and Most Nutritious.

Bobby Waltrip, of the legendary Waltrip racing family, will be on hand to call the races.

Kids can put the produce to the metal by racing their cars down the 16-foot-long track, or they can vie for prizes based on craftsmanship. Participants will be divided into two age groups: Nine and under and 10 and up.

“It’s OK to ‘play with your food’ at the Zucchini 500,” said Leah Chester-Davis, coordinator of communications and community outreach for the N.C. State University Program for Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture.

N.C. State and the N.C. Cooperative Extension staff will host the event. The farmers market is located at 201 West Ave.

“We want to get more children involved in agriculture and educate them on the importance of this industry to North Carolina and to our health,” Chester-Davis said. “We hope families will come out to enjoy the event and meet the farmers.”

Scientists at the David H. Murdock Research Institute on the Research Campus are getting in on the fun as well, creating “advanced” zucchini cars for show, said Phyllis Beaver, marketing director for Castle & Cooke North Carolina, campus developer.

“There’s no age limit to living healthy and having fun,” Beaver said. “The Zucchini 500 is a great opportunity for the community to meet the scientists on campus, see some hi-tech zucchini cars and enjoy local foods.”

Each child that participates will receive a free sundae from Bruster’s Ice Cream. Winners can receive prizes including a 3-month family membership from the Cannon Memorial YMCA and tickets to the Summer Shootout Series from Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Other event partners include 4-H of Cabarrus County and Girl Scouts Hornets’ Nest Council in Charlotte.

The Research Campus Farmers Market is open from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursdays.

Kannapolis City Schools

KANNAPOLIS — Kevin Garay will be the new principal of A.L. Brown High School, and Dr. Melia H. Neale will be Forest Park Elementary’s new principal, according to a Kannapolis City School press release.

The Kannapolis City Board of Education appointed the two as replacements for principals who will leave their posts June 30. Garay and Neale take their new jobs July 1.

Garay replaces Dr. Debra Morris, who will be the system’s assistant superintendent.

Garay has been an assistant principal at A.L. Brown since 2005. He came to Kannapolis from East Lincoln High School, where he was a social studies teacher and part-time administrator.

Morris was the director of secondary education for Lincoln County Schools and saw his leadership potential. She hired him as an assistant principal when she became principal of A.L. Brown in 2005.

“He will be an outstanding leader for A.L. Brown High School,” Morris said. “He has a passion for serving kids, and he’s respected by the staff and students. I know he’ll lead A.L. Brown in a positive direction, and I feel wonderful about Mr. Garay taking my place.I’m excited for him and for everyone at A.L. Brown.”

Garay graduated with honors from Concord University in Athens, W.Va., with a B.A. in political science and Geography. He earned a B.S. in education from Concord University and earned a master of school administration degree from Gardner-Webb University in 2004. He also attended the West Virginia University College of Law.

Garay says he’s looking forward to the opportunity to lead A.L. Brown. “Dr. Morris is an exceptional leader, and she’s been an outstanding mentor to me. I’m excited about the chance to follow in her footsteps. Our high school and community are at the forefront of innovative thinking, and we have an unprecedented opportunity to produce students that are globally competitive. A.L. Brown has great students and staff, and I’m looking forward to the chance to help lead them to the next level of success.”

KCS Superintendent Dr. Jo Anne Byerly says, “Kevin Garay will be an excellent principal. He’s got tremendous judgment and leadership skills, and he has the admiration and respect of everyone at A.L. Brown. He’s also served next to Dr. Debra Morris who is one of the most outstanding school leaders anywhere. Mr. Garay has the experience and intelligence to be successful, and I’m delighted that we’re making such a smooth transition at A.L. Brown.”

At Forest Park, Neale replaces Jill Roach, who is retiring. Neale comes to Kannapolis City Schools from UNC Charlotte, but she previously served as an elementary school principal.

Neale is currently a research associate at UNC Charlotte and a part-time instructor at Western Carolina University. From 2003 to 2006, she was principal of Graham Elementary School in Shelby. She also was an assistant principal at East Lincoln Middle School in Lincoln County and a teacher in Mooresville and Mocksville.

“As soon as I saw the mission, beliefs, and strategic priorities of Kannapolis City Schools, I knew I wanted to be part of this school system,” Neale said. “I love public education, and I’m dedicated to making sure every child has a positive, high quality learning experience. I know I’ve come to the right place, and I’m thrilled about working with the children and staff of Forest Park.”

Neale graduated from UNC Charlotte. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in special education. She also earned a Master of School Administration degree and a Ph.D. in Special Education from UNC Charlotte. She was awarded a prestigious Principal Fellow scholarship and has 15 years experience as an educator in North Carolina public schools. Much of her career has been focused on teaching exceptional children.

As principal of Graham Elementary School, Neale led an inner city school with a poverty rate of nearly 90 percent. She and her staff started a research-based reading program that was designed for at-risk students. They also increased parent involvement and helped to raise student achievement and community participation in the school.

“I’m so excited about Melia Neale coming to Forest Park Elementary,” said Byerly. “Her character and qualifications are outstanding, and she has the right background and personality to lead Forest Park. She’s been extremely successful in everything she’s done, and she’ll do a wonderful job at Forest Park.”

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — In an arrangement that Duke University hopes other Cabarrus County employers will emulate, the MURDOCK Study staff went to A.L. Brown High School Thursday and enrolled about 30 employees.

They’re doing the same today at Kannapolis Middle School.

Principals allowed employees at both schools to remain on the clock during their appointments, which take about an hour.

“It’s that important,” said Dr. Jo Anne Byerly, superintendent for Kannapolis City Schools, who also enrolled. “This is a study that will change the future of medicine and health care.”

The study needs 50,000 volunteers for its community registry and has about 800 so far, with a lengthy waiting list.

David Murdock, billionaire owner of Dole Food Co. and founder of the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis, launched the study in 2007 when he gave Duke $35 million.

The study, which stands for Measurement to Understand Reclassification of Disease of Cabarrus/Kannapolis, aims to find new ways to diagnose and treat chronic disease by studying human health at the molecular level. Duke is one of eight universities on the Research Campus.

A.L. Brown special education teacher Mark Linn tried to make an appointment to enroll online and learned that he would have to wait for weeks.

Then, he heard he could enroll at work.

“It’s a great way to help people in the future,” Linn said.

Duke scientists are researching diabetes, liver disease, obesity, arthritis, heart disease, cancer and multiple sclerosis.

But Linn’s main interest is Duke’s goal to personalize medicine. Physicians would use a patient’s genetic profile to determine the best treatment.

“Right now. too many things are try this, try that,” Linn said. “It wastes a lot of time and money.”

Taking the study to a workplace makes it more convenient for people to enroll, director Dr. Ashley Dunham said.

“There are a lot of people we need to reach who have difficulty coming in during the workday,” Dunham said.

As a thank-you gift, the study gave both schools a $400 gift card to Staples.

“We hope this will be a model and hope to do similar events at other employers and even churches,” she said.

Technicians went from classroom to classroom enrolling people who had volunteered. They set up a mobile lab in the A.L. Brown physics classroom to process blood and urine samples.

One enrollee acknowledged her skepticism.

“I would like to know things about myself, why I can’t lose weight as quickly as other people,” said Ophelia Mitchell, A.L. Brown special populations coordinator. “But I’m skeptical about whether it will help me.”

She’s right, Dunham said. The study likely won’t help her directly.

All volunteers learn during the enrollment process that they may not benefit from the research.

While some enrollees will have the opportunity to participate in future studies targeted at a specific disease, most people in the community registry will fill out a questionnaire once a year and never see a MURDOCK researcher.

The registry is a database and can’t provide individualized test results or personalized medical care, but people are helping future generations by participating, Dunham said.

“It might benefit their grandchildren,” she said.

By Mark Wineka

mwineka@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — The day-ending scene at Forest Park Elementary School is not unlike when church lets out and the congregation files past the preacher.

Except Wednesday afternoon at Forest Park was decidedly different.

It was the last day of the school year, and Principal Jill Roach stood near the front doors ready to say her final goodbyes.

You see, she’s retiring June 30.

“We were dreading it,” second-grade teacher Lisa Gurley said.

Students, teachers, staff and parents ran up to the beloved principal.

They delivered squeezes, pats and full-body hugs and, as the little ones wrapped themselves around her, Roach caressed their heads, as if they were one of her own six grandchildren.

These were her Bear Cubs — the school’s mascot.

“For her, students come first,” said Monte Armes, a childhood friend and a first-year teacher’s assistant in the second grade. “It’s all about the kids.”

Later, in one of the school’s hallways, teachers and staff gathered for their traditional last-day-of-school dance party.

Roach, 61, joined in when she wasn’t being summoned back to the office to take care of the usual emergencies.

Toward the end of the celebration, Roach danced down the middle — first with third-grade teacher Dean Fink, then with a pair of students who hadn’t gone home yet.

The song playing as teachers and staff applauded on both sides was “Simply the best.”

No one disagreed.

Trisha DeLuca, one of Roach’s office lieutenants, said her boss is “fantastic, loving, warm, caring and wonderful.”

“She really cares about her children at school,” DeLuca said.

Forest Park had a 2008-2009 enrollment of 639 kids in kindergarten through the fourth grade.

Teachers, assistants, bus drivers and other staff members added up to close to 100 employees.

It was Roach’s ship, something she steered well after 38 years as a teacher and administrator.

Roach earned the Kannapolis City School’s Principal of the Year Award four different times over 17 years as principal at Aycock Elementary and Forest Park, which replaced Aycock in 1998.

In 2002, Roach was runner-up for Regional Principal of the Year honors in North Carolina.

That same year, Forest Park won the 2002 N.C. Lighthouse School Award for Excellence and Innovation.

Ellen Boyd, director of community relations for Kannapolis City Schools, said Forest Park also was the first school in Kannapolis to become a “School of Distinction” and the system’s only school to become an “Honor School of Excellence.”

Gurley, the second-grade teacher, said Roach was always supportive of teachers and found ways to get them the resources needed.

“She does whatever it takes,” Gurley said.

Roach grew up in Kannapolis, graduated from A.L. Brown High School and went to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro as a drama major. But she soured on drama and considered herself an English major until a college adviser told her that testing showed that she was suited for elementary education.

Roach never looked back. She started as a teacher in 1970 in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and was teaching in Kannapolis by 1976.

She taught at Aycock and was its curriculum coordinator until becoming the school principal in 1992.

Along the way, she had two children and earned her master’s degree in K-3 education and her principal’s certificate from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

She also graduated from the Principal’s Executive Program in Chapel Hill.

Roach liked when her school had assemblies and all her Bear Cubs were in one place. She saw the moments as important in letting children know that what they say, what they do and how they treat people are important.

Roach also spent a lot of time — and enjoyed it — in the hiring process. As she walked through the school Wednesday, she talked about some of her teachers, their strong backgrounds and how she recruited them.

In hiring, she relied a lot on the facts before her, but “there’s some intuition in there, too,” Roach said.

Armes taught for nine years before leaving the profession and running his own business for 20-plus years. Roach persuaded him to return to school as an assistant.

“She gave me the opportunity, and here I am,” Armes said. “It’s the best move I ever made.”

In retirement, Roach plans to spend a lot of time with her grandchildren and travel with her husband, Doug, a local Realtor. They already have plans to visit her sister in England and take an adventurous trip to Alaska.

Roach let her Bear Cubs know she was retiring during the school’s Field Day.

Once her decision was made, Roach acknowledged, everything seemed even more special.

Especially the last day of school.

Kannapolis City Schools also will be holding a retirement reception from 2 to 4 p.m. today in the KCS board room for Peggy Wagstaff, assistant superintendent in the system since 2001.

Wagstaff joined Kannapolis City Schools in 1971 after beginning a teaching career in 1970.

With KCS, she served as principal at both Jackson Park and Shady Brook elementary schools and as assistant principal at Kannapolis Middle School.

She also taught in elementary schools and at Cannon Junior High and Kannapolis Middle School.

Wagstaff earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Appalachian State University and her master’s degree in education from UNCC. She also is a graduate of the Principal’s Executive Program and was the school system’s Principal of the Year in 1993.