Morganton’s The Paper highlights two App State student teachers, Savannah Epley and Laiken Baker, who reflect on the challenges and joys of stepping into their first teaching roles while navigating the unexpected realities of the profession. Both Epley and Baker are senior elementary education majors from Morganton.

The Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education has announced the winners of its 2024 Zaentz Early Education Innovation Challenge. Now in its fifth year, the challenge recognizes and awards promising new ideas and strategic approaches that have the potential to transform early education. A team from App State’s Reich College of Education won an Audience Choice Award for its proposal to create a bachelor’s degree program with a concentration in child development.

Dr. Daniel Caton, professor in App State’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, speaks to WFDD about the negative effects of light pollution and the importance of preserving dark skies for educational and environmental purposes. Caton is the director of App State’s Dark Sky Observatory, a research facility equipped with multiple telescopes that is open to the public once a month.

App State alumni and country music stars Luke Combs and Eric Church ’00 hosted a Hurricane Helene relief concert at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Oct. 26. The night of music raised more than $24.5 million in support of Western North Carolina, with more than 82,000 fans in attendance at the event. Church graduated from App State in 2000 with a degree in marketing, and Combs attended the university from 2008 to 2012.

In this article from The Washington Post, experts say that in the days ahead of a race, runners should consume extra carbohydrates to improve endurance. Dr. David Nieman, professor in App State’s Department of Biology, offers advice on how runners can avoid “hitting the wall” in a marathon. Nieman is the director of App State’s Human Performance Lab at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis.

App State alumnus Moss Brennan '21 talks about the challenges he faced as both a journalist and a first responder in Watauga County during Hurricane Helene. Brennan is the editor of the Watauga Democrat and volunteers with the Deep Gap Fire Department and Watauga County Rescue Squad. He graduated from App State with a degree in journalism in 2021.

Floridians could pay for Hurricane Milton through surcharges imposed on their insurance policies and potentially higher premiums for property coverage. Dr. Lori Medders, professor in App State’s Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance, noted there was already a lot of pressure on the property insurance market in Florida before hurricanes Helene and Milton and that these events will make the challenged market even worse.

Many homeowners in North Carolina won’t be insured against flooding or landslides from Hurricane Helene due to the fragmented way in which disasters are covered. Dr. David Marlett, professor in App State’s Department of Finance, Banking and Insurance, breaks down property insurance markets for homes and the many factors that can have negative impacts on policies.

Anthony Love, research operations and laboratories manager in App State’s Department of Geological and Environmental Studies, talks about his meteor collection in this TV feature. Love and other meteorite hunters are working to find rocks from the apparent meteor that passed over the High Country on Aug. 30.