The Appalachian State University Academy at Middle Fork, which will have a reading literacy focus, last week accepted its first round of students — more than 200, with space for 315 before moving to a waiting list. The academy will be one of nine laboratory schools across the state, each of which is also run by an education college in the UNC system.

Former U.S. secretary of education Margaret Spellings says a new book doesn’t appreciate that yesterday’s useless knowledge becomes tomorrow’s practical necessity.

Dr. Beth Davison’s “Dulatown” goes back in time more than 150 years to examine the lives of Harriet and Alfred Dula, which first came to life in Dr. Leslie McKesson ’s book, “Black and White: The Story of Harriet Harshaw and Squire James Alfred Dula.”

Appalachian State University’s Stock Car Racing Collection in Belk Library works to preserve the sport’s history while offering scholars, reporters, fans and others an opportunity to conduct research.

Middle Fork Elementary is one of nine schools in North Carolina selected to partner with a state university as part of a turnaround effort. The school will be in this partnership for the next five years, and will be known as Appalachian State University Academy at Middle Fork with a literary focus.

Duke University Press spoke with Dana Powell, an assistant professor of anthropology at Appalachian State University, about her new book Landscapes of Power: Politics of Energy in the Navajo Nation. Powell examines the rise and fall of the controversial Desert Rock Power Plant initiative in New Mexico, tracing the political conflicts surrounding native sovereignty and energy development on Navajo (Diné) Nation land and emphasizing the potential of Navajo resistance to articulate a vision of autonomy in the face of colonial conditions.

An energy study conducted by a team at Appalachian State University suggested ways the Watauga County Detention Center can do to cut down on energy costs.

Long time music educator and director of bands at Appalachian State University, Joe Phelps passed away Jan. 6, 2018 at the age 73. Phelps, of Vilas, was Professor of Trumpet and became Assistant Director of Bands at Appalachian in 1971 and enjoyed a full-time career of 30 years supplemented with part-time teaching through the fall of 2017.

Gregg Marland, a research professor with the Research Institute for Environment, Energy and Economics at Appalachian State University, weighs in on the subject of using forest biomass to produce power.