The Smaller Learning Communities of Scotland High School were on full display Tuesday when representatives from some of North Carolina's largest employers were in Laurinburg to visit the school and learn more about the academies model.

Following a tour of the school, which included speaking with teachers and students, AT&T North Carolina President Cynthia Marshall spoke glowingly of what she saw, even half-jokingly suggesting that she, as a parent, might be "about ready to move to Scotland County" so that her son can experience the school system's academies model.

"What I am impressed with the most is that you are loving these children," Marshall said before an assembly of Scotland High School teachers, administrators and visitors in the school's student-run Bagpiper Restaurant.

"As an employer, I can tell you these are the kind of people I am looking to hire," Marshall added, affirming that the "new" Scotland High School is preparing students to enter the workforce.

Marshall, who oversees over 9,000 employees in North Carolina, pledged to "work very hard" to see that money is given to the high school to purchase technology for the students, in an effort to make it so that there will be one computing device per pupil at the high school.

"That's what I'm leaving here with: this school is making a difference in the community and in the state, so as a business leader I have to figure out how I can make a difference for these students.

"We've got to figure out a way to replicate this all over the state," she concluded.

The day began with a presentation by Scotland County Associate Superintendent Susan Chase, which included the success stories of several students in the Scotland County High Schools.

Those visiting then took a tour of the school and visited both with faculty and students, asking them questions along the way.

During lunch at the Bagpiper several teachers then offered more anecdotal evidence in support of the model.

Teacher Wanda Harris reported that the new model allows teachers to spend more time seeing to the needs of students, telling the story of how she chose to take on a class of students who were having difficulty earning passing grades.

Harris, by combining online teaching methods with more traditional ones, was able to see most of the students, who in another model would have fallen between the cracks, to success in the classroom.

Another major business visitor impressed by her experience was Ann Goodnight, community relations director at SAS, a Cary based software company. Goodnight is wife to Jim Goodnight, the company's CEO. SAS is one of the largest software companies in the United States.

"(This school) is something everybody needs to learn from," commented Goodnight.

"When you walk into this school you can immediately see that there is a strong sense of community ... and that the teachers genuinely care about each student and are there to give them support in whatever area they need it."

Goodnight went on to express her belief that the smaller learning communities model, as presented at Scotland High School, makes one-on-one mentoring and coaching of students a much more realistic activity for teachers to undertake, since they deal with smaller groups of students and see them repeatedly over a period of years.

Scotland County Superintendent Shirley Prince called the guests' comments "very affirming and very reassuring" and added that she was left with the impression that, were funding opportunities to become available from AT&T or SAS, that Scotland High School would have positioned itself well thanks to the successful visit.

The school visit also left Mark Sorrels of the Golden Leaf Foundation, an organization which administers government funds to economically distressed counties currently and formerly dependent on tobacco crops, with a positive impression.

"Faced with the challenge of growing the economy ... you have really created a market-driven approach ... and a life-long learning model," commented Sorrells.

In what was music to the school system's ears, Scotland County School Board member Terence WIlliams pledged the board's continued support for the smaller learning communities model at the high school.

Williams stated that his message to the community following a day of touring the high school would be that the board will persevere in its support of the academies initiative.

"I think it is here to stay," said Williams of the initiative.

Also in attendance was Isaac Lake of the North Carolina New Schools Project. Lake pointed out how unique the situation in Scotland County was in that the county only has one public school that went from being entirely traditional to a full Smaller Learning Communities based school in a matter of a few years.

Unlike Scotland County, more populous counties with more than one high school have the luxury of employing the model at one of a number of high schools.