Athens Drive welcomed North Carolina Senator Richard Burr, Wed. April 23 as he came to tour the school and answer questions from students in history and government classes.
Burr, who served five terms in the US House of Representatives and is currently serving his second term in the Senate, talked to students in Edith James’ US History class and opened up the floor for various questions ranging from the current crisis in Syria to ones focused on Burr’s personal goals and beliefs.
Burr emphasized the importance of education and said, “Education makes you marketable. It makes you have the ability to change careers, based on what the market provides or what you want to be. At some point you’re going to be the community leader here. You’re going to serve on the school board. You’re going to have to make decisions that are tough.”
He also went on to discuss more political topics, rejecting the widely held belief that the most difficult job any political candidate faces is getting elected.
Burr said, “I don’t look at that as a difficult thing because there are only two outcomes of an election. People either believe in you and feel comfortable in having you there or they don’t.”
Instead, he said the toughest part of his job as NC Senator is to make sure that he represents 100 percent of the people.
The day of touring and meeting with staff and students was unexpectedly interrupted after a fallen tree knocked out power for the whole school.
Students were kept in their second period class nearly an hour later than they would normally be held and were then released from school for the rest of the day.
Burr left Athens before students were let out due to other commitments. Principal James Hedrick said in an email that Burr was impressed by the way the staff and students handled the power outage.
After leaving the snowy days behind, the prospect of shutting down school for another day seemed almost inconceivable. Wake County schools has struggled to make up sufficient amount of time for the days missed, and Athens recently adjusted its regular bell schedule to incorporate more time spent in class.
Unlike past unpredictable missed days, no time will need to be made up for missing third and fourth periods because the bell change already put in place will cover the time missed, according to Hedrick.
Despite the unplanned order of events, Burr’s visit proved to be informational and opportune for students who are possibly interested in political or governmental careers.