Classroom on wheels ready to roll for 11th year

A crash course might be a poor choice of words to describe a classroom on wheels.

CRISSCROSSING THE STATE  Top, bus tour participants take in a panoramic view of western North Carolina from Chimney Rock in 1999. Bottom, bus tour participant Lynn Fox speaks with Donya Edwards at the Coharie Tribal Center in Sampson County in 2007.

But that is exactly what the Tar Heel Bus Tour has been during the past decade for hundreds of newly arrived faculty members and administrators, and what it will be again when the tour his the road May 12–16 for the 11th class of passengers.

In all the miles traveled, there has been only one subject — North Carolina — viewed through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, from culture to history to commerce.

The tour also helps faculty members understand the University’s commitment to public service by showing them how Carolina is connected to the entire state.

Chancellor James Moeser, in his welcome to last year’s participants, said, “As we aspire to be the leading public university, we do so realizing that as leaders, we must serve the people and communities that surround us.”

This year, an added lens on the tour’s kaleidoscope will be nutrition. The bus will stop at the School of Public Health Nutrition Research Institute in Kannapolis, scheduled to open in June. The institute will study nutritional aspects of behavior and genetics, focusing on the areas of brain development, obesity and cancer as part of the North Carolina Research Campus.

Other stops on this year’s tour include:

Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro — where participants will tour the base and see a display of the F-15 E, the base’s premier aircraft flown by the 4th Fighter Wing.

Walk Wise, Drive Smart program in Hendersonville — a collaboration between Hendersonville and the School of Medicine’s Program on Aging, designed to create a safer and more inviting walking community to accommodate the elderly.

Blue Ridge Parkway — a guided tour by Anne Whisnant, adjunct assistant professor of history and author of “Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History.”

N.C. Arboretum in Asheville — a RENCI at UNC-Asheville community partner, where participants will learn how RENCI (Renaissance Computing Institute) is helping western North Carolina deal with issues confronting the region, specifically those related to climate.

Hickory Nut Gap Farm-Spring House Meats in Fairview — a farm that uses pasture-raised animals to produce beef, pork, lamb and eggs. It is part of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project that provides locally grown food to the region. The UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention works with the institute to provide local food to area schools.

James B. Dudley High School in Greensboro — highlighting the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s traveling science laboratory bus, Destiny.

Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman — started for disabled children by the Petty NASCAR family. The UNC Craniofacial Center has worked with the camp to provide children with craniofacial anomalies a chance to attend.

The late Chancellor Michael Hooker began the privately funded tour in 1997 as a means of helping incoming professors gain a rich understanding of the state and its people by visiting some of the places 82 percent of undergraduates call home.