By Rachel Cook

Special to the Tribune

Thursday, June 6, might have been just another day for many Lewisburg residents, but for the family of Chaunte Corley Neely, it was a day to treasure. Neely, a 1996 graduate of Marshall County High School, is now a North Carolina public educator in the Mooresville Graded School District. This district was honored on June 6 by a visit from President Obama.

According to a White House press release, the President visited Mooresville Middle School to "see firsthand the school's cutting edge curriculum that maximizes the benefits of technology and digital learning."

Over the last six years, MGSD has equipped all third through 12th grade students with MacBook laptops.

Test scores and graduation rates have soared, and one scholastic magazine has even called MGSD the best school district in America.

How did Neely go from Lewisburg to one of the most lauded school districts in the country? She graduated from Tennessee State University in 2000 and moved on to get her Master of Education degree in 2005 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. This put her in a position to enter the North Carolina education system, in which she's worked for 13 years. She was, naturally, excited at the President's visit to her district, but said she only saw him from a distance.

In a phone call to her parents, Zach and Sylvia Hill Corley, Chaunte said the security for the president's visit was incredibly tight, with Secret Service Agents checking every nook and cranny of the school, including the contents of the vending machines.

Chaunte is married to Andre Neely, and is the sister of Zeldra Swaggerty and the proud aunt of Ze'Shawn Swaggerty.