Smokies Life has announced Jim and Leslie Costa as the recipients of its 2025 Steve Kemp Writer’s Residency. During their residency, the North Carolina-based couple plans to continue work already underway to write and illustrate a forthcoming field guide to the Smokies insects to be published by Smokies Life.

The Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority (CIHA) has announced the recipients of its highest employee honors for 2025: Jason Sain, winner of the Hayes Award for Quality and Safety, and Rhiannon Spicer, named Employee of the Year.

Cherokee High School (CHS) held the Commencement Ceremony for the Class of 2025 at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 24 at Ray Kinsland Stadium in Cherokee, N.C. The class had the most graduates in school history with 100 seniors graduating.

For the second school year in a row, fifth grade students at Cherokee Elementary School have written and published a book.  This school year, students in Mrs. Shae Deck’s class produced “Important Cherokee Animals and Plants” dedicated to the “past, present, and future Cherokee people”. 

Need More Outdoors (NMO) is a nonprofit organization offering youth outdoor adventures and environmental education in western North Carolina. Cherokee Choices collaborates with NMO during their youth summer camps, and Director Robin Callahan and Behavioral Change Specialist Yolanda Saunooke sit on the NMO board.

Beginning August 2025, CHS (Cherokee High School) Cultural Arts students will begin learning how to make ribbon skirts. This exciting addition builds on their current instruction in Cherokee baskets, pottery, finger weaving, and beadwork. The Cultural Arts class, taught by Lori Reed, is offered to all Cherokee High School students as an elective.

McCoy, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), has been doing a Transcontinental Run from San Diego, Calif. to Wilmington, N.C. to raise money for RezHOPE Recovery & Consulting Services and to raise awareness for recovery from drug addiction and mental health challenges.