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. 

Although East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine student Madisyn French is far from her hometown of Cherokee, N.C., she is eager to establish her role in the clinical environment of Ross Hall.

ᏗᏓᏂᏏᏍᎩ ᎦᏓᏆᏟ Didanisisgi Gadagwatli: A Showcase of Pottery from the Mud Dauber Community Workshop opens at the Museum of the Cherokee People on Thursday, May 29. On view through May 2026, the exhibition features works by students of Tara McCoy (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) handcrafted during an intensive three-month workshop.

“The language we were forbidden to speak is the same language that helped save the United States of America”