Article written before the completion of the Education Builiding

Wachovia Donates $150,000 to Legacy Hall

The N.C. Teachers Legacy Hall at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington moved closer to reality Monday with a $150,000 contribution from Wachovia.

UNCW Chancellor James Leutze said North Carolina's teachers deserve to be recognized for their dedication. The Legacy Hall will be housed in the atrium of the university's new Watson School of Education, which is under construction.

"We wanted the building to have a message," Dr. Leutze said. "The message is that teachers are important, and teachers count." In today's society, teachers are called on to do more than ever before,including some things previously handled by parents, the chancellor said.

Paul McCombie, Wilmington market president for Wachovia and a 1986 graduate of UNCW, said education is a top priority for the company. He added that the Legacy Hall is "something we can all get really excited about." He also said he hopes Wachovia's donation will spur other businesses to contribute to the project.

The purpose of the Legacy Hall is to establish a timeless memorial honoring education and landmarks in teaching excellence across North Carolina. It will include museum-quality displays from school districts across the state's 100 counties. The focus will be on recruitment,retention and recognition of North Carolina teachers.

Dr. Leutze said he hopes the hall inspires teachers to excel in their classrooms. With the state facing a severe teacher shortage, he said, teachers need to know they are appreciated. The state will need an estimated 80,000 more teachers in the next 10 years.

The new Watson School of Education building should help by allowing the university to double the number of teachers it produces each year. "But even that is not going to solve the total problem for the state," Dr. Leutze said, noting that UNCW currently turns out about 300 teachers a year.

The new 80,500-square-foot, three-story education building is scheduled to open in fall 2004. In addition to the Legacy Hall, the $18.7 million building will include the N.C. Teaching Fellows Program, distance learning labs, the Center for Educational Research and a curriculum materials center for teachers.

By Sherry Jones. Copyright 2003, Wilmington Star-News Inc. Reprinted with permission.
Published Feb. 25, 2003.