On a beautiful fall morning in Marion, North Carolina, about a half hour drive east of Asheville, Tracy Grit jumps into his Ford Explorer.
He drives over train tracks, past Baptist church steeples, long lived-in trailer homes, a quintessential main street, and a handful of Mexican restaurants on his way to the school district’s only traditional high school. Gorgeous views of the Black Mountains flash through the window.
Grit says he spends a surprising amount of time here in his car, getting to know the school district where he recently accepted the top job as superintendent of McDowell County Schools.
