Robbinsville – Freshman U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards spent part of Day 2 of his first tour of his sprawling 17-county congressional district with a visit to Robbinsville Middle School on Tuesday.
Edwards, who unseated one-term incumbent Madison Cawthorn in the 2022 Republican primary, spent the first part of January in Washington, while his staff there and in western North Carolina laid the groundwork for his first term in office.
Graham County Schools Superintendent Angie Knight and Robbinsville Middle School Principal Tonia Walsh led the tour of the new, $4.5 million wing of the school.
The new wing includes seven classrooms, four offices, a multi-purpose room and a conference room.
Construction of the facility began in March 2021 and classes started there after the Christmas break.
Edwards was shown four classrooms, including math, science and agriculture, where he met with Robbinsville Middle School students and their teachers, before a catered luncheon in the facility’s multi-purpose wing.
During the tour, Edwards helped pupils land a rubber ball in a space-flight simulation, dug for worms in piles of soil in the agriculture class, and talked about basic civics and his role in Congress to the middle schoolers. As he walked along a hallway adorned with photos of Robbinsville athletic champions, he mentioned that he wrestled in high school, but wasn’t very good at it.
Following his tour of the middle school, Edwards’ entourage traveled to Murphy.
An open house at the new Robbinsville Middle School wing will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday.