It’s all about the Tarheel State with today’s list.

1. We have a Journalist of the Year scholarship program sponsored by the NC Press Foundation that awards $7,250 in prizes each year.
2. The Wright Brothers came to the Outer Banks for the first powered flight in 1903.
3. Got a Pepsi for me? This soft drink was born in New Bern in 1893.
4. UNC Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media is one of the nation’s top J schools, winning 12 national Hearst competitions since 2002.
5. The Duke-UNC basketball rivalry.
6. The NC Scholastic Media Association has been serving students and advisers since 1941, with programming and outreach through its UNC home since 1936.
7. The Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains offer breathtaking scenery in western NC.
8. The first Bojangles opened in Charlotte in 1977.
9. Founded in 1865, Shaw University was the first HBCU in the South that was established for freedmen after the Civil War and the first to open its doors to women.
10. If you’ve got Carolina on Your Mind, let’s talk about James Taylor. This Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee grew up in Chapel Hill.
11. Kathleen Pennock of West Henderson High School in Hendersonville (Brenda Gorsuch, adviser) is named 2002 national high school Journalist of the Year.
12. We have the Banner Elk Wooly Worm Festival, when crowds gather for a fun annual event to determine which worm will have the honor of predicting the severity of the coming winter!
13. Cheerwine, a legendary Southern soda, is born in Salisbury in 1917.
14. Elon University’s communications school hosts the North Carolina Open Government Coalition, which educates people about their rights to gain access to records and meetings in the state.
15. We’re serious when we talk about “from the mountains to the sea” – from Murphy to Manteo, it’s 546 long miles across our state!
16. Brenda Gorsuch of West Henderson High in Hendersonville is named 2013 H.L. Hall Yearbook Adviser of the Year.
17. Blackbeard is killed off the NC coast in 1718, but this infamous pirate is still “celebrated” today in various festivals.
18. Krispy Kreme doughnuts are born in Winston-Salem in 1937.
19. NC A&T University is the largest HBCU in the nation. The university’s journalism program is one of seven accredited at the nation’s HBCUs.
20. We love our healthy food, too! The strawberry AND blueberry are the official state berries of NC, and the Scuppernong grape is our official state fruit.
21. Candace Brandt and Brenda Gorsuch earn JEA Lifetime Achievement awards in 2018.
22. Famous for our Christmas tree production, our NC Frasier Fir has been the official White House Christmas Tree more than any other species.
23. This one’s a slam dunk – Michael Jordan!
24. Elon University offers the NC Local News Workshop, which facilitates the statewide ecosystem of news and information.
25. The NC Zoo in Asheboro is the world’s largest natural habitat zoo.
26. Adrienne Hollifield, Beth Lail and Robin Sawyer earn JEA Lifetime Achievement awards in 2016.
27. Betcha didn’t know that Texas Pete hot sauce is actually from Winston-Salem, created in 1929.
28. Pinehurst No. 2 is one of the world’s most famous – and challenging! – golf courses.
29. The Carolina Hurricanes won the NHL Stanley Cup in 2006, giving NC its first-ever championship in one of the major pro sports leagues.
30. The Cook Out fast food chain started in Greensboro in 1989.
31. Steven Unruhe earns JEA Lifetime Achievement award in 2015.
32. Our beaches are guarded by world-famous lighthouses, from Corolla to Old Baldy.
33. Mount Olive Pickles are an eastern NC staple, founded in 1926.
34. Two-time World Series MVP Corey Seager played at Northwest Cabarrus High in Kannapolis. A few other famous MLB standouts from our state include Catfish Hunter, Madison Bumgarner, Scott Bankhead and Wil Myers. Oh, and Kyle Seager wasn’t too bad at baseball, either!
35. The first Biscuitville opened in Burlington in 1966.
36. Carol Eanes earns JEA Lifetime Achievement award in 2014.
37. Famous Lexington and eastern NC BBQ!
38. The iconic Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington.
39. The Carolina Panthers franchise came to Charlotte in 1993, bringing the NFL to our state.
40. In 1960, four NC A&T students sat at a whites-only lunch counter inside a Greensboro Woolworth’s store in a pivotal part of the Civil Rights Movement.
41. Kay Windsor earns JEA Lifetime Achievement award in 2013.
42. The town of Princeville is the oldest town incorporated by African-Americans, in 1885. It was originally called Freedom Hill.
43. Great relationships with professionals at places like the Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News & Observer, who offer their expertise at a variety of workshops.
44. NC State men’s basketball gave us the legendary David Thompson and Coach Jimmy V, among many others.
45. We’ll let our friends in Pennsylvania fully claim him, but golfing icon Arnold Palmer’s ties to Wake Forest University following his legendary college career there deserves a spot!
46. Phyllis Cooper, Sue Farlow, Cornelia Harris and Susan Miller earn JEA Lifetime Achievement awards in 2012.
47. The beautiful Biltmore House in Asheville. More than 15 movies have been filmed on the Biltmore Estate, the largest privately owned home in America.
48. High school juniors and seniors can attend the Carolina Sports Journalism Camp at UNC-Chapel Hill every summer led by Tim Crothers.
49. The Venus flytrap grows naturally only along a small section of the coastline within a 75-mile radius of Wilmington because it only survives in humid, boggy areas.
50. Legendary singer, songwriter, pianist and Civil Rights activist Nina Simone was born and raised in Tryon.
51. Martha Rothwell earns JEA Lifetime Achievement award in 2008.
52. Country music star Luke Combs was born and raised in NC.
53. NASCAR racing is our official state sport and “The King,” Richard Petty, is just one of many famous racers who have called the state home.
54. Thanks to our hurricanes and shifting shorelines, we’re also known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic due to all the wrecks along the coast!
55. Jazz legend John Coltrane was born in Hamlet but grew up in High Point, where you can check out his statue downtown while celebrating the The John Coltrane International Jazz & Blues Festival each fall.
56. Kay Phillips and Harold Spanogle earn JEA Lifetime Achievement awards in 2001.
57. Nicholas Sparks doesn’t just write novels about the North Carolina coast. He resides in New Bern and has even helped with the high school track team there!
58. We have amazing partnerships between NCSMA and universities across the state that host regional high school media workshops each fall from the mountains to the coast.
59. Legendary journalists Edward R. Murrow, Charles Kuralt and David Brinkley are among the famous folks who hail from NC.
60. Christian evangelist Billy Graham was born in Charlotte and still calls the state home. A spiritual adviser to several presidents, he recently celebrated his 96th birthday.
61. Brenda Gorsuch of West Henderson High named 2004 Dow Jones News Fund Journalism Teacher of the Year.
62. George Clinton brought the funk from his Kannapolis roots.
63. NC State’s Technician scholarship program offers important assistance for aspiring college media students.
64. WFDD of Winston-Salem lends a hand to high school radio by sponsoring and supporting a class at R.J. Reynolds High.
65. We have NCSMA Journalism Field Trip Days in the spring semester on college campuses across the state.
66. Robin Sawyer of Manteo High School named 2000 Dow Jones News Fund Journalism Teacher of the Year.
67. North Carolina has a deep literary history (Maya Angelou, Pauli Murray, Reynolds Price, Elizabeth Spencer, Randall Kenan), and our high school literary magazine culture reflects that. NCSMA continues to feature literary magazine as a statewide media contest.
68. Amazing female athletes have deep ties to our state, from high school stars Shea Ralph, Andrea Stinson and LaToya Pringle Sanders to college legends like Mia Hamm, Erin Matson and Kay Yow.
69. UNC Pembroke, an institution founded for the education of American Indians, features a Department of Mass Communication program offering tracks in Broadcasting, Journalism and Public Relations.
70. During the 1998 NCSMA Summer Institute, Robin Williams was on the UNC campus filming the movie “Patch Adams.”
71. Wake Forest University basketball legend Chris Paul has remained an active part of his Winston-Salem hometown throughout his NBA career.
72. Woooooooo – here’s one! Ric Flair, one of the most popular pro wrestlers of all time, is a Charlotte native.
73. West Henderson’s Westwind Yearbook honored on NSPA Pacemaker 100 List.
74. So many movies have been made out of Wilmington that the town has been nicknamed Hollywood East and Wilmywood.
75. We love our NCSMA student officer board leadership. This board determines the theme and assists with programming of each Summer Institute.
76. Jazz great Thelonious Monk was born in Rocky Mount.
77. Cabarrus County actually is the site of America’s original gold rush way back in the early 1800s.
78. Clay Aiken was a popular “American Idol” finalist who was also the 2014 Democratic nominee in the North Carolina 2nd Congressional district election.
79. Maybe this should be higher on the list, but we’ve got the tallest sand dune east of the Mississippi (Jockey’s Ridge on the OBX) and the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi. Mount Mitchell is one of the top stops along the famed Blue Ridge Parkway.
80. In North Carolina, high school journalism teachers can receive a journalism endorsement on their teaching license.
81. Our state dance is the Carolina Shag, even though our friends in South Carolina like to claim they coined the term/style first!
82. The UNC Center for Innovation & Sustainability in Local Media offers its support of scholastic journalism through research and collaboration.
83. The Penelope Barker House in Edenton honors a woman who made history during the American Revolution. In 1774, she organized America’s first recorded women’s political demonstration, also known as the Edenton Tea Party.
84. Bald Head Island and its 14 miles of beaches are one of the few places left in the country where no cars are allowed: visitors use golf carts, bikes or their feet only here!
85. Singer Scotty McCreery grew up in Garner and captured the state’s imagination when he won the 10th season of American Idol in 2011.
86. YouTube star MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) grew up in Greenville.
87. NC Central University in 1923 became the nation’s first state-supported liberal arts college for Black students.
88. Our high school journalism teachers and advisers can become NC Journalism Teacher Fellows in the summer and take a one-week, graduate-level course at UNC-Chapel Hill fully funded by NCSMA.
89. Hiram R. Revels was born a free man in Fayetteville before becoming a minister, college administrator and politician who would become the first African-American member of the US Senate in 1870, representing Mississippi.
90. The Charlotte Hornets were born in 1988, bringing the NBA to our state.
91. What are your thoughts about crossing Grandfather Mountain’s world-famous 228-foot Mile High Swinging Bridge?
92. Producing half of all the sweet potatoes grown in the U.S., NC ranks No. 1 in the country for producing these tasty taters.
93. The NC Scholastic Media Advisers Association board represents journalism teachers and student media programs in eight regions across the state and meets regularly to promote journalism education in the state.
94. We have “Mayberry” and TV legend Andy Griffith. The actor’s hometown of Mount Airy was the basis for the hit show.
95. Calabash-style fried seafood platters are just a small (tasty!) part of our coastal fishing heritage.
96. The annual press conference at NCSMA’s Summer Institute, featuring coaches, athletes, a chancellor, a judge, a K9 unit, and so many more interesting folks, lets students write a story on deadline at camp.
97. We’re serious when we talk about “mountains to the sea” – from Murphy to Manteo, it’s 546 long miles across our state!
98. We have journalism and media programs at more than 30 college campuses across the state. NC College Media Association is part of NCSMA, allowing high school journalists to continue their connection to the field.
99. Not a lot of people realize it, but we’re kind of a big deal. People love everything NC has to offer so much that we’re now the ninth-largest state by population size in the country.
100. And last but not least, all the amazing workshops, awards ceremonies (and summer thunderstorms!) every June at the NC Scholastic Media Association Summer Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill.