...About Me

   Hi!  My name is Rachel George Payne.  I was born in Bryson City, NC on September 25, 1973.  I was the oldest of three girls.  I was raised in Robbinsville, NC in the beautiful mountains of Graham County.  My husband and I met in the summer of 1995 while working at a group home for mentally handicapped adults and children.  We were married on November 15, 1997.

    I am a graduate of Western Carolina University, with a degree in Middle Grades Math and Science Education.  My first teaching job was in Tryon, NC at Tryon Middle School.  It was a nice town with a close community, and a good place to get started. 

   After the  birth of my first child, Anna Leigh Payne, on April 20th, 2001, I felt the need to be closer to my parents.  So, my husband Keith and I moved to the closest place we could find that offered us teaching positions in the same school system.  That is how we ended up in Cherokee County, NC.  It's funny, I was a little skeptical about moving back - I felt that I was going to miss having local conveniences of  malls and big restaurants nearby - but actually, it just makes it that much more exciting when we do venture out of our little town.  And Cherokee County has grown on us more than we had planned - we fell in love with the people here very quickly.  It has definitely become "home".

   My husband is a teacher in the Exceptional Children's Program at Andrews High School, and I am an Algebra teacher at Murphy High School - we are constantly bragging to - or arguing with each other -  over who works at the best school.  He says our kids will go to Andrews, I say Murphy - we all know who will win this battle (women have ways of getting what they want). Not long ago, we made our little family complete with the birth of our son, Benjamin Charles, born October 14th, 2004.

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