NCCU coach LeVelle Moton reveals special impact new WCPSS superintendent Cathy Moore had on his life

Cathy Moore is the new superintendent of the Wake County Public School System.

"I'm terribly excited and a little terrified," said Moore after the swearing-in ceremony.

Her family -- including her husband, two daughters and 87-year-old mother -- as well as close friends attended the ceremony Wednesday night.



LeVelle Moton, head basketball coach at NC Central, was one of them.

"She believes there's a unique ability and unique characteristic in every living soul, not just the ones that sit on the front row," he said.



Moton was 15 years old when he first encountered Moore at Enloe High School. She was his French teacher.

"Y'all kind of see the polished product, which I'm grateful for, but I was kind of a lost soul who needed some guidance and help along the way," Moton said. "She took a liking to me, and I ended up in her French 2 class because I thought I knew French. I ended up flunking her class because the rule was you couldn't speak English in the class and I didn't know how to ask to go to the bathroom."

After Enloe, Moton starred at NC Central in college. He played overseas and came back to Wake County where he found a job as a middle-school coach. High school was harder to come by, however.



"I applied to every high school in Raleigh and all of them declined, and she just called me out of the blue and she said, 'I believe in you,'" Moton said. Moore at the time was the principal at Sanderson High School.

"She works, she works, she works," Moton said. "That's kind of how Kobe Bryant was when he was preparing not only in the offseason but during games."

Moton said he got a "59" in her class -- something he called a high "F."