Editorâs Note: The following is the first in a multi-story series on Avery County Schools Superintendent Dr. Dan Brigmanâs experiences through his first school year in the district. This first installment highlights accomplishments while facing and meeting challenges the district envisions both currently and in the future. NEWLAND â It would be a gross understatement to say that the past 14 months have been a difficult period in communities worldwide. As society has had to face the realities of a global pandemic that has enveloped virtually aspect of day-to-day living since its onset in March 2020, every walk of life in its own way has embraced the college basketball tournament adage of âsurvive and advance,â with the goal of emerging on the other side of COVID-19 and returning to as close a semblance of normalcy as possible.