Roxboro Community School (RCS) alumna Anderson Clayton recently won the seat of Democratic Party chair of North Carolina.
Clayton graduated from RCS in 2015. She was involved in high school journalism, which led to many opportunities and experiences that would help her later on, she said.
Growing up in a rural area like Person County, Clayton said she got her ambition and drive from her family. She said her drive and understanding of the value of education and community came from her grandmother, Mollie Breeze, and mom, Lanita Breeze. Clayton grew up watching her grandmother work hard, be kind, and connect with everyone so well that Clayton aspired to be like her. She said she learned the rural value of taking care of each other through a saying Mollie Breeze had: “That I gave away I kept and that I kept I lost.” Clayton takes this saying with her, aspiring for the future of the Democratic party to be like this, with everyone coming together for one another, she said.
She said she learned the value of hard work from her dad, Mark Clayton, who always told her, “Hard work is the backbone of everything that makes people worthwhile at the end of the day.” Clayton took this to heart as well, becoming involved in everything she could at RCS, dreaming of making a difference.
When she graduated high school, she went on to go to college at Appalachian State University. At her first freshman address, Clayton heard the student body president address her class and welcome everyone in and realized that she wanted to be the person that got to welcome new students to Appalachian. Later on in her college career, she was able to become that person after being elected Appalachian State’s student body president. Becoming involved in student government gave Clayton a way to see what politics really looked like and showed her what it takes for people to reach a common goal despite their differences.
Clayton wants to make North Carolina’s Democratic party a place to find help for those who need it. She said she wants young people growing up in rural North Carolina to have opportunities and not have to leave in order to find those opportunities. She said her focus is on making North Carolina’s Democratic party a place of community and getting more opportunities to rural North Carolina youth. Regarding the importance of youth being involved, Clayton said, “I want to make it so young people in Person County feel like we can make it whatever we want it to be.”