Zebulon — From a dream written on a napkin to a $7.5 million renovation project, East Wake Academy is on the move.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr announced last Wednesday USDA Rural Development financing for a new facility just on the heels of the school opening its senior academy.

The future 25,000 foot facility will house classrooms, a media center and a library for all of its high school students, said headmaster Brandon Smith.

Smith said the school anticipates increased enrollment and will need the additional space.

East Wake Academy obtained a $1.8 million low interest loan from U.S.D.A. Rural Development for the renovation of the Zebulon Civic Center into its senior academy which opened last month.

That facility was toured by guests after a ceremony — complete with pageantry and speeches. Its renovation was actually the reason Burr and USDA state director John Cooper visited the school.

But at the last minute, the financing for East Wake Academy’s second phase came through. While Burr was there to celebrate the building of facilities, he said character, commitment and conviction mean more than brick and mortar.

“There is nothing in life you can’t achieve if you’re willing to commit the time it takes to succeed,” he said. Burr told two stories to hit home his points. He told of the people of Stoneville, N.C. picking up the remnants of their Main Street, brick by brick, after a tornado. He said he saw the fabric of a community at work.

“If one piece elects not to integrate, it makes the community that much weaker,” he said.

He also told of Helen Keller’s response to a reporter who asked her if there was anything worse than being blind.

Her response: To have her sight, but lose her vision.

Burr said East Wake Academy had not lost its vision.

Smith, who later told Burr his hometown was Stoneville, said EWA has tripled since 2002 with 940 students currently enrolled in grades K-12.

EWA’s graduation rate is 85 percent, compared to the state rate at 69 percent, said Smith. He also noted that each member of the class of 2008 has been accepted into a college or university.

John Cooper, state director of USDA, Rural Development, said the government department makes loans in communities of less than 20,000 and commercial loans in towns less than 50,000.

Cooper, along with Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison, gave personal testaments to education.

Cooper said he grew up on a tobacco farm in Sampson County and wanted to help other people develop their gifts. And Harrison, the sheriff of the second largest county in North Carolina, listed education as one of the ingredients of his success.

U.S.D.A. Rural Development will provide a $6.5 million bond guarantee to Cape Fear Farm Credit along with a $1 million community low interest loan for the construction of the new 25,000-square-foot building.

The event opened with colors presented by the cub scouts from Pack 522, and a rousing “I’m Proud to be an American,” by Angela Millenbaugh, EWA chorus director.