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Good Samaritan helps save stranger's life, makes a friend | Print |
Written by Maggie Blackwell   

The accident flashes in freeze-frame action. She's traveling south, approaching the Yadkin River bridge. A white Silverado crosses the median, headed her way.

The pickup bursts through the median's cable barrier and crashes head-on with the car in front of her. The two cars rise into the air, nose to nose. They spin out of control, finally stopping horizontally across Interstate 85.

"I feel strange being in the paper about this," Alyssa Florida says, "but I understand it is meant to encourage others."

Alyssa Florida doesn't look like a hero. She has that kind of face that radiates optimism. Her athletic frame still looks like that of a college girl — and she almost is, having just graduated from Catawba last spring

Read more from this article at SalisburyPost.com here
 
Teams vie to stay afloat during Challenge Day | Print |
Written by Maggie Blackwell   

"Team 21! Team 21! I need your two swimmers!" Rowan-Salisbury schools' AIG facilitator Wanda Kluttz called above the cheers, splashing, and echoes.

Thursday was not a normal education day for 173 fifth-graders who convened at the JF Hurley YMCA for the system's annual Challenge Day.

The program, sponsored by Horizons Unlimited, challenged fifth-graders from every school to build a boat from recycled products – a boat that would support a student down the length of the Y's pool.

Students were required to build prototypes at an exact 1:3 ratio to the actual boat, and submit them prior to building the boat.

Read more of this article at the Salisburypost.com here
 
Elvis part of 'Rock the Test' assembly at Morgan Elementary | Print |
Written by Maggie Blackwell   

Girls blushed. Guys clapped and swayed with the music. Elvis was in the house.

Doesn't sound like elementary school, does it?

Michael Thomas, aka Elvis, rocked the house with his glittery costume, gold shades, and smooth tunes on Friday. Thomas' son, Nicholas, is a third-grader at Morgan, but he didn't get to see his dad sing at school. He checked out of school sick.

"I think he didn't want to see his dad sing at school," Thomas joked.

Thomas sang several songs, jokingly dancing with students and teachers. The background music was instrumental only – he sang the songs himself. His tone and style were amazingly like the original.

Although these kids are too young to have seen the original Elvis, they seemed awestruck by this one. They clapped, moved to the music and hollered as he sang, "Blue Suede Shoes,"

The "Rock the Test" assembly was organized by Morgan principal Susan Sigmon, guidance counselor Betsy Crowell and others.

Read more from this article at SalisburyPost.com here
 


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