Operation Christmas

Since 2006, Olympic High students have visited Hidden Valley each holiday season to deliver gifts to all the students. It took two buses to transport the presents this year. The 40 Olympic students who unloaded the boxes divided into grade-level teams and went off to bring Christmas joy to Hidden Valley.

"I really love kids and ... the smiles on their faces," said 11th-grader Marjane McMillan. "This is what the holiday season is all about."

Individual Olympic students, as well as members of school clubs, helped acquire and wrap gifts, making sure every child at Hidden Valley received a present.

Outstanding senior

Kim Halberg, a senior at Butler High, recently received the monthly Matthews Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Senior Award. She was given a $50 savings bond and certificate in honor of her charitable, academic and athletic achievements.

Halberg volunteers with Operation Christmas Child and the Matthews Help Center and takes the lead in organizing school events. Halberg has a 4.8 GPA and ranks fourth out of 452 seniors. She serves on the student council and is part of the National Honor Society. Halberg is also captain of Butler's varsity cross-country team.

Students as teachers

For one semester, 10 high school students from the Performance Learning Center became teaching assistants at Morgan School. Through the Service Opportunity Ultimate Life Learning (SOULL) program, the students were able to give back to young students and teachers.

They offered extra classroom support in a variety of roles one day a week throughout the semester.

The student volunteers were Chase Baker, Christina Burns, Jesse Byers, Bryan Grill, Ellen Green, Xavier Graves, Mackenzie Leeper, Justin Lindsay, Brandon Aaron and Nadariah Perry.

Morgan School sixth-grader Kyree Cathey-Hines said working with the teens wasn't much different from working with the teachers. "You knew they were able to help you. It was better to have more people in the classroom. It helps students focus," she said.

PLC senior Justin Lindsay helped teach students about the performing arts. He's been dancing for nearly 13 years, starting at the N.C. Dance Theatre, and recently he danced with the Debbie Allen organization in Los Angeles.

"I wanted to be a mentor," Justin said. "I told them, 'You have talents, go out there and use them.' I looked at what I could give them to start them on the right path."

Senior Xavier Graves spoke to Morgan students about anti-bullying strategies, offering solutions to problems they were having.

The SOULL program was such a success, it is expected to resume this semester.

Recycling winners

Five winners have been chosen in the Carton Recycling Contest, part of the district's Carton Recycling Program. Twenty-six schools participated in the contest, saving 250,000 cartons in four weeks.

More than 15,000 pounds of cartons were recycled as a result of the students' efforts. The winning schools were Wingate Park Elementary, Bain Elementary, Stoney Creek Elementary, Sterling Elementary and Selwyn Elementary. Each winning school received a $1,000 cash prize.

Fighting mental illness

Michael Gatlin, a junior at Lake Norman High, helped join the fight against mental illness with his band, "The Sweater Brigade," on Dec. 16. The band put on a benefit concert at the Charles Mack Center, with the proceeds to be used to fight mental illness in the Lake Norman area. They played six rock songs with a heavier vibe. Gatlin plays bass and guitar for his four-man band. The other three members attend Mooresville High.

Photography award

Justin Perry, student photography editor for the East Mecklenburg Eagle newspaper, recently won a high-end digital camera with lenses, carrying case and memory card from the James Alan Cox Foundation, which provides financial support to student photographers of high school and college age.

Justin was one of five high school journalists nationally who received the award and the only one from North Carolina.

Last year, Justin won second place at the N.C. Scholastic Media Institute for news photography for large schools.