School news

Send your school news to observerschoolnews@gmail.com and ginasmithschoolnews@gmail.com.

Compiled by Gina Smith

Bailey Middle

Middle School Madness: The Student Council is promoting the Middle School Madness event 8-11 p.m. the first Friday of each month at the Lake Norman YMCA. Middle School Madness is for all local sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students. Tickets are $5 for YMCA members and $8 for nonmembers and are available through local middle schools. The event includes activities such as basketball, gymnastics and laser tag, along with music and snacks. YMCA staff supervise the event.

Hurricane Relief Drive: The Student Council and National Junior Honor Society worked with schools staff to host a schoolwide collection of items to be donated to areas of New Jersey affected by Hurricane Sandy. Students collected bottled water, canned food and paper towels Dec. 10-14. The Martin Truex Jr. Foundation donated a truck and provided delivery for the donated items.

Barnette Elementary

Box top fundraiser results: In November, Barnette Elementary students brought in 3,055 box tops for its box top fundraiser, earning the school $305.50. Second-grader Jack D’Amico filled 16 collection sheets to win a $10 Target gift card for most box tops. Two classrooms won a movie and popcorn party for collecting the most box tops.

Davidson Elementary

Math Olympiad Challenge: Fourth- and fifth-grade Math Olympiad students earned perfect scores on November’s Math Olympiad challenge. Only 7 percent of fifth-graders and 3 percent of fourth-graders worldwide earned perfect scores. The International Mathematical Olympiad is an international problem-solving competition for grades four through six.

SouthLake Christian Academy

Bibles for Iran: Students are participating in a mission project to collect and send Bibles to Iran. As part of the project, the student body recently participated in a Skype call from an Iranian citizen who had received a New Testament through the program. A large red Iranian Bible is on display at the school to remind students about the project.

Vance High

Football achievement: Football player Larenz Bryant has been chosen to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Jan. 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. He was one of the top 90 high school football players in the United States chosen to play in the bowl’s annual East vs. West match-up. On Nov. 8, U.S. Army representatives presented Bryant with a jersey and joined him for an assembly at Vance. Bryant, who plays both as an inside linebacker and running back, is ranked No. 7 nationwide and No. 1 statewide in the category of best linebackers. He is Vance’s first football player to be invited to the All-American Bowl. The game will be televised live on NBC at 1 p.m. Jan. 5.