By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS ó Pulling tires out of a stream can teach high school students a lot about serving their community.
The Environment Club at A.L. Brown High School cleaned up the creek at Safrit Park Saturday as part of Kannapolis Kares Day, an annual city-wide community service event.
“The kids got a great appreciation for what’s out there,” faculty adviser Nikki Wolcott said.
In water up to their knees, they pulled 30 tires out of the creek and enough trash to fill 20 bags, including major polluters like oil cans.
Several groups and clubs from A.L. Brown participated, including 45 members of the Anchor Club, a service and social organization.
They cleaned one house for Cooperative Christian Ministries and painted another. They also picked up litter along Brantley Road and scrubbed a fountain at Hospice and Palliative Care of Cabarrus County.
Participating in Kannapolis Kares gives the students pride in their community and makes them aware of issues like terminal illness and homelessness, faculty adviser Shannan Morrison said.
“Their eyes have been opened,” she said.
Both Hospice and Cooperative Christian Ministries complimented Morrison on the behavior and diligence of her students, she said.
“Work like this keeps them motivated and grounded,” she said.
Many students told her they want to participate again next year, Morrison said.
“It felt great,” said Coral Silva, a senior. “Just to know that you helped somebody.”
Bruce Wells, the program manager for Cooperative Christian Ministries, said he was impressed by the turn-out of young people.
“That’s amazing in this day and time,” he said. “That tells me that someone’s doing something right.”
Despite the rain, more than 800 people worked at 50 beautification and service projects throughout the city.
Kannapolis Community Outreach Coordinator Renee Goodnight drove from site to site to document the progress.
“It was very uplifting,” she said.