By Sarah Campbell
scampbell@salisburypost.com
SPENCER — When senior Josh Price moves to Atlanta this fall to attend Georgia Tech he won’t be forgetting his roots at North Rowan High School.
The 18-year-old has spent the past four years trying to spruce up the school’s image by becoming involved in everything from marching band to student government to baseball.
“The students in this building that have a diploma from North that will not be going on to college will rely on that diploma as an accomplishment,” he said. “When we look down on a school we devalue the achievement that student has made.
“To make that achievement equal you have to be involved and try to make a difference everywhere you go.”
And Price said he practices what he preaches.
As drum major of the marching band, student body president, National Honor Society president and treasurer of the Key Club, Price talks up North Rowan every chance he gets.
He also helps out in the community by volunteering with Special Olympics, Rowan Helping Ministries and taking mission trips with Grace United Methodist Church.
Price said he plans to use the experiences he’s had in high school to lend a hand down in Atlanta.
“Having that experience is great,” he said. “Georgia Tech is very involved in Atlanta helping the inner city schools and inner city athletics.”
North Rowan senior counselor Bill Tenborg said Price is a very humble student who is always thinking of others.
“When he got his scholarship from Georgia Tech he said, ‘I’m not going to apply for very many of the local scholarships,’ he said. ‘I look around the room and I’ve got a lot, a lot of these people don’t have anything,’ ” Tenborg said. “He looks beyond ‘just me.’ ”
Price juggles his stewardship with Advanced Placement classes and maintaining a 4.75 weighted GPA.
“He’s in a league of his own as far as self-motivation,” Sallie Hundley, Price’s AP calculus teacher, said. “I’ve never had a kid as self-motivated as he is to learn, and it’s not just because he wants to get an A, it’s because he wants to learn.”
Hundley said Price is always willing to help out his classmates.
“But he doesn’t do it in a condescending way,” she said. “He’s very well-rounded, he understands what it’s like to be part of a team and how to interact with other students.”
Price will be studying aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech. He plans to work on high-speed trains after graduating.
Tenborg said he expects Price to be very successful in college.
“I think that his quest for knowledge definitely shows that he is someone who wants that second step, that third step,” he said. “He’s not satisfied with being on the floor, he’s interested in going up.”
Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.