North Hills Christian School (NHCS) senior Dana Salmon was selected as a finalist in the 2013 National Achievement Scholarship Program competition and was recognized as one of the most academically promising black American students in the nation by the program.
The National Achievement Scholarship Program rewards scholastically talented black American young men and women. As a finalist, she will increase her chances of receiving more merit scholarships and gaining admission to some of the nation’s most selective colleges and universities.
Salmon was initially selected from among 160,000 black American high school juniors from all parts of the United States for her outstanding test performance when she took the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. In September 2012, she was designated a semifinalist in the 49th annual National Achievement Scholarship Program which included 1,600 black American high school seniors. As a National Achievement Finalist, Salmon is among 1,300 students who will compete for about 800 National Achievement Scholarships valued at about $2.5 million.
As a finalist, she was selected based on her academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities and educational goals. In addition, she was selected based on her high academic performance throughout her high school years,
Salman has been accepted to Indiana Wesleyan University, Liberty University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to date. At UNCG she was accepted to the Lloyd International Honors College. She was nominated and attended Girls State last summer. At North Hills she is the current head prefect of the high school student government association. She is a member of the National Honor Society, the High School Junior Civitan Club, the High School Mission Club, and her church youth group. She plays bass for the North Hills Praise Band for her church and enjoys spending her summers volunteering as an assistant at Waterworks Visual Arts Center.
She is the daughter of Pauline Campbell. She entered North Hills in the sixth grade and will graduate this year.
“I visited all of the public and private schools in my district and North Hills had the most welcoming feel,” Salmon said. “My intentions were to attend North Hills for middle school and then transfer to a public school for high school,” she said. “I liked the environment, academic options and spiritual nurturing at North Hills, so I decided to stay. My teachers have impacted me in their desire to see me know God. Academics are important, but they are insignificant from an eternal perspective,” she said.
Knollwood Elementary A honor roll students for second quarter received an award on Feb. 8. Parents were invited to attend the Honor Roll Tea Party and celebrate with their students.
Third grade — Kayla Cordero-Gordillo, Philip Cressler, Alexandra Fuentes, Ashley Sierra, Brynn Sokolowski, Ty Sokolowski, Malei Sullivan.
Fourth grade — Cesar Campuzano-Moran, Thomas Jones, Jacob Harris, Lindsey Conrad, Jensen Daniels, Richard Musselwhite, Maria Rodriguez-Estrada, Andrew Saddler, Sydney Wilson, Madison Allman, Rayland Anderson, Mason Hollar, Janet Martinez-Trujillo, Brianna Richer, Cynthia Sanns, Anthony Vaccaro.
Fifth grade —Taylor Conrad, Martha Diaz, Brandon Maldonado, Jaliyah Oats, ZaReah Smith, Katelin Bostian, Seth Eagle, Alyssa Jones, Dalilah Kamili, Parker McGuire, Krystal Ortiz-Rodriguez, Hunter Yates, Leah Cressler, Shania Mastan, Caleb Orbison, Sierra Ratliff, John Sokolowski, Taylar Evans, Caleb Green, Grissel Medina-Hernandez, Cayla Withers, Brandon Yow.
Caitlin Suire from Woodleaf was among more than 1,900 students from Wake Forest University who made the fall 2012 dean’s list.
Lenoir-Rhyne University has announced the president and dean’s lists for the 2012 fall semester. Students qualifying for president’s list must be undergraduates with a semester grade point average of 3.9 or better on a 4.0 scale, provided the student carried at least 12 hours of letter-graded courses.
Qualifying students on the dean’s list posted a semester grade point average of 3.5 or better, provided no grade was below a C. He/she must also have carried at least 12 hours of letter-graded courses.
Salisbury — Kayla Morrow, Amy Hinshaw, Ethan Overcash, Quinn Scarvey
Kannapolis — Andrew Leslie.

Cleveland — Spencer Nance.
Mooresville — Reid Shaver.
Kannapolis — Kayla Morrow.

Rockwell — Chase Hathcock.
The following students won Overton Elementary’s science fair that took place in January — Bennett Clark and Steven Lescoe, Emily and Ellison Frick, third grade; Gabriela Fisher and Dwayne Bivins, Phoebe Hollingsworth and Ethan Chambers and Tajha Parker, fourth grade.
Cleveland Elementary School all-A honor roll:
Third grade — Anderson Pruett, Krysten Cline, Brianna Hennessy, Ashley Pender, William Kirwin, Jeri Taylor, Anna Coxey, Paige Barger, Hailey Hall, Coen McDowell, Abby Truman.
Fourth grade — Alyssa Holshall, Grayson Phillips, Macari Allison, Emily Beaver, Lacy Waggoner.
Fifth grade — Grace Hodge, Cheyenne Kennedy, Steve Wilmot, Jackson Gannon, Tamyaa Holland.
Kindergarden — Brandon Melchor, Alexander Melchor, Nashon Alexander, Jayden Mills, Jayden Morris and Gavin Morgan.
First grade — Joseph Morris, Alex Cortez, Chase Overcash, Ashley Estrada Espinoza, Callie Harris and Isreal Santivanez.
Second grade — Bryan Taylor, Katie Carillo-Gonzolez, Alexandria Bouk, Rex Earnhardt, Destiny Davis and Amanda Delgado.
Third grade — Ashley Pender, Johnathan Forney, Elizabeth Bogle and Alyssa Sayavong.
Fourth grade — Gracie Wise, Patrick Evenden, Tyler Benninger, Brianna McCullough, Desiree Miller, Josiah Harper.
Fifth grade — Abreesha Forney and Slade Sheridan.

Taylor wins middle school science fair in Burke County
Perry Taylor won first place in the middle school division of the Burke County Schools Science Fair, in the Earth Division, Jan. 29.
Taylor, 13, is son of Erin and Todd Taylor of Morganton and grandson of Sandra Poole of Morganton and Bill Poole of Salisbury.
Taylor is an eighth-grade student at Liberty Middle School in Morganton.