North Hills Christian School

Quickly, what does 393 times 768 equal? Quickly, time is ticking.

If you were a North Hills Christian School high school student attending Enrichment Friday, you had better answer the question within seconds, without a calculator, if you wanted to outperform the 95-year-old gentleman at the front of the room.

NHCS high school recently had the privilege of hearing from one of our local legends as part of their Enrichment Friday series. Ralph Ketner, Food Lion co-founder, graciously agreed to speak to the students about his story and talk about his Lessons in Leadership series.

As he shared his story, Ketner mesmerized the students with his legendary math skills. The students were fascinated by his ability to perform complex mathematical calculations in his head, much quicker than anyone could enter the numbers in their smart phones. Ketner quickly commanded their attention as he sprinkled his math genius throughout his discussion of Lessons in Leadership.

The students had previously watched Food Lion’s and Catawba College’s, “Lessons in Leadership,” a documentary film featuring the life and business lessons students can learn from Ketner. The students took the time to discuss many topics introduced by the film, then formulated questions they could ask Ketner.

Friday was the big day for the high schoolers to hear personally from Ketner. He took the time to talk about his humble beginnings, his experience in the Army, his passion to always make things better and his desire to give back to the community some of the resources God has blessed him with. After his opening remarks, Ketner opened the floor for the students to ask questions. With questions such as, “What would he do different if he could start over?” or “What was the most meaningful charity he liked to support?”

Answering their questions, he was able to share his life experience and accumulated wisdom with the students as he discussed his passion for Rowan Helping Ministries, mentoring up-and-coming entrepreneurs and giving back to the community. At the end of the day Ketner was gracious enough to spend additional time with a small group of students that expressed an interest in pursuing a business degree.

North Hills Enrichment Fridays are designed for the students to focus on subjects or opportunities outside of the normal classroom experience. Previous Enrichment Friday’s have included a college fair, personality awareness training, and community service opportunities.

North Hills Christian School is a co-educational, non-denominational, Christian day-school serving students in Junior Kindergarten through Grade 12. Applications for admission are being accepted for the 2015-2016 school year. For more information or to schedule a personal tour, contact Director of Recruitment and Retention Katie Campbell at kcampbell@northhillschristian.com or at 704-636-3005, ext. 109.