By Kynsay Hunt

For the Salisbury Post

MISENHEIMER — North Carolina’s weather is never predictable, but this autumn’s patterns have interfered significantly with high school schedules — especially in sports.

Gray Stone Day School, which has a number of Rowan County students, had to alter its homecoming week to compensate for the weather as well.

Because of incoming storms and fast-approaching play deadlines, the school decided to move its homecoming game against Asheboro’s Uwharrie Charter Academy to early last Thursday afternoon. But even with the abrupt change in schedule, the unruly weather did not rain on Gray Stone’s students’ parade.

Gray Stone, as a charter school, has an unusual homecoming. Without a football team, students rally behind the men’s soccer team during Spirit Week. It was an interesting game, to say the least.

Because of the last-minute change, only two of the standard three officials made it to the match. Instead of playing at Pfeiffer University as usual for homecoming, the teams faced off at Gray Stone’s field, which has no bleachers. This did not stop students from coming to support the Knights.

After an 8-0 win over Uwharrie Charter, Gray Stone celebrated with Spirit Day on Friday, where students dressed in garnet and gray to show their school pride. The senior girls decided to take Spirit Day to the next level by starting a new tradition: Senior Overalls.

While underclassmen took the PSAT and PACT standardized tests on Wednesday, many girls decorated overalls with paint, glitter, ribbon, fabric and more in school colors. Part keepsake and part team-building, the overalls took as much as 12 to 18 hours to complete.

Saturday brought the long-awaited homecoming dance. This year’s theme was “Celebrate the (K)night” at a cordial ball in the school commons. Students at Gray Stone look forward to school dances each year because, with hectic schedules and as many as 50 miles between students’ homes, it is rare when friends see each other outside school.

Nominees for homecoming queen included seniors Summer Efird, Madison Hatley, Louisa Parrish, Riley Ritchie and Savannah Smith; nominees for king were Hardev Bhatt, Emery Culp, Joshua Hartsell, Aditya Suresh and Luke Thomas.

After a schoolwide vote, Madison Hatley and Emery Culp were named queen and king midway through the dance. Students raised cellphone flashlights to illuminate the room when the two danced after being crowned.

In the weeks following Homecoming Week, Gray Stone’s chapter of the National Honor Society kept the spirit going by holding a Thanksgiving food drive contest in both the upper and middle grades. All proceeds will go to Rowan Helping Ministries food pantries ahead of the holiday season.

Though the school is in Stanly County, many students who attend it live in Rowan County.