Classroom hero

Have you read about Lt. Col. Bryan Forney, a new teacher this year at Innovation Central High School in Grand Rapids? Forney was severely injured in a helicopter crash four years ago. After retiring from the marines last summer he signed on to teach math and science. Praze for a man who keeps on going despite injuries, and shares lessons that only life can give. And extra praze to Tom Rademacher and Dianne Carroll Burdick for capturing his story so well for the School News Network. 

Always a mum

Some days it is hard to find praiseworthy stories to think about. When that happens I consult a good news website like Sunny Skyze. Today it featured a darling story about Ada Keating,  a 98-year-old mother who moved into the assisted living facility where her 80-year-old son Tom has lived since 2016. She tucks him in at night, greets him in the morning.
"You never stop being a Mum," she says. 

Window on the future

Imagine every window in every skyscraper was collecting solar energy. Imagine how quickly that would change the viability of solar power. Well that day may not be far away. Michigan State University has announced highly transparent solar cells that could replace window glass, cell phone screens, headlights.  The product isn't on the market yet -- efficiency needs to be improved -- but it is only a few years away. Go Green!

She leads in lead

Praze for 11-year-old Gitanjali Rao who was recently named America's Top Young Scientist for inventing an inexpensive device to easily test for lead in water. Although she lives in Colorado, Rao had read about lead contamination in Flint, Mi., and was inspired to come up with a way for people to test the safety of their own drinking water. A big thank you to the 3M Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minn., for sponsoring the Young Scientist Challenge.

Erasing lunch debts

Philando Castile is still helping to feed school kids more than a year after he was killed by a policeman during a routine traffic stop in July 2016. Castile supervised the nutrition program at a Minnesota school. A recent fundraising campaign to honor his memory raised $84,000, enough to wipe out the student lunch debt for every school in the district. Nice way to honor his memory and raise awareness about school lunch debts.

Keep on keepin' on

 Lenora Olson is a human resources director -- even after the hotel where she was employed burned down in the California wildfire. Instead of standing in the unemployment line, she set to work finding jobs for the hotel staff using social media. Thousands of people at various northern California businesses lost their jobs to the fire so Lenora could be busy. Well done, Lenora!

"We were humans!"

You've probably heard the story of the human chain that rescued 9 swimmers last July at Panama City Beach. But I just heard a great interview on NPR about that rescue and it's a real two-hanky tale that will touch your heart and restore your faith in people.  Extra Praze for Derek and Jessica Simmons and all the people who joined that chain.