Hawkins wins WU alumni award

WINGATE — Neil Hawkins, principal of New Salem Elementary School, has been named Outstanding Young Alumnus by Wingate University. The 1988 graduate was honored at the university’s 25th Annual Alumni Awards Banquet during homecoming on Oct. 16.

The award recognizes professional and personal growth in those who have made significant impacts on their communities. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in biology, Hawkins worked in a Monroe-based research laboratory. He later returned to Wingate to earn a degree in science education. He has taught at Parkwood High School and was chosen as a model teacher for Union County Public Schools in the area of science instruction.

Hawkins also served as assistant principal and principal of Parkwood Middle School.

New Town helps with food drive

MONROE — New Town Elementary School Student Council and National Honor Society members, 53 in all, helped Lowes Foods kick off its “Friends Feeding Friends” fundraiser on Nov. 4.

After school, students met at Lowes Foods to begin loading shopping carts full of General Mills products. The students then took the loaded grocery carts to the check-out line, where more students used the cash registers to total the groceries in the cart. Afterward, other students bagged and loaded the groceries on the Second Harvest Food Bank truck.

In the end, New Town students bagged and loaded 1,500 pounds of food, which totaled more than $4,000.