Mariah Morris, a second-grade teacher at West Pine Elementary School in Pinehurst, recently jumped out of an airplane to promote fully funding public schools.

Moore County Schools released a YouTube video on social media of The N.C. Teacher of the Year doing a tandem jump with the United States Army Parachute Team, nicknamed The Golden Knights.

In the video, Morris is asked if she wanted to say anything before she went up in the plane 2 and a half miles above the Earth and jump in a free fall going 120 mph.

“I’m pushing myself outside my comfort zone,” said Morris. “I’m doing it for our schools, our teachers, our students of North Carolina to help inspire them to make the jump to fully fund our schools.”

Once up in the air, a Golden Knight jokingly said he was concerned because someone cut a cord on Morris’ parachute, and he didn’t know what the cord was for.

Morris made the jump at 5, 900 feet above the Earth and thanked the team when she safely landed.

Morris was named the 2019 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year in April. She is the first teacher from Moore County Schools to win the award.

Morris can be seen in the video at the 1:05 mark.

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