brian mastre reports. << grass roots movements can be no one ever really knows what ideas will catch on with the masses. for six weeks these residents of seven oaks retirement community have been preparing for this morning. they're headed to the nearby diner in florence the legendary harold's koffee house. (barb mcdonald - customer :28-:33) "it is a hometown diner where they know you. i'm bad with names but they all know me." several of the seniors were anxious. what would the customers think? (melanie ennen - notre dame sisters :40-:45) ("good morning harold's customers. these are the seven oaks singers." and just like that... natso: "deck the halls with boughs of holly..." ...breakfast took a break. the conversations paused and no one seemed to mind the side order of christmas carols. if she could the owner would add the singers to the menu. (nancy bohnenkamp - harold's koffee house 1:07-1:16) "the music started and everybody settled down. it was nice. it table back there they started singing." kenny bowtie, the most musical of the bunch, helps keep them on point, even if the membe

brian mastre has the story. we often hear that the habits we develop in school will often follow us in life. 'this is the first time we've done this.' council bluffs school administrators changed things this year. 'congrats on your perfect attendance bud. look at what you get in your yard.' instead of having an assembly or giving the certificate in school - they took the signs to their homes for all to see. this one belongs to first grader jayden campbell. rachel horton, school counselor: 'i'm glad you were home jayden. are you going to try to get another one next semester, too? awesome. was it easy or hard to get it this year?' jayden campbell: 'easy.' school counselor rachel horton and other staff members at roosevelt elementary drove to 38 personally deliver the good news. super: rachel horton, cb roosevelt elementary rachel horton: 'they're there from the first bell to the last. they're not missing any time at school. that's pretty impressive.' rachel: 'hi kourtney, surprise! you get your perfect attendance

as for a career -- alyssa says she wants to that was brian mastre reporting. as for a career -- alyssa says she wawas to be a music teacher. it's . time for a break. we're back with our fourth half hour of news 4 today. first though.. here's a look at some of the events on the welcome back and thanks for morning. al has the day off. several states have declared a state ofmergency after tornadoes tore through much of the south on wednesday. after this week's storms. flooding has also been an issue. and many holiday travellers have been stranded in airports due to the severe weather. we'll have the latest in just a minute. and on salvation army volunteer is going above and beyond this year. he's not just ringing a bell, he's also handing out free teddy bears. we'll show you his story in a little bit. and santa was a busy man last night, but he took some time out of his schedule to go water skiing. we'll show you his adventure in what's trending. but first t.j..... wx timer @ :50 after our little burst of snow across siouxland on christmm eve, christmas day will

this christmas season -- brian mastre shares one teenager's story. << we're inside the madonna rehabilation hospital in lincoln. this is the christmas party for the pediatric unit. guest besides santa. two months ago - teenager alyssa wacker wasn'n'sure she would ever do this again. super: alyssa wacker, underwood, ia alyssa: "i was very worried about that actually. the surgeon came up to me and she said, "there's a risk with this surgery because we have to move your vocal cords." for her sixteenth birthday, alyssa's parents gave her this s-u-v. before they had made the first car payment, she hit loose gravel on a road near her home in underwood, iowa. the impact broke her neck. here's her x-ray...her spinal cord was also damaged. before the crash - she sang her own songs the guitar had been in alyssa: "my guitar's neck kind of got broke, too." this type of injury carries plenty of uncertainty. alyssa: "i've had some pretty rough days." some people never regain the use of own. super: molly thomas, (quick super) molly thomas, occupational therapist - madonna rehabilitation hospital: "she's m

brian mastre has their story this morning... grass roots movements can be as unpredictable as the weather. no one ever really knows what ideas will catch on with the masses. for six weeks these residents of seven oaks retirement community have been preparing for this morning. they're headed to the nearby diner in florence the legendary harold's koffee house. "it is a hometown diner where they know you. i'm bad with what would the customers think? ("good morning harold's customers. these are the seven oaks singers." and just like "deck the halls with boughs of holly..." ...breakfast took a break. the conversations paused and no one seemed to mind the side order of christmas carols. if she could the owner would add the singers to the menu. "the music started and there they started singing." kenny bowtie, the most musical of the bunch, helps keep them on point, even if the membership rules are fairly laxed. whoever shows up and sings, we include them. if they like to sing, that's what counts." some of the singers remember caroling

brian mastre talked with those behind it. << wins and losses don't always define success. super: ethan voss, 8th grader (quick) ethan: "we were hoping to get a big lead so he could score more points." 8th grader ethan voss reflects on the team's loss last night -- the last game of the season. christian: "he shot like 7 times." christian berry is referring to his ralston rams teammate. "here we go, michael!" some two hundred fans watched as ralston took on bellevue's mission middle school. usually coaches keep the game plan to themselves -- but not head coach malachi behrens, who shared an super: malachi behrens, ralston basketball coach (quick) coach: "one thing that did surprise me was the reaction from opposing fans." there's number 43 - michael madej (mah-day) - the team manager. coach put him in for the fourth quarter...his first game action all season. his first shot -- nope. he would miss the first seven shots...and while we don't see shot number eight from dad's camera -- just listen. (crowd roars) super: eric madej, michael's father dad: "it was great to witness th