Good Role Models: 5 Most Uplifting Stories

An impromptu show of respect by young students and some good fortune for a hard-working plumber make the list:

• Yearbook Signing Photo Goes Viral: A photo that conquered the Internet this week showed elementary students in Illinois forming a long line to have a certain someone sign their yearbooks. Celebrity? Principal? Nope, Mr. Steve, the school's beloved custodian.
• Man's Broken-Down Truck Leads to $136M Discovery: A few weeks ago, Anthony Perosi was a cash-strapped plumber with a broken-down truck. Now he's probably the richest plumber in the world—and he has the truck to thank. Well, the truck and a lottery ticket.

• Graduation Guest: Cop Who Delivered Sad News: Telling 18-year-old Kazzie Portie his parents had been killed by an alleged drunk driver was one of the toughest things Eric Ellison has had to do in his 21 years as a police officer—but he definitely had a heart big enough for the job. The news came just days before Portie's high school graduation, and guess who was the first to greet him on stage.
• This 92-Year-Old Just Ran a Marathon: At 92, Harriet Thompson just set a a record as the oldest woman to run a marathon. But it might not stand more than a year: She hasn't ruled out running again in San Diego next year.
• 20-Year-Old Plans to Clean the Oceans: It started with a question: "I wondered, 'Why can’t we clean this up?'" Only rather than the dinner dishes or scattered toys, "this" was referring to the world's oceans and the vast quantities of plastic with which humanity has filled them. Boyan Slat's innovative answer to his own question is what the 20-year-old calls simply the Ocean Cleanup. It gets under way next year.

Click for more uplifting news. (More uplifting news stories.)