Pictured from left, Becky Gaskin, executive director, Red Cross East Central Bay Chapter; Rhonda Bringard, Caro Middle School principal; Nick Moyer, Caro Middle School assistant principal and award recipient; student Aubreanna Joles; and James Sira, Caro Middle School teacher who nominated Moyer for the award.
Caro (Nov. 21, 2025) – The American Red Cross today honored the assistant principal at Caro Middle School, with a Lifesaving Award for coming to the aid of a student who was choking. Nick Moyer received the American Red Cross Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action, which includes a certificate and lapel pin.
Moyer has been the assistant principal at Caro Middle School, located about 30 miles east of Saginaw, since 2021. He is also a 17-year volunteer firefighter with Elkland Township.
“I am thrilled to honor Assistant Principal Nick Moyer for his heroic action,” Becky Gaskin, executive director of the East Central Bay Chapter of the Red Cross, said during an award presentation at the school. “Nick’s lifesaving action embodies the mission of the Red Cross by helping alleviate human suffering in the face of an emergency.”
The lifesaving event occurred Aug. 28 in the school's cateria where Moyer was on lunch duty. A student alerted Moyer that eighth grader Aubreanna Joles couldn’t breathe and was unable to speak. After obtaining consent from Aubreanna, Moyer performed several cycles of abdominal thrusts before the object was dislodged and Aubreanna’s breathing was restored.
“I have that mindset that when crazy is going on, I walk toward it instead of away from it,” said Moyer, a resident of Cass City.
Moyer was nominated for the award by Caro teacher, James Sira.
Shenna Joles, Aubreanna’s mother, was grateful to Moyer for his heroic actions.
“I’d like to thank Mr. Moyer for performing lifesaving measures on my daughter and acting quickly without hesitation,” she said. “If he hadn’t been there, what would have happened?”
The Red Cross National Lifesaving Awards is a program dating back to 1911 that recognizes those who – in a time of an emergency – used their lifesaving skills or knowledge to save or sustain a life. The program consists of three awards, the Certificate of Merit, the Lifesaving Award for Professional Responders, and the Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action.
These awards and their recipients embody the spirit and mission of the Red Cross by using action to alleviate human suffering in the face of an emergency.
Since 2018, the Red Cross has honored more than 3,200 individuals worldwide. Their heroism has helped save more than 1,600 lives.
The Red Cross has been creating courses and training people in first aid and CPR for more than 100 years. Red Cross training provides the skills and confidence to act in an emergency. For those interested in our lifesaving courses, visit redcross.org/TakeAClass.
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MEDIA CONTACTS: Sydney Henry / sydney.henry@redcross.org / 313-439-4304
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members, and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.
