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SCHOOL NEWS FOR
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2002
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Elementary School News |
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By Mary Nethaway and Max
Batchelor |
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Students enjoyed an unexpected holiday this past week
due to the snow. Jump Rope for Heart and Writing
Assessment Tests were important events this week.
Tuesday night, February 5, the McKenzie Special School
District Board of Education met at McKenzie Elementary
School. Students from Mrs. Tammy Gordon's class were
recognized for making a banner that was displayed at the
Tennessee School Board Association convention in
Nashville. McKenzie Middle school students were also
recognized along with teacher Linda Furr for making a
public service announcement that placed at the state
level.
Mrs. Lorrie Brown's first grade class has been
learning about the human body. They studied the
functions of some of the major organs while making
life-sized people from paper and adding paper organs.
One of the highlights of the week was to make pretend
blood using water and yellow food coloring for the
plasma, cheerios and red food coloring for the red blood
cells and marshmallows for the white blood cells. It was
a fun unit of study.
Mrs. Marcia Webb's third grade class is learning to
write friendly letters. They wrote letters to Patricia
Polacco, a famous author. She wrote books such as
Thunder Cake and Chicken Sunday. Parents from Mrs.
Webb's class make Thunder cake for the class to eat last
week. They are anxiously awaiting a reply from Mrs.
Polacco.
Monday night, February 11, MES PTO met at 7:00 p.m.
Following a brief business meeting a program was
presented by the kindergarten classes. The PTO also
announced the Penny Harvest. Students and staff are
challenged to bring in all their pennies to fill two
water bottles. All the pennies collected will be spent
for student activities at the school. |
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Middle School News |
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No Middle School News this week. |
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Notes from the High School |
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By McKenzie High School Principal, Terry Howell |
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Congratulations to Tia Sneed and Brandon Trull for their
selection as the I Dare You Leadership Award winners.
Faculty members nominated and selected Tia and Brandon
because of their involvement and leadership in school
activities. The I Dare You Leadership Award was first
offered in 1981 by William H. Danforth, the founder of
the Purina Ralston Company. The award recognizes young
people who have the character and capacities to lead and
challenges them to develop their skills in a
post-secondary setting. The award is sponsored by the
American Youth Foundation which encourages young people
to lead balanced lives and to make a positive difference
in their schools. Both Tia and Brandon are active in our
school by leading the Student Council, Beta Club, and
other organizations. Both students seek to live
according to those ideals that the I Dare You Leadership
Award espouses. They will receive a personalized 81/2 x
11 embossed certificate; a hardback copy of William H.
Danforth's book, I Dare You!; and eligibility to apply
for a scholarship of $400 toward the tuition of $640 to
attend the International Leadership Conference next
summer.
The District 11-AA Basketball Tournament begins on
Monday (February 11) at Milan. Both our boys and girls
finished third in the district to guarantee themselves a
semifinal berth in the tournament and the first round in
the regional tournament to be played the following week
in Bolivar. The teams completed the regular season last
week with close victories at Big Sandy and two losses to
Lexington. The girls finished the regular season at
11-11 while the boys have a 13-11 record. Ironically,
both teams will play Lexington to advance to the
championship game. The girls will play Tuesday night at
8:00 P.M., and the boys will play Thursday at 8:00 P.M.
The girls and boys will play on Friday and Saturday
respectively. Game times depend on the results of the
semifinal games. Come out and support our teams. This is
our first trip to the semifinals of a tournament in
several years. Our dedicated young people deserve the
support of the community.
On March 8, four students from McKenzie High School will
attend the annual Student Congress on Policies in
Education (SCOPE) Conference in Nashville. This
conference, sponsored by the Tennessee School Board
Association, brings together hundreds of students from
across the state to participate in mock school board
meetings, debates, and group discussions. In its 21st
year, SCOPE will have as its theme "America's Strength:
Public Education." Sophomores Kate Hames and Bryan
Huffman and juniors Matthew Holt and Ryan Lacey will
participate in this year's SCOPE activities. The faculty
nominated two students from each sophomore and junior
homeroom and then voted for four students. SCOPE
annually meets at the Tennessee State University, which
does a wonderful job of hosting this forum. The cost of
the local participants is provided by the McKenzie Board
of Education.
On Wednesday, February 13, we will have an assembly at
1:30 in the gymnasium sponsored by the State Department
of Education. This program, entitled "First Person"
began in 1994 to augment the Disease Prevention strand
of the Lifetime Wellness and K-8 Comprehensive School
Health Curriculum in the area of HIV Prevention. This
year's "First Person" speaker is Debbie Runions, a
Humphreys County native. Ms. Runions became infected
with HIV in 1992 and has lived with the AIDS virus since
1995. She has spoken in hundreds of Tennessee public
schools and has reached tens of thousands of young
people with her dynamic message. This program is
particularly appropriate because of the threat and
prevalence of AIDS in our society. In America, two teens
become infected with HIV every hour of the day. HIV
preventive education in high school has to be very
strong and focused. Studies have shown venues that the
HIV preventive message needs to be given repeatedly in
as many difference versions as possible. This assembly
is aimed at HIV prevention and responsible conduct
during the teenage years.
Last fall McKenzie High School nominated Bruce Anderson
for the 2002 Presidential Spirit of Community Award.
This program seeks to acknowledge deserving young people
who commit themselves to volunteer service in their
community. Bruce has shown that commitment in countless
ways. He has helped with the Meals on Wheels program
here in McKenzie. He has also done volunteer work at the
housing projects for two years. Bruce has served on two
church mission trips to New York City and Juarez,
Mexico. In addition, Bruce tutored Hispanic children for
two years at his home church. Bruce has served well and
learned a great deal about community service. Although
he did not place in the national competition, it is
gratifying to see the contribution of this young man to
his community.
This week I completed the filing of our annual report
for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
McKenzie High School has been accredited with SACS since
1954, one of the longest affiliates with SACS of any
school in our area. SACS accreditation means that our
school meets the high standards established by SACS in
regard to certified teachers, curricula and instruction,
and many other areas. Students graduating from a SACS
accredited school have a distinction that other
graduating seniors do not have. Our community can take
pride that our school board funds this accreditation and
demands that we continue to meet the standards set by
SACS.
This is the time of the year that many of our sports
begin to overlap each other. The official date for the
start of our spring sports was Monday, February 11.
McKenzie High School students now have many
opportunities that permit them to participate in TSSAA
interscholastic sports. We have our traditional spring
sports of softball, baseball, and girls' and boys'
tennis. Last year we added track and field to our spring
sports list with impressive results. Thanks to the
McKenzie National Guard and Sergeant David Jarrett, we
have our softball and baseball schedules printed on
flyers that we will distribute throughout the community.
We hope to do something similar for our tennis and track
and field programs for community information. Coaches
for our spring sports are as follows: girls' and boys'
tennis - Tenia King; baseball - Josh Kee, head coach,
and Matt McCaleb, assistant coach; softball - Lori
Pearson, head coach, and Randy Thomas, assistant coach;
and track and field - David Duncan. Our baseball and
softball team will compete in District 11-AA, playing
the same teams as our basketball has played this year.
Our tennis and track and field compete in the A-AA
category with over fifteen teams in our district. Good
luck to them as they begin their season.
School will not be in session for students on February
18 and 19 of next week. We will observe Presidents Day
on Monday, February 18. The following day teachers will
attend a Professional Development Day at the school.
Plans are to investigate some Internet search engines,
upgrade skills in the use of graphing calculators for
the science and math teachers, align curricular maps
with all the changes made in the state curriculum
standards, and other matters germane to our school.
Students will return on Wednesday, February 20. |
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Phone (731) 352-3323 or
Fax (731) 352-3322
washburn@mckenziebanner.com
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