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By MHS Principal Terry Howell |
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Because of the poor weather conditions, we played only
one game last week. On Tuesday, our teams battled the
Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs of Gleason. The girls
scrapped and fought, but fell short of victory. Their
overall record stands at 7-7. The boys played perhaps
their best game of the year and defeated the Bulldogs by
a double-digit margin. With a 3-10 record the boys have
not had the success that they had hoped to have, but are
hopeful that this victory will serve as the initiative
to finish the season well and to perform well in the
district tournament in February.
This week the teams
have two games slated with home games against Milan on
Tuesday and Camden on Friday. Both of these regular
season district games could have a bearing on the
seeding in the district tournament. I encourage everyone
to come to support these young people. We have
tentatively re-scheduled two snowed out games. On
Saturday, February 8, we will travel to
Parsons/Riverside, and on Tuesday, February 11, we will
entertain the Huntingdon Mustangs. Our Homecoming game
will be Friday, February 7, against Big Sandy.
Last Monday, Post 4939 of the McKenzie V.F.W. hosted the
annual Voice of Democracy Script-Writing Contest
banquet. Special guests included the three students who
placed in the contest and the other finalists from our
school. The V.F.W. and the Ladies Auxiliary did a
commendable job in hosting this annual banquet and in
recognizing the accomplishments of these young people.
Matthew Holt and Ashley Brooks did an outstanding job in
presenting their scripts. The scripts addressed the
responsibilities and obligations that young people have
in preserving freedom in America. McKenzie High School
has involved itself with the V.O.D. for over 35 years.
It is an excellent forum for students to hone writing
and speaking skills as well as to think about their role
now and in the future of this great country of ours.
McKenzie High School extends its thanks to the V.F.W.
and Ladies Auxiliary for sponsoring this important
contest.
This week five of our students will participate in the
first session of Youth Leadership Carroll County
sponsored by the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce.
Jennifer Summers, Julie Smith, J. C. Johnsonius, Mark
Anderson, and Jay Taylor will travel to the Chamber of
Commerce office on Wednesday, January 29 to meet with
Brad Hurley and Joel Washburn who have planned the
sessions for this spring. These students will learn a
great deal about the county's businesses and industries,
educational systems, governments, and recreation and
resources while also learning about leadership skills.
Seniors from our school applied for this program in
writing. The five representatives were chosen by an
independent judge not affiliated with the school.
Students have agreed to pay $60.00 to cover the cost of
the program. Youth Leadership Carroll County draws five
students from each of the area high schools to take
advantage of this dynamic program for future leadership
of our county.
On Tuesday, we had our final writing prompt before the
February 4 Writing Assessment. Our students have written
to a prompt for the past five months on a bi-weekly
basis to develop persuasive writing skills. The Writing
Assessment itself is administered to the juniors and is
graded on a scale of 1 to 6 with 6 being the best score.
Our students have had many opportunities to write a
5-paragraph persuasive composition. Teachers have
incorporated this activity into their grading for that
particular class. We hope that we will continue to show
proficiency in this important area. I have pledged to
the students that those who make a 5 on the assessment
will have a pizza and coke party. Those who score 6 will
join me in a meal off campus.
An important date next week is Thursday, February 6. We
will have our Parent-Teacher Conference from 3:30 - 7:00
P.M. on this date for our spring semester. I encourage
all parents to meet with teachers so that a strong
partnership might form for this half of the year. It is
our goal that at least 75% of all parents attend the
Parent-Teacher Conference. We feel that the greater the
communication, the greater likelihood a student will
succeed. Please make plans to attend this important
meeting.
Several members of our band will attend the tryouts for
the West Tennessee Honors Band at the University of
Tennessee at Martin on February 6, 7, and 8. This
competition will be for the various chairs of a large
orchestra composed of students across West Tennessee.
Generally, two bands are created from the talented
students who seek chairs through the competition. Middle
school and high school band director Keith Breeden will
accompany students on this trip.
On Thursday, twenty (20) of our students will go to the
University of Tennessee at Martin to compete in the
Business Professionals of America (BPA) contest. These
20 students will compete in a number of different areas
for the right to advance to the state level. The
competition was originally scheduled Thursday of last
week, but was postponed because of inclement weather.
On Monday, ten of our football players attended the
All-Region Banquet at Huntingdon Middle School. Honorees
from McKenzie who earned this distinction were Cody
Cook, Matt Merrick, Jay Taylor, Brian Winston, Brad
Campbell, Daniel Duncan, John Craig Howell, Matt Jones,
John Kermit Laughrey, and Ricky Mathis. Cody was named
the Offensive Player of the Year. Ricky was chosen the
Player of the Year for Region 6-AA. Congratulations to
these young men, their coaches, and their parents who
also attended the banquet. |
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