| |
| |
|
By MHS Principal Terry Howell |
| |
|
The Class of 2003 will have its commencement
exercises on Friday, May 16, at 8:00 P.M. at the high
school gymnasium. This group is the 79th graduating
class of the McKenzie Special School District. The class
has 24 honor graduates, those students who have
distinguished themselves with a 92 or above average for
the eight semesters of their high school careers. The
class also has 23 members of the Beta Club, our school's
most prestigious academic and service organization.
Class president Jay Taylor, salutatorian Ryan Lacey, and
valedictorian Matthew Holt will address the audience. Of
the 87 members of the graduating class, 9 plan to enter
the work force, 11 to join the military, 11 to attend a
technical school, 18 to attend a 2-year college, and 38
to attend a 4-year college or university. Graduation is
an exciting time in the life of a young person. As
always, I ask that each person in attendance respect our
students and the ceremony itself by acting in a
dignified manner. They have earned that and more for
their hard work to reach this level.
Semester exams for underclasses will begin on Tuesday,
May 20. Students will have their 1st and 4th Block tests
on Tuesday. On Wednesday, May 21, students will take
their 2nd and 3rd Block tests. Wednesday will be a
half-day with the buses running at 11:15 A.M. On Friday,
May 23, students may come for their report cards between
12:00 P.M. and 2:30 P.M. Students may also leave a
stamped, self-addressed envelope with their homeroom
teachers if they want the report card mailed.
On Monday, the juniors met with Don Hayes regarding
senior pictures. These are usually done in the summer
months as students travel to Bradford to Mr. Hayes'
studio. On Monday, students set up times to have their
senior photographs done. Mr. Hayes does do our senior
picture composite and those who want to be included in
this must have a photograph done for this at his
customary rate.
The baseball team ended its season last week in District
11-AA action. On Tuesday the Rebels defeated Riverside
8-3 behind the strong pitching of Drew Hayes and home
runs powered by Jay Taylor and Demerick Diggs. Taylor
and Diggs again homered on Thursday against Camden as
the Rebels won 10-4. Drew Hayes, Mark Ghyers, and Jay
Taylor all had two hits to help the team score in double
digits. Senior Brian Winston scattered seven hits to
pick up the win. The Rebels had to play a second game on
Thursday against the defending state champions Lexington
Tigers. At the end of six innings, Lexington held a
seemingly comfortable 7-2 lead, but the Rebels rallied
in the seventh to score four runs. With runners on the
corners and two outs, the Lexington closer managed to
get the final out to end the game and the Rebels'
season. The game also ended the season for four seniors:
Demerick Diggs, Matt Jones, Jay Taylor, and Brian
Winston. Each contributed significantly and will be
missed next year. The Rebels end the season with a 12-12
overall record.
The softball team played top-seeded Camden this week in
district softball action. The Lady Rebels held on to a
tenuous 3-2 lead, but soon that changed with some timely
Lady Lion hitting in the sixth inning. The Lady Rebels
fell behind 4-3 and could not manage any runs in their
half of the seventh to go down in defeat. Sophomore
Brittany Carpenter pitched very well and the Lady Rebel
defense played brilliantly at times, but nothing short
of a near perfect game is good enough against the
aggressive bats and strong defense of Camden. The
softball team defeated Riverside 9-3 on Friday to earn a
spot in the championship bracket against Camden. In the
win, the Lady Rebels were led by Jalisa Brown who went
2-3 with a triple. On Saturday, they faced top seeded
Camden. After the region-qualifying win on Friday, the
Lady Rebels played a little flat and lost to the home
team 3-0. Their overall record stands at 19-16. On
Monday, the team was scheduled to play on the road
against Jackson South Side. All games are now sudden
death, a loss means the end of the season. Good luck to
them in regional action.
Last Friday the track teams competed in the regional
track meet at U.S.J. For the boys team, we have these
results: 4th place in the 3200 meter relay team - Kent
Ozment, Caleb Owen, Greg Pruitt, and Ty Winkler; 7th
place in the 400-meter relay - Brandon Cook, Andrew
Cross, Daniel Duncan, and Randy Lacey; 7th place in the
800-meter relay - Clint Anderson, Lee Barham, Matt
Blaylock, and John Craig Howell; and 8th place in the
400 meter run - Brandon Cook. The relay team of Ozment,
Owen, Pruitt, and Winkler qualified for the sectional
meet. The girl's teams had these results: 1st place
discus - Julie Smith; 1st place long jump - Renee
Crawley; 3rd place shot put - Renee Crawley; 2nd place
800-meter run - Sarah Hartz; 3rd place 1600-meter relay
- Renee Crawley, Mallory Brandon, Amber King, and Julie
Smith; 3rd place 3200-meter relay - Mallory Brandon,
Kimberly Gaskins, Amber King, and Crystal Mann; 4th
place 400-meter relay - Mallory Brandon, Renee Crawley,
Sarah Hartz, and Julie Smith; 4th place high jump -
Julie Smith; 6th place high jump - Renee Crawley; and
7th place high hurdles - Lucy Snead. All individual and
teams that finished in the top four qualified for the
sectionals. Our girls' team placed 4th out of 18 teams
with 70 points. The sectionals will be this Thursday at
Raleigh-Egypt High School in Memphis. Good luck to all
of our student-athletes who have qualified for the
sectional meet.
The MHS band competed in the West Tennessee Strawberry
Festival Parade on Friday and did quite well. They
brought home the first place trophy and overall
Sweepstakes trophy for the parade. Also, the auxiliary
girls earned the 3rd place overall trophy out of 14
participating. This is the first time for the band to
win back to back Sweepstakes' trophies in the spring
parades. Well done! |
|
