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By MHS Principal Terry Howell |
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The 300 Hallway outside the art room had a full
complement of art for the annual Year-In-Review Art
Exhibit. Ms. Corbin does a masterful job in developing
the artistic abilities of our students. This exhibit
featured some of the best student work for the year.Those selected as winners in the pencil category are as
follows: 1st Place, James Carter; 2nd Place, Lucy Snead;
and 3rd Place, Kyle Seavers. The winners in the Ink
Category were 1st Place, John Kermit Laughrey; 2nd
Place, Justin Permenter; and 3rd Place, Mary Sherrod.
Selected in Charcoal/Pastels were 1st Place, Kyle
Seavers; 2nd Place, Zach Drye; and 3rd Place, Brittani
Bright. The Watercolor Category had James Carter, 1st
Place; Sonia Gonzalez, 2nd Place; and Jessica Mitchum,
3rd Place. In the Acrylic Division we had these winners:
Brittani Bright , 1st Place; John Kermit Laughrey, 2nd
Place; and Cody Brown, 3rd Place. Finally, John Kermit
Laughrey won 1st Place, Lucy Snead won 2nd Place, and
Brad Campbell won 3rd Place in the Miscellaneous Media
Division. Congratulations to all of these students and
their outstanding finished works of art.
The baseball team had several players receive
post-season recognition. Senior pitcher and infielder
Brian Winston, senior infielder Jay Taylor, and freshman
pitcher and shortstop Drew Hayes were named to the All
District and All Tournament teams for District 11-AA.
Each of these young men had outstanding seasons. Brian
signed a baseball scholarship with Bethel College last
week to continue his baseball career. Jay will enter
U.T.M. this fall to pursue academic interests. Drew has
an enormous amount of ability and will continue to play
three sports here at McKenzie High School.
The Homerun Club hosted the annual baseball banquet at
the Oasis Room at Bethel College on Thursday, May 15.
Club president Greg Jones presented each player with a
trophy of participation and spoke about the season
itself. Coach Josh Kee also presented players with a
certificate of participation. Each senior received a
gift from the school for their dedication to the team.
Coach Kee recognized the 12-12 season of the team and
praised the senior leadership of the team. He then
recognized the award winners for the season. They were
as follows: Jay Taylor - Slugger Award, Rebel Award, and
Senior Academic Award; Brice Priestly - Team First
Award; Mark Ghyers - Most Improved Player Award;
Demerick Diggs - Best Defense Award; Matt Jones and
Daniel Hollowell - Hustle Award; Drew Hayes and Brian
Winston, Pitchers of the Year; and Brian Winston, Most
Valuable Player. Congratulations to these players.
The girls softball team played in the semifinals of the
Region 6-AA tournament in Jackson on Monday against
Jackson Southside, the District 12-AA Champion. Playing
quality ball the Lady Rebels rode the strong pitching of
Brittany Carpenter, two RBI's by Jalisa Brown, and an
RBI by Kristan Wiggins to advance to the Region 6-AA
Championship game against Camden. In that game, the Lady
Rebels squandered several scoring opportunities and were
victimized by some errors and Camden's superior defense
to fall to the Lady Lions for the fifth time this year.
The score of 4-0 could have been much different with a
break here or there, but Camden proved to be the better
team again. Named to the All-Tournament Team were
sophomores, Brittany Carpenter and Carol Perritt and
senior Kristan Wiggins. On Friday, May 16, the team
traveled to Marshall County in substate action. Playing
without four key players because of conflict with
graduation, the Lady Rebels fell 4-0, but represented
themselves and the school well. The team finished with
20 wins, a substate berth, and one step away from the
Spring Fling. Congratulations to the team and our
coaches for a great year.
In February, our juniors took the state-mandated Writing
Assessment. The results came back last week and were
better than last year's. Eighty-six juniors wrote to the
prompt provided by the state. Of that number, sixty (60)
achieved proficiency. The Writing Assessment is scored
on a scale of 1-6 with 6 being the highest. Four
students earned this high mark. Twenty-four (24)
received a score of 5. Forty-four (44) students received
a score of 4. Our overall average for the test was 4.07.
This average and the number earning proficient scores
far exceed both categories the previous year. I
attribute this to several factors. First, I think the
junior class is strong academically. That makes the
learning process much easier. Equally as important,
however, is that this is the second year that we have
had bi-weekly writing to a prompt in our classes. This
gives all of our students experience in the persuasive
writing technique. They are much more comfortable and
knowledgeable in taking this type of an assessment and
it shows. I do appreciate the faculty making this a
priority and sacrificing some of their subject area
instruction to address improving this key skill.
Wednesday is a half-day for students who take their
Second and Third Block tests. Our bus students will be
dismissed at 11:15 A.M. and 11:20 A.M. for everyone
else. On Friday, students may get report cards from
10:00 to 12:00 P.M. We do have information about summer
school opportunities for those needing to make-up failed
classes. Call the guidance office.
As the year closes, I want to thank the McKenzie Banner
again for printing this weekly article. I hope that it
serves the purpose of communicating to the community
many of the happenings at our school. I hope everyone
has a safe and restful summer. |
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