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By Terry Howell
McKenzie High School Principal |
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The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA)
Board of Control met last Tuesday to set districts and
regions for the next four years as a result of
reclassification. Our school has a student population
that has placed us in Class A in football as well as
basketball, baseball, and softball. The football region
that we now belong includes these schools: Gleason,
Greenfield, Hollow Rock - Bruceton Central, Lake County,
McKenzie, South Fulton, Union City, and West Carroll.
Region 7-A promises to produce some good football and
have many teams capable of vying for playoff positions.
District 13-A, our basketball district, matches our
school against Big Sandy, Carroll Academy, Clarksburg,
Hollow-Rock Bruceton Central, Huntingdon, and West
Carroll. Again, the district appears to be wide-open for
any team that practices hard and plays well.
In all other sports, we will compete in A-AA
District-13 with teams from Adamsville, Big Sandy,
Camden, Carroll Academy, Clarksburg, Hollow-Rock
Bruceton Central, Huntingdon, Jackson Christian School,
Jackson Northside, Lexington, Liberty Magnet, Riverside,
South Hill, Trinity Christian, University School of
Jackson, and West Carroll. Our golf, tennis, soccer
teams, and cross county teams will compete in this
division. Track will compete in the western region
including Memphis. We are pleased with the new
classification and district/region alignment. We have
labored under a difficult placement for the past four
years. We now can compete with schools more clearly
aligned with our student enrollment.
Last Thursday several members of the HOSA (Health
Occupations Students of America) handed out information
packets about the dangers of smoking. This activity was
part of a service project aimed at enlightening young
people about the dangers of smoking and the attendant
dangers of second hand smoking. The information packets
included such information as second-hand smoking causing
up to 300,000 lung infections in infants and young
children annually, second-hand smoking as the leading
cause of middle ear infections in children, the fact
that spending 30 minutes breathing second hand smoke can
do as much damage to the heart of a non-smoker as that
of a smoker, and the fact that second-hand smoking is a
link to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Participating in
this science project here at the high school were Rema
Salemah, Naomi Street, and Kayla Taylor. These students
are currently enrolled in the vocational classes in
Huntingdon that deal with health care and related
issues. I appreciate their educating our students about
a severe health problem.
Ms. Herrin has scheduled a College Information Night on
Tuesday, November 30, at 7:00 P.M. in the Theater. She
will discuss several topics that are relevant for this
year's seniors. Ms. Herrin will discuss the necessary
ACT score for college admission to state-supported
schools. She will also discuss college entrance
requirements and the university pathway obligations of
our seniors. She will relate the current cost of a
college education in Tennessee at a state school and
will help parents and students determine approximate
costs at private college and universities. Ms. Herrin
will briefly touch on financial aid, the FAFSA, and Pell
Grants. She will have a later session that deals
exclusively with this topic in January. Also, of
interest, she will relate many available scholarships
and the websites to search for scholarships. The most
notable and widespread scholarships available for
seniors is the Hope Scholarship funded by the Tennessee
State Lottery Commission. With all the guidelines and
provisions of this scholarship, parents and students
should attend this session for this information alone.
It has changed somewhat from last year so interested
parties need to be here for the presentation.
The football banquet recognizing the 2004 football team
and cheerleaders has been set for Monday, January 10. We
will announce individual award winners, lettermen, and
participants for the season. The Touchdown Club has
traditionally funded and supported this end-of-the-year
event. They met last Sunday to discuss the particulars
of the banquet and program.
The local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4939 recently
completed the local selection process of the Voice of
Democracy Script-Writing Contest. Our school has
participated in this event for over 30 years and has had
numerous district winners. This year's theme,
Celebrating our Veterans' Services, challenged our
students to write a 3-5 minutes script giving their
personal interpretation of the theme. Judges evaluated
the speeches according to content, delivery, and style.
This year we had over 75 students from McKenzie High
School who prepared scripts. Of that number, 18 recorded
their scripts for competition. Selected as winners were
Virginia Hames (First Place) and John Kermit Laughrey
(Second Place). English teachers Jo Ann Elam and Zia
McKennie coordinated the program here at our school.
V.F.W. members George Howton and Tracy Smith assisted
the school in the judging phase. As always, we had the
services of Argel Reynolds to record the scripts for the
judges. Congratulations to Virginia and John Kermit.
The basketball teams competed in the Huntingdon Jamboree
on Saturday against Bruceton. These events are occasions
to get over the jitters before the season begins. On
Tuesday, November 23, we will play Clarksburg in a
non-district season opener. We will have several days
off for the Thanksgiving break and will resume our
schedule on December 2 with road games against West
Carroll. On December 6, we will travel to Huntingdon and
then return to our home court on December 7 with games
against Bruceton.
Congratulations to the MHS Cheerleaders. For the third
year in a row, they placed first in the TSSAA Division I
Cheerleading Competition in the Cheer, Non-Building
Division. This years cheerleaders are seniors Brandi
Burke and Rachael Clark; junior Callan Hayes;
sophomores, Wendy Brown, Rachel Chandler, Heather
Huffman, Anna Smith, and Jenna Smith; freshmen, Lauren
Flippin, Beth Hollowell, Josie Jarrett, and Samantha
Wheat. The cheerleader sponsor is Audra Henderson. These
students and sponsor worked long hours to prepare for
the competition. Congratulations for their skill and
hard work.
School will not be in session on November 24-26 to
observe Thanksgiving holiday. We will resume class on
Monday, November 29.
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