Excellence in Education

By Staff
Robert McWilliams Smith, farm machinery instructor at West Lauderdale High School, has been selected for inclusion in the seventh edition of Who's Who Among American Teachers, 2002.
Smith has 20 years of teaching experience in Kemper and Lauderdale counties. He was nominated for the honor by Ryan Boykin, a West Lauderdale student.
Smith is a resident of the Kipling community in Kemper County. His wife, Mary M. Smith, works at East Mississippi Community College. The Smiths have two sons, Rob Smith, a teacher at West Point Vocational Center and Jonathan Smith, a forestry research specialist.
This year's West Lauderdale High School yearbook was dedicated to Smith.
Steven Lee Cooksey received his Certified Public Accountant certificate of licensure from State Board of Public Accountancy in a ceremony held earlier this year.
Cooksey has a bachelor's degree in accounting from Mississippi State University and is employed with Rea, Shaw, Griffin &Stuart, CPAs.
He is the son of Donald and Nellie Cooksey of Meridian and is married to Tracy Cooksey.
Members of Meridian Community College's Phi Beta Lambda Chapter brought home four awards, including a second place, from the organization's national leadership conference in Nashville, Tenn.
Taking second place in the parliamentary procedure competition were team members Greg Adams, Kathy Avera, Lakesha Beamon and Tuandelia Williams. In the network design team award, Kendall Brown, Matt Dearman and Shelby Proaps won fourth place.
Aaron Wilson was a double winner; he received third place in visual basic programming and eighth place in information management.
Arnsdorff said the chapter itself garnered honors, including the Hollis and Kitty Guy Gold Seal Chapter Award of Merit and the Gold Key Chapter recognition.
Phi Beta Lambda is an educational association of students preparing for careers in business-related fields. It has more than 10,000 members.
Meridian Community College Industrial Maintenance Program student Chad Thompson won second place in the national Skills USA Vocational Industrial Clubs of America contest held in Kansas City, Mo.
He earned a silver medal in the sheet metal division. MCC Drafting and Design student Richard Brennaman placed seventh in the contest's architectural drafting category. MCC student Aaron Sibley also competed in the mechatronics division.
More than 4,000 students participated in the national event that featured 75 different skill categories, said Olin Thomas, MCC's VICA adviser and Construction Trades Program instructor.
The event was held June 24-28. Jerry Humphreys, VICA adviser and program coordinator for the Industrial Maintenance Program, along with Thomas, escorted the students to the competition.
OXFORD The following students from the University of Mississippi were named to the Dean's List.
A grade point average ranging from 3.5 to 3.74 is required for full-time students carrying at least 12 semester hours for listing on the Dean's Honor Roll.
Area students on the list were: Susannah Bennett Speed, Jennifer Leigh Barry, Suzanne Patton Herron, Jennifer Hester Russell, Diana Frances Semmes, Fred Ryan Truesdale, Matthew Johnson Willis, Ralphe Ramon Braden, Jennifer Leann Chesney, Melissa Ann Smith, Scottye Elizabeth Carter, Regan Jill Aycock, Denise Ladale Larrabee and David Paxton Jones, all of Meridian; and Matthew Scott Brashier and Georgianne E. Patterson, both of Collinsville.
NEW ORLEANS Bronwyn Welsh of Union was named to the Dean's List for the 2002 spring semester at Loyola University New Orleans.
Meridian's Hearty Forties Social Club has announced its Class of 2002 scholarship and book grant winners: Phoema Dubra, Kristen Hairston, Tabitha Parker and Candice Wynne, all Meridian High School graduates.
Dubra plans to attend the University of Southern Mississippi and major in speech/language pathology. She is the daughter of Charlotte Dubra.
Hairston plans to attend the University of Southern Mississippi and major in computer science. She is the daughter of Myron and Carol Hairston.
Parker plans to attend Meridian Community College, later transferring to Mississippi State University, where she plans to major in elementary education. She is the daughter of Albert and Martha Parker.
Wynne plans to attend Alcorn State University and major in psychology. She is the daughter of John and Brenda Wynne.
Wilson "DeShon" Christian was one of 25 students to attend the 2002 Health Career Explorer Project hosted by Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Perkinston June 2-27.
Christian, a 10th grade honor student at Northeast High School, was nominated by school counselor Debbie Robertson and Allied Health Teacher Janet Trawick to receive the vocational scholarship.
The Health Career Explorer Project is co-sponsored by MGCCC and a Rural Health grant. The intensive, four-week summer program gives high school students a chance to attend college and experience campus life and earn college credit for classes in anatomy and physiology and study skills.
The students also work side by side with doctors, nurses and other health professionals during faculty-supervised visits to local hospitals.
Christian aspires to become a heart surgeon. He is the son of Wilson and Gloria Christian and is the grandson of Daisy and Henderson Christian of Marion, and Clovis and Annie Wright of Meridian.v