Excellence in Education

By Staff
Nov. 14, 2002
Three students from the Naval Air Station Meridian-East Mississippi Community College extension program have been named to Who's Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges: Dawn Michele Manning, Theresa Marie Walters and Christopher Preston.
Manning, of Allentown, Penn., is a business major. She has served in the U.S. Navy for 23 years and is a chief petty officer. She is also a member of the international honor society Phi Theta Kappa. She is married to Jeff Manning.
Preston, of Ellenton, Fla., is a secondary education major. He serves in active duty in the Marine Corps. He is married to Kelly Preston, and they have two children, Tyler and Savannah. He is the son of Jack and Christine Rice.
Walters, of Boston, is an elementary education major. She has served as a military air traffic controller chief for 18 years. She is married to Robert L. Walters and they have two sons, Robby and Blake.
Campus nominating committees and editors of the annual directory included the names of these students based on their academic achievement, service to the community, leadership in extracurricular activities and potential for continued success.
They join an elite group of students from more than 1,400 institutions of higher learning in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and several foreign nations.
Brenda Edwards, Witherspoon Elementary School principal, has been named to the State Superintendent's Principal Advisory Committee by Dr. Henry Johnson, state superintendent of education. Edwards was nominated by Dr. Janet McLin, Meridian Public Schools superintendent.
Antoinette "Toni" Williams of Bay Springs has received the National Leadership and Service Award from the United States Achievement Academy, and has been inducted into the 2002-2003 National Honor Roll.
Williams, a junior at Bay Springs High School, has also been awarded the Shakespeare Trophy of Excellence and the 2002 Poet of the Year Medallion for her poem, "Colors of the Unicorn." Williams and her mother, Lois Williams, attended the Famous Poets Eighth Annual Poetry Convention in Orlando, Fla.
This is not the first time that Williams has been cited for academic excellence. In 2000, she was recognized with the National English Merit Award and the National Leadership and Service Award. Also in 2001, she received the United States National Mathematics Award, the National Science Merit Award and was named All-American Scholar for her achievements in science.
She is the daughter of Howard and Lois Williams, formerly of Lauderdale County.