Excellence in Education

By Staff
April 25, 2003
Dave C. Hicks and David R. Culpepper have been named STAR students for the 2003-2003 school year by the Mississippi Economic Council's M.B. Swayze Educational Foundation.
The Lamar High School seniors will be honored today during the 13th Annual Educational Celebration at Mississippi College in Clinton. This prestigious event is co-sponsored by Entergy.
STAR students are selected on the basis of academic excellence. Both American College Test scores and scholastic averages are reviewed.
Each STAR student is asked to designate a STAR teacher who has made the greatest contribution to the his or her scholastic achievement.
Margaret L. Nicholson and Ree J. Pollman were designated STAR teachers.
Nearly 500 STAR students and STAR teachers will be recognized at today's celebration. The top 20 STAR students the All-STAR Scholars and their STAR teachers will receive scholarships from the Kelly Gene Cook Sr. Charitable Foundation.
The highlight of the Education Celebration will be the naming of the Mississippi STAR Student for 2003, winner of the coveted $24,000 Cook Foundation Scholarship.
Emily Snowden, LaBaron Hedgemon and Eva Lockhart were recently named to the William Carey College president's and dean's lists for the winter trimester.
Ty Dowden, a senior at Newton County High School, has been named a semi-finalist for the National Beta Scholarship. Dowden competed in a field of more than 1,200 students.
Kathy Pearce, Beta sponsor, said 343 were chosen for this honor and that Dowden is one of 21 recipients from Mississippi.
Dowden is the 2003 Newton County High School Beta president as well as the senior editor for the Beta Scrapbook, which placed second at the Mississippi Beta Convention.
Dowden was also an editor for the scrapbook last year, when it placed second in the state and first in the nation. She has been actively involved in Beta for four years with more than 190 service honors in this year alone.
She has been a member of Mu Alpha Theta for three years and the math team for one year. She placed in the top 5 percent at the Mississippi College Science and Math Tournament. She has also been a member of the student council for four years.
Dowden has been selected for the state's Baptist Honors Choir for the second year. She has been a member of the chorus for four years.
Dowden has been a member of the Newton County High School Show Choir for four years. She has been a member of the band for four years and is currently serving as an officer.
She takes an active part in the youth programs at Hickory Baptist Church and has participated in mission trips to South Carolina and New Orleans.