Excellence in Education

By Staff
August 26, 2004
Terrance D. Smith of Meridian has received the Buster Pool Memorial Scholarship to attend the University of Georgia.
The scholarship was presented by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, a charitable organization that benefits nonprofits serving those in need in 40 Middle Tennessee counties.
The foundation has awarded 35 scholarships, valued at $106,230, to 89 individuals pursuing higher education in accredited schools in the U.S. Scholarship amounts range from $500 to $2,500 and assist students with tuition and other school-related expenses.
Each year the foundation scholarship committee, composed of 12 people from various professional backgrounds, reviews applications on behalf of donors who entrust the foundation with administering their annual awards.
Kim Cleveland, a senior at Union High School, recently received a $1,000 Samsung American Legion Scholarship available to students who attend America Legion Boys or Girls State and are descendants of war veterans.
Cleveland's grandfather, Billy Gene Rice, fought in the Korean War.
Cleveland's application will compete in Washington, D.C., against 99 other applicants for one of nine scholarships worth $20,000 each. At Union High School, she is involved in tennis, band, the Beta Club and several other school organizations.
She is the daughter of Jerry and Cindy Cleveland.
Tom Tutor, a 1969 Meridian High School graduate, has been accepted into the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program for 2005.
Tutor attended the University of Mississippi and graduated with a major in English and Mathematics. In 1999, Tutor earned a master's of education degree from the University of Maine.
He has lived on Isleboro, an island off midcoast of Maine, for 27 years, and has taught at the Islesboro Central School for 13 years.
His Fulbright assignment will take him to Hershel, South Africa, a village of about 500 in the foothills of the Drakensburg Mountains for the entire calendar year of 2005.
There, he will teach in a public school of 200 students of the Xhosa tribe. In South Africa, there are 11 official languages including Xhosa but all secondary education is conducted in English.
Tutor will take his family along for the year's stay including his sons, Dan, 19; T.L., 15; Jesse, 10; and his wife, Sue Hatch.
He is the son of J.B. and Katherine Tutor of Meridian.
Ricky Clark Jr. of Meridian recently received the Sam Walton Community Scholarship to attend the University of Southern Mississippi where he plans to pursue a degree in history.
Clark is a graduate of West Lauderdale High School. He was president of the Student Council; vice president of his senior class; Junior Honor Society treasurer; National Honor Society member; district, regional and state reading fair winner; and drum major of the marching band his junior year.
He graduated 12th in his class and sang the National Anthem at graduation. He is a member of West Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church and he sings in several choirs.