Good Things Are Happening in the Starkville School District
By Brother Rogers
Lost in the recent controversy surrounding the leadership of the Starkville School District is the fact that students and faculty are busy wrapping up another successful school year. We must not lose sight of the big picture. Students in Starkville are receiving a high quality education and unique opportunities to develop their abilities. The class of 2011 has received over $3 million in scholarships and will send well-prepared graduates to colleges across the nation.
Starkville’s students and teachers compete well against the best-of-the-best in Mississippi and the nation in every competition from academics to athletics to extracurricular activities. Our community can be proud of the way we are represented.
The Starkville High School Band traveled to Disneyworld, where they won the Golden Mickey Trophy for the highest scoring marching unit at the contest and had the third highest score out of 33 bands from throughout the nation that participated. In statewide competition, band director Shawn Sullivan reported that the band won straight superior ratings in every contest they entered.
R.J. Morgan is the 2011 Teacher of the Year for Mississippi’s Third Congressional District and a finalist for Mississippi Teacher of the Year. He advises the SHS journalism staff which won a total of 23 awards, including eight top honors at the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association awards ceremony.
After leading the Yellowjackets to the 2010 state championship, SHS basketball coach Greg Carter was named Mississippi Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Ten SHS singers were selected to perform with the All State Honor Choir, and choral director Regina Weeks is the 2010-2011 Mississippi Music Educator of the Year.
The SHS Drama Department’s production of “The Purple Fan” received numerous awards and accolades at the Mississippi Theatre Association, including first place show, earning them their first trip to the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) in Atlanta since 1997.
The SHS Art Department has won more accolades over the years than probably any other in Mississippi. SHS art students brought home numerous awards again at the 2011 State Scholastic Awards, with a number of students claiming top honors.
Congressman Gregg Harper recently announced that SHS student Margaret George is the overall winner of the 2011 Third District Congressional Art Competition. George’s entry is entitled “Reflections of My Grandmother” and will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year beginning in June. Last year, SHS’s LaTonya Alexandria Lark won this award, and her work is currently hanging in the U.S. Capitol.
SHS students swept the photography category in the Congressional Art Competition with Hall Sullivan earning 1st and 3rd place, and George Bennett earning 2nd place.
Speaking of Washington, D.C., eight students from Armstrong Middle School are traveling there in June to the National History Day competition as winners in the Mississippi History Fair.
Twenty-one Starkville students earned top honors in the Mississippi PTA Reflections Art Contest. These students won awards in literature, musical composition, photography, and visual arts.
The list above is by no means comprehensive, just ones I know about from this school year. It does demonstrate excellence and achievement at the state and national levels. These winners are part of a long tradition of success in the Starkville School District. As important as the top district leaders are, this success represents hard work by students, parents, teachers, staff and administrators in Starkville who together make our public schools strong. Go Jackets!
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works for the Stennis Center for Public Service.
Lost in the recent controversy surrounding the leadership of the Starkville School District is the fact that students and faculty are busy wrapping up another successful school year. We must not lose sight of the big picture. Students in Starkville are receiving a high quality education and unique opportunities to develop their abilities. The class of 2011 has received over $3 million in scholarships and will send well-prepared graduates to colleges across the nation.
Starkville’s students and teachers compete well against the best-of-the-best in Mississippi and the nation in every competition from academics to athletics to extracurricular activities. Our community can be proud of the way we are represented.
The Starkville High School Band traveled to Disneyworld, where they won the Golden Mickey Trophy for the highest scoring marching unit at the contest and had the third highest score out of 33 bands from throughout the nation that participated. In statewide competition, band director Shawn Sullivan reported that the band won straight superior ratings in every contest they entered.
R.J. Morgan is the 2011 Teacher of the Year for Mississippi’s Third Congressional District and a finalist for Mississippi Teacher of the Year. He advises the SHS journalism staff which won a total of 23 awards, including eight top honors at the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association awards ceremony.
After leading the Yellowjackets to the 2010 state championship, SHS basketball coach Greg Carter was named Mississippi Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Ten SHS singers were selected to perform with the All State Honor Choir, and choral director Regina Weeks is the 2010-2011 Mississippi Music Educator of the Year.
The SHS Drama Department’s production of “The Purple Fan” received numerous awards and accolades at the Mississippi Theatre Association, including first place show, earning them their first trip to the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) in Atlanta since 1997.
The SHS Art Department has won more accolades over the years than probably any other in Mississippi. SHS art students brought home numerous awards again at the 2011 State Scholastic Awards, with a number of students claiming top honors.
Congressman Gregg Harper recently announced that SHS student Margaret George is the overall winner of the 2011 Third District Congressional Art Competition. George’s entry is entitled “Reflections of My Grandmother” and will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year beginning in June. Last year, SHS’s LaTonya Alexandria Lark won this award, and her work is currently hanging in the U.S. Capitol.
SHS students swept the photography category in the Congressional Art Competition with Hall Sullivan earning 1st and 3rd place, and George Bennett earning 2nd place.
Speaking of Washington, D.C., eight students from Armstrong Middle School are traveling there in June to the National History Day competition as winners in the Mississippi History Fair.
Twenty-one Starkville students earned top honors in the Mississippi PTA Reflections Art Contest. These students won awards in literature, musical composition, photography, and visual arts.
The list above is by no means comprehensive, just ones I know about from this school year. It does demonstrate excellence and achievement at the state and national levels. These winners are part of a long tradition of success in the Starkville School District. As important as the top district leaders are, this success represents hard work by students, parents, teachers, staff and administrators in Starkville who together make our public schools strong. Go Jackets!
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News and works for the Stennis Center for Public Service.