Archives
 By  Staff Reports Published 
11:28 pm Wednesday, April 25, 2001

Excellence in education

By Staff
April 19, 2001
HATTIESBURG Kimberly Amanda Burden, a senior psychology major at the University of Southern Mississippi, received an Academic Achievement Award for Academic Excellence, an Outstanding Scholastic Achievement and Excellence Membership in the Golden Key National Honor Society, she is a lifetime member of Psi Chi National Honor Society in Psychology, a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta National Academic Honor Society and has an Outstanding Scholastic Achievement and Worthy Character membership in the chapter of The Gamma Beta Phi Society.
She is a 1998 graduate of Meridian High School and is the daughter of Charles Burden of Meridian and Amanda and Jimmy Shelton of Toomsuba.
April Hand of Meridian has been named an All-American Scholar by the United States Achievement Academy.
The All-American Scholars must earn a 3.3 or higher grade point average.
Hand attends Clarkdale and was nominated by Mrs. Rainer. She will appear in the All-American Scholar Yearbook.
Hand is the daughter of Larry and Brenda Hand of Meridian.
JACKSON Julie Skipper of Meridian was selected for membership in Phi Beta Kappa at Millsaps College.
The honor society recognizes and encourages excellence in liberal arts.
Skipper, a senior majoring in art history, is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Sigma Tau Delta and Order or Omega honoraries. She plans to attend Vanderbilt University Law School after graduation from Millsaps.
She is the daughter of Ed and Phyllis Skipper of Meridian.
Keri McDill, a junior at Newton County High School, received a perfect score on the Functional Literacy Examination, the exiting exam for graduating seniors.
Brandon Harper of Meridian has been named a United States National Award Winner in Leadership.
Harper attends Southeast High School and was nominated for the award by Cheryl Bean. He will appear in the United States Achievement Academy Official Yearbook.
Harper is the son of Marty and Patsy Harper of Meridian.
Sarah M. Balzli has been named to the Dean's Honor List for the fall semester at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Balzli spent the fall semester studying at the University of Notre Dame's London campus in Great Britain. Sarah is a junior majoring in English and is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Tom Balzli of Meridian.
The following Clarkdale students were named to the Honor Roll for the third nine weeks:
First Grade
Dylan Agent, Luke Birchett, Tyler Bye, John Caldwell, Brandi Caraway, Kennedy Castleberry, Harley Cochran, Sydney Dawkins, Paige Floyd, Paige Gower, Alexandria Harwell, Chad Hinton, Jessica Jackson, Aaron Jones, Slater Lott, Bailey McElroy, Michael Moody, Katelyn Shirley, Morgan Slusher, Raven Stephens, Matthew Taylor, Gregory Thomas, Ashley Tinsley, Brettany Waltman and Jacob Welborn.
Second Grade
Ashley Garrett, Thomas Graham, Katie Gunter, Emily Hodge, Jordan Hodgins, Lauren Lewis, Tyler Lott, Richie Miska, Ashley Ramey, Trevor Robinson, Tyler Robinson, Luke Smith, Daphne Smith, Cristyn Spann, Christopher Stuckman and Casey Tyson.
Third Grade
Erin Adcock, Dillon Boatner, Jallena Coffman, Katherine Gibson, Tyler Gibson, Kasey Hinton, Alexandria Joines, Jonathan McMillan, Michael Peavy, Marisa Potate and Margaret Walker.
Fourth Grade
Courtney Castleberry, Victoria Fant, Stephanie Felton, Anthony Fortin, Suzanne Opel, Alexis Robinson, Lauren Rogers, Bronson Salazar, Katie Sanders, Tyler Waltman and Olivia Whitlock.
Fifth Grade
Clark Boatner, Kylie Cumberland, Michael Green, Mac Hamburg, Elizabeth Harris, Shelby Harris, Jessica Nester, Briana Ricker, Lauren Robinson, Kevin Satcher, Jeremy Sirven, Justin Sollie, Brittany Spears, Amanda Tomerlin and Ryan Wiegand.
Sixth Grade
Trevor Allen, Christina Benson, Laraven Brooks, Kylie Gibson, Tyler Greer, Andrea McLaughlin, Kristin Monsour, Ashlea Pettengill, Jessica Porter, Lauren Roberts, Abbey Rush, Brittany Sevin, Amber Slusher, Megan Tucker and Joshua Utley.
HATTIESBURG Kelly James of Meridian, a William Carey College Theater student, won a major design award at the Region IV American College Theater Festival and will compete at the national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
James won the Barbizon prize for her designs from "And David Danced," an original play by Jonathan Pope Evans.
She is co-designing costumes for "Much Ado About Nothing" and will work at Utah Shakespeare Festival this summer.

Also on Franklin County Times
Kiwanis Club returns; Key Club planned
Main, News, Russellville, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
April 1, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE — The Kiwanis Club has returned to Russellville. Members gathered last week at Calvary Baptist Church to review bylaws, elect officers an...
Bridge work moves forward on SR 243
Main, News, Russellville, ...
By Addi Broadfoot For the FCT 
April 1, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE — Construction of a new bridge over Cedar Creek on SR 243 is moving forward as crews recently completed a major step in the project. Last...
Neighbors steps down as chairman of Democrats
News, Russellville
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
April 1, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE — Rick Neighbors has stepped down as chair of the Franklin County Democratic Executive Committee, citing personal commitments he said no ...
Kiel named a 2026 ‘Emerging Leader’
News, Russellville
By Addi Broadfoot For the FCT 
April 1, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE — District 18 State Rep. Jamie Kiel has been named to the 2026 class of Emerging Leaders by GOPAC, a national group which works to train ...
NIL era has become a complete disaster
Columnists, Opinion
April 1, 2026
The modern NIL era is a complete disaster. Players walk away from contracts just to chase a new shiny opportunity. Coaches are left begging their alum...
Ex-educators learn about crime prevention from guest speaker
Columnists, Franklin County, News
HERE AND NOW
April 1, 2026
Members of the Franklin County Retired Educators Association learned about crime prevention during their recent monthly meeting. Association members w...
K-9 Mia gets helmet for protection
News
Kevin Taylor For the FCT 
April 1, 2026
ROGERSVILLE — When Police Lt. Lucas Stansell and his K-9 Mija are called into action to track a person through the woods, or to go into a home to exec...
Biblical roles create big sandals to fill
News
Chelsea Retherford Staff Writer 
April 1, 2026
Onstage, they are adversaries — one a reluctant liberator, the other a ruler clinging to power. But offstage, McKinley Copeland and Zach Adams share s...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *