Excellence in Education

By Staff
April 18, 2002
Felicia White of Meridian was named a United States National Award Winner in Leadership and Service and an All-American Scholar both by the United States Achievement Academy.
White, a student at Clarkdale High School, was nominated for the national awards by Tawana Wright, a counselor at the school.
White will appear in the United States Achievement Academy Official Yearbook, which in published nationally.
The academy selects USAA award recipients upon the exclusive recommendation of teachers, coaches, counselors and other qualified sponsors.
The criteria for selection are a student's academic performance, interest and aptitude, leadership qualities, responsibility, enthusiasm, motivation to learn and improve, citizenship, attitude and cooperative spirit and dependability.
White is the daughter of Belinda Tadlock and Clement White of Meridian. She is the granddaughter of Thomas Roberson of Meridian and the Rev. and Mrs. Darrel Dumas of Meridian.
LIVINGSTON Five area students have received Community College Trustee Scholarships to attend the University of West Alabama. The awards are based on academic achievement and leadership potential.
The students, who plan to enter UWA this fall, are:
Manian Elise Snell of Toomsuba. She is a student at Meridian Community College who plans to pursue a career in special education.
Marcus Dean Moore of Shubuta. He is a senior at Quitman High School who plans to pursue a career in business management.
Tiffany Nichole Moore of Scooba. She is a student at East Central Community College who plans to pursue a career in secondary education and coaching.
Maetasha Lanette Mitchell of Quitman. She attends Jones County Junior College and plans to pursue a career in accounting.
Melanie Key of DeKalb. She is a student at Meridian Community College.
HATTIESBURG Leah Nicole Williams of Meridian was recently recognized as an award recipient during the College of Business Administration Annual Honors Banquet at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Williams, 21, is a senior accounting major who received the Jarvis Maxey Award, presented by accounting faculty to an outstanding student in intermediate accounting.
She is the daughter of Bill and Martha Williams of Meridian.
DECATUR A scholarship honoring the educational contributions of a Scott County Family was recently endowed at East Central Community College.
The Weems Family Scholarship was established to commemorate the historic roles of family members who served the college as members of the faculty, board of trustees and student body.
The scholarship award covers tuition costs and will be presented annually to an incoming freshman. The recipient must maintain at least a 2.5 grade point average for the scholarship to be renewed each semester until graduation.
Phil Sutphin, ECCC president, said funding for the scholarship will come from earnings of the fund, which will be invested in conservative equities mutual funds.
The principal may be used when earnings do not cover the amount of the scholarship. Excess earnings from the fund's investments will be reinvested to the fund.
The College's Scholarship Committee will select recipients for the award based on their high school grade point average, college aptitude test, financial need, participation in extracurricular activities and moral character.
For more information, contact the vice president for student services, East Central Community College, P.O. Box 129, Decatur, 39327. You can call 635-2111 or call, toll free, (877) 0462-3222, extension 375, or send e-mail to jkillens@eccc.cc.ms.us.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Samford University junior James T. Gibson of Butler has been named a Truman Scholar by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. He is one of 64 Truman scholars selected nationwide from about 600 applicants.
Gibson, a history and political science double major, will receive a $30,000 scholarship for his last year of undergraduate school and two years of graduate work.
He is the only student from Alabama to be named a 2002 Truman Scholar.
Truman Scholars are selected on the basis of leadership potential, intellectual ability and the likelihood of making a difference. They must be committed to careers in government or the not-for-profit sector.
The foundation typically selects one scholar from each state and several at-large scholars from each region. Gibson, a dean's list student, is the son of Donald R. and Mary Ruth Gibson of Butler.
At Samford, he is a member of the student government, senate, Amnesty International, Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform and several honor societies.
He is a staff writer for the Samford Crimson newspaper, founder and president of Samford College Democrats, vice president of the Pre-Law Society and captain of the Samford mock trial team.
The Truman Scholars program is the federal memorial to the nation's 33rd president.