Excellence in Education

By Staff
A distinguished career in the field of medicine has earned a prestigious honor for Dr. Beverly Oliphant of Annandale, Va. an East Central Community College alumna and a Leake County native.
Oliphant, former internal medicine specialist with the U.S. State Department in Washington, was presented Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society's Most Distinguished Alumna Award for 2002 at the organization's 84th annual convention April 5 in Nashville.
More than 4,000 Phi Theta Kappa members, advisers, alumni and college presidents from around the world were in attendance at the awards ceremony, held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort.
In accepting the award Oliphant said the award "is as much about others as about me and I would say even more so. It reflects positively on my family and teachers from grade school onward."
Oliphant retired earlier this year following 26 years service as a physician. For the past 23 years, she served as an internal medicine specialist with the Foreign Service Section of the U. S. State Department Medical Unit.
Her duties included providing medical care for ambassadors and their families, which covered treatments for international injuries, and accompanying the secretary of state around the world on most trips out of the country.
She traveled internationally as the physician to then-Secretary of State George Shultz.
Oliphant, daughter of Mrs. Ira Henry and the late Mr. Henry of Edinburg, was valedictorian of her 1957 graduation class at Edinburg High School.
She enrolled at East Central the following summer, having received a scholarship from a Carthage civic club in recognition of her academic achievements. She became a member of Theta Xi Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa on Dec. 9, 1957.
BEAVERTON, Ore. Two local teachers were among 400 educators recognized this week by basketball great Michael Jordan.
The teachers will receive educational grants as part of Jordan Fundamentals, a program funded by Nike's Jordan division.
Marsha Iverson, an art teacher at Northwest Junior High School with the Meridian Public School District, and Tamara Billingsley, a science teacher at Clarkdale High School in the Lauderdale County School District, are grant recipients.
In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week from May 5 to Saturday and National Teacher's Day on May 7, Jordan sent letters to the 2001-2002 grant recipients.
In the letter, Jordan called the teachers "heroes" and thanked them for their instructional creativity, innovative teaching and high learning expectations of their students.
Jordan Fundamentals teachers go above and beyond traditional lesson planning and limited resources and offer sixth- to twelfth-grade students one-of-a-kind opportunities in their study areas.
Besides Iverson and Billingsley, other Jordan Fundamentals program grant recipients in Mississippi came from Biloxi, Booneville and Hattiesburg.
Jordan Fundamentals is one of several ongoing efforts funded by the Jordan brand, designed to provide choice and opportunity to youth.
A division of Nike, Inc., Jordan is a premium brand of footwear, apparel and accessories. The brand made its debut in 1997.