Excellence in Education

By Staff
Jan. 23, 2003
Alvin J. Beard and Dustin Dwight Jones are the recipients of the 2002-2003 C.B. "Dough" and Alice Rawlings Scholarships for the fall and spring semesters at Meridian Community College.
The $1,000 awards are funded through the MCC Foundation from an endowment established by Mrs. Norma Rawlings Webb.
Beard is a graduate of Vicksburg High School, where he was a member of the Key Club and a student council representative for four years. A freshman at MCC, he works with Coach Alex George as manager of the soccer team. His career plan is to obtain a master's degree in business and work in the forestry industry. Beard is an Eagle Scout.
Jones is an honor graduate of Newton Academy, where he participated in several sports and was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. A University Transfer Program student, he is pursuing a career in physical therapy or athletic training. Jones is employed part-time at Rush Foundation Hospital in the physical therapy department, and he works with MCC Athletic Trainer Sander Atkinson.
Bari Watson, a native of Birmingham, Ala., was recently named director of development at the University of West Alabama in Livingston.
Watson earned both a master's and bachelor's degree at the University of Alabama, where she was Miss University of Alabama and a member of the Forensic Team.
Watson has worked as a communication consultant and as a program coordinator for Premier Marketing, a Tuscaloosa-based marketing firm.
Among her many activities and honors, Watson is board chairman for the Center for Autism Resources and Education and was the recipient of the 2000 Lotus Award given by the Women's Committee of Spain Rehabilitation Center in recognition of outstanding contributions toward improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.
Teresa O. Green has been elected to membership in Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing as an undergraduate student, through Gamma Lambda chapter at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
Sigma Theta Tau works to foster, develop and connect nurse scholars and leaders worldwide to improve health care. The society promotes nursing excellence through its initiatives in research, leadership, an electronic library, programming and publications and developing and distributing nursing knowledge for use in practice.
Membership to Sigma Theta Tau is by invitation to bachelor's and graduate nursing students who demonstrate excellence in scholarship, and to nurse leaders who demonstrate exceptional achievement in nursing.
Green is a registered nurse at East Mississippi State Hospital. She received her bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Southern Mississippi in December; she graduated with highest honors.