Columbus school board members spent most of Monday night singing praises at the board”s final meeting of the regular 2009-2010 school year.
Approximately 40 students had their names called to step to the front of the meeting hall and have their pictures taken with the board for various awards.
Mary Alice Truitt, a senior at Columbus High School, was recognized as the district”s Star Student, the student with the highest score on the ACT, a college-entrance exam. Truitt, who scored a 30 on her ACT, chose fine arts teacher and yearbook sponsor Sarah Oswalt as her corresponding Star Teacher.
Three teams of seventh- and eighth-graders were recognized for taking the top spots in their categories in the statewide Destination Imagination problem solving competition. The three teams, which swept the technical/engineering, structure/architecture and fine arts categories, will compete at the global finals next week against teams from around the world at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Four teams of students from Lee Middle School and Stokes-Beard Elementary Technology and Communication Magnet School were also recognized for first- through third-place finishes in their age brackets in the online Stock Market Game.
CHS sophomore Justin Verner was recognized for taking the Class 6A state powerlifting title in the 242-pound weight class before the district honored its Teachers of the Year and Parents of the Year from each school. CHS teacher Cindy Ming and CHS parent Jewel Edwards were district winners.
After the pictures and congratulations concluded, the board approved the school calendar for 2010-2011.
Superintendent Del Phillips noted four staff professional development days had been strategically moved to the end of the calendar year in case the district is forced to take advantage of state-approved furloughs.
“Our district has chosen not to furlough teachers,” said Phillips.
In other business, the board approved the district”s 2010-2011 salary scale and approved an understanding between the district and Jobs for Mississippi Graduates, a school-to-career readiness job training and dropout prevention program at CHS sponsored by Jobs for American Graduates at a cost of $25,000 to the district.
Monday”s meeting concluded with a reminder that CHS graduation will take place May 22 at 10 a.m. at the Humphrey Coliseum on the Mississippi State University campus.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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