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Mississippi Scholars of Simpson County held their annual recognition banquet Thursday, March 28, 2021.
Scholars from Magee High School, Simpson County Academy, Mendenhall High School and the Simpson County Technical Center were honored.
MS Scholars’ missions is to encourage and motivate all high school students to complete a defined, rigorous academic course of study that prepares them for successful transition to college, university coursework or vocational and technical training necessary to enter today’s competitive job market.
Scholars are required to meet certain standards to be eligible. In addition to the normal graduation requirements, 2 credits must consist of: Advanced Electives, and 2 credits must consist of: Two foreign languages or a 5th math or 5th science of higher rigor or
Any 2 dual credit courses in addition to the following is required.
- 80 hours of community or volunteer service during high school for seniors graduating in 2022
- Minimum of 18 ACT Composite Score (Overall Score) for seniors graduating in 2016 and later
- 2.5 cumulative high school GPA on a 4.0 scale
- Three letters of recommendation (one from each of the following — principal, guidance counselor and business/community leader for students with more than 4 in-school suspensions)
- 95% school attendance during 4 years of high school
- No out-of-school suspension2 credits must consist of:
Advanced Electives
2 credits must consist of:
Two foreign languages or a 5th math or 5th science of higher rigor or
Any 2 dual credit courses
The scholars were honored guest speaker Chuck Benigno. Benigno is currently an Associate Professor at William Carey University and the Executive Director of PREPS. Prior to these positions, Dr. Benigno was the Superintendent of the Laurel Schools, and also served as Vice President for Student Services at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Principal of North Forrest High School and West Jones Middle School.
He has been named Who’s Who Among American Teachers, Coach of the Year and was the 2014 Mississippi “Superintendent of the Year”. Dr. Benigno was a participant in the Project Zero Classroom at Harvard University and is the author of Teaching: Excellence or Survival? He has served as a motivational speaker for schools and corporations across the Southeast.
Benigno left the scholars with the following message.
- Stay Humble
- Stay Focused
- Stay Confident
- Keep an open conservation with the Lord
Principals from each school announced the students that met the requirements to become MS Scholars and presented them with medallions and certificates.
Congratulations to the these fine students who worked hard and encouraged themselves to become scholars. The committee would like to say thank you to all schools and the community for supporting the program.
Magee High School Scholars
Mendenhall High School Scholars
Simpson County Academy Scholars
Simpson County Tech Masters
Eight Scholars were given. Each School receives two scholarships. Colin has partnered with Ms Scholars and gives 4 of the scholarships to Copiah Lincoln Community College. The other four scholarships are at large to any school. The following students received scholarships for the 2022 year.
Logan McGuire, Willam Kendrick, Jacob Lambert, Jaylen Hicks, Wesley Boyd, Anna Grace Shivers , William Kendrex and Precious Womack.
A special thank you to First Baptist Church Magee for allowing use of the facility for the evening event.
Featured picture is all Ms Scholars and Teach Master Scholars for Simpson County.
MageeNews.com is an online news source serving Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.