OXFORD

Local students take

first in reading fair

Several Northeast Mississippi students won their division at the Regional Reading Fair held Feb. 27 at Lafayette High School. The fair featured 340 entries from 38 school districts in north Mississippi. To qualify, students had to take first place in both their school and district fair.

Winners from Northeast Mississippi were Lacey Roy (Lafayette Elementary); Arleigh Johnson (Rienzi Elementary); Ali Settlemires (Biggersville Elementary); Casey Bivins (Iuka Middle School); Alicia Sutton (Mooreville Middle School); Emily Hardin (Calhoun City High School), Adrienne Hildenbrand, Bella Sykes and Mya Thorderson (Lawndale Elementary); Matthew Loudermill and Richard Kimble (Okolona Junior High); Revati Patel and Makayla Pullen (Houston High), Adelyne Suitor (East Corinth Elementary); Zack and Katie Rowan (East Union); Ellie Fitts (Myrtle School) and Lee Hopson (Kossuth High).

The winners will participate in the state fair on May 21 in Jackson.

TUPELO

Deadline approaching

for tuition students

April 1 is the deadline for parents to reserve a spot in the tuition class at Tupelo’s Early Childhood Education Center. The school is run by the Tupelo Public School District and is a prekindergarten for 4-year-olds.

The school currently has 220 spots and gives priority based upon academic need according to an assessment test that the children take. However, 40 parents can assure their children a spot in the class by paying $5,250 a year or $2,625 per semester. That tuition will allow the district to continue to pay two qualified teachers and two qualified assistants that were funded this year by stimulus money. The school currently has 11 classes but could shrink to nine if not enough tuition students enroll.

Registration for the remaining spots at the school is ongoing and will extend beyond April 1. The tuition students will be evenly dispersed with the non-tuition students.

OKOLONA

Okolona receives grant

for technology lab

The Okolona School District was awarded a $21,475 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission for the Okolona Mississippi Power-Up Technology Lab, Congressman Travis Childers announced in a news release. The lab will allow about 425 students and 32 adult participants to achieve specific benchmarks in computer use and academic and vocational skill development.

In addition to ARC funds, local sources will provide $5,369, bringing the total project funding to $26,844.

COLUMBUS

MUW presents Women in Engineering

Mississippi University for Women’s Science Enrichment Program will host a workshop for female students in eighth to 12th grade. It will be held March 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Parkinsons Hall.

Called “Women in Engineering,” the workshop is designed to help female students learn about the various fields and careers available in engineering.

BOONEVILLE

High school art is on display

Northeast Mississippi Community College’s annual High School Art Competition is currently showing work from 16 high schools located in the college’s five-county district. The exhibit will be on display through March 26 in the Anderson Hall Art Gallery on the Booneville campus.

Schools in Alcorn, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo and Union counties are participating. Categories are painting/mixed media, drawing-color, drawing-black and white, 3-D design/ceramics, 2-D design and printmaking/photography. The show will be judged with first, second and third place awarded in each category. Galley hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

MISSISSIPPI

Schools seek to identify

children with disabilities

School districts in Mississippi are seeking to identify, locate and evaluate children from birth through the age of 21 who have a physical, mental, communicative and/or emotional disability. The information gathered from contacts with parents and other agencies will be used to help determine present and future program needs. Please contact the special education director in your school district if you know of children who may have a disability.