Newspaper Page Text
October 29, 2014
PAGE 5B
^Reporter
Spotlight on
Mary Persons High School
Each week The Reporter spotlights activities and achievements of students, faculty and staff at a different Monroe
County school. Thank you to Susan Childs for news and pictures about Mary Persons Work-Based Learning and to
Lauri English, media specialist. Next week look for news from Hubbard Elementary. Email school-related news, includ
ing news for “Monroe in College,” to Diane Glidewell at news@mymcr.net
Mary Persons drum
major named best in class
■ ... Ji. *3 ; ft f> " ■
On Saturday, Oct. 18, Mary Persons’
marching band, the Black & Gold
Bulldog Brigade, competed at the
Sound of Silver Invitational at Pierce
County High School in Blackshear,
near Waycross. The Mary Persons
band, directed by Eric Thompson,
received Excellent ratings in overall
band, auxiliary and percussion.
Drum major Kyle Sullivan received
a Superior rating and was awarded
best overall drum major in class AA.
Superior is the top rating, and
Excellent is the level below Superior.
Thompson said Mary Persons was
just a few points from an overall
Superior rating, with two of the three
band judges awarding the Black &
Gold
Bulldog student leaders of Mary Persons marching band show off their trophies af-
Brigade ter Sound of Silver Invitational on Oct. 18.
'Superior' and the third giving it
'Excellent.'
Grand champion and division cham
pion for AAAA was Creekview High
School. Other 2014 division champi
ons were Appling (AAA), Lee (upper
AA), Jefferson (lower AA), and
Tattnall County (A).
Mary Persons students are learning on the job
The Work-Based Learning
program at Mary Persons
gives students a chance to
gain experience in their fields
of interest. Program coordina
tor Susan Childs provided
information about three of the
students in the program and
their jobs.
Robert Farmer, a senior at
Mary Persons, is gaining
valuable
experi
ence
while
working
under
the guid
ance of
Chief
Thomas
Doles at
the
Peach
County
Fire
Robert Farmer
Department. When asked to
reflect on his internship,
Robert said, “The WBL
Program has helped me learn
responsibility and be part of
the community. I’m working
in real life situations, and
with real life and death situa
tions. I would not have been
able to learn how the fire
department actually operates
without interning in that
field. This experience is going
to help me in college since I
am currently enrolled in
Firefighter 1 classes. By the
time I graduate from MPHS, I
will have my Firefighter 1
certification and I will have
begun Emergency Medical
Responder training. I plan to
get a job with a fire
department while I’m in
college studying Fire
Science and Emergency
Medicine.”
Austin
Bell
decided to
take
action
concern
ing his
future and
enrolled in
the Work-
Based
Learning
Program. He Austin Bell
is presently
enjoying his employment at
the Georgia Department of
Corrections Criminal
Investigations Unit. His
advice for students who
want to explore their career:
“Take full advantage of the
WBL opportunity. It’s the
best way to learn about
whether a career is a good
fit for you. You don’t want to
major in something you
haven’t explored because
you may decide you don’t
like your major after all.” In
May, Austin will graduate
and be a pathway completer
in accounting. He has decid
ed to pursue a double major
in criminal justice and
accounting. “Austin under
stands the mission,
learns quickly, and
is an outstanding
team member. He
always conducts
himself in a profes
sional manner,” says
Adam Baswell,
Director of Criminal
Intelligence at the
Department of
Corrections.
Andrew Dyer is in
his second year as a
medical assistant with Retina
Associates of Middle Georgia.
His plans are to attend col
Andrew Dyer
lege after graduation and spe
cialize in radiology and MRI
Tech. Andrew states that he
“is learning many important
skills, such as how to interact
with patients, numb eyes,
take vitals, take eye pressure,
and how to properly file med
ical records.” He likes assist
ing the doctors in the exami
nation room and filling out
day sheets on the patients.
Andrew is very quick to point
out that
he does
n’t have
just one
mentor;
he has
many. In
fact, the
entire
office
mentors
him. He
feels
very for
tunate
to have
this job
place
ment
and has
words of
wisdom
for other
stu
dents: “Work-Based Learning
is getting me ready for the
real world. It has helped me
decide to further my educa
tion in the healthcare field. If
you want hands-on career
experience, enroll in WBL!”
Monroe in
College
Bethany Buice of Forsyth received a Master of
Medical Science from the School of Medicine of
Emory University in Atlanta on Aug. 8. Emory
University is known for its demanding academics, out
standing undergraduate experience, highly ranked
professional schools and state-of-the-art research facil
ities. Emory encompasses nine academic divisions as
well as the Michael C. Carlos Museum, The Carter
Center, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center
and Emory Healthcare, Georgia's largest and most
comprehensive health care system.
Michael King was named to the Central Georgia
Technical College President's Honor Roll for 2014
summer semester. To qualify for Pesident’s Honor Roll,
students must be in academic good standing, earn a
semester-based grade point average of 4.0 with an
earned course load of at least 12 credit hours for the
semester, with a work ethics grade of "2" or higher for
each course completed. King is in the aircraft structur
al technology program on track to graduate in May
2015. He is the son of Gary and Debbie King of
Bolingbroke.
Sydney Zellner of Culloden entered the University
of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio as a member of the 2014
incoming class. Approximately 730 new students
began their studies at UF on Aug. 18. Zellner, whose
major at UF is equestrian studies, is a graduate of
Mary Persons High School.
MP cross country sweeps Upson-
Lee meet in final region tune-up
BY RICHARD
DUMAS
The Mary Persons boys
and girls cross country
teams each took home vic
tory in their final regular
season meet of the season
at Upson-Lee on Tuesday,
Oct. 21.
The MP boys team fin
ished with 23 points,
which included an indi
vidual triumph for sopho
more Lawson Weldon,
while the MP girls team
posted 40 points in its
win.
Weldon placed first with
a time of 18 minutes, 17
seconds to edge Upson-
Lee's Feybian Matthews
by one second. MP seniors
Addison Chapman and
Jonathan Williams then
finished third and fourth,
respectively, with times of
18:21 and 18:28. MP’s
other counting scores
were posted by Matt
Miller, who placed sixth
with a time of 19:05, and
T.J. Williams, who fin
ished ninth with a time of
19:12.
The MP girls team's
best finisher was fresh
man Katie Beth George,
who placed fourth with a
time of 24:17. Klein
Hopkins was MP's next-
highest finisher in fifth
place with a time of 24:39.
MP's other counting
scores were recorded by
Kayley Dale, who placed
ninth with a time of
25:06, Morgan Haney,
who placed 10th with a
time of 25:06, and
Summer Sanders, who
placed 12th with a time of
25:16.
Pike County, Spalding,
Fayette County and
Jackson joined MP and
Upson-Lee in the six-
team meet.
The MP varsity squads
will next run in the
Region 2-AAAA champi
onship meet at the Rock
Ranch at 4:30 p.m. on
Thursday. MP head coach
Steve Herr said his teams’
strong recent performanc
es have given him a
"great deal of confidence
going into region."
Mary Per
sons soph
omore
Lawson
Weldon
was the top
individual
finisher in
MP’s final
cross
country
race of the
regular
season last
Tuesday.
The Bull
dogs will
run for the
AAAA title
at Rock
Ranch on
Thursday.
(Photo/Ric
hard Du
mas)