Graduates head for new phase

Local News

Discussion

August 1, 2009

Anonymous The Meridian Star Sat Aug 01, 2009, 11:34 PM CDT

from staff reports

Meridian Community College held its summer commencement ceremony at downtown's Temple Theater Saturday, sending students from a variety of fields on to a new phase of life.

For some of the graduates, college education has paid off already in form of jobs. Dena McLain, 38, a Medical Laboratory Technology graduate, and Shaun Toney, 30, a Radiologic Technology grad, already had jobs lined up even before the graduation ceremony.

McLain, a Philadelphia resident and mother of two, starts her new job at Airpark Family Medical Clinic next week.

As an MCC student, McLain did her clinical student work at Neshoba County General Hospital. Because the hospital owns the clinic where she works, she said she feels like studying at the hospital helped her get her foot in the door and prepared her to jump into her new job from day 1.

McLain said she was excited about graduation and is glad that she made the decision to go to school. "Being older and going back to school, I knew what I needed to do," she said.

Toney, who lives in Shubuta, has a job lined up with Rush hospital. Like McLain, he did his clinicals in the same place where he will work.

"I believe they (employers) look at the work you do as a student and kind of weigh that on whether they want you to work for them," he said.

Toney previously did electrical work at nuclear power houses, and said he is excited to move on to work as an x-ray tech.

"I was trying to get out of outside work into a more climate controlled environment," he said. "I had always been interested in x-ray tech. It's kind of the unknown. You never know what the x-ray will show you."

Toney said he is considering going back to school again to advance in his field, possibly learning to work with MRIs or CAT scans.

Along with six other top graduates, Toney and McLain were both given special recognition at the commencement. They were tapped for the Circle of Excellence award, which recognizes scholarship, leadership, spirit, and service. Along with McLain and Toney, honorees were Alicia M. Hull of DeKalb; Lora Ann Hoadley, Angela H. Tharp, and Melissa Lucinda Grant, all of Meridian; Holly Herrington Rodgers of Collinsville; and Adriana Patrice Quinney of Demoplis, Ala.

MCC's Medical Laboratory Technology program graduated 15 students - its largest class since the program began in 1975.

The maximum number of graduates for the program is 16 students per year.

The MLT program serves as a source of local technicians working in area hospitals and clinical laboratories in Meridian and the surrounding areas. On average, the technical staff in the Meridian community hospitals that graduated from the program are 60 percent at Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center, 73 percent at Riley Hospital, and 66 percent at Rush Foundation Hospital.

Text Only

Local News

Local law enforcement officials honored
State Rep. Greg Snowden said he remembered as a child looking up to those "men in blue."
He said police officers in uniform were larger than life, riding in their patrol cars and carrying guns to protect and serve the population. Today, he said he is still in great admiration of the men and women who put their lives on the line every day so that citizens can feel safe.

February 9, 2012 1 Photo
MPD probes vehicle crash
Evidence of a mother's desperate attempt to save her children from harm were spread all over a car lot — and could be seen on her as well in the form of bruises, cuts and scrapes.
Tuesday night, a vehicle with three children inside crashed through a plate glass showroom floor window damaging four new cars and totaling the vehicle the children were in.

February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Skeleton found in residence
Members of the forensics team of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) were called to a dilapidated home in Chunky to probe the discovery of a skeleton.

February 9, 2012
Police search for robbery suspects
Two men who reportedly robbed a woman at gunpoint in the parking lot of a local bank are still being sought.
Mike Vick, public information officer with the Meridian Police Department, said the two men approached a woman about 8 p.m. Tuesday at the ATM of Regions Bank on North Hills Street. Vick said one of the suspects was armed with a handgun and after taking an undetermined amount of cash and the victim's car keys, the two suspects fled on foot.

February 9, 2012
City cuts payment to Watkins
The Meridian City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to cut their monthly payment to David Watkins, project developer of Meridian's new police station, by $9,999 until work resumes on the project.
The order, made during the Meridian City Council meeting Tuesday morning, included a mutual agreement between the councilmen and Watkins to reduce the project developer's monthly consultant fee of $10,000 to $1, effective Tuesday.

February 8, 2012
Crews work on gasoline pipeline
If you hear a loud, booming sound early today, between 4 a.m.-10 a.m., there is no cause for alarm.
Workers with Plantation Pipeline will be performing maintenance work on their 30-foot gasoline pipeline in the Meridian area to accommodate the widening of Highway 493. The location of the work activity will be at Highway 493 North and Oak Hill Baptist Church, just inside the city limits.

February 8, 2012
Team Spirit
February 8, 2012 1 Photo
High Honor
The flowers and balloons Crestwood Elementary School Principal Kimberly Kendrick received at school Monday were not an early Valentines' Day gift.
Kendrick has been named Meridian Public School District's 2012 Administrator of the Year – an announcement that both surprised and wowed the 17-year veteran educator when made by MPSD Superintendent Dr. Alvin Taylor.

February 7, 2012 1 Photo
Master Dance Class
February 7, 2012 1 Photo
Digital system promises better communication
Hopefully in the near future you won't hear someone in the emergency services ask over the radio, "Can you hear me now?"
A digital communications system, one which is being pushed by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), is a few months away and, in some cases, is already in the testing phase in Lauderdale County.

February 7, 2012 1 Photo
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

Graduates head for new phase

Site Map

Contact Us