• Joi Turner has been selected to receive the Norma Webb Scholarship at Meridian Community College. 

    This $2,000 award is funded through the MCC Foundation from an endowment established by Norma Rawlings Webb of Birmingham.

    Turner, a 2002 graduate of J. I. Case High School in Racine, Wisc., has been a certified nursing assistant since 2000. At MCC, she is in the Associate Degree Nursing Program and is a member of the Health Occupation Students of America. A Dean’s List scholar, her goal is to earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing at the University of Southern Mississippi.

    • Sarah Danielle Landrigan and Zachary Mark Johnson have been selected to receive the William and Dorothy Lerner Scholarships at Meridian Community College. 

    These $1,500 awards are funded through the MCC Foundation from an endowment established by Wendy Lerner of Marietta, Ga.. The Lerner’s were avid supporters of the College, active in civic organizations, and founding members of the Meridian Symphony Orchestra. They owned and operated Lerner Jewelry Company in Meridian for many years.

    Landrigan attended Sumrall High School and received her GED in 2009. She is in the University Transfer Program with a concentration in marketing. She plans to achieve her bachelor’s degree in marketing and continue on to law school.

    Johnson is a 2011 graduate of the Northeast Lauderdale High School. A Dean’s List scholar, he is in the University Transfer Program with an emphasis in business management. Johnson plans to continue his education at the Mississippi State University Meridian Branch and one day open his own business.

    • James Michael Dover and Kevin Wayne Davis have been selected to receive the Tommy Webb Business Scholarship at Meridian Community College. 

    This $1,500 award is funded through the MCC Foundation from an endowment established by a bequest from the estate of Laura Webb; Norm Webb completed the endowment. Webb built a successful business in Meridian and served on the Meridian School Board. Webb Hall on the MCC Campus is named in his honor.

    Dover, a 2011 homeschooled graduate with the Meridian Christian Home Educators, is in the University Transfer Program at MCC. Dover is an Eagle Scout and a member of the Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year college students. He plans to obtain a bachelor’s degree in criminology at Mississippi State University.  

    Davis, a 2007 graduate of Southeast High School, is in the University Transfer Program here at MCC. A President’s List scholar, Davis plans to continue his education and receive his bachelor’s degree in business administration.

    • Christian S. Jackson has been selected to receive the Charles Armstrong Scholarship at Meridian Community College.

    This $1,400 award is funded through the MCC Foundation from an endowment established by the Meridian Kiwanis Club to honor Armstrong’s 27 years with the Meridian Public School System. He is remembered as a teacher, coach, administrator and especially as a mentor.

    Jackson is a 2012 graduate of Meridian High School, where he was a member of the soccer and tennis teams. At MCC, he is in the University Transfer Program. His plans include entering the Drafting and Design Program at MCC and maybe pursuing a bachelor’s degree in architecture.

    • Meridian High School student Emma F. Reeves is one of 16,000 semifinalists in the 58th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some8,300 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32million that will beoffered next spring.

    To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and more than half of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

    National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a non-for-profit organization that operates without government assistancenot-for-profitorganization, was established in 1955, specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by 440 business organizations and higher education institutions that share NMSC’s goals of honoring the nation’s scholastic champions and encouraging the pursuit of academic excellence.

    About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

    To become a finalist, the semifinalist and their high school must submit a detailed scholarship application in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, and honors and awards received. A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performances on the qualifying test.

    From the 16,000 semifinalist, about 15,000 are expected to advance to finalist level; they will be notified of this designation in February. All National Merit Scholarship winners will be selected from this group of finalists. Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

    • DECATUR – Kirt Doss of Philadelphia was recently selected automotive services technology instructor at the Philadelphia/Neshoba County Career-Technology Center, a division of East Central Community College in Decatur.

    Doss, who began his new duties in August, previously served as an automotive technician at Nelson Hall Chevrolet in Meridian since 2009. He held the same position at Tolbert Chevrolet from 2001-09. His work experience also includes serving as CNC Machinist at Taylor Machine Works in Philadelphia from 1997-2001 and at US Motors in Philadelphia from 1992-97. He began his career as an auto mechanic at S&H Firestone in Philadelphia, where he was employed from 1989-92.

    A graduate of Neshoba Central High School, Doss received an associate’s degree in automotive technology from ECCC in 2001.

    He is married to Misty Sullivan Doss of Philadelphia and they have two children, Chelsea Doss and Gabriel Doss, both of whom attend Neshoba Central.

    • DECATUR – Melanie Cleveland Pinter of Philadelphia was selected an Associate Degree Nursing instructor at East Central Community College.

    Pinter, who began her new duties in August, previously served as the college’s Dual Enrollment Practical Nursing instructor, a position held since 2008.

    Prior to joining the ECCC staff, Pinter served as chief nurse for District VI of the Mississippi State Department of Health. She is also a former maternal/childhealth/family planning coordinator with the Mississippi State Department of Health in Meridian. In addition, she previously served as a dialysis charge nurse for the Central Dialysis Unit of Forest and was earlier employed as a charge nurse/staff nurse for Leake Memorial Extended Care in Carthage.

    She is a 1994 honors graduate of Forest High School, where she was selected to the Hall of Fame and received numerous other honors.

    Pinter received an associate’s degree from ECCC in 1996, a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Mississippi School of Nursing in Jackson in 1998, and a master’s degree in nursing from William Carey College in Hattiesburg in 2010.

    She has completed additional coursework at the South Central Public Health Leadership Institute at Tulane University in New Orleans and at the Public Health Nurse Academy in Jackson.

    She was recently accepted into the Nursing Education/Nursing Administration PhD Program at William Carey University.

    • Colin P. Strickland of Waynesboro is the recipient of a National Merit Baylor University Scholarship. The homeschool student is undecided on his career field.

    Colin is among more than 2,500 winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities. Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among finalists in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution.

    These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution fi nancing the scholarship. The total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2012 competition is 4,800.

    About 1.5 million juniors in some 22,000 high schools entered the 2012 National Merit

    Scholarship competition when they took the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship

    Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last  fall, 16,000 semifinalists were named on a state representational basis in numbers proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of graduating high school seniors. Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than 1 percent of the nation’s seniors.

    To compete for Merit Scholarship awards, semifinalists first had to advance to the finalist level of the competition by fulfilling additional requirements. Each semifinalist submitted a detailed scholarship application, which included writing an essay and providing information about extracurricular activities, awards, and leadership positions. Semifinalists also had to have an outstanding academic record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT scores that confirmed the qualifying test performance. From the semifinalist group, some 15,000 met requirements for finalist standing, and more than half of the finalists will be Merit Scholarship winners this year.

    • DECATUR – The 2011-12 Wo-He-Lo yearbook of East Central Community College recently received a first place award, a third place award and placed fourth in categorical competition against other state community college yearbooks.

    Awards were announced in July from the annual statewide community college yearbook competition. The Wo-He-Lo also placed third in the category of Cover Design and fourth in Copy. The publication finished sixth in the state overall.

    Gennie Phillips is publications coordinator and yearbook advisor. Ashley Moore of Carthage and Raychal Reed of Louisville serve as co-ediotrs.

    • Denton Hillman has been selected to receive the S.A. Rosenbaum Scholarship at Meridian Community College. 

    This $2,500 award is funded through the MCC Foundation. BankPlus made these scholarships possible through an arrangement with the Foundation and the Home Building Trades Program on campus. Rosenbaum was chairman of the Board of Directors of Home Savings Bank which is now BankPlus. During his career he was involved in real estate construction, mortgage financing, and commercial property development. He was instrumental in making loans available for moderate income housing in the Meridian area.

    Hillman is a 2012 graduate of Mendenhall High School, where he was a member of the Future Farmers of America and competed in the Skills USA program. He is in his first semester in the Construction Trades Program at MCC. After graduation, he plans to enter the workforce as a carpenter.