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Education

Class reunion held on Mississippi Queen Riverboat

Holly Springs High School class of 1997

A lot can happen in 10 years; people get married, grow families, move away, start careers, and the Holly Springs High School class of 1997 had a chance to catch up on all of those happenings at their 10-year class reunion held the weekend of June 8.

A group of almost 30 classmates reunited on the Mississippi Queen Riverboat in downtown Memphis, Tenn. to celebrate a decade of being out of high school. During the two and a half hour cruise down the Mississippi River the group enjoyed a full barbecue buffet and a live band. While enjoying their meal, the group was able to find out what everyone had been doing with their lives for the past 10 years. Though a majority of the group still lives in the Holly Springs area, they rarely get together as a group to spend time together. There were also classmates who attended from Nashville, Tenn. Blytheville, Ark., Southaven, Biloxi and California.

The group seemed to be carrying their high school motto: “Learning made us think, but thinking made us who we are,” with them into their adult years. The class of 1997 produced many successful patrons. Among them are teachers, nurses, architects, accountants, police officers and many more. Mrs. LeSueur and Mrs. Underwood would be proud to see that the first 10 post-high school years were spent molding responsible adults, and the lessons that they taught were utilized to help them to become successful and productive citizens.

After the beautiful dinner cruise, the classmates were enjoying each other’s company so much that no one wanted to leave! So they decided to take a stroll down Beale Street, where they stopped at Wet Willie’s first, and then later ended up at Club 152, where they danced the night away.

On Saturday, a portion of the group joined together again at the Bahama Breeze restaurant in Cordova when they enjoyed the exotic Bahaman cuisine. Two classmates who were unable to attend the cruise, Amanda Isable and Lakisha Brown, joined them at the restaurant.

Even though the weekend did not turn out exactly as originally planned, no one who attended was disappointed. They all realized that the most important thing was to be able to reconnect with old friends, and it didn’t really matter where they were or what they did, as long as they were together.

The class would like to thank everyone who attended: Joselyn Freeman, Larry Barksdale, James Isom, Shawana Ford, Yolanda Clayborn-Fant, Yolanda Jeffries, Donnitha Walton, Melissa Howard, LaKesha Mason, Lekesia Jones Jenkins, Tameka Ingram, Vikki Street Marion, Joseph Echols, Sheneirka Edwards, Rickey Shaw, Johneil Jeffries, Elisa Hardaway, Henry Jones, Jivaro Jones, Asanta Boxley Finley, Kamisha Avant Faulkner, Chernanda Hankins Thomas, Temyche Mayes, Jacquis Walker, Deitrick Brown, Amanda Isable and Lakisha Brown. They would also like to thank everyone who had a part in making the reunion a success: Vikki Street for getting the ball rolling from the beginning and for getting the T-shirts made; Joseph Echols for designing the T-shirts; Yolanda Jeffries for keeping track of the finances; Temyche Mayes for coordinating the cruise; and Elisa Hardaway for coordinating the Bahama Breeze dinner.

They will begin planning for the 15-year reunion soon, and encourage all members of the class who did not attend to please try to participate next time. Any member of the class of 1997 may contact Temyche Mayes at (662) 274-4829 or sugar_pops97@hotmail.com to give her your contact information so that you may be informed of the plans for the next reunion.

Locals make the Dean’s List at University of Memphis

The following students were named to the Dean’s List at the University of Memphis for the springs 2007 semester: Amy L. Carpenter, Heather L. Fleming and Brittany S. Massey, all of Byhalia; Shanna S. Clayborn, Meghan L. Guy, Whitney R. McNeil and Terrell T. Kimmons, all of Holly Springs; and Margaret E. Gill of Red Banks.

Awarded scholarships
The Northwest Mississippi Community College Foundation is awarding $235,000 in scholarship assistance to 298 students for the 2007-08 academic year. Most of these funds are awarded from the scholarship endowment, which is valued in excess of $4.3 million. Students receiving foundation scholarships for the 2007-2008 academic year are Jill Timmons of Tupelo, The David, Michael, and Lee Ross Endowment; James Jaco of Lambert, The James P. Graeber Endowment; and Ashley Colella of Potts Camp, The Paula Virginia Gurley Endowment.

Celebrates retirement
Pennie DeBerry celebrated her retirement from the Holly Springs School District Saturday, June 9 at a banquet held at Annie’s Restaurant. A native of Kilmichael and a graduate of Rust College, DeBerry began her career in 1974 teaching seventh grade English at Holly Springs Intermediate School. Between 1987 and 1989 she taught English to 10th and 12th graders at Holly Springs High School but returned to the Intermediate School and remained there until this year. In 1999 she was promoted to lead teacher. Friends, family members, former students, former colleagues and former teachers of the honoree were on hand to celebrate her retirement; as were Irene Walton and Eileen Dowsing, the superintendent and assistant superintendent of the Holly Springs School District.

Registration set

H.W. Byers Elementary will be registering students entering kindergarten July 19, 2 p.m. - 7 p.m.; July 26, 2 p.m. - 7 p.m.; July 27, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Please be advised that we need two of the following items for address verification before your child can be enrolled at Byers Elementary: pay stub; copy of utility bill; apartment or home lease; driver’s license; voter registration card.

The following additional items are needed for new students only: (1) a certified birth certificate (not a copy) (2) MS State Immunization Form 121 from the Health Department or your child’s pediatrician (3) your child’s Social Security card. More information needed, call the school, 662-851-7826 elementary office.

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