Jacket Buzz (05/05/10)

TheJacket buzzstarkville high school 603 Yellowjacket Dr. Starkville, MS, 39759 www.shsjacketbuzz.com 05-05-10

Student catapulters goes to Ole Miss ... Feature on Pages 8-9.

Sen10r buzzThe

Booster Supporters : Rick’s Furniture,

Personally Yours,

Insurance Associates of Starkville,

Starkville Athletic Club

By Collin WhittenAsst. Editor

Years of planning, saving, and memories were taken from SHS choir director Re-gina Weeks when her home was destroyed by a tornado that touched down on Satur-day, April 24.

Weeks’s husband, daughter, son-in-law, and two grand-daughters had gathered in her home for shelter amidst tor-nado warnings.

Minutes later they found themselves in the path of a category F-4 tornado.

“I remember feeling utter disbelief that we were going through this,” Weeks said, de-scribing what she remembers of huddling with her family in her bathroom.

Within thir-ty seconds, the storm had passed over, and Weeks was left with only the bath-room ceiling for shelter.

W i t h i n ten minutes, county of-ficials arrived at the Weeks

home to aid the family, and within the next twenty-four hours, the Red Cross arrived

to provide for them and oth-ers affected by the tornado.

“The very next day, the Starkville school administra-tion was there to help me,” Weeks said. “They were willing to bring absolutely anything we needed…They worked all day, and I was very grateful for that.”

Among supporters from the school, students of Weeks and their families, as well as some of Weeks’s coworkers and friends joined the effort to help Weeks and her family.

“I’ve been so grateful for the kindness and compassion and generosity of the people who’ve helped,” Weeks said.

Phillips Contractors of Co-lumbus, where Week’s hus-

band, Benny Weeks, is employed , has also helped by doing char-ity work re-moving the timber in the area and clearing the remains of the Weeks home.

M o u n t Moriah Bap-tist Church,

of which the Weeks’ are members, has provided meals and any necessities for vic-tims of the tornado.

When asked about her reac-tion to the loss of her home, Weeks said, “I found out that five people had died, and

there I stood with my chil-dren and grandchildren. I may have lost my home, but how could I be angry about that? You can always start col-lections again, but you cannot get a life back.”

Five deaths have been con-firmed in the Weir area, in-cluding three children, and the Weeks family has offered its condolences to their fami-lies.

“This is not the first trag-

edy in my life. Many bad things happen, but that won’t stop our lives,” Weeks continued. “We’re grieving, but at the same time I’ve always got that voice in the back of my head say-ing, ‘You just wait and see.’ God doesn’t intend bad, but good. I’m just anticipat-ing the purpose behind all of this.”

While many people would find satisfaction in having

the opportunity to start fresh, Weeks has had a hard time preparing for the new construction and getting

settled in to her new car.“I literally had to pick out

a house plan overnight. Most people would be ex-cited about getting a new house,” Weeks said, “but I haven’t been very joyful about it. There were a lot of memories in that house.”

Rebuilding for the Weeks home began Thursday April 30, and any help has been welcomed.

A fund for the Weeks family is being taken up in the main office, and anyone

wishing to donate should speak with Mrs. Edwards.

The Weeks family home was almost completely destroyed and has now been leveled to make way for construction. Photo by Collin Whitten“This is not the

first tragedy in

my life. Many bad things hap-

pen, but that won’t stop our

lives.”- Regina Weeks

Weeks home destroyed, Jackets respond with aid

www.shsjacketbuzz.com News

Upcoming Events

May 5Senior Class Day

*May 7

Senior Luau

*May 13

Spring Choir Concert

*May 14

Mustang Giveaway

*

May 171st & 3rd Exams

*

May 185th & 7th Exams

*

May 192nd & 4th Exams

*

May 206th & 8th Exams

*

May 21Graduation,

5:30 p.m.

Total Forms returned: 328

Uniform Survey Results

Votes: Black 262, Grey 171, Yellow 144, Gold 133

School colors for SHS: Black, Gray and White

By Taylor BowdenContributing Writer

At the beginning of the school year, students at Starkville High School were told by the new principal, Keith Fennell, that students who had fewer than three absences and three referrals would have a chance to win a brand new 2010 Ford Mus-tang.

The effort was intended to motivate students with an in-centive for positive behavior.

Now, as the school year is coming to a close, there are around 100 students who qualify for the chance to

win.However, the cash for the

car did not come out of the schools budget or Fennell’s pocket.

Starkville Ford purchased the policy to cover the prize value from a promotional company called Grand Prize Sports.

“Grand Prize Sports...fund things like the halftime free throws at basketball games or field kicks at football games,”

Fennell said. Grand Prize Sports doesn’t

just hand out money. They have a system that allows them to profit, to an extent.

They have a computer

program that compiles the chances that an average person has at completing a sports-oriented competition. The more people compet-ing the higher the chances that someone would win the prize, in this case a Ford Mus-tang, that Grand Prize Sports would have to pay for.

Not without compensa-tion, though.

“The Ford dealership paid Grand Prize Sports for the policy,” Fennell said. “And whether anyone wins or not, they keep that money.”

The ‘three strike’ system set by Fennell that restricted who could try to win the car

was put there to allow for the occasional illness and pro-vide students with the op-portunity to learn from their mistakes without being elimi-nated from the competition.

If the number of students that met that qualification is

significantly lower than 100,

both Fennell and assistant principal Sean McDonnall agree that they might change the restrictions to allow for more students to participate.

“The Ford dealership paid for 100 students to compete,” Fennell said. “We want to get our money’s worth, and we all want someone to win that Mustang!”

Around 100 still eligible for Mustang Giveaway


By Cullom McCormickContributing Writer

Nine staff members will be retiring from the Starkville High campus this year.

The retiring faculty mem-bers include Dr. Paul Cuic-chi, who has taught at SHS for 34 years, coach Cleve-land Hudson, an SHS grad with 32 years experience, Toxie Coker, a history teach-er with 13 years experience, and football coach Bill Lee with 29 years coaching expe-rience, eight at SHS.

Also retiring is Wanda Cal-houn, who has been teach-ing 27 years, the last five at

SHS, and Ron Newell with 26 years experience.

Secretaries Joan Edwards and Linda Johnston, both with 28 years, and Melinda Young, secretary at Millsaps, are also retiring.

Newell left school earlier

this year with health prob-lems and has decided to go ahead and retire.

“I wasn’t going to retire this year, but I have to be-cause of my poor health,” he said, “I decided it was time to retire when my diabetes starting kicking in and I had congestive heart failure.”

These faculty members have been in lives of many students and will remember them forever.

“It’s been a great honor to serve the young people here,” Cuicchi said. “They’ve brought great joy to my life. If I had to choose again, I’d always choose teaching.”

The school is losing an es-pecially-qualified group this

year, many of which have been a part of some major Yellow Jacket memories.

“I had the privilege of coaching four state champi-onship football teams, and

two state track champions,” Hudson said. “Every day I’ve enjoyed, and every day was a challenge.”

That’s not to say every day has been perfect.

“I guess the lowest point [of my career] was when I had a child pass out,” Coker said. “She was asthmatic, and her aspirator wasn’t working.”

These teachers have loved their careers and have some pretty quirky memories.

“I remember a lot of fun stuff, like kids playing pranks,” Cuicchi said. “Some stole my calculator and made a ransom video.”

There are still students who remember and thank these teachers.

“I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to teach,” Coker said. “At the end of the day, you feel like you’ve done something.”

Nine staff to retire in 2010

Top: Dr. Paul Cuicchi, and athletic director/football coach Bill Lee. Middle: teachers Wanda Calhoun, Cleveland Hudson, and Toxie Coker. Bottom: Adminitrative assistants Melinda Young (Millsaps), Linda Johnston, and Joan Edwards. Also retiring: teacher Ron Newell. Photos by Terra Blair and Mediagraphix Photography


By Grant BeattyContributing Writer

Freshman Emily Damm is this year’s selected student to attend Camp Rising Sun in upstate New York.

Founded in the forties, it was originally an all-boys camp to further leadership skills.

It wasn’t until the mid-sev-enties that Camp Rising Sun became co-ed.

Sixty boys and sixty girls at-tend from all over the world; the staff is international as well.

“I am truly honored to

have been selected for this prestigious camp,” Damm said.

For two months, these campers rough it; they sleep in tents and tend to all nec-essary living conditions.

Cell phones are prohibited and campers only have ac-cess to internet once a week, so any correspondance that goes on is through letters.

However students can re-cieve emails that are printed out by staff members and put in the campers’ mail-boxes.

Though it may seem harsh, this is for a greater good.

“It really forces you to be in the moment,” camp vet-eran Tess Long said. “You can’t progress together or get over your homesick-ness if you’re glued to your phone, wishing you could be back home with your boy-friend. It’s hard at first but

by the end you don’t want to leave – it’s an amazing expe-rience.”

Every day at the camp, a new Sachem, a Native Amer-ican word meaning leader, is chosen from among the participants to organize and lead the daily activities.

This teaches the kids how

to handle leadership and re-solve problems by working together.

“After I talked to Tess, I was really convinced that I wanted to apply,” Damm

said. “So I got interviewed by Dr. Cobb and simply waited on my results. I’m thoroughly excited.”

Camp Rising Sun starts in June.

Freshman Emily Damm will spend two months in upstate New York for Camp Rising Sun. Photo by Ruth Brown

Damm selected for Camp Rising Sun

The Jacket Buzz

The Jacket Buzz is published three times each semester by the Journalism Department at Starkville High School.

The Jacket Buzz is a student-run publication committed to providing the students of Starkville High School with objective and

informative coverage of events involving or affecting the student body.

The Jacket Buzz serves SHS as a forum for student expression and thought. Content decisions are made by student editors.

Factual errors will be corrected by a retraction in the next issue.

Opinions expressed are those of students and do not necessarily reflect the views of the adviser, administration,

Starkville High School faculty, or the Starkville School Distict.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Jacket Buzz staff.

Letters to the Editor are accepted and published, excluding those

that are deemed libelous, malicious, hurtful or disruptive.

Unsigned letters will not be published, and all letters are subject

to editing. Please email all letters, or other comments/concerns, to

[email protected]

Tess LongEditor-in-Chief

Collin WhittenAssistant Editor

Volume 17, Issue 6

R.J. MorganAdvisor

Staff Writers Ruth Brown, T’Keyia Davis, Ryan English, Leena

Mrayyan, Ty Ringo, Ebony Robinson, Jimmy Sherrod, Brooke Underwood and Cheyenne Underwood

ContributorsTaylor Bowden, LaMarion Lindsey, Cullom McCormick,

Grant Beatty, Zach Mitchell and Michael Mosley

Statement of Policy

Recently Starkville High School admin-istrators have decided to move the Who’s Who program to after school. Not only is it being moved to after school, but studets are also being charged a dollar to attend the Who’s Who program.

This is just another part of a trend that has been occuring during this school year to cut down on the number of programs.

Not only is Who’s Who being moved to af-ter school, but so is the SHS Talent Show.

We feel that this defeats the purpose of have a fun program if it’s not held in school.

We feel that there will be less of a turn-out, and students won’t be as enthusiastic about the after school programs since by 3:21 most students are tired and ready to go home, and waiting after school for a pro-gram, or coming back to the school in the evening, not on everyone’s first priority list,

even if they wanted to attend the program.This decision was made because admin-

istration did not want to take away more class time for programs during the day, but what’s the point in organizing a fun pro-gram if students aren’t going to attend, and the ones that do have to pay for it?

Also many of the senior programs have been moved to the same day.

This just means longer periods of sitting on the gym benches, and something that could be enjoyable becomes something that students are trying to be checked out for.

We simply feel that Who’s Who and other programs meant to be fun should be free and take place during school and senior programs shouldn’t make students sit on gym benches for up to two hours.

However we do hope that regardless, stu-dents still make these programs a fun time or SHS and the 2010 seniors.

EditorialThe editorial below is a written collaboration among all members of the Jacket Buzz

staff. Ideas expressed represent the majority opinion of the staff.

Who’s Who program time questionable

www.shsjacketbuzz.com Opinion

www.shsjacketbuzz.com Opinion

By LaMarion LindseyContributing Writer

We should stop worrying about what the students of Starkville High School wear and focus on the text-books that students need for their classes.

“The School Board really needs to pay more attention to the textbook shortage rather than the students’ clothing,” Bobbie Gray, mother of an SHS student, said.

Gray, one of the many concerned parents, wants her child to get an education and not a fashion lecture.

What the students wear should not concern the school board. But the much-needed textbooks that the students do not have should be.

Some math courses at SHS don’t have a textbook, but the school board is worried about clothing.

That does not make sense at all and it isn’t right.

Instead of worrying about fashion statements that students make, the

school board needs to worry about their education.

Although some students do not pay attention in class, the majority of the students do. They will not get enough information from their classes without textbooks.

If a student is home doing a home-work assignment and gets stuck on a question, they will not know what to do. The teacher is not around to help.

Some courses have an online text-book, but not everyone has working internet at home and some students don’t have computers.

Yes, it’s possible to stay after school and work in the school library or go to the public library, but who will provide transportation for the stu-dents whose parents do not own a vehicle?

We should get off of the fashion issues and zoom in on the important things at Starkville High School.

Students clothing is not the prob-lem.

By Zach MitchellContributing Writer

Uniforms may not be a necessary issue, but the outward appearance of the school is important.

I’ve been on the debate team and have been around to other schools in the area. A uniform (or manda-tory dress code, as the case may be) does make the school look much neater and professional.

Don’t get me wrong, just like La-Marion, I’d rather not have a uni-form, but I feel that it’s nothing to get up in arms about.

Sure, there are bigger issues at hand, such as the general education of students, but the uniform issue is something that we should just get out of the way and stop prolonging it.

On the subject of textbooks, I’ve had literally three classes during my tenure at Starkville High School where there weren’t enough books for each student to take home a

copy, and those were either Eng-lish classes where taking home a text book is unnecessary, or classes where the teacher was good enough not to use the book as a crutch.

The main complaint with the man-datory dress code is that it is in fact a mandatory dress code, and therefore the school district does not have to pay for students’ (namely the ones under the poverty line) clothing.

It is likely (and this is just specula-tion) that the reason for this is due to the extreme budget cuts that our school district is undergoing.

If this is true, I’d rather not at-tempt to put any unnecessary fees on them in an extreme attempt to get rid of the new policy.

This will lead to even more teacher cuts and shifts than what is already going on, leading to less classes be-ing offered.

As a student, I’d rather be wearing a uniform and receiving the best ed-ucation that the school district can provide.

Dress Code Drama


The news media networks on tele-vision are so saturated with political bias that it is next to impossible to get a reliable, objective report on anything found on TV.

The Healthcare bill, for example; Fox News would pound in the state-ment that the bill was evil, and CNN and MSNBC would constantly state and restate that the healthcare bill should be passed.

Neither of which ever reported what the healthcare bill would actu-ally DO.

And if they did, it was a long lost quip of information forever-buried in partisan effort.

The main factor leading to the news media’s unreliability is ratings.

News networks live off of the ads that they sell on their channels, and the only way they can sell ads is if they have high ratings.

The quest for more money has shifted the focus of news channels to rating above actual reporting.

A ‘reporter’ from Fox News who is now running for congress said that when she worked for Fox News, her primary job was to argue with either a liberal or an independent pundit

on air in six-minute installments. There is no news in that. No in-

formational value is conveyed to the viewers in publicized debates like that.

They are entertainment, not objec-tive reporting.

While some may argue that having an opinionated news network isn’t a bad thing and it’s fine to get your

news from a source that agrees with you politically, at what point does it stop simply agreeing with you and become a network TELLING you what to think?

When does their main goal change from objective reporting to pro-

gressing and supporting their cho-sen party’s politics?

Why can’t they report a political event, and let the viewer decide what they should think about it?

“I hate the [T.V.] news media,” Kris Madsen said. “The only news I get is from the small box on yahoo.com or from the local papers my parents read.”

And as the networks show no sign of reversing the current trend, the task of objective reporting falls onto the shoulders of newspapers.

It is the responsibility of newspa-pers to preserve objective reporting, or the notion may be lost forever.

Biased media conveys no information

Policy distracts from bigger issues Dress code nothing to worry about

www.shsjacketbuzz.com Feature www.shsjacketbuzz.com Feature


On April 22, trebuchets construct-ed by Starkville High School stu-dents laid siege to a competition at Ole Miss.

The engineering department at Ole Miss holds an annual Gravity-Driven Catapult (Trebuchet) Hurl-ing Competition for scaled down, student-made catapults and trebu-chets.

The competition ranks a catapult’s performance by measuring the height of the projectile’s (a tennis ball’s) trajectory, the distance the ball traveled, where it strikes the target (abouta 3-by-3 area), and how effi-cent the catapult is (How much they spent on it and how far it threw the ball.)

Every year that Ole Miss has held the competition, history teacher Ty

Adair has offered his world history students extra credit should they construct a successful trebuchet and compete.

Every year a handful of stu-dents receive a sizable bonus to their average.

“It’s fun to do stuff besides sit in class,” Adair said. “The stu-dents enjoy do-ing other things and teachers like it too.”

Adair enjoys taking his students every year.

“It’s a fun program,” he said. “[I] had a great time. It’s fun to compete and everyone did their best. There were a lot of good catapults out there.”

Every time Adair takes students to the competition they bring back tro-phies, and this year it was the trebu-

chet team of sophomore Aus-tin Wileman and sophomore John Gavin Buffing-ton that carried on that tradition.

Wileman and Buffington won

first place in the

height category, second in dis-tance, second in accuracy, and

second in efficiency.

“Coach [Adair] made it interest-ing,” Buffington said. “He told us to

think of him as a sponsor and not a teacher, so we wouldn’t ask him for help. We had to figure everything

out ourselves.”

By the competition’s written stan-dards, all catapults must be at most seven feet tall.

However, the catapult that beat Wileman and Buffington for first

place in distance, a trebuchet from Northwest Rankin, actually mea-sured 7 feet 1 inch, and technically should have been disqualified.

But the judges decided to be le-nient.

NWR received a penalty to their score and were allowed to partake in the competition.

“In the spirit of good sportsman-ship, we congratulate Northwest Rankin,” Adair said. “Next year we will take a floating-arm trebuchet

out there and win distance.”Wileman even managed to walk away

from the event with a life lesson.“I learned that the smallest chang-

es make the biggest differences,” he said.

Catapulters besiege Ole Miss

Sponsor Ty Adair with students Price Day, John Gavin Buffington, Austin Wileman, Christopher Curtis, JR Tomlinson, Mike Brand, Andy Bond, Garrett Hunt,

Adam Bond, and his four children -Tyler, Shelby, Marshall, and Rachel - with their awards at the Ole Miss catapult competition. Photos by Denise Adair

“It’s fun to do stuff besides sit in class. The students enjoy

doing other things and teachers like it

too.”- Ty Adair, history teacher

www.shsjacketbuzz.com Feature www.shsjacketbuzz.com Feature

Top: At the catapult contest at Ole Miss, sponsor Ty Adair observes his students.

Below: World history students JR Tomlinson, Kase Kingary, Austine Wileman, John Gavin Buffington,

Christopher Curtis, and Garrett Hunt prepare to launch their catapults behind SHS JROTC building

before the Ole Miss competition.Photos by Denise Adair and Ruth Brown

www.shsjacketbuzz.com Sports

By Ty RingoStaff Writer

Since the age of eight, Tamara Bell has spent most of her life on the softball diamond.

And for the past six years, since her seventh grade year at Armstrong Middle School, Bell has been a part of the Lady Jacket Softball team.

It being Bell’s last season as a Lady Jacket, her aspirations for the next few years still include fastpitch softball.

“After graduation, I plan on at-tending college at EMCC and play softball with the Lady Lions,” Bell said.

Bell also plans to major in den-tistry and continue her education at the University of Tennessee.

The Lady Jackets narrowly missed the playoffs this year, but Bell thinks the team is prepared for the future.

“I think they will develop more physically and mentally because they have the talent, they just need to put it together,” Bell said. “Some of the older girls will have to be-come the leaders of team and lead them to more victories.”

Coach Mimi Milling says Bell con-tributes to the team in more than one way.

“She’s a leader emotionally and is one of the best defensive play-ers we have,” Milling said. “She makes plays that are impossible look easy.”

Bell said determination meant a lot in her development.

“Over the years, even though we haven’t had a winning program, it has made me determined to play harder and made me strive to make our program the best it can be,” Bell said. “In this game, you have to have heart.”

Bell to continue career at EMCC

By Lammi MichaContributing Writer

The Starkville High School Boys’ baseball team finished their season

with a 15-9 record, and head coach Danny Carlisle seemed pleased that his boys did so well in the regular season and made it to playoffs.

“We are a pretty good road team, but we can’t seem to win at home,” Carlisle said.

Carlisle seemed most pleased with his “biggest surprise,” sopho-more Nathan Pugh. Pugh’s batting average is over .300 and, accord-ing to Carlisle, he has been great in the field and has made some great

plays.

“I knew he was going to contrib-ute, but, I didn’t expect this much out of him,” Carlisle said.

Another one of his biggest sur-prises was Max Bartlett. Bartlett is a freshman who impressed Carlisle with his defensive plays and good bunting.

Seniors Chuck Tillery, Reggie Campbell, Samuel Bigam, Cody Berryhill, and RJ Johnson have also pleased Carslisle in the field.

Campbell did very well pitching relief and at first base.

In the first round of the play-offs, the Jackets played Madison Central, losing game one 16-6 and game two 11-1 for a first round re-cord of 2-0.

Jackets fall to Jaguars

www.shsjacketbuzz.com Sports

By Collin WhittenAsst. Editor

When Stan Miller was named athletic director ear-lier this spring, he immedi-ately received his first task

as AD: Name a new head football coach.

With the assistance of a screening committee, Mill-er narrowed the applicants from 27 down to eight.

From those top eight po-tential head coaches, Miller chose Jamie Mitchell as his nominee for the position.

“He’s taken programs that are down and turned them around,” Miller said. “This man, at the last high school he was at, got 36 of his former players placed in colleges.”

Mitchell has spent the past four seasons as head coach for Itawamba Agricultur-al High School.

In those four sea-sons, he has a 40-10 record, a t tes t ing to his ex-ceptional coaching abilities.

Last sea-son alone his team f i n i s h e d 13-1, and r e a c h e d the class 4A state finals.

“This isn’t about where I’ve been, this is about SHS,” Miller said. “I’m not here about winning sea-sons. I’m not here about district championships. I’m

here about putting more golden footballs in that trophy case.”

With an impressive re-cord and reputation, Mill-er’s nomination of Mitch-ell was quickly approved at the March 22 school board meeting.

Upon being named Starkville High’s new head coach, Mitchell had much to say regarding his plans and hopes for the team.

“We’re going to play with energy, passion and pride,” Mitchell said. “Are we go-ing to be perfect? Abso-lutely not. But we’re going to break our necks trying to get there. All I can ask is that [the community] be supportive of our program and our players.”

The last few seasons have been rough for Yel-low Jacket fans.

T w o years ago the Jackets missed the p l a y o f f s entirely, and last season they lost in the open-ing round at Madison Central.

H e a d coach Bill Lee an-n o u n c e d his retire-ment earlier this year.

M i t ch e l l hopes to turn things around quickly, though he’s still in the process of evaluating his team’s talent.

“With the limited time I’ve had to look at everything, I think we’ve got some good

young talent coming back,” Mitchell said.

But not enough talent. Mitchell is looking for some hidden gems in the current student population.

“I’m hoping I can get some of the older players to buy in,” Mitchell said. “But my first job is going

to be to get out there in that hallway and recruit. I know there are some play-ers who are not involved with the football program who need to be there.

“I’ve got to beat the bushes out here, and I’ve got to get our other coach-es to do the same thing.”

Mitchell is already on campus, conducting spring practices.

Mitchell to rebuild Jacket football

“ I’m not here about winning

seasons. I’m not here about district championships. I’m here about

putting more gold-en footballs in that

trophy case.”-Jamie Mitchell

Above: Supt. Judy Couey and athletic director Stan Miller, joined Mitchell, (above and

right) in speaking to media in Mitchell’s introductory press conference. Photos by Ruth Brown

www.shsjacketbuzz.com Seniors

By Cullom McCormickContributing Writer

Senior Barunie Kim earned the title of Star Stu-dent with an ACT score of 34 and chose Robin Dibble as her Star Teacher.

Her brother Michael chose Dibble as his Star Teacher as well when he graduated in 2007.

“I didn’t even know that Michael chose Mrs. Dib-ble,” Kim said. “I know it sounds kind of awful, but I tend to focus less on my siblings’ recognitions and more on my own goals.”

Each year, the student with the highest ACT score is named Star Student. The

Star Student then selects a Star Teacher who inspired, helped or has in another way resonated with them.

Kim felt Dibble deserved it.

“A lot of students tend to pick motivating teach-ers that they had when they were underclassmen,” Kim said. “I chose Mrs. Dibble because she pushes us se-niors even when we are ut-terly dry of motivation dur-ing our very last semester. She’s a wonderful teacher and expects the most of us.”

This is the second time Dibble has been chosen as Star Teacher and is flattered

by Kim’s selection.

“It’s not often that stu-dents recognize teach-ers,” Dibble said. “If it’s a student who is as accom-plished as Barunie, it is an honor.”

Kim and Dibble have a good working relationship with each other.

“I probably spent more time with her outside the classroom since she repre-sented our school in Poetry out Loud,” Dibble said.

Kim worked hard to ob-tain her score.

“I took the ACT more times than I can remem-ber,” Kim sasid. “I’m just glad I’m a senior and I nev-er, ever have to go through those grueling four hours

ever again. Sorry under-classmen!”

With a successful career at SHS behind her, Kim hopes for the best in her future.

“My top two [college] choices right now are Uni-

versity of Notre Dame and University of Virginia,” Kim said. “I just hope to go to a well-suited undergrad-uate school and continue on to another competitive graduate school.”

Senior Barunie Kim selected her AP English teacher Robin Dibble to be her Star Teacher. Photo by Brooke Underwood

Kim, like brother, picks Dibble as Star Teacher


CONGRATULATIONS National Honor Society

Inductees

By Brooke UnderwoodStaff writer

Seniors Barunie Kim and Jeffrey Jinkerson have moved on to be National Merit Scholarship Finalists, where they will compete to be chosen as one of the 8,200 to receive a Merit Scholarship.

There are three differ-ent types of scholarships awarded: the $2,500 Na-tional Merit Scholarship, c o r p o r a t e - s p o n s o r e d scholarships, and college-sponsored scholarships. Scholarship winners are chosen based on their abili-ties, skills, and accomplish-ments.

Kim described the process as being a waiting game.

“I took the PSAT, waited for my scores, filled out

some forms and then wait-ed some more.”

Jinkerson describes his feelings saying, “Ninety percent of Semifinalists

advance to become Final-ists, so after the SAT I did not worry about it much until right before the letter came.”

It began when Kim and Jinkerson scored two of the 50,000 highest PSAT/NM-SQT scores in the country, qualifying them for recog-nition in the National Merit Scholarship Program.

In September, they ad-

vanced on to be two of 16,000 students selected to be Semifinalists.

Kim and Jinkerson will both be graduating in May of this year.

Both are 4.0 students and members of the Na-tional Honors Society and have been very active dur-ing their time at Starkville High.

Kim plans on attending either Notre Dame or the University of Virginia.

Jinkerson is planning on attending Freed-Hardeman University, a small Chris-tian liberal arts school.

He plans to major in Bi-ble and Pre-Engineering in the fall.

Barunie Kim and Jeffrey Jinkerson have qualified as National

Merit Finalists for this school year. Photo by Ruth Brown

Kim, Jinkerson named Merit Finalists

Mercedes AlbersonAshley Albritton

Danielle AndertonNathan Ansel

Sheila Arun KumarJocelynn Ashford

Meria BellAndrew Bond

Caroline BrandonAshley Brown

Morgan BuntinShanice Campbell

Bailey Clark

Rachel DammsMatthew DunawayCatherine EverettHannah FischerKauther GaberMaggie George

Margaret GiesemannJessica Gray

Rebecca GriffithSavannah HobartLauren HughesGarrett Hunt

Peyton Jackson

Caleb JeffersonJasmine

Johnson-WeaverJoseph JonesRyan Lacy

Robert LaFranceLaura Kathryn

LindsayAnthony LoweTaylor Lowe

Robert MaddoxLewis MaynardThomas McLean

Zachary MitchellPatrick MorseRebecca Myles

Benjamin NewmanKelly Oliveri

Hannah ReynoldsDavis Richardson

Wheeler RichardsonEboni SuggsHal Sullivan

Charlotte WangTreasure Ward

Brian Xu


The Last Will and Testaments of the

Graduating Class of 2010I, Craig Armstead, in sound mind and body bequeath to Donterius Jordan my skills, attitude and mindset for life and football.

I, Kelly Bartlett, in sound mind and body bequeath to my Junior girls and SHS baseball boys my unconditional love and best wishes for next year and the many years to come.

I, Gavan Lamar Beckum, in sound mind and body bequeath to VerLyncia Leon-ard and Mariah Henderson my vibrant personality, smile, and “sick” sense of style to be carried in a pleasant, elegant manner.

I, McKale Bell, in sound mind and body bequeath to Ronald Grayer, Dennis Thompson and Steven Bell, my smile and my hardworking spirit to Aaliyah Sherrod and Latedra Buckhalter.

I, Tamara Shantrice Bell, in sound mind and body bequeath to Alexis Nicole McGee “Precious” my attitude and sense of humor!

I, Cody Berryhill, in sound mind and body bequeath to the baseball team and upcoming juniors my love and support.

Good luck next year and give it your best at everything you do.

I, Shay Bonner, in sound mind and body bequeath to Chelsea-Paige and Brittany Brown my athletic skills and Jacqueline Fair my attitude.

I, Latifah Booker, in sound mind and body bequeath to the Powerlifting Team my ability to make it to make it to State and succeed.

I, Derrell Boyd, in sound mind and body bequeath to Nigil Randle, my secrets on

how to be the best NBA 2K10 player in Pecan Acres.

I, Meekayll Boyd, in sound mind and body bequeath to SHS my art work and Joy in people’s lives.

I, Kimberly Boyd, in sound mind and body bequeath to underclassmen my abil-ity to attract people with my pretty smile.

I, Vinquisha Brooks, in sound mind and body bequeath to Gabriel Kelly and all my juniors my heart, mind, soul and reputa-tion.

I, Ashley Brown, in sound mind and body bequeath to Toria Carter, VerLyncia Leonard and Jondia Weatherspoon my individual style, sassiness and cheer spirit. Go Jackets!

I, Reginald Campbell, in sound mind and body bequeath to Garret Batson my position at first base and my leadership to

next year’s seniors.

I, Sade Cannon, in sound mind and body bequeath to my little brothers my sense of humor so that Starvkille High won’t be so boring.

I, Wynesia Carson, in sound mind and body bequeath to all junior band mem-bers my “yellow bird” freestyle member-ship.

I, Cameron Chandler, in sound mind and body bequeath to Nathan Dean my advice about high school: practice, work hard and never give up!

I, Stevan Crawford, in sound mind and body bequeath to trombone underclass-man my section leadership.

I, Jessie Coffey, in sound mind and body

bequeath to the boys on the football team my spot on the bench.

I, Chasity Elliott, in sound mind and body bequeath to young students my desire to leave Mississippi.

I, Kasey Davis, in sound mind and body bequeath to Montez Carr my locker.

I, Tikeya Drake, in sound mind and body bequeath to my sister my ability to suc-ceed.

I, Ryan English, in sound mind and body bequeath to the band my spirit, grace, and charm.

I, Morgan Fant, in sound mind and body bequeath to Keats Voges-Haupt my swag-ger.

I, Nathan Ford, in sound mind and body bequeath to George Bennett my eternal love and luck with the ladies. Do well, young man. Do well.

I, Kayla Fuentes, in sound mind and body bequeath to Sheila Arun-Kumar my talents of singing. I love you and know you’ll do great.

I, Ebony Tyshekia Lashay Gandy, in sound mind and body bequeath to Ariel Rich my locker and my car parking decal. Love you my lil sister.

I, Litora S. Gandy, in sound mind and body bequeath to upcoming seniors my intelligence, kindness , spirit and motiva-tion.

I, Jessieca Green, in sound mind and body bequeath to Leah Gibson my great personality and sassy attitude.

I, Eric Gregory, in sound mind and body

bequeath to all of my classmates my un-dying class spirit and my ways of wisdom to the younger members of SHS.

I, Kienan Z. Grice, in sound mind and body bequeath to Nathan Ansel my skills in procrastination and hard working lazi-ness.

I, Danielle Grimes, in sound mind and body bequeath to Hannah Miller my Catholic Powers!

I, Stephen Grado, in sound mind and body bequeath to my theater friends my patience and best wishes.

I, Halley Allexis Gunn, in sound mind and body bequeath to Ashley Ne’Cole Gunn my gorgeous looks, sense of humor, cleverness to trick teachers and locker.

I, Jessica Harris, in sound mind and body bequeath to my teachers my kindness and attentiveness.

I, April Hatchett, in sound mind and body bequeath to Ronagal Outlaw my locker.

I, Anthony Hickman, in sound mind and body bequeath to Calvin Young, my words of wisdom: keep pushing your time is coming.

I, Audreana Higgins, in sound mind and body bequeath to all SHS students my advice to not play around and get in and get out.

I, Matthew G. Howell, in sound mind and body bequeath to Kaci Carmichael my senior parking decal and good luck for next year.


I, Kierrya Issac, in sound mind and body bequeath toMegean McCarter my locker, my seat in the lunch room and my clarinet.

I, Donavan Clinton Jackson, in sound mind and body bequeath to Shawn Hen-derson my senior locker.

I, Jeffrey Jinkerson, in sound mind and body bequeath to Billy Hamilton my spot on the snare line.

I, Brandon Lorenzo Johnson, in sound mind and body bequeath to Starkville High School, my thanks and gratitude for showing me a great time during my years here at SHS.

I, Brandon M. Johnson, in sound mind and body bequeath to Terrance Bond my backpack. Carry it well.

I, Ariel Johnson, in sound mind and body bequeath to Krystal, Stacie, Aqhilyah, Bri, Chilly and Trennis my great study habits, determination to get things done and most of all my great personality! Dream Big!

I, Jonathan Blake Johnson, in sound mind and body bequeath to the football team my outstanding athleticism on the field,

because they need it for next year.

I, Shaquilla LaShelle Johnson, in sound mind and body bequeath to the upcom-ing seniors my long hours of stressing over college applications as well as the scholarships (but it’s worth it)!

I, Tevin Johnson, in sound mind and body bequeath to the band my spirit and grace.

I, Jacob Glen Jordan, in sound mind and body bequeath to Davis Richardson my choral legacy and to George Bennett I give all my heart.

I, Stephanie Kelley, in sound mind and body bequeath to all my teachers, espe-cially Mrs. Buss, my knowledge, responsi-bility, and honesty. I will miss you all very much!

I, Lillian Converse Kennard, in sound mind and body bequeath to Dessica, Alicia, Ahsia, Higil, Tyberian, and the rest my smarts, humor go lighten up people’s day and Converse to set trends!

I, Ida Lindsey Knox, in sound mind and body bequeath to Laura Kathryn Lindsay my ability to say “No.”

I, Kyle Lacy, in sound mind and body bequeath to Ryan Lacy my lunchroom relationship with the lunch ladies.

I, Morgan Larkins, in sound mind and body bequeath to my band underclass-man buddies my awesome-ness, skill, dedication and humbleness. Continue to rock on, guys.

I, Resell Larthridge, in sound mind and body bequeath to my family my ability to graduate and attend a four year Univer-sity, then go on to be successful and make my mother proud.

I, Hillary Leonard, in sound mind and body bequeath to Shelby Knox my ability to sing in a spicy, Latina accent.

I, Adrian Lewis, in sound mind and body bequeath to Ms. Kinney my body for future use in shows.

I, China McClenton, in sound mind and body bequeath to Jondia Weatherspoon, Consuela Fason, Toria Carter, Jessica Gray, VerLyncia Leonard and Jailyn Montgomery my leadership abilities, my craziness, being outspoken and also my love for cheerleading. I’ll miss you guys!

I, Mallory McCain, in sound mind and body bequeath to Rachael Damms my “cuddle cubby.”

I, Justin McClain, in sound mind and body bequeath to Chelsea Swoopes my senior locker.

I, Austin McKnight, in sound mind and body bequeath to the football team my athletic abilities.

I, Rixie Mackey, in sound mind and body bequeath to everyone at SHS my bless-ings and great expectations for everyone waiting to finish High School.

I, Caitlin Maddox, in sound mind and body bequeath to my Madrigal girls my love, patience and optimism as they con-tinue singing songs about chickens and yellow hair…Dosays for life!

I, Zak Mayo, in sound mind and body be-queath to Josh Gilbon my personality, to Allana Jenkins my ability to make people smile and to Davis Richardson because he asked me to.

I, Sam Moore, in sound mind and body bequeath to the Girls’ Powerlifting Team my Incredible Hulk strength.

I, Amanda Myhre, in sound mind and body bequeath to Drew Luczak my Eng-lish Lit IV book that is stuck forever in your locker.

I, Jonathan Orr, in sound mind and body bequeath to Chasity Swoopes my strong will and desire to graduate.

I, Kimberly Pearson, in sound mind and body bequeath to Jondia Weatherspoon my ability to be the person to keep the volleyball team smiling.

I, Whitney Peterson, in sound mind and body bequeath to the upcoming seniors my willingness to learn and positive at-titude.

I, Damion D. Poe (#1 Jacket Fan), in sound mind and body bequeath to Nick Estrada and Cnee Jackson my collection of spirit hats, foam fingers, yellow jacket

stickers and cheerful greetings to SHS daily. May you divide them equally and enjoy them.

I, Janae Poe, in sound mind and body bequeath Tyberian Stallings my good leadership, unique ways, good habits and good qualities.

I, Bernesha Pope, in sound mind and body bequeath to Chasity Swoopes my outstanding leadership skills and loving personality. Take care of my vice-presi-dent position.

I, DeAnna Rieves, in sound mind and body bequeath to Jondia Weatherspoon, Tyberian Stallings and Alana Martin my silliness and great personality.

I, Dalvin Robertson, in sound mind and body bequeath to my sister Camilon Da-vis my senior research paper.

I, Justin Rogers, in sound mind and body bequeath to my fellow nerds my smarts and quick learning abilities.

I, Fanecia Saulsberry, in sound mind and body bequeath to the Varsity cheer squad my cheer skills and dance style and capa-bility to learn quickly and have fun.

I, Trenell Scales, in sound mind and body bequeath to Chasity Swoopes my power and charm over fellow students and teachers.

I, Chris Sellars, in sound mind and body bequeath to Nick Sellers my monstrously, excessively, out of all

proportion, fantastic good grades.

I, Erica Simmons, in sound mind and body bequeath to Railey Stewart my ability to be Mrs. Buss’ most favoritest student in the whole wide world.

I, Ingrid T’Keyah Spencer, in sound mind and body bequeath to Langston Spencer my talents to succeed further in every subject. Never stop and strive for the

best.

I, Tacara Staples, in sound mind and body bequeath to Gabriel Jordan my locker.

I, Ashley Sudduth, in sound mind and body bequeath to Shakia Owens, Jada Jordan, Iesha Ware, Robsimin Ware and Jacqueline Fair my sense of humor, locker, attitude, absentees and discipline report.

I, Chad Thompson, in sound mind and body bequeath to Lammi Micha my white boy swagger.

I, Chris Townsel, in sound mind and body bequeath to Eddie Brown my great hands and route running.

I, Cheyenne Underwood, in sound mind and body bequeath to Caroline Brandon my ability to put up with and neighborly kindness towards Wesley Montgomery.

I, Emmanuel Ware, in sound mind and body bequeath to Dennis Thompson, Dennis Ware and Chris Harris my boys, family and friends. Be leaders and keep your heads up at all times. God loves you and so do I!

I, Collin Wesley Whitten, in sound mind and body bequeath to Patrick Fogarty and Hal Sullivan myself to Lauren Hughes, my childlike looks and to Mandy Kinney my stage. Because it is mine.

I, Jameshela Williams, in sound mind and body bequeath to the underclassmen my leadership skills and great work ethic.

I, Laretha Williams, in sound mind and body bequeath to The Lady Jackets my love dedication and Jacket Pride. Love you girls!!

I, DeUndra Yarbrough, in sound mind and body bequeath to my younger sister Rhian Jordan my locker on the ‘senior hall’ and the seat I sit in on first lunch.

Sen10r buzzThe

Booster Supporters : Rick’s Furniture,

Personally Yours,

Insurance Associates of Starkville,

Starkville Athletic Club

By Ryan EnglishStaff Writer

Before 1970 Starkville High School was a segregated school. White students at-tended SHS at what is now known as the Greensboro Center while black students attended Henderson High School, which is now Hen-derson Intermediate School. After SHS moved to its cur-rent location, the school offi-cially integrated in the fall of 1970 and graduated its first

integrated class in 1971. Three teachers: Robert

Bishop, Danny Carlisle, and Cleveland Hudson, were among that first integrated

class.JROTC director Sgt. Major

Bishop recalls the process somewhat fondly.

“There were not many race issues coming to Starkville High from Ward Stewart,”

Bishop said. “The difference was getting better class elec-tives and opportunities.”

Bishop remembers being a performer during his high school days.

“My most memorable m o m e n t was winning the first in-tegrated tal-ent show at S t a r k v i l l e High by singing and dancing to a Temptations song,” he said.

R e t i r i n g track and football coach Cleveland Hudson attended SHS during its first year of in-tegration and remembers the issues that came with it.

“The prom was not inte-

grated, and it was not spon-sored by the high school,” Hudson said. “The difference was trying to make friends with the white [students] and tearing down stereotypes and

the preju-dice.,” Hud-son said.

C o a c h H u d s o n still remem-bers playing football for the Yellow Jackets and some of those first

integrated pep rallies.

He de-cided to come back

to Starkville High School to coach football and track, and teach comprehensive health.

Danny Carlisle is also a 1971 SHS graduate, and has

become a legend at SHS as both a baseball and football coach.

“As far as people-wise, just keeping the groups, there wasn’t any difference,” Car-lisle said. “There weren’t as many fights as there are now.

My most memorable moment was meeting new friends and making lifelong friends. One of them is Coach Hudson.”

They broke down barriers for Starkville and helped SHS become what it is now.

The students in Starkville today have friends from a va-riety of different races and re-ligions, and integration seems like something that has just always been.

And even though not all the

racial issues have been broken down completely, SHS has a diverse student body that can be proud of the cultures they share.

“I feel that we made a lot of progress,” senior Jami Wil-liams said. “We prosper, and we are getting an equal op-portunity such as participat-ing in the same sports and activities.”

“We all get along pretty good!” Senior Quint Pannell said. “Well, at least in class we get along well. I think that’s the main difference.”

Just like the three gradu-ates of 1970, today’s students continue to form strong rela-tionships regardless of racial backgrounds.

“I feel that we made a lot of progress. We prosper and

we are getting an equal

opportunity.”- Jami Williams, Class of 2010

40 years after integration,

Starkville High grads major in

diversitySeniors Quint Pannell and Miranda Barnes look at a 1971 yearbook with ‘71 graduate coach Cleveland Hudson. Photo by Ruth Brown

Jacket Buzz (05/05/10)

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