Gulf Pine Catholic

18 Gulf Pine Catholic • April 20, 2018 Spotlight on Schools Heith Shinn, a sixthth grader at OLF Elementary, travelled to Madison, MS, last month to compete in the 2018 State Finals of the MATHCOUNTS Competition Series. In Feb., Shinn won the local 6th grade competition held at USM – Gulf Park. The competition is a national program that provides students in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students a chance to compete against their peers. Fifteen schools from across the state sent students to Madison to compete for a chance to represent Mississippi in the national competition to be held in Washington, D.C., in May. While Shinn did not advance to the finals, he enjoyed the competition. Shinn is pictured with Melinda Battey, executive director of the Mississippi Engineering Society. OLF Elementary students participated in the MS Region VI Science and Engineering Fair held recently at the Coast Coliseum. There were more than 800 entries at the fair and student’s projects were judged on creative ability, scientific thought, engineering goals, thoroughness, skill, clarity, and teamwork. Carter McLendon, a fifth grader at OLF, took home a first-place medal for his project. Our Lady of Fatima Elementary School, Biloxi Sacred Heart High School, Hattiesburg Mina L. Burton has been named STAR Student for the 2017-2018 school year by the Mississippi Economic Council (MEC) M. B. Swayze Foundation, sponsors of the Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program. Established by the Mississippi Economic Council in 1965, the purpose of the STAR program is to recognize outstanding students and teachers in Mississippi through its education celebration. The theme for this year’s celebration is: Think. Grow. Succeed. The Sacred Heart High School senior will be hon- ored during the annual Education Celebration on April 12, at the Jackson Convention Complex in downtown Jackson. The Education Celebration will start at 9:30 a.m. at the Jackson Convention Complex. At Sacred Heart, Burton serves as Student Body Secretary and Senior Class Secretary and is a member of the Beta Club and Mu Alpha Theta. She was named Homecoming Queen earlier this year and has served as team manager for basketball, track and cross country. Burton attended American Legion Auxiliary Girls State and represent- ed Mississippi as a Girls Nation Delegate. She is the daughter of Amy andMarkMiller of Hattiesburg. Burton plans to attend Washington and Lee University and major in Business Management. STAR Students are selected on the basis of academic excellence. Both American College Test scores and scholastic averages are compared to determine the school’s STAR Student, explained Vicki Powell of Jackson, Senior Vice President of Foundations . “The STAR program encourages and promotes academic achievement among Mississippi’s high school seniors,” she said. Each STAR Student is asked to designate a STAR Teacher, the teacher who has made the greatest contribution to the student’s scholastic achievement. Burton designated Richard O. Muli as STAR Teacher. Muli has been a teacher for 41 years and has taught high school mathematics at Sacred Heart for the past eleven years. He holds Bachelor of Science and Masters of Education degrees from The University of Southern Mississippi. In 2000, Muli was named a Presidential Educator, and in 2002 he was named as the Joseph P. Whitehead Teacher of Distinction. During the STAR Education Celebration, Muli will be honored for being named STAR Teacher eleven times in his career. Over 500 STAR Students and STAR Teachers will receive recognition from MEC’s M. B. Swayze Foundation at the Celebration. The top 20 STAR Students -- The ALL-STAR Scholars -- will receive scholarships and their STAR Teachers will receive awards provided by the Kelly Gene Cook, Sr. Charitable Foundation. The highlight of the Education Celebration will be the naming of the Mississippi ALL_STAR Scholar for the 2017-2018 school year, winner of the coveted $24,000 Cook Foundation Scholarship. Burton Sacred Heart Elementary School, D’Iberville On March 21, Sacred Heart Elementary School PTO held their annual Ice Cream Social. Parents, students, and faculty came together to address school events over ice cream sundaes. Pictured, l-r, are Else Marie, Linh Nguyen, Mary Orman, Erin Hebert, Holly Stafford and Sierra Coniglio. St. James Elementary School, Gulfport Stacey Cox’s and Virginia Robinson’s PreK-4 classes celebrated the letter “R” with a Rock -n- Roll Day! The little rock stars even performed for the PTO meeting!