Hometown Rankin - February & March 2016

The CHALKBOARD
rankin county Schools
McLaurin
The McLaurin High School Beta Club joined with McLaurin’s
JROTC and the Star Woman’s Club on November 11, 2015 to
host a Veteran’s Day Breakfast for the community.
The breakfast for local veterans and their families was a
student-initiated idea. This event was planned and coordinated by
a student committee that won a service project idea contest at the
Mississippi Fall Beta Leadership Summit in Biloxi. The students
were selected from all of the schools at the summit to present their
idea at the National Beta Club Convention in New Orleans in
June 2016. They were the only school from RCSD selected.
Over twenty local veterans attended the event and were honored
at the Veteran’s Day program hosted by the JROTC. The guest
speaker was LTC Danny Knight. Knight is a McLaurin graduate
who is a lead instructor in the McLaurin JROTC program. During
Knight’s address he stated that, “Most veterans do not expect great
rewards or accolades for their service. All they really expect is a
word of thanks or gratitude. Thank You, two words, eight simple
letters. We take these words for granted. We say it when someone
opens a door for us or helps us at a store. We say it so often it loses
its value. However, today, this Veteran’s Day I ask you to say it with
great meaning to a veteran that you know or come into contact
with. It means a great deal to know that the American people we
all chose to defend appreciate our service!”
Following the program, the veterans greeted every McLaurin
student as they left. Hugs and tears were accompanied by grateful
hearts and the students expressed their appreciation for their
dedicated service.
JROTC Awards this year: 1st, 2nd, 3rd place finish at the
Alcorn State University Magnolia Challenge Raider Competition
in DEC 2015; Superior Cadet Awards for 2015:
Keeley Wilkinson (12th grade) -Jonah Burroughs (11th grade)
-Victoria Sprayberry (10th grade) -Justin Coke (9th grade);
JROTC Program Accreditation Inspection-Honor Unit with
Distinction (November 2015)
Beta Awards this year: Junior and senior high Beta traveled to
Biloxi in the fall for the Fall Leadership Conference. During the
conference, both Beta clubs got to learn leadership skills and get
to know Betas from all over the state. Both groups received
distinguished leadership service awards at the conference. The
junior Betas presented a Backpack Buddy program in service
project completion and was selected to present at national
conference in New Orleans this summer.
The senior Betas presented a Veteran’s Day project and it, too,
was chosen to be presented this summer. Both groups qualified
McLaurin for Beta School of Distinction due to the tremendous
growth of our club membership.
JROTC Instructors – LTC Knight, SGM Fitts
Beta Sponsors – Kris Morris, D.C. Knight
88 • February/March 2016
Submissions provided by local officials from each individual district and not to be considered editorial opinion.