A l c o r n C a r e e r & T e c h n o l o g y C e n t e r 2 1 0 1 N o r m a n R o a d C o r i n t h , M S 3 8 8 3 4 P h o n e : ( 6 6 2 ) 2 8 6 - 7 7 2 7

R i c h a r d T u r n e r , D i r e c t o r R o d n e y H o p p e r , A s s i s t a n t D i r e c t o r

V o l u m e 2 , I s s u e 3 M a r c h 2 0 1 3

“Far and away the best prize

that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth

doing.”

-Thomas Jefferson

“By the work one knows the

workman.”

-Jean de La Fontaine

“All growth depends upon

activity. There is no

development physically or intellectually without effort,

and effort means work.”

-Calvin

Coolidge

Alcorn Career and Technology Times

Words of

Wisdom

CTE Month Activities

The Month of February was National Career and Technical Education Month. The Alcorn Career and Technology Center celebrated this special month and used it to promote the many positive activities which are taking place in Career and Technical Education. Below, a CTE Month Banner was placed in the ACTC hallway.

A few of our students visited Corinth Mayor, Tommy Irwin, at his office and watched as he signed a Career and Technical Education Month proclamation for the City of Corinth.

Our instructors and career delegates hosted tours of the Alcorn Career and Technology Center for the area’s ninth grade students. The students toured the twelve programs which are offered at ACTC. They were also

given a take-home flyer which gave a short description of each of our programs. Below, Mr. Bates describes his program objectives to a group of students which visited our center.

Our second year students had the opportunity to visit CTE programs at Northeast Community College. We appreciate the hospitality shown to our students by the NEMCC administration, faculty and staff. Pictured below, in front of the beautiful, new NEMCC fountain, is an ACTC tour group with their NEMCC tour guide.

Additionally, ACTC Student Services personnel sponsored a Nontraditional Student Day on February 27th to honor our 70 plus nontraditional students. Shown are first block nontraditional students enjoying snacks, a slideshow, a guest speaker and receiving t-shirts.

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Student of the Month Students of the 3rd Quarter

Polymer Science Jacob Fisk

Ag. & Natural Resources

Desiree Smith

Marketing Zack Marcenik

Information Technology Blake Milles

Teacher Academy Sarry-Ann Jones

Manufacturing Fundamentals David Frady

Construction Dexter Lambert

Health Sciences Jamie Smith

Career Pathway Experience

Terrell Harvell

Automotive Service Technology

Anthony Bain

John Andrews has been chosen as the Rotary Student of the Month for March at the Alcorn Career and Technology Center. John, the son of Rodney Andrews and Jennifer Campbell, is a senior at Kossuth High School and a second year student in the Teacher Academy Program at ACTC. He was nominated for this honor by his Teacher Academy Instructor, Mrs. Nan Nethery, and will be recognized at the March 7, 2013, Corinth Rotary Club meeting. John is involved in various school activities. He is a member of the Future Educators Association (FEA) and the Future Farmers of America (FFA). He serves as a Career Delegate at the Alcorn Career and Technology Center and was selected as one of ACTC’s Students of the Quarter. John and his teammates from the Kossuth FFA won second place in the State Cattle Judging Contest this year. As an individual, John was the State Champion Individual Overall. He was also humbled as his peers elected him as the 2012-2013 Mr. Kossuth High School. As a member of Wheeler Grove Baptist Church, John is active in the youth department and with the skit team. John also serves as a church league coach. He spends time serving as a mentor at Kossuth Elementary School and as a Special Olympics volunteer. Additionally, John works 20-25 hours per week at Little Caesar's Pizza.

Graphic Arts Cheyenne Phillips

Ag. Power & Machinery

John Martin

John’s career goal is to become an educator. He plans on attending Northeast Mississippi Community College and then the University of Mississippi and working toward a bachelor’s degree in elementary education with endorsements in math and social studies. Ultimately, he plans on earning an advanced degree and becoming a school administrator. Congratulations, John!

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Ag. & Natural Resources

2nd - Perfect Attendance

Listed are students which had perfect attendance at ACTC for the second nine weeks. The students with an asterisk are students having perfect attendance for the first semester. Each student received a Subway sandwich card which was donated by Subway.

Ag. & Natural Resources Josh Hancock*

Kaitlynn Mynatt* Jason Nichols

Ag. Power & Machinery

Brian Beckham Jimmy Brentner

Michalya Leonard* Joshua Miller* Jason Nichols

Automotive Service

Technology Ryan Beckham* Mason Mathis Kevin Miller*

Business Fundamentals/

Marketing Hannah Baldos* Morgan Derrick*

Construction

Kobie Burcham Matthew Clark*

Graphic Arts Ashley Baker* D.J. Devine

Malina Hunt* Amber McCary

Cheyenne Phillips* Clint Young*

Information Technology

Spencer Chandler* Al Graham* Angie Hall*

David Hollowell* Blake Mills*

Brandon Smith* Steven Schermer*

Health Sciences Chelsea Brown Emmitt Burke*

Raven Friar* Madison Hales Kristen Jacobs

Ellanna Johnson* Faith Lafever

Brittany Michael* Kabreea Moore*

Courtney Mullins* Callie Nash

Miranda Pace Allie Palmer

Britney Peters* Chylencia Phelan* LeeAnn Sorrell*

Diamond Warren* Cody Woodruff*

Manufacturing

Fundamentals/Metal Fabrication

Deontae Fernando Al Franklin

Daniel McKee*

Polymer Science Jakob Carter

Samiah Carter* John Stuart Jones

Josh Nix Brandon Wood*

Teacher Academy James Andrews* John Andrews* Hailey Carmon* Marnesha Green Sarry-Ann Jones*

Zaen Harbin* Emily Nichols*

Jessye Smith Denise Smotherman

Shaun Watson* Ally Wright

Malco Theater donated two movie tickets for a prize drawing among our students with perfect attendance. The winner of the drawing was Kevin Miller of Automotive Service. Pictured are Kevin and his instructor, Mr. Danny Mathis.

Construction

Submitted by: Fred Jackson, Construction Instructor During this nine weeks, students have been busy working on utility buildings. All three buildings the students have constructed have been sold. Mr. Jackson will gladly take orders for future utility buildings, hunting houses or doghouses to be constructed in the 2013-2014 school year. Please call him at 286-7727 if you are interested.

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9th Graders Tour ACTC Career Delegates

The Alcorn Career and Technology Center Staff has been involved in program recruitment efforts during February and March. We have enjoyed ninth graders from Biggersville, Corinth and Kossuth High Schools visiting our campus. We look forward to Alcorn Central ninth graders touring on March 20th. When students arrived on our campus, they were greeted and divided into small tour groups. Our Career Delegates served as tour guides and led small groups of ninth graders to each of the twelve programs as instructors explained program objectives. Each student was given a flyer to take home concerning our program offerings and they also completed an interest survey. Many thanks go to all the area principals, counselors, instructors and bus drivers who assisted in making these tours possible. The following are a few scenes from the tours:

ACTC Career Delegates are selected each year. Responsibilities of these students are:

1. To serve as positive role models for the school

2. To inform other students of the opportunities available at the ACTC

3. To assist teachers with recruiting other students to attend classes at the ACTC

4. To serve as ambassadors for ACTC at school functions

The 2012-2013 Career Delegates are:

John Andrews

Ashley Ballard

Hunter Brumley

Brody Clayton

Lindsey Cox

Evan Gibens

Ellanna Johnson

Michalya Leonard

Zack Marcinek

Star Miller

Kaitlynn MyNatt

Allie Palmer

John Richardson

Matthew Woodruff

Jonathan Shaw

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Health Sciences

Submitted by: Tila Johnson, Health Sciences Instructor On February 15, 2013, the Health Sciences classes participated in the Women’s Health Conference sponsored by Magnolia Regional Health Center.

Second year ACTC students visited their articulated programs at Northeast Mississippi Community College on either February 12th or 13th. Students were guided on tours by NEMCC counseling and recruitment staff. They received a tour of the new Ramsey Student Services Building and were given guided tours of NEMCC programs which relate to their studies at ACTC. Many thanks go to the NEMCC administration, faculty and staff for the efforts made for our students. Special thanks go to Mrs. Georgie Carroll of NEMCC for arranging these tours for us. Shown are a few scenes from the tours.

NEMCC Tours

Speakers for the day were physicians from our area which spoke about many of the challenges as well as many of the advances in women’s healthcare.

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Submitted by: Donnie Bates, Information Technology Instructor The Information Technology (IT) students have been learning Web programming in HTML this past quarter. HTML or HyperText Markup Language is the language of the World Wide Web (WWW). Each student chose a design with a “teaching” theme to educate their web audience. At least three pages were required with links to external and internal sites. Historical figures, sports stars, and video games were among the most popular themes. Breuna Walker chose Lebron James as her theme. The picture below is a screen shot of her first page.

Submitted by: Brad Gillmore, Kossuth FFA Advisor The Kossuth High School FFA has been on the campaign trail. Although it is not the election season, the FFA Chapter needed votes. Kossuth is part of the National FFA Chapter Challenge that covers 15 states. The top 10 chapters in each state will win up to $1500 in FFA Certificates of Credit, for the Voting Challenge.

“Placing in the top 10 will help us buy educational materials and provide money for engaging experiences for FFA members to further their future in agriculture,” said KHS Vocational Agriculture/FFA Advisor Brad Gillmore. Kossuth placed 6th in the first year of the challenge last year. The chapter picked up $1250 with the Top 10 finish.

“They only pick so many states each year,” added Gillmore. “The goal is to get students to connect with agriculturalists in the community.” Members of the FFA Officer Team are required to interview 10 local agriculturalists. “We will submit a portfolio summary of those interviews,” said Kossuth FFA Chapter President Keri Crum.

Crum and Student Advisor Sayde Turner have both noticed a change in FFA over the years through some of the interviews. “FFA is not just about judging cows …… there are so many different activities that get a person ready for the future,” said Turner. “The chapter all boils down to leadership in your community.”

Crum has witnessed the importance of agriculture as a student intern at Noyes Family Care Center. “We depend on agriculture every day,” said the chapter president. “Even in the medical field you can always relate to FFA ……people in the community care about agriculture and want to be involved.”

“It (agriculture) shapes the whole nation,” added Turner. Their teacher agrees. “FFA is no different than any other school club, we just use agriculture to prepare them for the future,” added Gillmore. Those who voted went to www.ffachapterchallenge.com, and register as an Agriculturalist. Some questions such as name, address and a valid email address had to be answered for the vote to count. Deadline to vote was March 6 and only one vote can be cast per person for their favorite FFA Chapter. Our goal is to finish in the top 5 and I think we can definitely reach it,” said Turner. As of press time, Kossuth stood in 3rd place with 119 votes.

www.ffachapterchallenge.com

KHS FFA Challenge Information Technology

School Board Recognition

February 17th-23rd was National School Board Recognition Week. NTHS members honored our local school board members by providing them with cards, NTHS mugs, and candy at the February 11th school board meeting. Many thanks go to our school board members for the job they do. Pictured are NTHS members Ellanna Johnson and Ally Wright with the recognition gifts.

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Submitted by: Joyce Suitor, Student Services Coordinator On February 27, 2013, Student Services Coordinators hosted a “Nontraditional Student Day” at ACTC. Guest speakers spoke to the group about their own career experiences. One of the speakers, Jennifer Cox, an electrical engineer, spoke to the students about challenges and benefits of a nontraditional career. The students were served refreshments and there was a drawing for t-shirts. The funding for this activity was provided by a nontraditional grant from MDE.

The Alcorn Career and Technology Center proudly serves over seventy nontraditional students throughout eleven different programs! The term nontraditional student is used to describe someone pursuing a job or career path that typically has been dominated by one gender. A nontraditional student would be a student who is of a gender that makes up less than 25% of a particular field. For instance, a girl enrolled in Automotive Service class would be considered a nontraditional student at ACTC. Below, and above right, are scenes from the Nontraditional Student Day event.

Nontraditional Student Day

New Student Services Lab

Submitted by: Joyce Suitor, Student Services Coordinator

We have received twelve new computers for our Student Services Lab. They are the first of their kind in our district, using a thin client technology. We have also received a new printer through funding from a Wal-Mart grant. The computers and printer were badly needed and have already been put to good use. They will greatly help us with MS-CPAS testing, since most of it is now done online. Several of our students have special accommodations and come to our lab for their MS-CPAS to be read aloud. As Student Service coordinators, we do a lot of career research and job skills training on the computer. We try to bring in all students to work in the computer program, Choices, a program the state funds to help our student with career planning. A few of the things this program allows students to do is job shadowing for numerous careers and to search and compare colleges. Our lab is also used to tutor students in all areas, complete homework and projects, prepare for MS-CPAS and subject area state tests, complete resumes, scholarship information, apply for FAFSA, and improve ACT and ASVAB scores.

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Submitted by: David Nowell, Agriculture & Natural Resources Instructor Students in the Agriculture and Natural Resources classes have been hard at work this nine weeks. Below, students have been working in the ACTC greenhouse to prepare for the spring fern sale.

Ag. & Natural Resources

Farm & Machinery Show

Submitted by: David Nowell and Daniel Hebert, ACTC FFA Advisors FFA students from the Alcorn Career and Technology Center recently attended the Alcorn County Farm and Machinery Show at the Crossroads Arena. Pictured are students with MSU Extension Service Area Agronomist, Charlie Stokes; MSU Extension Service Agent, Patrick Poindexter; and Corinth Mayor, Tommy Irwin.

Students built bluebird boxes for their homes and for the ACTC campus.

Students have been busy pruning plants as part of their study of landscaping.

Additionally, the students have learned to mix chemicals for weed control.

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Submitted by: David Nowell and Daniel Hebert FFA Advisors Members of the Alcorn Career and Technology Center FFA Chapter celebrated National FFA Week during March 17th-23rd, 2013. A banner was hung by students in the school hallway to signify the event.

ACTC FFA Week Activities Polymer Science

Mr. Nowell and a group of FFA members also traveled to Jackson on February 18th-19th, 2013, to attend the FFA Legislative breakfast. Students were able to meet with area legislators, tour the State Capitol and view a flag ceremony.

Submitted by: Stephanie Parsons, Polymer Science Instructor Samiah Carter of Corinth High School performed demonstrations and introduced touring students to the hands-on practices of our lab-based science class, Polymer Science. Samiah demonstrated an extrusion process using our thermoforming center, and made a blown film bubble using an HDPE milk jug and a heat gun. Samiah asked visitors to compare the physical properties of an HDPE Walmart bag and the film made from the HDPE milk jug. Students from all area high schools visit and tour our programs to make future decisions about classes they may decide to take here at ACTC.

Students, England Lemons of Corinth High School and Samantha Sharp of Kossuth High School, display a distillation chamber model they created to demonstrate the first part of the petroleum refining process. As part of our hydrocarbons unit, using a rubric, teachers were asked to judge displays created by the students.

As a participant at Jackson State University’s Mississippi Academy for Science Teaching, Mrs. Parsons applied for a science supplies grant to be used to encourage and teach chemistry to students of ACTC’s Polymer Science. The grant proposal named ‘Are you smarter than a Scientist?’ focuses on the chemistry knowledge required to help students experience inquiry-based chemistry using kits acquired from Flinn Scientific. Mrs. Parsons said, “I am very

excited to have won this opportunity. The MAST program has been extremely generous in its endeavor to help teachers bring science to students in inquiry-based and student friendly ways.”

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Submitted by: Brad Gillmore, KHS FFA Advisor FFA Northeast Federation Skills Contests were held at Prentiss County Career and Technical Center on Friday, March 1st. FFA Skills contests focus on shop related skills and knowledge. Kossuth’s Arc Welding Team placed 1st and has qualified to compete at district contest. Team members are Cullen Arnold, Cole Childers, and Austin Crum. Contestants are required to observe safety procedures, proper metal setup, and complete 3 welds: flat butt, vertical butt, and vertical T-fillet welds within a time limit. The Tool ID contest consists of identifying and properly spelling 50 tools, and an additional 10 tie breaking tools and describing how to use those tie tools if needed to break any ties. Kossuth FFA placed 6th in the Tool ID, team members were Carree Davis, Jordan Mercer, Terry Ray Michaels, and Tracy Skelton. This was the first FFA contest and first time to wear official FFA dress for these 1st year members, but hopefully not the last time. There is a tractor contest that includes three sections: driving an obstacle course and backing a trailer; completing a maintenance plan on a tractor; and trouble shooting a tractor to find 5 problems, complete a work order on how to fix them, and start the tractor within the time period. The team of Ty Dickson and Tyler Switcher got the tractor to start and combined with the other sections placed 5th in the contest. Front Row: Tracy Skelton, Terry Ray Michaels, Carree Davis, and Jordan Mercer Back Row: Austin Crum, Cole Childers, Ty Dickson, Cullen Arnold, Tyler Switcher

BHS FFA Week Activities

Submitted by: Ray Nash, BHS FFA Advisor

The Biggersville FFA brought a close to its celebration of National FFA Week by hosting the MS State FFA Officer Team on campus. The state officers conducted a leadership workshop attended by all the members of both junior and senior members of the chapter. Each officer gave a testimonial of their FFA experience and the impact it has made on their lives. One of the state officers, Chloe Henson is a member of the Biggersville FFA. Her story brought a unique perspective to the students in attendance because many of the students know her personally. The workshop also included an effective communications segment in which the students got in on the action during an activity call “message chain.” The activity quickly demonstrated to the students the importance of effective communications and its effects of being a good leader. Below are scenes from the event. The state officers also spent the week visiting FFA chapters across the state, visiting state agricultural industries and FFA sponsors, and by hosting the MS FFA Sponsors and Legislative Breakfast at the Jackson Municipal Convention Center. Several members of Biggersville FFA attended that event earlier in the week along with a visit to our state’s capitol.

KHS FFA Competes

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Teacher Academy

Submitted by: Nan Nethery, Teacher Academy Instructor

MS-CPAS Testing Dates

The Alcorn Career and Technology Center's chapter of the Future Educators Association (FEA) competed at the state FEA Conference in Jackson, MS during January 24th-26th, 2013. The group had two teams which placed at the state level. A team comprised of Ashley Ballard, Ally Wright and Marnesha Green placed third in state in the Researching Learning Disabilities event. Another team comprised of Hailey Troxell, Madison Briggs and Jessye Smith placed third in state in the Ethical Dilemma event.

ACTC is proud of the efforts made by these teams and all students which competed. FEA is the career and technical organization for the Teacher Academy program at ACTC. Teacher Academy Instructor and FEA sponsor is Mrs. Nan Nethery.

The MS-CPAS will be administered on the following dates:

April 9—Early Childcare II Performance Based Test

April 10—Teacher Academy II Performance Based Test

April 16—Polymer Science II Performance Based Test

April 22-26—Online testing for all other Career and Technical Education Programs

Ag. Power & Machinery

Submitted by: Daniel Hebert, Agriculture Power and Machinery Instructor Students in the Agriculture Power and Machinery program recently built a trailer which was auctioned at the annual Wildlife Supper at Crossroads Arena. Profits from the sale of the trailer go to support the Alcorn County 4-H Shooting Sports Program.

Mr. Larry Nelms recently visited the Agriculture Power and Machinery Program at ACTC and explained the different types of equipment used in tractor pulling events. He brought along two pieces of equipment and explained to students how they were built.

Mr. Nelms has supplied materials for the ACTC students to build him another pulling tractor. This project will involve creativity, learning fabrication and painting skills, and will cover many small engine objectives. When the project is complete one of the students will be able to drive the tractor in a local competition. We hope to get sponsors for FFA to build their own tractor next year.

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Below is a sample course selection form containing a list of classes which will be offered at the Alcorn Career and Technology Center during the 2013-2014 school year. Tenth through twelfth grade students should see their high school counselor to receive a selection form and/or applications. ACTC serves great students and the faculty and staff look forward to serving more great students in the 2013-2014 school year!

Newsletter compiled by:

Jennifer Koon,

Alcorn CTE Counselor