Emilee Bennett, NAHS School Reporter

Who doesn’t love hearing about the many wonderful things going on at New Albany High School? Our high school has been full of news that’s for sure! Athletes have been steadily playing their hearts out as they continue to succeed.  Girls basketball made it to the first round of playoffs against Lafayette. After they came out with an unexpected victory, Ali Sizemore said, “I think it’s awesome that we proved everybody wrong.”  This was a great lesson on never giving up. Boys also made it to the first round of playoffs against Rosa Fort.  Baseball players will play against Water Valley this Saturday.  Softball players will play Alcorn Central and Walnut Saturday as well.

Powerlifting girls and guys did an awesome job at the Pontotoc Invitational meet January 21. Both girls and guys placed 3rd overall!  Congratulations to girls who placed in their weight class: Kenya Mosley (1st Place). Mary Scott Waldrop (1st Place), Amber Mirfield (2nd Place), Destiny Kirk (2nd Place), Whitney Littlejohn (2nd Place).  Congrats to the boys who placed in their weight class: Christopher Farr (1st Place), Brandon Holt (1st Place), Cade Simmons (2nd Place), Josh Creekmore (3rd Place), and Devonte’ Bradley (3rd Place).

Select students participated in an Advanced Math and Science Competition Tuesday at Blue Mountain.  The History Bowl will be Saturday the 18th.

In honor of Mississippi Arbor Day February 10th, the Mississippi Forestry Commission was sponsored by Toyota for the Toyota Arbor Day Celebration in which they donated trees to New Albany schools.  The elementary school received 1,110 trees, the middle school received 502, and the high school received 600.  It was Toyota’s way of getting involved in the community and hopefully the trees will be planted.

Mrs. April Voyles and the HOSA team recently competed on February 10 at the ICC Tupelo Campus, 15 out of 24 students placed. Jodi Lynn Allred placed first in Job Seeking Skills, Gabby Bartlett and James Rhea placed second in Emergency Medical Technician, Katelyn Boyd and Savannah Owens placed fourth in CPR, Jodi Skelton placed third in Medical Photography, Jake Rossell placed third in Physical Therapy, Chelsey Maris placed fourth in Medical Photography and Colina Lowery placed third in Job Seeking Skills. Congratulations to the HOSA team!

Monday was the reality fair for some students in the Career and Vocational Center.  Students were able to learn how to manage money as they went through different life scenarios.  They learned how to deal with paying for necessities such as childcare, taxes, buying a house, groceries, etc.  Thanks to Ms. April Hobson who headed the fair along with the help of many others.  February 9th was Nontraditional day in C&T as well. Susan Feather and Christy Paul helped make this day possible because of the grant they were awarded by the Mississippi Department of Education. The 9th grade students in Jalon Bullock’s STEM classes and 9th grade in LaTrina Bynum’s Intro to Engineering classes had the opportunity to choose one of the eight skill or technical classes in the School of Career and Technical Education. The objective of this day was for the 91 students involved to experience a trade in a nontraditional setting.  For example, girls were able to go to construction trades and build a birdhouse, while guys went to business computer technology to design a PowerPoint presentation.

On January 24th, 183 NA students participated in the Reading Fair.  Everyone did an amazing job and took the time to create fantastic reading fair boards. Individual Fiction winners were 1st place- Josh Creekmore, 2nd place-Kristen Cochran, and 3rd place -Jack Mason. Individual Nonfiction winners were 1st place Spencer Day, 2nd place -Amanda Hill, and 3rd place -Chris Montgomery. Group Fiction winners were 1st place – Kellie Fay Mason and Lyndi Stokes, 2nd place – Emilee Bennett and Mattie Carter, 3rd place – Cierra Peak and Leann Tanner.

A congratulations is in order for students who received a 30+ sub-score or 30+ overall score on the December ACT. Those students are Shelby Newell, Jodi Lynn Allred, Amanda Hill, Savannah Owens, Nikki Abrams, Joseph Male, William Robbins, Shaun Vaughn, and Mattie Carter.

An Army representative will be at NAHS during lunch on Thursday, February 16 to meet with interested students. The upcoming dates for the Career Day Brown Bag Luncheons are as follows:  Friday, February 17 – Careers in Nursing; Friday, February 24 – Careers in Business; Friday, March 2 – Careers in Education, Thursday, March 22 – Careers in Law Enforcement and Military; and Thursday, April 19 – Careers in Catering and Hotel/Restaurant Management. Other upcoming events include: February 20 – 22 FCCLA State Competition and February 21 – Black History Month Student Assembly.

Saturday, March 10th will be the Amanda Price Memorial 5k Run/ Walk.  All proceeds will be donated to The Junior Auxiliary of New Albany Scholarship Fund And Survival, Inc.  If you would like an application go to www.hillcrestministries.com.  Anyone who is interested should
sign up!

Presidents Day is Monday so no school!  Everyone stay safe and warm in the chilly weather! Check our school website www.nabulldogs.com and look at our most recent videos!