NowNorthwestNORTHWEST MISS ISS IPP I COMMUNITY COLLEGE SPR ING 2015

NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPICOMMUNITY COLLEGEFOUNDATION

P.O. Drawer 7015 • 4975 Highway 51 NorthSenatobia, MS 38668

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AFFIRMATIVE ACTIONPlease visit the Northwest website at www.northwestms.edu/affirmativeaction to view the College’s Notice of Non-Discrimination, Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action.

Mike Dottorey greetsDirector of Recruiting JereHerrington (left) and StudentDevelopment CenterDirector Meg Ross duringhis retirement receptionJune 3. Dottorey divided histime at the college betweenthe two departments,serving as both DisabilitySupport Servicescoordinator in the SDC aswell as a recruiter for theRecruiting Office. Dottoreyretired in June after 35years at Northwest.

Photo by LaJuan Tallo

INSIDE: Hall of Fame • HEADWAE • spring sports • 2015 retirees

Partingshot

ComingHomeAlumnusreturns to stateas head ofJackson Prep

NowSpring 2015

It is at this time of year that I beginwriting letters to all of the scholarshipsponsors giving them information aboutthe upcoming recipients of thescholarships they have established. It isa huge undertaking since, thankfully, wehave almost 600 students this year whoare receiving scholarships. It is also atime of reflection for me as I look atthose who have been honored withscholarship endowments.

There is an expression that is sometimes over-used and one that I justcan’t completely agree with—“turning tragedy into triumph.” Perhaps, itwould be better to say “bringing some triumph to a tragic situation.” I saythat because we have a number of scholarships that are named afteryoung people who have left this world much too early, and, even though thescholarship endowment brings help and happiness to those who receive it,the tragedy of a life cut short is still there.

Some of those that come to mind are The Lauren Elizabeth TalloEndowment, The Holli Pond Day Endowment, The Ethan Eric BaylessEndowment, The Matt Gregory Endowment, and many others.

Lauren Elizabeth Tallo died in a car accident on Mother’s Day, just aweek before her high school graduation. Lauren’s mother, LaJuan Tallo,always takes a special interest in the recipients of her daughter’sscholarship. She writes a blog called “Wounded Faithful” in which she triesto help others who have faced the daunting challenge of dealing with sucha loss. Indeed, the tragedy is still there, but she finds a way to achievesome measure of victory over it.

Holli Pond Day had graduated from Northwest’s nursing program, hadmarried the man of her dreams, and was expecting their first child. Then,the tragedy came, and she died. Her family and friends were devastated,but they almost immediately wanted to memorialize this precious youngwoman with a scholarship for a nursing student at Northwest. Is it still atragedy? Yes, it is, but those who love Holli can know that, forever, Holli’sname will be remembered and a nursing student will be helped.

Ethan Eric Bayless was only two when he was senselessly killed by adrunk driver. Long before the scholarship was established, his parents,Jason and Ginger, began speaking to school groups and, through a programcalled DETER in DeSoto County, began explaining to persons arrested fordriving under the influence the awful things that can happen whensomeone chooses to drive while intoxicated. Ethan’s scholarship is anotherway to remember this child, but the tragedy still exists. It is not erased, justperhaps made a little easier to bear.

Matt Gregory was a typical Delta boy who loved hunting and fishing. Hewas also a crop duster, and he loved it. However, an accident took his life.His uncle, Steve McClellan, was working at Northwest at the time, and heestablished this scholarship, with help from family and colleagues. Heemailed me recently after receiving his letter with these comments: “I justwish there was a way for each of the students who are receiving hisscholarship to know Matt, who is hopefully smiling knowing he is helpingthese students every year. He was definitely someone who would ‘Pay itForward.’”

For all of our sponsors, please know that every student who receives ascholarship is given information about the person for whom the scholarshipis named. It is vital that each student understands that these names areimportant. We cannot dispel the tragedy, but we can rejoice in the triumphfrom the “heart of Northwest”!

Sybil R. CanonThis issue, I want to

share some photosfrom an alumnireunion that tookplace May 2 at JohnW. Kyle State Park inSardis. Alums from theyears 1965-69gathered for a picniclunch and fellowship. Itwas a beautiful day for reconnecting with oldfriends, meeting new ones, reminiscing aboutthe great days at Northwest and learning aboutwhat others had been doing in the days since.

Plans are already underway for anotherreunion. If you attended Northwest between1965 and 1969, please join the Facebookgroup Northwest Mississippi (Junior)Community College (1965-1969) or emaildrsaveryfl@aol.com for information on futurereunions.

D o l o r e s W o o t e n

features

5812

2421

top educatorDeSoto Center instructor Ricky Stevens named one of the top 20 cardio tech instructors by online blog.

capitol honorsSix students honored by the state Legislature as Phi Theta Kappa All-Mississippi Academic Team.

cover story: home againAlumnus Dr. Jason Walton returns to his beloved

home state on a mission to better young lives.

a small gestureFormer yearbook editor given life-changing

opportunities through small gestures of instructors.

a place in historyTwo-sport athlete Max Lee joins state’s elite as

new member of MACJC Sports Hall of Fame.

1 student snapshot/tiffanee merritt

2 president’s reflections/dr. gary lee spears

3 around campus

alumni president’s notes/mike boren

14 the legacy continues

21 the sporting life

33 from the heart of northwest/sybil canonalumni news/dolores wooten

On the cover: Dr. Jason Walton, a 1994 alumnus, has returned to his homestate after being selected as Head of School at Jackson Prep last July.

Photo by Hubert Worley/Jackson Prep

A publication ofNorthwest Mississippi Community College

Northwestcontents

departments

from the of Northwestheart alumni news

PresidentDr. Gary Lee Spears

Vice President for FinanceGary Mosley

Vice President for Student Services/Chief of StaffDan Smith

Vice President for EducationRichie Lawson

Vice President/RegistrarLarry Simpson

Chairman, Northwest Board of TrusteesMilton Kuykendall

Northwest FoundationAssociate Vice President of Development & Special Projects/Associate EditorSybil R. Canon • srcanon@northwestms.edu

Director of Alumni Affairs & DevelopmentOperationsDolores Wooten • dbwooten@northwestms.edu

CommunicationsDirector of Communications/EditorSarah Sapp • ssapp@northwestms.edu

Assistant Director of Communications/Graphic DesignerJulie R. Bauer • jrbauer@northwestms.edu

Communications AssistantLaJuan Tallo • ltallo@northwestms.edu

Coordinator for Sports InformationKevin Maloney • kmaloney@northwestms.edu

Editorial OfficeNorthwest NowNWCC Box 7039 • 4975 Hwy. 51 N.Senatobia, MS 38668Phone: (662) 562-3276 • Fax: (662) 562-3499www.northwestms.eduFor address changes, please contact AlumniAffairs at (662) 560-1105.

Northwest Now is published bi-annually as a joint effort of theNorthwest Foundation and the Office of Communications.

Winner of the 2007 &2009 Grand Award,Print Media category

College PublicRelationsAssociation ofMississippi

1965

1966

1967

Major: Nursing

Scholarship: The Sarah Garner AinsworthEndowment

What does getting a FoundationScholarship mean to you? Receiving a Foundation Scholarship is a bless-ing for me. It means a lot because not only isit helping me with college, it is helping me ful-fill my goal of becoming a nurse.

Which instructors/people have been partic-ularly helpful in your experience atNorthwest? All of my instructors have inspired me in differ-ent ways. Mrs. Monica Williams, Mrs. CharisseReed, Mrs. Pam Briscoe, Mrs. Lacey Gentry,Mr. Robin Robison, Mrs. Amy Stewart, Mr.Richard Swinney and many more have beenvery supportive of me and motivated me tocontinue to strive for success. The entireNursing Division has been very welcoming tome, and they are always willing to help.

What inspired you to choose your major? My grandmother really inspired me to pursuenursing. She was diagnosed with lung cancer in2009, and I was one of her primary caregiversuntil she passed away last year. I watchedhow hard her nurses worked to comfort herand decided early on that I wanted to be apart of nursing. It is a truly amazing feeling tobe able to help people in their time of needand make a difference in people’s lives.

Describe your experience being selected afirst-team honoree on the All-MississippiAcademic Team.I was truly honored to be recognized because Ifelt like all my hard work had paid off. I am verydelighted with my accomplishment, and I desireto continue to achieve excellence.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Finishing my RN-DNP degree at Delta StateUniversity and working as a pre-natal nurse.

What would you like for people to knowabout Northwest? There are great opportunities available atNorthwest. There are many resources such asStudent Support Services and the math lab thatoffer free tutoring in various courses. I want toencourage students to take advantage of theseresources to help them achieve their goals.

Tiffanee MerrittColdwater • Sophomore

student

Phot

o by

Jul

ie B

auer

snapshot

1Summer 2015

Another great year at Northwest culminat-ing in three graduation ceremonies! Whilewe had more than 740 graduates to partici-pate in the ceremonies, we had an addition-al 400 students who have qualified toreceive their associate degrees fromNorthwest. This is a dramatic increase overthe previous year, and it is certainly a recordnumber for this college.

At Northwest, we award an Associate ofArts degree in academic programs; anAssociate of Applied Science degree in tech-nical programs to include computer program-ming, graphic design, precision manufactur-ing and machining, agricultural technology,

and others; and Certificates for one-year programs in such areas as welding, cos-metology, basic EMT, etc. I had the privilege of speaking to our graduates and theirfriends and families who came to be a part of their moment of accomplishment. Iwanted to share with you some of what I shared with them about the importanceof a community college degree.

First of all, I explained to the graduates that they had earned a diploma whichwould serve as a permanent testament to their hard work and dedication. In aworld filled with temporary things, the diploma can never be taken from them, it willnot lose its value, and it will be a part of their lives forever.

My second point was to relate U.S. Department of Labor statistics that showthat a community college graduate earns more money than someone with only ahigh school degree and that the chances for actually getting a job are greater aswell.

Finally, I provided them with examples of people who had begun their education-al journeys here at Northwest and who had accomplished phenomenal things withtheir lives. I referred to these as “an elite army of professionals.” We are sopleased with the reputation of excellence that Northwest has, and a degree fromNorthwest really means something. The entrance of our graduates into this armyof professionals is not only good for the students, but good for all those who willbenefit from their knowledge and training. I am convinced that our students leaveNorthwest and truly make a difference in the communities in which they live andwork.

It has, indeed, been a great year! I look forward to the fall semester when we,as always at Northwest, see our faculty and staff institute new and innovative pro-grams for our students, programs to make them eligible for a changing world ofemployment. I hope you share my pride in this fine college that stays on the cut-ting edge of instruction and technology and remains relevant to today's students.It is a great day to be a Ranger!

2 Northwest Now

It is hard to believe that Northwest’sDeSoto Center just celebrated its 40thanniversary. It seems like just yesterdaythe college was offering just a few eveningclasses in Southaven at the old Alodexbuilding, what is now Southaven’s City Hall.

In August 1995,a new $7.3 millionfacility was com-pleted on ChurchRoad—on land thatwas donated by theW.E. Ross family—where studentscould take the firsttwo years of a four-year degree or career-technical classes togo straight into the growing DeSoto Countyworkforce.

It amazes me that students can earntheir associate degree and walk rightacross the hall to Ole Miss-DeSoto andcomplete their bachelor’s degree. TheUniversity of Mississippi even offerssome master’s programs there. Thispartnership is a huge asset to the tax-payers of DeSoto County and the Mid-South.

Northwest recently hosted a reunionfor former faculty and alumni at DeSotoCenter to celebrate the 40th anniver-sary milestone. Everyone enjoyed a deli-cious catfish dinner and entertainmentfrom the Northwest Steel Drum Band.Above all, we enjoyed each other.

After watching former faculty have achance to catch up and alumni comeback to where it all started, it struck methat what students remember mostabout DeSoto Center is the relation-ships with faculty. When you’re all inone building, you become a tight knitfamily. The lifelong bonds amongfriends and their devotion to Northwestwere so obvious; it is no wonder thecenter has grown its enrollment to ashigh as 3,401 students.

president’s reflections Dr. Gary Lee Spears

M i k e B o r e n

alumnipresident’s

notes

3Summer 2015www.northwestms.edu

around campus

Ten Northwest students were induct-ed into the 2014 -2015 Northwest Hallof Fame, the highest honor a Northweststudent can attain based upon theiracademic prowess and involvement instudent life at the college. The groupwas honored at the Feb. 12 Board ofTrustees meeting on the Senatobiacampus.

Holly Newman of Olive Branch, whois studying engineering, graduated fromOlive Branch High School. While atNorthwest, Newman was a member ofPhi Theta Kappa (PTK), Mu Alpha ThetaMath Society, and the Lady Ranger soc-cer team. Her honors include Who’sWho Among Students in AmericanUniversities and Colleges, All-State andNorthwest Soccer Player of the Monthand Mu Alpha Theta secretary. Shereceived the Alice Runge and WalterCarter Endowed Scholarship.

Michael “Chip” Malone of LakeCormorant is studying theatre and is agraduate of Lake Cormorant HighSchool. While at Northwest, he was apart of the Northwest Concert, Jazz andMarching Bands; the Northwest Players;the Northwest tennis team and theBaptist Student Union (BSU). Malonewas honored as an Outstanding Studentand Who’s Who. He has received awardsfor theatre from the NorthwestMississippi Theater Alliance and was arecipient of the Irene Ryan Acting Award.

Ashley Simon of Senatobia is a grad-uate of Senatobia High School and isstudying theatre. While at Northwest,Simon was a member of PTK, Who’sWho and student recruiters. Simon wasalso a member of the Northwest Concertand Marching Bands and the NorthwestPlayers. She was an active member ofBSU and received the Irene Ryan ActingAward. She received the Mary FrancesJaudon Woolfolk Endowed Scholarship.

Summer Steakley of Olive Branch is anursing student. She graduated fromMagnolia Heights School. Steakley was amember of the Student Nurses

Association, BSU and Ranger softballteam. Her honors include PTK, Who’sWho and the Homecoming Court.

Dalton Hurt of Hernando is studyingelementary education and graduatedfrom Lewisburg High School. AtNorthwest, she was a member of PTKand BSU and was president of theNorthwest Education Association. Shewas honored as Who’s Who, OutstandingStudent and Senatobia Rotary ClubStudent of the Month. She received theNorth Mississippi Education ConsortiumEndowed Scholarship.

Amelia Belle Bailey of Pope is study-ing music education. While at Northwest,Bailey was a member of PTK, Mu AlphaTheta, the Northwest Marching andConcert Bands, the Northwest Singers,BSU Worship Band and the NorthwestEducation Association. Bailey is a gradu-ate of South Panola High School.

Three Hall of Fame students comefrom the DeSoto Center.

Matthew Morris, who is studying vet-

erinary medicine, is from Olive Branchand graduated from Center Hill HighSchool. While at Northwest, he was amember of the Spanish Club and PTK.

Courtney J. Robinson, who is studyingsecondary education, is from Hernandoand graduated from Hernando HighSchool. While at Northwest, Robinsonwas a member of PTK.

Respiratory Therapy student SummerCooper of Hernando graduated fromHernando High School. While atNorthwest, she was a member of theRespiratory Therapy Society.

Representing the Lafayette-Yalobusha Technical Center is BarbaraArbuckle, a nursing student from Oxford.Arbuckle graduated from Lafayette HighSchool. She was a member of PTK andGamma Beta Phi at Northwest. Arbucklewas admitted to the Northwest Nursingprogram while dual enrolled in TheUniversity of Mississippi B.S.N. program.

—LaJuan Tallo

Ten inducted into college’s 2015 Hall of Fame

Northwest President, Dr. Gary Lee Spears (far left) congratulates (front row, left to right)Ashley Simon, Amelia Bailey, Dalton Hurt, Holly Newman, (second row, left to right) ChipMalone, Matthew Morris, Summer Cooper and Barbara Arbuckle for their induction intothe 2014-2015 Northwest Hall of Fame. Not pictured are Courtney Robinson andSummer Steakley. Photo by Julie Bauer

around campus

Northwest recently announced its 2015HEADWAE honorees. The HEADWAE student issophomore Keenan Lane Arntson, and HEADWAEfaculty member Renee Young O’Neill is anEnglish instructor at the Lafayette-YalobushaTechnical Center in Oxford, where Arntson is alsoa student.

HEADWAE stands for “Higher EducationAppreciation Day-Working for AcademicExcellence.” The award was established by theMississippi Legislative Resolution #88 in 1987to annually honor academically talented studentsand faculty members of Mississippi’s higher edu-cation institutions who have made outstandingcontributions in promoting academic excellence.Arntson and O’Neill were honored at the 28thannual HEADWAE program in Jackson on Feb.17.

Arntson is the daughter of Janel and BryanArntson of Oxford and graduated from OxfordHigh School. She is studying psychology andexercise science at Northwest. She is presidentof the Oxford Center chapter of Phi Theta Kappaand of Gamma Beta Phi. Arntson plans to become a sportspsychologist and physical trainer.

O’Neill has been teaching at Northwest for 11 years. Shegraduated cum laude with her Bachelor of Arts in English andHistory from The University of Mississippi in 1988, and earned

her Master of Education in English from Delta State Universityin 1989. She is a member of the Two-Year College EnglishAssociation of Mississippi (TYCAM). She and her husband Mikeand their children Lucas and Griffin live in Oxford.

—LaJuan Tallo

Oxford student, instructor are HEADWAE honorees

Northwest President, Dr. Gary Lee Spears (center) congratulates KeenanLane Arnston (left) and Renee Young O’Neill on their selection as 2015HEADWAE student and faculty honorees during the Board of Trustees meet-ing in March. Photo by Sarah Sapp

Northwest English Instructor Beth Leishman (left) was namedTate County Educator of the Year at the 17th annual Tate CountyEconomic Development Foundation (TCEDF) banquet on March2. Leishman, who has taught English and literature classes forthe college, worked as an adjunct instructor before becoming afull-time instructor in 2006. She has also led ACT workshops forthe Division of Continuing Education and has taught online cours-es for the eLearning Division since 2008. She is currently serv-ing as interim eLearning coordinator for the Division ofLanguages and Communications. Congratulating Leishman isJulie Correro, division director of Education at Northwest andTCEDF board member.

Photo by LaJuan Tallo

Leishman selected as Educator of the Year

www.northwestms.edu4 Northwest Now

around campus

Cardiovascular TechnologyInstructor Ricky Stevens wasrecently named one of the “20Top Cardiovascular TechnologyInstructors” on the MedicalTechnology Schools blog.

Stevens has been an instructorat DeSoto Center since November2006. He has a BSN from DeltaState University and a master’sdegree in history from TheUniversity of Mississippi. He hasheld several certifications through-out his career including emer-gency room, intensive care, oper-ating room and trauma. He was anadvanced cardiac life supportinstructor for many years.

“My job is really easy because Ihave such motivated students.They come in the door wanting tolearn something new every day.The students I get want to behere, and they push me to give them the tools they need tobe successful. Since 2007 we’ve been able to place about 85percent of our graduates in the field. I think that’s reallybecause we start with good people and just help them get bet-ter,” Stevens said.

According to the blog, the top 20 were selected on the fol-lowing criteria: professionalism, commitment to education anddesire to help students succeed by looking at time on the job,

certification and professionalexperience. Stevens was includedwith instructors from Texas,Georgia, North Carolina,Tennessee, Oregon, Washington,Virginia, Florida, Minnesota, SouthCarolina, South Dakota, Ohio,North Dakota and Oklahoma.

“We are very excited to learnthat Rick has been named one ofthe Top 20 CardiovascularTechnology Instructors. He is veryknowledgeable in his field anddoes an excellent job of passinghis expertise on to his students,”Jeremy Isome, dean of DeSotoCenter said.

Outside of his professional job,Stevens is a BMI-affiliated song-writer and a voting member of theEngineers and Producers wing of

the National Academy of RecordingArts and Sciences (NARAS), which

means he gets to vote in the Grammy Awards each year. Hejust completed two terms of office on the board of the BluesFoundation, and is a member of the Internet Committee of theGrand Lodge of Mississippi Free and Accepted Masons.

Stevens said he was very surprised to learn he had beenchosen. “All I do is show up and try to stamp out a little bit ofignorance every day. My motivation is purely selfish. When theday comes that I need a heart catheterization, I want to look

up and say, ‘Thank God it’s one of my students’instead of ‘Oh God, it’s one of my students,’”Stevens said.

The Cardiovascular Technology program atNorthwest is designed to train students throughdidactic, laboratory and clinical experiences for acareer in invasive and non-invasive cardiology. Aftercompletion, an invasive cardiovascular technologistcan work in a number of different areas in a hospitalor physician’s office.

The Medical Technology Schools blog post can befound at www.medicaltechnologyschools.com/car-diovascular-technologist/top-cardio-tech-instructors.

—LaJuan Tallo

Stevens named top 20 cardio tech instructor

5Summer 2015www.northwestms.edu

Ricky Stevens

Stevens shows students how to thread a heartcatheter during lab. Photo by Julie Bauer

around campus

www.northwestms.edu

It might seem unconventional forcommunity college advisers to ask newstudents, “What four-year college degreeare you interested in?” but that is exact-ly the direction Northwest administratorsare taking.

Students who graduate fromNorthwest on an academic pathway willstill receive the same Associate of Artsthey have always received at the institu-tion. Rather than adopting a “major,” stu-dents will follow the curriculum leading tothe bachelor’s degree at the four-yearcollege of their choice. A student will fol-low the academic pathway for the firsttwo years of the four-year degree theyare pursuing.

“We are sharpening our focus on suc-cessful transfer and graduation. From ourresearch of other community colleges’graduation and transfer rates, we knowthat shifting to this approach is thebest,” said Richie Lawson, vice presidentfor Education. “From day one, we wantour Academic Education students tothink about what bachelor’s degree theywant to pursue.”

The college has reduced the numberof requisite semester hours to receive anassociate degree to 35 in core classesand 25 in electives related to the stu-dent’s chosen academic pathway. If stu-

dents successfully complete their 60hours of college-level courses withNorthwest and graduate, all of theirclasses will transfer to the school of theirchoice.

The core curriculum includes sixsemester hours of English composition,nine semester hours of humanities/fine

arts, six semester hours of social/behav-ioral science, six semester hours of natu-ral sciences, three semester hours ofmathematics and three semester hoursof basic computer skills.

“Faculty advisers will guide studentswith curriculum choices and careergoals,” said Dr. Matthew Domas, associ-ate vice president for Education. “We willlist advisers by pathway concentration inthe course catalog and website, so stu-dents can seek guidance from instruc-tors in their area of interest. For instance,we will list all liberal arts instructors,speech and theatre instructors and mathinstructors together. That way, studentscan easily find a person who can counselthem in their desired educational andcareer path.”

Students who need developmentalcourses to prepare for their chosen path-way will have to take courses in prepara-tion for their 60 hours for transfer.

—Sarah Sapp

Academic ‘pathways’ ensure smooth transfer

Academic Education has been revamped to sharpen the college’s focus on success-ful graduation and transfer to a four-year institution. Students will be able to seekguidance from instructors while following an academic pathway in their field of inter-est. Robin Robison (right), division director of Natural Sciences, advises a student onher academic pathway. Photo by LaJuan Tallo

Five-year-old Emma Watson, a stu-dent in the college’s ChildEnrichment Center, enjoys sittingon the new bench built by studentsin the Welding and Cutting programfor the Early Childhood EducationTechnology program. The bench,which will be used for inside playactivities, was constructed andpainted by Rachel Bayless ofOxford, Hunter Shirley of Batesville,and Matthew Treglown ofSouthaven under the guidance ofRodney Steele, instructor.

Photo by Kristin Watson

Welding students craft bench for ECET

7Summer 2015

around campus

Culinary team takes second, third at competitionWhat do catfish, sweet potatoes, cab-

bage and grits have in common? Theywere all ingredients in the mystery bas-ket at the Culinary Competition forCollegiate DECA members held on Feb.3, where Northwest students studyingHotel and Restaurant ManagementTechnology placed second and thirdagainst teams from across the state.

All participants reported to theLanders Center in Southaven at 9 a.m.when they were told what protein theywould be required to use to make onemeal for a family-style restaurant. FirstChoice Catering of Horn Lake providedall ingredients in the basket. The sellingprice of the meal could be no more than$15.

The competitors prepared dishes forfour individuals. While competitors couldcome armed with their knife bags, sea-sonings and ingredients were all foundon-site. Four teams worked at each sta-tion at the same time in one-hour shiftswith beginning times 15 minutes apart.Times were randomly assigned at theevent.

Kay Mistilis, program instructor andDECA adviser, cheered on the blackteam—Anny Nen, Ashley Williams andChianna Jackson, all of Southaven, andthe white team—Rondlynn Lucas andZane Downing, both of Southaven, andMatthew McMinn of Hernando as theypresented their plates to the judges.

The black team presented anandouille sausage stuffing and grit cakeNapoleon topped with cornmeal-dusted,

deep fried catfish and served with a twistof lemon. The white team presented anandouille sausage and rice stuffed cat-fish roulade, flash fried then baked totemperature.

Judges evaluated the students basedon nine criteria: culinary preparationskills; cooking technique; sanitation andcleaning; teamwork, communication andsharing of space with other team; kitchentiming, efficiency and ingredient utiliza-tion; presentation of dish; taste of dish;written recipe and how it was followed

and overall impression of culinaryteam. At the end of the competi-tion, the black team came in sec-ond and the white team came inthird overall.

“I was pleased beyond words. Iwas so excited,” said Mistilis. “I

watched them work hard, and they werevery intense in doing everything right.They spent extra hours in the lab prepar-ing. We started with one recipe, andchanged it three or four times. Theyreceived such nice compliments from thejudges.”

Hotel and Restaurant ManagementTechnology at DeSoto Center inSouthaven is perfect for those who havealways dreamed of working with chefs,planning a catered business meeting ormanaging a hotel property.

This program provides specializedinstruction in all phases of hotel andrestaurant management, and laboratoryclasses and externships at local estab-lishments supplement coursework.Courses specify a business approach butalso include instruction in culinary princi-ples and technique, facility operationsand security management.

—Sarah Sapp

Student chefs from the Hotel and Restaurant Management Technology program relaxbefore the Collegiate DECA Culinary Competition in the Landers Center’s kitchen.Pictured here left to right are: Katherine Mistilis, instructor/adviser; Anny Nen,Rondlynn Lucas and Ashley Williams, all of Southaven; Matthew McMinn of Hernandoand Chianna Jackson and Zane Downing, both of Southaven. Photo by Sarah Sapp

The culinary class is known for itsdelicious creations, like this dishserved during the annual SpringLuncheon. Photo by Julie Bauer

around campus

Northwest students Tiffanee Merritt ofColdwater, Cody Abel of Southaven, EmilyReedy of Horn Lake, Dameon Cunningham ofBatesville, Ashleigh Hoffman of Oxford andDaniel Sing of Independence were honoredon March 25 by the Mississippi Legislaturefor being named to the Phi Theta Kappa All-Mississippi Academic Team.

During the All-Mississippi Academic TeamRecognition Luncheon held at the JacksonConvention Center the students were individ-ually recognized for their academic accom-plishments, and were presented with a leg-islative resolution and certificate.

Merritt, who is a nursing major on theSenatobia campus, was recognized as an All-Mississippi first team honoree. All-Mississippisecond team honorees from the DeSotoCenter were Abel, who is studying engineeringand Reedy, who is studying communicativedisorders. From the Lafayette-YalobushaTechnical Center, second team honoreeswere Cunningham and Hoffman, who bothstudy social work. The second team honoreefrom the Senatobia campus was Daniel Sing,who is a nursing (BSN) student.

PTK All-Mississippi team recognized by legislature

Northwest Phi Theta Kappa students were honored on March 25 by theMississippi Legislature for being named to the Phi Theta Kappa All-MississippiAcademic Team. Pictured on the Capitol steps are front row, left to right,Elizabeth Harvey, Judy Barham, advisers and Emily Reedy of Horn Lake, All-Mississippi second team honoree. Second row, left to right, Patsy Gardner, advis-er; Ashleigh Hoffman of Oxford, All-Mississippi second team honoree; TiffaneeMerritt of Coldwater, All-Mississippi first team honoree; Cody Abel, of Southaven,and Dameon Cunningham of Batesville, both All-Mississippi second team hon-orees. Top row, left to right, Carroll Huebner, adviser, Richie Lawson, vice presi-dent for Education, Larry Simpson, vice president, registrar and Fisher Flemingand Dr. Kim Hamilton-Wims, advisers. Photo by LaJuan Tallo

8 Northwest Now

Journalists page 29 !

The Ranger Rocket newspaper staff traveled to Jackson to attendthe O.C. McDavid Journalism Conference on March 26 at theMississippi Craft Center.

There were 70 collegiate journalists who attended the event.Leonard Van Slyke, attorney for the Mississippi Center for Freedomof Information, was the first speaker of the event. Van Slyke touchedon the rules of media law.

After Van Slyke spoke, a panel of journalists participated in a dis-cussion about the demands of journalism and the current state ofthe field. The panel consisted of David Gustafson, the publisher ofThe Lamar Times and The Petal News; Therese Apel, reporter for theClarion-Ledger and Josh Mlot, sports editor for The Lamar Times andThe Petal News.

After the speakers concluded, the Better Newspaper ContestStudent Division winners were announced. In total, the Ranger

Journalists attend conference,win multiple writing awards

Staff members of the Ranger Rocket took home awards inthe annual Better Newspaper Contest Student DivisionMarch 26 at the O.C. McDavid Journalism Conference.Students who attended include (first row, l to r) SamanthaWhittle, Lauren Benton, editor, Kenn Falkner, sports sectioneditor, Larry Mason, (second row) Paige Grady, CoreyMcKinney and Rudy Armstrong. Photo by Carroll Huebner

PTK page 29 !

www.northwestms.edu

around campus

Recently, six Ranger cheerleaderslearned that they had been selected tocheer on university cheerleadingsquads. For Northwest Cheer SponsorLiesl Mote, it was the culmination of agreat year for her squad.

Northwest cheerleaders John Cottonand Robert Hewettle, both of Lambertwere selected to cheer for theUniversity of Southern Mississippicheerleading squad. Shelby Ines ofKennewick, Washington and LeahSmith of Hernando are headed to cheerat the University of Memphis. LeeWilliams of Lambert will be cheering atThe University of Mississippi, andBreanna Bess of Grenada will be cheer-ing at Delta State University. “I’m reallyexcited to be cheering on the universitylevel, and I am so happy that Northwestprepared me for that,” Bess said.According to Mote, in the past threeyears, Northwest has sent 10 studentsto Division I schools and four studentsto Division II schools.

Mote came to Northwest five yearsago as intramural coordinator andcheer sponsor. She quickly made it hergoal to prepare her students to moveon to the university level if they sodesired. “I feel like this is what collegiatecheerleading is about. They are basical-ly the ambassadors of the college, andthis is representative of what we wantour Northwest cheerleaders to be. I’m aNorthwest fan, so I like having a squadthat represents what I think Northwestshould represent,” Mote said.

Mote emphasizes to those who areselected cheerleaders that they are stu-dent-athletes, just as those who play anyof the sports at the college. “I remindthem that the first word is student, andthat a lot of responsibility comes withthe title student-athlete, and they needto behave accordingly,” Mote said.

Tryouts are held in early May, andonce the squad is selected, they willattend a summer camp. The squad

works out, conditions and works on tum-bling, stunts and pyramids. During thattime, they are tested on Northwest’scheers, which she expects them basical-ly to learn on their own. “If they havebeen cheering in high school, they knowthe motions, and should be able to learnthese cheers,” Mote said. Moteexplained that there are only about 10cheers. “This is a very collegiate way todo it. If you go to a Division I school, youwill notice that they do repeating cheers,so that the crowd can learn all of them,”Mote said.

Mote’s primary focus is more on con-ditioning, stunting and taking thosestunts from the high school level to thecollegiate level. “Some come in andhave already been in competitive cheer,so they already know some of thesestunts. There is a big difference in the

collegiate skill level and what they areallowed to do in high school by theUniversal Cheerleaders Association,”Mote said. During the school year, theypractice 12-15 hours a week.

The Northwest Ranger Cheerleadersperform at all football games and allhome basketball games and travel tobowl and tournament games. They spon-sor all of the “Meet the Rangers” events,and appear at Northwest’s “Go West”recruiting event.

Mote sums up her philosophy andfocus simply. “We want them to look likea college cheer team. My philosophy isthat if someone wants to move up to thenext level, we are going to do everythingwe can to prepare them for that,” Motesaid.

—LaJuan Tallo

Six to join university cheerleading squads

Six Northwest cheerleaders have been selected for university-level squads, including(front row, l to r) John Cotton of Lambert, University of Southern Mississippi; ShelbyInes of Kennewick, Washington, University of Memphis; Lee Williams of Lambert, TheUniversity of Mississippi and Leah Smith of Hernando, University of Memphis; (backrow, l to r) Robert Hewettle of Lambert, University of Southern Mississippi and BreannaBess of Grenada, Delta State University. Photo by LaJuan Tallo

9Summer 2015www.northwestms.edu

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Eleven students from Northwest’s theatre program attend-ed the Region 4 Kennedy Center American College TheatreFestival (KCACTF) in Albany, Georgia Feb. 3-7. During the fes-tival, Northwest competed against community college, univer-sity and graduate students from Alabama, Georgia, Florida,Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, southern Virginia,Tennessee and Mississippi.

Northwest student Wesley Williamson of Olive Branch, whowas nominated for his work in Northwest’s productions of“Picasso at the Lapin Agile” and “The Miss FirecrackerContest,” became the first Northwest student to ever advanceto the semi-finals of the Irene Ryan Acting Auditions.Northwest was also the only community college out of at least50 colleges and universities to advance to the semi-finals.

Theatre instructor Sadie Shannon explained that winners ofthe auditions earn scholarships. Northwest took four teams oftwo students each to the competition. The teams are com-posed of a nominated student and a partner, who act out atimed scene. “The students were given their scenes beforeChristmas break and had to memorize them before they cameback. We rehearsed them about three times per week and

timed the scenes, because points will be deducted if they goover the time,” Shannon said. She explained that the festivalconsists of various competitions and workshops that the stu-dents attend in their area of interest.

Other students nominated for the IreneRyan Acting award were Heather Pate ofGreenwood for “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,”Ashley Simon of Senatobia for “StoryTheatre” and Jenna Taylor of Walls for “TheMiss Firecracker Contest.” Williamson’s act-ing partner was Aaron Brasher of Como.Charlotte Malone of Lake Cormorant servedas acting partner for Pate and Taylor. ChipMalone of Lake Cormorant was acting part-ner for Simon.

Hannah Herring of Horn Lake was nomi-nated for her talents in stage management.Herring was accepted into the StageManagement Fellowship and stage managedan event at the festival, Shannon said.Herring has served as stage manager for sev-eral productions during her time as a studentat Northwest.

“I am so proud of all of our students. It isvery validating to me as a teacher to knowthat I am picking the right material for them,and that at this high level of competitionthey are moving forward. I feel like we aredoing what we are supposed to do in our pro-gram,” Shannon said. —LaJuan Tallo

Williamson first to reachKennedy Center semis

around campus

Brasher & Williamson

Masons honor 100th year of cornerstoneOn May 11, members of theEbenezer Masonic Lodge pre-sented Northwest President, Dr.Gary Lee Spears (center) with acommemorative plaque in cele-bration of the 100th anniver-sary of the laying of the corner-stone of Tate CountyAgricultural High School, whichlater became Northwest. Thecornerstone was laid by GrandMaster Jesse M. Brooks, as wascustomary at the time.Presenting the plaque are (fromleft) college employees BrianHale, Bradley Thompson, stu-dent Luke Padget, and RickyStevens.

Photo by Sarah Sapp

10 Northwest Now

Gale Cushman of Senatobia was namedpresident of the Northwest Foundation Boardof Directors during its quarterly meeting onFeb. 19. Cushman previously served as vicepresident during the tenure of past presidentJames Dunn of Tunica. Kevin Doddridge ofOlive Branch was elected to serve as vicepresident.

"Mr. Dunn has been such a wonderfulpresident for the Foundation Board ofDirectors. I am confident that same excel-lent leadership will continue with Mrs.Cushman," said Sybil Canon, associate vicepresident of Development and SpecialProjects.

The board also welcomed three new mem-bers: Fred Carlisle of Holly Springs and CindyHale and Chuck Jackson of Senatobia.Members of the board are elected to three-year terms.

Also at the meeting, Canon reported tothe board that the value of the endowment,as of Feb. 17, was $9,056,554. Canon saidthat in addition to these funds, the

Foundation board welcomes new members

Newly-elected Foundation Board of Directors President Gale Cushman ofSenatobia (left) and Associate Vice President of Development and SpecialProjects Sybil Canon (right) welcome new members Fred Carlisle of Holly Springs,Cindy Hale of Senatobia and Chuck Jackson of Senatobia to the board during theirFeb. 19 meeting. Members of the board are elected to three-year terms.

Photo by Julie Bauer

around campus

Mary Alice Moorman was a faithful mem-ber of the college’s Board of Trustees for 27years until her death at the age of 89 onJune 9. She served on the BuildingCommittee, the Farm Committee, thePersonnel Committee and the EducationalProgram Review during her tenure on theboard.

Northwest President, Dr. Gary LeeSpears, stated that the entire board wassaddened by this news. “Miss Moormanrarely missed a board meeting, a committeemeeting, or a trustees conference. She tookher responsibility as a board member veryseriously, and she was committed to thestudents and this college. All of us who havehad the privilege of working with her over theyears will miss her keen intellect and herwise counsel. To be honest, we will miss everything aboutMiss Moorman. She was a wonderful lady.”

Born Dec. 11, 1925 to the late Albert T. and Ruth WilbournMoorman in Oakville, Tennessee, Moorman served YalobushaCounty for over 42 years, first as a teacher at Jeff Davis School

in Water Valley. She served in Coffeeville asa teacher and girls’ basketball coach, lateras assistant principal, and, finally, as theYalobusha County superintendent ofEducation. She was an active member ofthe Cattleman’s Association and theYalobusha County Forestry Association, andshe was an avid supporter of Pine Valley FireDepartment. She was a faithful and activemember in all aspects of service at BethelBaptist Church in Water Valley.

Moorman is survived by her sister, AnnM. Haynes of Batesville, five nieces andnephews, seven great nephews, one great-great nephew and a host of other relativesand friends. In addition to her parents, she

was preceded in death by her sister, TommieJuanita Simpson and two brothers, Fred Earl

Moorman and Thomas A. Moorman.The family has established The Mary Alice Moorman

Endowed Scholarship Fund. Those interested in contributingto this fund may send contributions to NWCC Foundation,4975 Hwy. 51 N., Senatobia, MS 38668.

In Memoriam: Mary Alice Moorman

Mary Alice Moorman

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Northwest Now12

Northwest alumnus and Mississippinative Dr. Jason Walton is back on thepath where he started. Walton returned tohis beloved home state last July when hetook the position of Head of School at theprestigious Jackson Preparatory School.

Jackson Prep, as it is known, is an inde-pendent, co-educational, and collegepreparatory day school enrolling 810 stu-dents in grades six through 12. It is locat-ed on a 74-acre campus east of Jacksonand is the largest independent secondary

school in the state of Mississippi. In com-ing to Jackson Prep, Walton returned to K-12, his first love in education.

Walton considers himself a Northwest“legacy.” His parents, John William andJoanne McClure Walton met at the college.Both continued their studies at Delta StateUniversity and became long-timeMississippi educators. Born in Biloxi, helived in Greenwood until he was in seventhgrade, when his family relocated toHernando. During his senior year, he began

weighing options, and decided thatNorthwest was the best option for him. Heknew about his parents’ positive experi-ences at Northwest, and his high schoolsweetheart, who he later married, and sev-eral friends were also coming. “The idea ofgoing far away didn’t appeal to me. I thinkso many people get an opportunity to gofar away, and they ignore very goodoptions that are close by. Northwest was agreat place for me to start,” Walton said.

He attended Northwest from 1992-

Walton returns to make a difference in state education

Jackson Prep Head of School Dr. Jason Walton discusses amilitary re-enactment with 10th grader Jennings Duncan

during history class. Photo by Hubert Worley/Jackson Prep

By LaJuan Tallo

Northwest Now www.northwestms.edu

cover story

13Summer 2015www.northwestms.edu

1994, earning his Associate of Arts. While atNorthwest, Walton was a member of the Hallof Fame, the highest honor a student canachieve. He was an Outstanding Student inPre-Law, Who’s Who Among Students inAmerican Junior Colleges, Phi Theta Kappa, astudent recruiter, active in the BaptistStudent Union, served on the Ranger Rocketstaff and was editor of the college’s literarymagazine, the Northwest Review.

“It was a good experience for me. I thinkyou get better as a writer just by writing. Northwest, true toform, just provides those opportunities for people who aremaybe thinking that is something they can do. It is kind of asafe place where you can try your hand at it. It was an earlyconfidence builder for me, I feel like,” Walton said.

Walton says he “caught the bug” that made him want to bean educator at Northwest. He credits his instructors for instill-ing the love of education in him, and has stayed in touch withsome of them even to this day. “They were teachers first. Whatmakes them and community colleges special is that they justpoured themselves into the lives of their students throughgood instruction. It’s all about helping you achieve mastery ina particular content area. You can really tell when teaching isa priority. I had the good fortune at Northwest of having sever-al really good teachers,” Walton said.

He remembers Sandy Grisham, who taught sociology, asone who left a great impression on him. “She was amazing,and I took every class I could from her,” Walton said. Heremembers Grisham taking his Social Problems class to theVeterans Hospital to visit with recently returned soldiers andher sharing her experiences as a Fulbright Scholar who had vis-ited Pakistan. “She really did everything that an educator issupposed to do. I think the job of colleges is to show you thatthe world is a little bigger than your ideas about it. She opened

my eyes to so much and ignited in me a curiosity that still fuelsme today,” he said.

Walton credits English instructors Sturgis Monteith and Dr.Robert Bunce for developing in him a love for writing andEnglish. “Sturgis Monteith was an amazing teacher who madevery dense pieces of literature very accessible to us, just by hissheer teaching talent. Robert Bunce was very good and patientwith me and helped me understand how to revise my writingthrough multiple drafts so that I would end up with a polishedproduct that I could really feel happy about and pleased with,”Walton said. He also remembered his French instructor,Constance Gallant fondly. “She helped me through four semes-ters of French,” he laughed.

After leaving Northwest, Walton earned a bachelor’s degreein political science and master’s degree in educational leader-ship at The University of Mississippi. Walton taught English,served as Student Council adviser, coached tennis andbecame the first girls’ soccer coach at Hernando High Schoolduring four years there. He became the fourth consecutive gen-eration in his family to teach in Mississippi.

He earned a doctorate in education leadership and policystudies from Vanderbilt University and served as associate edi-tor of the Peabody Journal of Education before taking a posi-tion as assistant director for the Tennessee Office of EducationAccountability, which provides non-partisan, objective analysisof education policy issues for many state agencies, as well asthe general public. While serving the state of Tennessee,Walton was recruited to serve as director of Strategic Initiativesat Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.

While at Lynn, Walton worked to establish a strategic planfor the university. In 2006, at the age of 30, he became thechief of staff and staff liaison to the board of trustees. Duringthis time, Walton had the idea to try to attract a presidentialdebate to Lynn University, and even though 40 well-known

Walton (right) and fellow Northwest studentsDenny Smith and Shelly Watts enjoyed themusic and fellowship at the cookout held onthe front lawn on the main campusHomecoming Day in 1992. Staff Photo

Dr. Walton speaks with students Quincy Anderson (center) andJack Myers during a class break.

Photo by Hubert Worley/Jackson Prep

Walton page 29 !

Northwest Now14 www.northwestms.edu

The Legacy Continues

Legacycontinuesthe

It is, indeed, both a pleasure and anhonor to announce new scholarshipendowments, the beginning of a newlegacy for those being honored by thesescholarships and for the students whowill be assisted for generations to come.The beauty of an endowment is that it willcontinue to help students for as long asthis college exists. It is also wonderful tothink of how these students will use theireducation to make better lives for them-selves, for their families and for the com-munities in which they will live. Thus, it isappropriate to name these pages, “TheLegacy Continues,” because the effectsof these extraordinary acts of generositywill last forever.

The Northwest Foundation was fortu-nate to have a matching gifts programfrom 1997 through 2013. While the pro-gram is no longer in place, we want tocontinue to express appreciation tothose who provided these funds to helpour scholarship endowment grow at sucha rapid pace. At the end of October, thevalue of the endowment was$8,729,350.

Morgan Freeman, the acclaimed actorand producer of national and internation-al fame, was the largest benefactor ofthe matching gifts program, providing$515,000. In addition, we received agenerous gift from the Estate of ClarenceThomas Hill, Jr., in the amount of

$180,000. Other matching gifts sponsors includ-

ed Horseshoe Casino and Hotel, theYouth Progress Association, SycamoreBank, Gateway Tire, Coca-Cola BottlingCompany, Williams-Sonoma, Inc., Sam’sTown Hotel and Gambling Hall,ThyssenKrupp Elevator, and SchulzXtruded Products.

Through the generosity of so many,the endowment continues to grow. As itgrows, so does the realization of thehopes and dreams of our students aswell as the legacy of the special peoplewho are honored by these endowments.

—Sybil Canon

The Jimmy Neal AndrewsEndowment was established by M.C.Herrington Distributor, Inc.,Northcentral Electric PowerAssociation, and a host of family,friends, and business associates tohonor the memory of this beloved citi-zen of Olive Branch. Andrews died atthe age of 75 in January of this year.

Andrews was devoted to his almamater, Olive Branch High School. Hehad the distinction of missing only oneday of school in the entire 12 years ofschool attendance. He was a foundingmember and supporter of the OliveBranch Letterman Club and a proudsupporter and fan of all sports played atOlive Branch High School.

He spent more than 40 years as gen-eral manager at M.C. HerringtonDistributor, Inc. Carol Herrington Allen,the daughter of M.C. Herrington is one ofthe leaders in establishing this scholar-ship. “Jimmy Neal was a loyal employeeand a dear friend of our family. The lossof this man to our company, our family,and this community creates a huge voidthat simply cannot be filled. He is, inevery sense of the word, a true gentle-

man and an esteemed pub-lic servant,” Allen said.

Andrews was a loyal ser-vant to his community. Formany years he was anessential asset to the OliveBranch Jaycees. Hecoached boys’ baseball andgirls’ softball, worked fields,umpired, and did whateverwas needed. He was on theBoard of Directors for boththe Olive Branch Jayceesand the Olive Branch SportsAssociation.

He served on the Boardof Directors of NorthcentralElectric Power Associationand was an active memberof Maples Memorial UnitedMethodist Church.

Perhaps his greatest rolein life was that of a devot-ed husband to his wifeBarbara, and a dedicatedfather to his daughters,Lisa Selph, Julie Niblettand Beth Chumney, all of Olive Branch;Kellie Thompson of Chattanooga,Tennessee and Audrey Green of Weir,and his sons, Neal Andrews of

Abbeville, Paul Andrews of Moscow,Tennessee and Ricky Wynn of HollySprings. He dearly loved his 16 grand-children and four great-grandchildren.

The scholarship will be awarded to a

The Jimmy Neal AndrewsEndowment

Jimmy Neal Andrews

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DeSoto County high school graduatewith preference given to a student withproven academic potential and who hasmaintained excellent attendance.

The Indomitable Spirit Scholarshiphas been established by Kitt andDietrich Brand of Alberta, Canada. Thescholarship will be awarded to a DeSotoCenter student, who has declared withSpecial Populations, and who has a 3.0grade point average. The scholarshipwill be available to part-time studentsas well as full-time students. “Thisscholarship was first suggested to us bya Northwest DeSoto Center graduatewho wants to remain anonymous, butwho truly inspired it,” Kitt said.

Kitt, who was coordinator for SpecialPopulations at the DeSoto Center from2003 until her retirement in 2011, andher husband Dietrich both feel stronglyabout the scholarship.

“This represents those students whomay not be able to be full-time stu-dents, because life has handed themsome kind of horrible surprise, eitherenduring or temporary, but they keepgoing. It’s the opposite of the ‘my dogate my homework’ kind of student. It isthe ‘nothing’s going to keep me down’kind of student,” Kitt said.

Kitt said that candidates for thescholarship would be identified by theDeSoto Center’s Special Populationsstaff, and those recommendationswould then be sent to the FoundationScholarship Committee to be awarded.

Both Kitt and Dietrich have spenttheir lives helping others. Dietrich is aprovincial judge, who sits in threecourts primarily and fills in for otherjudges when needed. Before coming toNorthwest, Kitt worked with the migrantprogram for Tate County Schools andwith Workforce as a part of the“Schools to Careers” grant. Both areactive Rotarians and also will work witha group who is trying to get food andcomputers to native children in north-ern Canada. The two support the CureAlzheimer’s program.

Several years ago, Kitt, her daughterand son-in-law, and members of theRespiratory Therapy program at DeSotoCenter established the SamanthaHayward Ross Endowment in memoryof her three-day-old granddaughter, whodied from respiratory issues.

Kitt hopes that the recipients of thescholarship will be called “TheIndomitables.” She even plans to havea pin designed to be given to eachrecipient. “I want them to be able toremember that spirit when they are hav-ing a bad day. These students don’tfocus on the negative aspects of theirlives. They just keep going,” Kitt said.

The first Indomitable Spirit scholar-ship will be awarded for the 2015-2016school year.

The Baxter H. Murphree and VirginiaMurphree Willis Endowed Scholarshipwas established by Murphree’s daugh-ters, Peggy Murphree Mark and PatriciaMurphree Gleason.

The Indomitable SpiritScholarship

Recently, members of theDeSoto Shrine Club madea donation of $9,350 totheir Foundation scholar-ship. This donation bringsthe total of the endow-ment to $30,000. Onhand to receive the dona-tion from Shrine ClubPresident Jason Francis,(center left) were SybilCanon, Northwest’s asso-ciate vice president ofDevelopment and SpecialProjects (center) and BarryBouchillon, member of theNorthwest FoundationBoard of Directors (centerright).

The DeSoto Shrine Club Endowment

Kitt and Dietrich Brand

15Summer 2015

The Baxter Murphree andVirginia Willis Endowment

Northwest Now

The Legacy Continues

Murphree died in 1987. He was anative of Senatobia and attendedNorthwest in the early 1940s. Hereceived an appointment to the U.S.Naval Academy where he graduated in1945 with the class of 1946. Heserved on active duty in World War IIand was recalled during the KoreanWar. After retiring from the Navy hestayed in the Washington area wherehe met Dorothy Wolfe Niedfeldt ofWashington, District of Columbia, atGeorge Washington University. Theywere married in 1948. Murphree wentinto the insurance business andenjoyed a 34-year career with thePrudential Insurance Company ofAmerica. He retired on May 17, 1982.

He was the father of PatriciaMurphree Gleason of Vienna, Virginia,Peggy Murphree Mark of Damascus,Maryland and Priscilla Murphree Oatesof Plano, Texas and the grandfather ofBailey and Ross Mark, Mark and EmilyGleason, and Hannah Oates.

Murphree’s sister, Virginia MurphreeWillis was a lifelong resident ofSenatobia. She studied at MethodistHospital School of Nursing in Memphis.She became a registered nurse andwent on to work for Methodist Hospital.Willis married John R. “Bobby” WillisJune 17, 1956. She continued her workin the health care profession holdingpositions of surgical nurse at MethodistHospital, school nurse at Tate CountySchools, DRG coordinator and later thedirector of Nursing at the SenatobiaCommunity Hospital. She also workedwith Dr. A.M. (Mac) Adams of Senatobia.

For a period of time after retiringfrom health care, Mrs. Willis and herhusband ran “Willis’s Auction” inCrockett. The auctions providedSaturday evening entertainment, anopportunity for people to recycle itemsthey no longer needed, and a chance tovisit with friends and neighbors. Willisdied in 2010.

Although Murphree made his homein Takoma Park, Maryland after leavingfor the Naval Academy, he and his fam-ily made trips almost annually toSenatobia to visit family. His parents,Baxter C. and EleanorMurphree, had a farmhouse onRR #2, where for many yearsthe homes of Thomas and AliceMurphree and children Fay andPatti Sue, Joe and JudyMurphree and children Chrisand Greg and Virginia andBobby Willis surrounded theMurphree homestead. Theannual visits included greattimes with Aunt Willia JeanLawson Martin and cousins,Jean and Charles.

“This opportunity to con-tribute to Northwest in memoryof our father Baxter H.Murphree, while establishingthis scholarship in the Schoolof Nursing in memory of ourAunt Virginia Murphree Willis, isa perfect way to celebrate thelives of these two special peo-ple,” said Murphree’s daughter,Peggy Mark.

The Oxford Center Practical NursingEndowment was established anony-mously by a student who completed thePractical Nursing program on the Oxfordcampus.

This student is a non-traditional stu-dent, and, because it had been manyyears since she had been in school, shefound the program to be a bit challeng-ing. That is when she experienced thecompassion for students that is somuch a part of Northwest, especially,on the Oxford campus.

Dr. Jack Butts, longtime dean of theOxford campus, remembers how thisstudent’s instructors reached out tothis student. “Quite honestly, we provid-ed this particular student the samecare and attention we provide all of ourstudents. However, she was reallygrateful for our help,” he said.

In preparation for the state boardexamination, Dr. Michael Butts, scienceinstructor, tutored the student, “Thisstudent was anxious about taking theexam. In working with her, it was obvi-ous that she knew the material thatwould be on the test. All I did was toencourage her to have the confidenceto succeed, and she did.”

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The Oxford Center PracticalNursing Endowment

Baxter H. Murphree and Virginia Murphree Willis

The Oxford Center Practical Nursing Endowment willbe used to assist students enrolled in the PracticalNursing program on the Oxford campus.

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After completing the program andpassing the state board exam, the stu-dent brought a large sum of money toDr. Jack Butts with the instructions touse it to help other practical nursingstudents. She explained that she couldnot have made it through the programwithout help, and this was her way togive back and help others.

Sybil Canon stated, “We are simplyoverwhelmed by the generosity of thisstudent. I do not know her name, but Ihope that she will read this article andknow how very grateful we are.”

The scholarship will be awarded toPractical Nursing students who areenrolled on the Oxford campus. Thefirst scholarship will be awarded for the2016-17 academic year.

The Delores Sanders StewartEndowed Scholarship has been estab-lished in her memory by her husband,Walter, and children Suzanne Brown,Bobby Stewart and Brian Stewart; hersister-in-law, JoAnn Lott; her sister andbrother-in-law, Judy and Paul Williamsand their families. The scholarship wasestablished to recognize Stewart for herlife of service to her family, friends andcommunity. Stewart died at age 72 onJan. 28, 2013 after a brief illness.

Stewart was born on Nov. 7, 1940 in

Independence toDavid and Mary LoisSanders. She graduat-ed from IndependenceHigh School in April1958. She attendedNorthwest and workedafter school in the TateCounty superintendentof education’s office.She began her years ofservice at Indepen-dence High School inJune 1959. During heryears at IndependenceHigh, she worked assecretary, bookkeeper,nurse and in manyother capacities. Overher career, she wasemployed at everyTate County schoolexcept one. Sheretired from TateCounty Schools in1998.

She and Walter were married for 53years. They enjoyed 14 years of retire-ment together. Stewart enjoyed sittingon her porch, drinking her morning cof-fee and watching the school busespass by. She loved to garden and prid-ed herself on growing vegetables for herfamily and sharing them with friendsand neighbors. She enjoyed canning

and freezing the things she grewand was known for her pickles,relishes, jams, jellies and pre-serves. She also loved to cook.Her husband thought she wasthe best cook in the county andbragged on her often.

Stewart’s three granddaugh-ters, Katie, Madelynn and Macy,were the loves of her life. Theyaffectionately called her“Granny” and have fond memo-ries of learning to cook with her,and putting in their specialorders for their favorite disheswhen they came to visit.

The Delores Sanders StewartEndowed Scholarship will beawarded to a student from TateCounty Schools who is planningto study education at Northwest.

The Division of Nursing has estab-lished a scholarship honoring Dr. EllenWilliams, who served as division deanfrom 2008 to 2014.

Williams taught at Northwest from1990 until 2014. Her vast work experi-ence includes nursing in several localhospitals and owning and managing ahome medical equipment company.She received her bachelor’s and mas-ter’s degrees in nursing from TheUniversity of Tennessee Center forHealth Sciences College of Nursing.

Williams has received numeroushonors including Who’s Who AmongAmerican Colleges and Universities; theScholarly Writing Award, MississippiNurses Foundation; the Dean’sScholarship for Outstanding Ph.D.Student for 2007-2008 at University ofMississippi Medical Center (UMMC)and Mississippi Business JournalOutstanding Businessperson in 1988.Williams is a two-time recipient of theRenee Reeb Research Award forExcellence in Qualitative Research in2008 and 2011.

She is currently a member of the

17Summer 2015www.northwestms.edu

The Delores SandersStewart Endowment

Delores Sanders Stewart

The Dr. Ellen WilliamsEndowment

Dr. Ellen Williams

The Legacy Continues

Mississippi Education RedesignCommittee, the Regional HealthCouncil and is an appointed member ofthe Mississippi State Board of Health.She is a member of the MississippiNurses Association, the SouthernNursing Research Society and the BetaTheta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, theInternational Honor Society of Nursing.

Under her leadership at Northwest,Williams was instrumental in establish-ing a partnership with UMMC for theRN-MSN program. Williams helped

implement theLPN to RNTransition pro-gram and coor-

dinated the Shoot for the Heartfundraiser for the Nursing Division. Shewas instrumental in the planning anddesign of the college’s new state-of-the-art nursing facility, and helped secure agrant for the nursing simulation labora-tory.

“It was under Dr. Williams’ tenure asdean of the Nursing Division that theimmensely successful fundraiser, Shootfor the Heart, was initiated in partner-ship with Keith Wilson of Olive Branchand the Community Foundation of

Northwest Mississippi. Thus, it is mostappropriate that the nursing faculty,under the leadership of Dr. DeniseBynum, director, made the decision toendow this scholarship with funds fromthis event. Dr. Williams continued thestandards of excellence that werebegun by former director, Vicki Hale,and she built on those standards to cre-ate a nursing program that is second tonone,” said Sybil Canon.

While specific criteria have not beenestablished, the scholarship will beawarded to a student enrolled in thenursing program.

Dr. Gary Lee Spears (left), president of Northwest recentlywelcomed Terri Moore, human resources manager ofThyssenKrupp Elevator Manufacturing, to the NorthwestFoundation Office. Moore brought the news thatThyssenKrupp will be awarding a $1,000 scholarship for the2015-16 academic year. “We are pleased to add Northwestto the list of community colleges and universities where wewill be providing scholarships to the children ofThyssenKrupp employees,” Moore said. ThyssenKruppElevator Americas is the largest producer of elevators in theAmericas, with more than 13,500 employees and morethan 200 branch and service locations.

The ThyssenKrupp Scholarship

The Dr. Ellen Williams Endowed Scholarship was recently established by the Nursing Division, and the announcement was made atthe Nursing Graduate Luncheon held on April 27. Williams was dean of the Nursing Division from 2008 to 2014, and taught atNorthwest from 1990 to 2014. Congratulating Dr. Williams (center) are Nursing Division Director Dr. Denise Bynum (center left);Associate Vice President of Development and Special Projects Sybil Canon (center right) and nursing instructors (first row, from left)Deanna Wooddy, Catina Mathena, Mandy Deshotels, Pam Briscoe, Charisse Reed, Pam Llana, Dianne Scott, Lacey Gentry, StaciePegues, (second row l to r) Lisa Vincent, Stephanie Stevens, Olivia Russom, Monica Williams; administrative assistant LeslieLegendre; instructors Toni Blair, Cindy Springer, Stephanie Kennedy, Allison Pugh, Toni Barden, Stacy Taylor and Karin Randolph.

Northwest Now18 www.northwestms.edu

In 1982, Hugh M. Wallace and his sis-ter, Ruth W. Wallace, established a schol-arship at Northwest to honor their par-ents, William Lynn and Lula BrooksWallace, natives of Tate County. Whenthe Foundation Office began hosting ascholarship recognition ceremony in1997, Hugh's brother, Rev. William Lynn(Bill) Wallace, Jr. and his wife, Ida, attend-ed that first ceremony and were faithfulto attend for many years until healthissues prevented their attending. Bill andIda established a charitable lead trustwhich provided annual contributions tothe scholarship. At Bill’s death inNovember of 2014, the remainder of thetrust was given to the Foundation for theWallace Endowment. A total of $18,600was received from the charitable leadtrust, and Bill and Ida and other familymembers contributed an additional$14,460 over the years.

Bill was born in the WakefieldCommunity of Tate County on Oct. 21,1921, the fourth of five sons born toWilliam Lynn Wallace, Sr. and Lula LeeBrooks Wallace. The other sons wereBrooks, James, Mack and Luke. Bill grewup on a farm in Tate County and gradu-ated from Independence High School.He attended the University of Mississippiand received a B.A. from LambuthCollege in Jackson, Tennessee, and aB.D. from Vanderbilt Divinity School.Following graduation, he served as asso-ciate minister of West End MethodistChurch in Nashville.

While at Vanderbilt, Bill met IdaFitzpatrick from Sumner County in mid-dle Tennessee at a sub-district MYFmeeting. Ida was one of the presidingofficers and was seated onstage. Shebent over to pick something up fromunder her chair, and Bill declared, “shehad the straightest part in her hair that Ihad ever seen.”

They married in 1950 and returnedto north Mississippi to begin a career inministry. The first Sunday of the newappointment Bill and Ida arrived a littleearly, and they were the only ones there.Ida spied some mistletoe high in a treeand persuaded Bill to shimmy up the

tree and pick it for her.No one was around,so he thought hecould accomplish thisquickly. While heclimbed, the membersdrove up and caughtBill in the tree. Whenthe administrativeboard chairman intro-duced Bill to the con-gregation, he said,“My understanding isour new pastor is aVanderbilt graduate,but when I arrived helooked more like apossum up a tree.”

During his ministryBill served severalchurches, includingthe Holcomb charge,once a monthpreached at theDepot in Avalon to aninterdenominationalgathering, Tutwiler–Rome, Greenwood St.John’s, Booneville First, Cleveland First,West Point First, Senatobia–Hunter’sChapel, Amory First, and was twiceappointed superintendent of the NewAlbany District. Bill retired and thenserved as a retired supply pastor for nineyears in the East Prentiss Parish (Mt.Nebo, Marietta, and Siloam). He alsoenjoyed filling in for several months atBethlehem Church in Union County. Adelightful opportunity came when Billwas invited to be acting pastor atEbenezer Presbyterian Church for fouryears. Bill’s ancestors werePresbyterians from South Carolina, so hefelt he had come “full-circle.” Throughthe years Bill was invited to many revivalsin which he preached or led the singing,or did both.

Ida has been by his side carefully andjoyously documenting everything throughthe lens of her camera. She is an avidamateur photographer and enjoyed tak-ing wedding pictures. She recordedmany changes through the years. Ida isalso a gracious hostess. She planned

and skillfully executed many Christmasopen houses and dinners at the parson-ages throughout their ministry together.

Bill and Ida have two children, Racheland Will. Rachel resides in Livingston,Tennessee, with her husband Harry, andWill lives in New Albany. Harry andRachel have two children, Dr. Luke (Dr.Julie O’Neal) Starnes and Stacie (Ben)Phillips and two grandchildren, AbramPhillips and Lucy Starnes.

Before Bill attended Vanderbilt heworked for a time at Cold Press Mill inMemphis. One day he was helping a cus-tomer and trying to encourage her to setup a monthly account instead of payingweekly. She gave him a piece of advicethat became his personal code for therest of his life. She pointedly told him,“Say less than you know, own more thanyou show, pay as you go, and praise Godfrom whom all blessings flow! And don’tyou forget it!”

Bill and Ida were married for morethan 64 years when Bill died in 2014.Ida currently resides in New Albany.

Bill and Ida Wallace

Wallaces increase endowment with charitable trust

19Summer 2015www.northwestms.edu

20

DeSoto Center celebrates 40th anniversaryDeSoto Center instructors and staff

joined alumni, former administrators andretirees in a fish fry on the front lawn of theSouthaven campus to celebrate DeSotoCenter’s 40th anniversary May 5. The col-lege’s Steel Drum Band entertained thecrowd as old friends gathered to laugh andreminisce. The event was sponsored by theNorthwest Foundation.

DeSoto Center opened in 1975 at thesite of the former Alodex building onNorthwest Drive in Southaven, nowSouthaven City Hall. Twenty years later, thecampus moved to its present site offChurch Road. Academic pathways andCareer-Technical programs are offered atthe center, in addition to the 2+2 partner-ship with the University of Mississippi.

Familiar faces attending theevent included retirees (l to r)Keith Godbold (DeSotoCenter dean), Dr. David M.Haraway (president),Elizabeth Burns (DeSotoCenter assistant dean) and(second from right) Dr.Bonnie Buntin (University ofMississippi DeSoto Centerdean), who visited with cur-rent Vice President forEducation Richie Lawson(third from right) and DeSotoCenter Dean Jeremy Isome (far right). (top)

Jami Thorsen of Horn Lake (right), a 2003alumna and her daughter Jennifer enjoyedthe fish fry. (center left)

Retired English instructor Charles Ingramand his wife, Karin chat with former col-leagues. (center right)

Administrative assistant Pearl McGlothiangreets retired Evening School Director EdBeach. (above left)

Northwest Board ofTrustees members (l to r)David Hargett, JamieHowell and DorothyWilbourn enjoy the catfishdinner. (left)

Photos by LaJuanTallo/Julie Bauer

The college’s Steel Drum Band entertained thecrowd with lively music. (above)

21Summer 2015

the sporting life

Former Northwest two-sport athlete G. Max Lee was induct-ed into the Mississippi Community and Junior College SportsHall of Fame on April 28.

The eighth annual induction ceremony was held at theMuse Center on the Rankin County campus of HindsCommunity College, with close to 300 in attendance.

A native of Sardis, Lee was a two-sport athlete at Northwestduring the 1959-61 seasons, earning two letters in both foot-ball and baseball for the Rangers. He was inducted into theNorthwest Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.

Lee was offered a football scholarship in the spring of 1959by head coach Jimmy Jobe and played two seasons.

With Lee as quarterback for the 1960 Rangers, his sopho-more season, the team finished the year with seven consecu-tive wins and won the school’s first state championship (co-champs) at 8-2 overall. In that same year he was named all-state and a Mississippi Junior College All-Star.

Lee played the 1960-61 baseball seasons for head coach-es Billy Oakley and Jack Adams, seeing time on the mound andin the outfield.

While at Northwest, Lee served as class president his fresh-man and sophomore year, president of Phi Theta Kappa hissophomore year and was a member of the Student Council.

After leaving Northwest, he earned a bachelor’s degree inMechanical Engineering from Mississippi State University in1964 and served in the Naval Air Reserves from 1965-1971.

He was employed with Louisiana Power and Light—laterbecoming Entergy Corporation—in New Orleans from 1964until his retirement in 1999. —Kevin Maloney

Dual-sport athlete Lee joins state Hall of Fame

Northwest Vice President/Registrar Larry Simpson (right), congratu-lates G. Max Lee on his induction into the Mississippi Communityand Junior College Sports Hall of Fame last April.

Photo by Steve Diffey/Holmes CC

Northwest rodeo has a longstanding tradition ofbringing competitive college rodeo action to the Mid-South. This season, two participants led the Rangerrodeo program in the Ozark Region standings.

Sophomore Kindyl Scruggs (Southaven) finishedin a tie for sixth in the Ozark Region final barrel rac-ing standings with 350 points. Scruggs has been amainstay in the barrel racing standings and has pre-viously competed in the 2013 College NationalFinals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming.

Freshman Tray Watkins (Bolivar, Tennessee) fin-ished in the top 15 bull riding standings, wrappingup the 2014-15 season at ninth overall with 110points.

As a team, Northwest placed in a total of sixevents, with the men earning a season-high sixthplace finish at Three Rivers (Missouri) in early October. The women also earned two sixth place finishes at Southern Arkansasand Cossatot Community College (Arkansas).

Both teams finished the season at 10th overall in the Ozark Region. Northwest rodeo is led by first-year coach Shelli Benton.—Brian Lentz

Two place in final Ozark Region standings

www.northwestms.edu

www.northwestms.edu

the sporting life

Postseason appearances havebecome a common theme for theNorthwest Ranger baseball program. The2015 season was no different.

The Rangers posted a 33-17 overallrecord, a 19-9 MACJC record, and a run-ner-up finish in the state tournament.Northwest also finished the year rankedat 16th overall in the NJCAA Division IIpoll, the team’s highest-ranked finishsince 2002. Under the leadership of10th-year head coach Mark Carson, theteam also made an appearance in theRegion 23 tournament for the third timein five seasons and reached the 30-winmark for the fourth time in five seasonsand the ninth time since 2000.

Northwest began the season with apreseason ranking of 20th by CollegiateBaseball, before splitting a pair of double-headers against Southwest Tennesseeand Arkansas Baptist to open the season.The Rangers then won eight out of theirnext 10 contests, including doubleheadersweeps against MACJC opponents PearlRiver and Coahoma.

After earning a split against eighth-ranked Jones County and two winsagainst Dyersburg State and JacksonState, the Rangers embarked on a 12-

game winning streak, the longest winstreak since a 13-game stretch in 2001.The streak included doubleheadersweeps against Gulf Coast, Copiah-Lincoln, Mississippi Delta and Northeast,scoring a combined total of 96 runs inthose 12 games.

Northwest closed the regular seasonwith wins at No. 14 East Mississippi andNo. 20 Meridian, while splitting a double-header against Holmes. The Rangersopened the MACJC playoffs with a seriessweep against Jones County and defeat-ed EMCC twice in the state tournament,before falling to top-ranked Hinds in thestate championship. From there, theRangers began play in the Region 23tournament, again defeating EMCC,before falling to LSU-Eunice and Hinds toend the season.

Six Rangers were named MACJC All-State, including first team selectionsDalton Dulin and Clay Casey. The pairalso earned NJCAA All-Region 23, andDulin was selected by the WashingtonNationals in the 17th round of the MLBdraft. Second team selections werethird baseman Stuart Chick, shortstopLeeMarcus Boyd, and pitchers ColinLiles and Colt Smith. —Brian Lentz

Baseball finishes at No. 16

In his only season in a Ranger uniform, DaltonDulin hit .354 with 17 doubles, three home runsand 25 RBIs, while setting a new school record forstolen bases with 46. Dulin was drafted by theWashington Nationals in the 17th round of the2015 MLB draft.

Photo by Mitch Deaver/Pearl River CC

After returning last season from a near-decade hiatus, the Northwest Rangertennis program continues to make strides after wrapping up its second full sea-son as a sanctioned sport.

The men’s team finished 2015 with a 5-2 overall record, while the womenput together a 3-4 mark. While neither team cracked the ITA National Rankingsthis season, there were still plenty of highlights on both sides.

Both programs opened the season at 2-0 after earning home victories againstNortheast and Holmes. From there, both programs rebounded from losses atEast Central by defeating Northeast and earning season sweeps against theTigers. The women dropped the final three matches of the regular season, whilethe men swept Hinds and fell to 19th-ranked Itawamba.

Both teams capped off the season in the MACJC championships, earning sev-enth place finishes on both sides. The women’s team finished with three singlesvictories, while also earning two wins in the doubles bracket. Meanwhile, themen’s team also picked up three singles victories.

The Northwest tennis program is led by third-year head coach Troy Howell andall home matches are played at the Ranger Outdoor Complex (“The ROC”) on theSenatobia campus. —Brian Lentz

Tennis teams make strides

23Summer 2015www.northwestms.edu

Despite a season-ending seriesloss to Pearl River in the MACJCstate playoffs, the 2015 seasonproved to be yet another successfulyear for the Northwest Ranger soft-ball team.

In coach Mike Rowan’s 12thseason at the helm, the Rangersfinished 27-10 overall, while earn-ing their third MACJC North Divisionchampionship with a record of 19-5. As a result, the Rangers madethe postseason for the eighth timesince Rowan took over as headcoach in 2004.

Northwest opened the season

with two doubleheader splits on theroad at Southwest Mississippi andHinds, before earning four double-header sweeps against EastMississippi, Williams Baptist,Holmes and Mississippi Delta. TheRangers then won seven of theirnext 10 contests, including twodoubleheader sweeps againstCoahoma and splits againstItawamba, EMCC and Northeast.

The Rangers would close out theregular season by winning six oftheir last eight contests, includingtwo doubleheader sweeps againstICC and Mississippi Delta.Northwest would split withNortheast in the regular seasonfinale to earn the division title.

After falling to Pearl River toopen the MACJC first round playoff

Softball makes eighth postseason appearance

the sporting life

After losing its top two golfers weeks before the 2015 season teed off,Northwest managed three Top 5 finishes on a six-match slate.

Northwest’s best outing of the season was at Dancing Rabbit inPhiladelphia March 23-24, carding a two-day score of 624 to place fourth. TheRangers were led by sophomore Trey Wilkinson for a second straight tourna-ment as he finished in a T-8th with a 75-76.

Three weeks earlier, Wilkinson tied a career-low round of 75 at Eagle Ridgein Raymond to lead Northwest to a fifth place finish at the Hinds/Co-LinInvitational.

Despite leading its own tournament—the Northwest Invitational April 6-7—by two strokes after the first day, the Rangers stumbled the final 18 holes tofinish in a tie for fifth at Wedgewood/Back Acres.

Northwest closed out the season on April 19 at the MACJC StateChampionship in Columbus, improving by 16 strokes over the final day to carda seventh place finish with a 604.

Freshman Alex Taylor led all Rangers on the season with a 77.2 scoringaverage in 12 rounds, followed by sophomore Hayes Carr (77.6), T. Wilkinson(78.9), sophomore Alan Larson (79.3), freshman Scott Hensley (80.6) andfreshman Walker Wilkinson (84.8).

Northwest has sent at least one golfer to the NJCAA National Tournamentin 10 of the previous 15 seasons and will look to bounce back in 2016.

—Kevin Maloney

Golfers solid in tourney play

Freshman Alex Taylor led all Rangers on the seasonwith a 77.2 scoring average in 12 rounds.

Photo by Kevin Maloney

Softball page 29 !

MACJC All-State selection JessicaHolliday went 10-2 with a 1.77 ERAthis season. Holliday will continueher softball career as a walk-on atDelta State University.

Photo by Jordan Hall

Northwest Now24 www.northwestms.edu

The great college basketball coachJohn Wooden once said, “Seek opportuni-ties to show you care. The smallest ges-tures often make the biggest difference.”For Northwest alumnus James Greer, asmall gesture by one of his instructorsmade a huge difference in the course hislife would take.

When Greer came to Northwest in1989, he was not really sure what he want-ed to do with his life. He was an Englishmajor, and one of his instructors intro-duced him to Dr. Ann Whitten, who wasthen director of Public Relations and thejournalism instructor. Dr. Whitten and herstaff were responsible for overseeing thecollege’s newspaper and yearbook. Greervolunteered for the yearbook his freshmanyear and was asked to be editor during hissophomore year. He became editor of the1991 Rocketeer, which featured thetheme “We Leave Our Mark.”

“Dr. Whitten took a risk on me,” Greersaid. He remembered that a lot of workwas involved in producing the yearbook atthat time. “Everything was paper-based. Iremember the layout process on those bigsheets and cropping photos to fit. It was alot of fun.” He remembered how hardeveryone worked on the yearbook andcredited Nancy Patterson, who was thenassistant director of Public Relations for

her hard work. “We owe Nancy Patterson alot. She worked hard on keeping us ontrack,” Greer said.

Dr. Whitten’s influence over Greer didnot end with his participation in yearbook.Whitten became a mentor to him, and sawsomething in him that he did not know wasthere. “Dr. Whitten changed my life. Shepicked up on something that I didn’t see.She encouraged me to read works thatchallenged me and to develop myself cul-turally,” Greer said. At the time, Greer wasin the Air Force ROTC headed to either TheUniversity of Mississippi or The Universityof Southern Mississippi. Greer had appliedfor a scholarship to Southern Miss, butsomehow his paperwork was lost. Ataround the same time, Dr. Whitten askedhim to take a trip to Millsaps College, a pri-vate liberal arts college in Jackson. Hisother instructors, Dr. Carson Holloman andDr. Lucie Bridgforth encouraged him to go.

Greer said he thought that he would neverget in or have enough money even if hedid. He spent the day there with Dr.Whitten meeting people and walkingaround the campus. “The next thing Iknew, I had a pretty significant scholarshipand I was on my way to Millsaps the nextyear,” Greer said. He feels like that daywith Dr. Whitten set him on the right path.

At Northwest, Greer was a member ofthe Northwest Hall of Fame, which is thehighest honor a Northwest student canreceive. He was also the OutstandingStudent in Sociology and Spanish, was amember of the Northwest Student Senate,Phi Theta Kappa, Student Government andwas named a member of Who’s WhoAmong Students in American JuniorColleges. “When I got out of high school, Ihad pretty decent grades, but I did notknow where I wanted to go or what I want-ed to do. I was afraid when I started college

Instructors offeryearbook editorlife-changing opportunities

LeavingTheir Mark

By LaJuan Tallo

Former Rocketeer editor James Greer credits the personal attention and oppor-tunities given to him by his Northwest instructors for leading him down a path ofsuccess at Millsaps College and now as a personal financial officer.

25www.northwestms.edu Summer 2015

Greer’s mentor, NorthwestPublic Relations Director Dr.Ann Whitten, edits a piece ofhis writing during a yearbookwork session in 1991.

that I was not going to do well. What Ilearned at Northwest was that I had‘human beings’ as teachers who talked tome like I was an adult. It was my responsi-bility to do well, but if I showed an interest,they were going to help me do well,” Greersaid.

At Millsaps, he changed his major toEuropean Studies, which involved a lot ofone-on-one coursework. He studied twomain disciplines while there: Literature andEuropean Accounting. With his degree, hehad all of the English classes, but also anumber of business and accounting class-es. He got interviews with accounting firmsafter graduation, but ended up working inNorwalk, Connecticut with a consulting firmfor a year, and then moved on to work forTime Warner Cable in television finance.After several years he took one year off towork for a Congressional representative inConnecticut, and then returned to televi-sion finance, working for ShowtimeNetworks.

Greer received his MBA from FordhamUniversity in New York and also became aCPA. He worked for the firm of Ernst andYoung for a couple of years in their RealEstate Group. He had become close to theretired chairman of Lord and Taylor, andafter he left Ernst and Young he started hisown firm, and this chairman became one

of his first clients. He ended up with six orseven wealthy clients, helping them withestate planning, tax work, bill paying, realestate and financial advising, which hedescribes as being a “personal CFO.” Hewas working toward obtaining a certificateto become a Registered InvestmentAdvisor and merge with another firm whenanother opportunity came about. A closefriend started working for a very prominentfamily in California, and Greer was asked tocome and work for them as well. Greerexplained that many wealthy families willhire people to work for them exclusively insort of a “single family office.” Greer nowacts as the chief financial person for thisfamily, but is unable to disclose who theyare.

He visited the Senatobia campus inSeptember, and was surprised by how thecampus had grown. “Ican still recognize it,but it has been mod-ernized and it looksgreat. It looks like adiverse and moderncollege campus,”Greer said.

Patterson, who isnow retired from hertenure as director ofPublic Relations,

remembers working with Greer when hewas a student. “Jimmy was a great year-book editor. Because he was activelyinvolved in student life, he was able tobring the whole Northwest experience tohis book. He was a pleasure to work with,”Patterson said.

He sums up his experiences atNorthwest easily, noting that had it notbeen for teachers who took an outsideinterest in him, he probably would not havegone to Millsaps and down the path thathe ended up taking. “Northwest was agood experience. It was a lot different thanI would have expected, and that experi-ence has served me very well. It was agreat foundation. It got me where I amtoday,” Greer said.

As a sophomore at Northwest, Greer was named to the Hall ofFame and was Outstanding Student in both Spanish andSociology.

Northwest Now26

Retirees honored at service awards ceremonyThe Northwest Foundationhonored retiring employeesduring its annual Faculty andStaff Awards Ceremony andReception April 29 in theHaraway Center. Retireesfor 2015 include (front row,l to r) Lisa Vincent, nursinginstructor; Ruby Lee, foodservice; Sandy Meurrier,Health-care Data Technologyinstructor; Kay Robinson,Adult Basic Educationinstructor; (second row) WhitPerry, Heating, AirConditioning andRefrigeration Technologyinstructor; Dr. Alice Camp,Early Childhood EducationTechnology instructor; GuyPurdy, director, Adult BasicEducation; Mike Dottorey,counselor/recruiter andDisability Support Servicesofficer and Cheryl Rice,Graphic Design Technology instructor. Not pictured are Dr. Sandra Banham, English instructor, James Creecy, Industrial ElectronicsEngineering Technology instructor and Marshall Lea Creecy, residence hall supervisor. Photos by LaJuan Tallo

Service Awards40 YEARS— Historyinstructor JackieCollinsworth was honoredwith a wooden rockingchair featuring theNorthwest seal for 40years of service. (right)

35 YEARS— PhysicalPlant Director MikeRobison (left) and MikeDottorey, counselor/recruiter and DisabilitySupport Services officerwere honored for 35years of service. The tworeceived engraved silvertrays for their years ofservice. (far right)

www.northwestms.edu

30 YEARS— DeSoto Centermaintenance technician KeithDennis (left), computer opera-tor/programmer Karen Adairand Career-Tech secretaryDelores Jennings received crys-tal bowls for 30 years of service.Not pictured is Dale Davis.(right)

27Summer 2015www.northwestms.edu

10 YEARS— (l to r) Rose Mitchell, AngieStuart, Lizzie McClinton, Ardina Wilson, DavidKellum, Sharon Self, Beth Dickerson, KimPerkins, Jerry Clements, James Neal, MaryBonds, Allison Eoff and Theresa Massie. Notpictured are Lawayne House, David Lambert,Laura Legge, Scott Oakley, Sherrye Pattridge,Philistine Tate and Stacy Stewart. (left)

5 YEARS— (l to r) Laquita Smith-Parker, ScottSwanson, Tonyalle Rush, Pam Simpson, CorineNewsom, Amy Massey, Leslie Legendre, FrankCleveland, Vikki Barefoot, Erika Stanford,Suzanne Geeslin, Connie Smith, MichaelCarson, Paula Lipford, Alane Tentoni, DonnellGolden, Ellis Brown, Jerry Cathey, Dr. TimothyFlake, Richard Swinney, Scott Mounger, SadieShannon and Patricia Woods. Not pictured areAbby Embrey, Wilfred Mayfield, DeborahBurnside, Stephan McDavid, Jennifer Smith andErica Lane. (below left)

Retirement and service awards are provided by

Benefit Concepts and the Northwest Foundation

25 YEARS— (l to r) Leonard Riley, Charlotte Alexander, DianneScott and Lisa Vincent. Not pictured are Dr. Robert Bunce andPenny Potts. (left)

20 YEARS— (l to r) John Ungurait, Dr. Chuck Strong, Guy Purdy,Bert Foster, Cheryl Rice, Annie Lee Jackson and Ruby Dandridge.Not pictured are Charlie Aaron, Glennie Mae Leverson andDeborah Wilbourn. (below left)

15 YEARS— (l to r) Rob Smith, Shane Louwerens, Rhonda Still,Suzanne Brown, Diane Todd and Richard Walley. Not pictured areLincoln Cobb and Gladys Wheatley. (below)

Northwest Now www.northwestms.edu28

Four-man teams participate in annual tourney

Northwest’s annual Foundation Golf Tournament was held May 7at Back Acres Country Club in Senatobia. The four-man scramble fea-tured 16 teams competing in championship and tournament flights.

Clockwise from right: Taking first place in the championship flightwere (l to r) Harvey Cook of Memphis, Dwayne Barmer of Batesville,Greg Vaughn of Oxford and Jeremy Aldridge of Batesville. Secondplace winners were Lee Spencer and Hayes Carr, both of Senatobiaand Justin Crockett and Mark Lispcomb, both of Como. Receivingthird place were Bobby Shipp, Will Worsham and Paul Savage ofBatesville and Parke Pepper of Senatobia.

First place winners in the tournament flight were Steve White ofHernando and Mark Boyd, T.A. Wooten and Greg Pegram, all ofSenatobia. Taking second place were Bubba Skelton, Matt Sellers,Mike Rowan and Brandon Rowan, all of Senatobia. Placing third wereTrey Pritchard of Marks, Hogan Lovelace of Robinsonville, RichardGolden of Memphis and Mike Boren of Tunica.

Winning the Closest to the Pin contest were James Ennis ofHernando and Harvey Cook of Memphis. First, second and third placeteams received Pro Shop gift cards. Closest to the Pin winnersreceived gift certificates to Windy City Grille. The winner of the PuttingContest was Wayne Irby of Oxford.

Photos by LaJuan Tallo & Julie Bauer

29Summer 2015

" Journalists from page 8

Rocket staff received 13 awards out of 20 categories andcompeted against community college newspapers such asJones County Junior College’s The Radionian, East CentralCommunity College’s The Tom-Tom and SouthwestMississippi Community College’s The Pine-Burr.

Rudy Armstrong of Calhoun City received second place forbest sports news story, “Former Ranger football players.”Corey McKinney of Wesson received second place for bestsports feature story with “Sports podcast now available.”Larry Mason of Southaven received second place in best fea-ture story with “Benton finds that hard work pays off inschool.” Kreneice Reid of Water Valley won third place in bestgeneral news photo with “Miss Firecracker,” and third placein best spot news photo with “Zumba craze on campus.”

Other winners were Gabrielle Williams of Southaven, whoreceived second place in best spot news photo with“Students partake in Homecoming Carnival with Velcro wall.”Kenn Falkner of Holly Springs received second place in bestsports photo with “Men’s Soccer.” Editor Lauren Benton ofOlive Branch received first place in best spot news photowith “Miss Firecracker auditions held,” second place in edi-torials and third place in best feature photo with “Campuspolice making presence on campus.”

The Ranger Rocket staff as a whole received first place inbest graphic with “Clearance is key,” second place in bestwebsite and second place in general excellence.

—Lauren Benton" Softball from page 23

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant; State Sen. Terry Burton, vicechairman of the universities and colleges committee; Dr. EricClark, executive director of the Mississippi CommunityCollege Board and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society ExecutiveDirector, Dr. Rod Risley served as distinguished speakers atthe recognition luncheon.

Northwest President, Dr. Gary Lee Spears, played a spe-cial role in this year’s ceremony by serving as chairman of theevent’s steering committee for the fifth year in a row.

Each two-year college in Mississippi may nominate twostudents per campus to the All-Mississippi Academic Team.Nominations are based on outstanding academic perform-ance and service to the college and community.

—LaJuan Tallo

" PTK from page 8

Foundation has awarded $3,121,315 in scholarships since1997.

“The scholarship funds, added to the funds that havebeen raised for special projects such as the piano for theFine Arts Auditorium, championship rings for the footballteam, the Northwest Singers trip to New York, textbookassistance, and other projects, plus the current value of theendowment, would create a total well over $13 million thathas been generated through the generosity of countlessdonors and the sound fiscal management of the endow-ment,” Canon said. —LaJuan Tallo

" Board from page 11series, the Rangers rallied back for a 3-1 Game 2 victoryagainst the Wildcats. However, a heartbreaking 1-0 loss tothe Wildcats in Game 3 ended the Rangers’ postseason stay.

A total of seven Rangers received MACJC postseason hon-ors, as freshman catcher Brittany Rochelle and sophomorepitchers Jessica Holliday and Kiley Dunagan were named tothe MACJC All-State team. Dunagan and Rochelle alsoreceived selections to the All-North Division team, along withfreshman third baseman Erin Claire Stegall, sophomore out-fielder Kendall Alford and sophomore designated playerMicalah Beall. Freshman outfielder Hanna Hunter also wasnamed to the north division second team. —Brian Lentz

institutions applied, Lynn was chosen to host the last ofthree presidential debates in 2012. “I was actually inspiredby the transformative impact the 2008 debate had at OleMiss. I think it recast and reframed the way a lot of peopleviewed Ole Miss,” Walton said. He added that he could actu-ally trace his love of debates back to Northwest, when he andGrisham put together a candidate’s debate after long-timeMississippi congressman Jamie Whitten retired.

“It was an election year in Mississippi, and he came to measking if I thought we could put on a debate for the candi-dates at Northwest. ‘Of course,’ I said, and then got out ofhis way. He did the rest. That was the beginning of his‘debate organizing’ career, the most recent of which was the2012 Lynn University final Presidential Debate. He certainlyhas risen to whatever occasion presented itself to him,”Grisham said.

Walton sums up his thoughts about what a good educatoris very simply. “I believe educators of consequence are life-long learners,” Walton said. He says that is what he strives tobe. He believes that having the great instructors he had atNorthwest set him on the path he is on today. “I know that ifI had gone straight to a four-year setting, I don’t think I wouldhave had the good start that I had at Northwest,” he said.

“When Jason walked in the door on the first day of class-es, I knew he was going places. He is a bright fellow with aneasy smile, who made friends quickly, took leadership roleswithout hesitation and excelled at whatever he tackled. Yethe always remained humble, and never got the ‘big head.’Northwest means a great deal to him, as it did to his moth-er and father who both attended our college. He cares deeplyabout his home state of Mississippi, and has returned notonly to raise his children here, but to be an extraordinary edu-cational leader in Jackson, and to work to improve the quali-ty of life for all those who live here. Jason is a true son ofthe South, one we can be proud to call our own,” Grishamsaid.

Walton and his wife, the former Laurie Bearden, an educa-tor and Northwest alumna, are the parents of Caroline andJohn. They are active in First Baptist Church of Jackson.Walton is also a dedicated Rotarian.

" Walton from page 13

www.northwestms.edu

A great many of the gifts that are received by the Northwest Foundation are given to pay tribute to the men and womenwho have profoundly impacted the lives of others—parents, siblings, teachers, sons and daughters. Some gifts are desig-nated for permanently endowed scholarship funds, which means the gift “keeps on giving” forever. The memorial and hon-orarium gifts listed were given between Nov. 1, 2014, and May 31, 2015, in appreciation both to those who gave the giftsand to those who have lived extraordinary and inspirational lives. If you wish to make a memorial or honorarium gift, pleasecontact the Foundation Office at (662) 560-1103.

The Legacy of Memorial and Honorarium Gifts

MEMORIALSSam Allisonby Mr. Marty AllisonMrs. Ellen A. AndersonMr. and Mrs. A. E. BrittMrs. Beverly GaddyMr. and Mrs. Ronald Montgomery

Jimmy Neal Andrewsby Mrs. Sybil CanonMr. and Mrs. William T. DawsonMr. and Mrs. Bryan DyeM.C. Herrington, IncorporatedMr. Cleavy HooverMs. Julie NiblettNorthcentral MS Electric Power

AssociationOlive Branch Football

Lettermans ClubMr. Scott Phillips

Eugenia Arnoldby Dr. and Mrs. Johnny Still, Jr.

Charlie Baldwin, Jr.by Mr. and Mrs. Jerry BairdBankPlusMs. Josephine BarkleyMr. Dennis BrunsonMrs. Sybil CanonMr. Tim ClementsMrs. Beverly CokerMr. and Mrs. Randall CrawfordMr. and Mrs. Claude Crump, Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Ernest DuncanMr. Joey DyllaMr. and Mrs. Larry EngledowMr. and Mrs. Benjamin HareMr. and Mrs. Peter JarjouraMr. and Mrs. Joseph JuddMs. Cindy LantripMr. and Mrs. Rodney A. LeistMr. Mike MearsMr. and Mrs. Brandon MedlingNWCC Athletic DepartmentNWCC Soccer TeamMr. and Mrs. Guy PurdyMr. and Mrs. Dennis RobbinsMr. and Mrs. Robert R. RochelleMr. and Mrs. Mike SawyerMr. and Mrs. Walter T. Scott

Joe Beckumby Mrs. Jean BeckumMr. and Mrs. Al CanonMr. Don ClantonMr. and Mrs. Thomas Paul Wooten

Carl & Mattie BlanchardJack & Betty Blanchardby Mr. and Mrs. Louis Blanchard

Kenneth Bloodworthby Mr. and Mrs. Briggs Smith

Estelle Boboby Mr. and Mrs. Leon McCullouch

A.W. & LaNelle Bouchillonby Ms. Adrian WiseMr. and Mrs. Bart Wise

Ina Claire Boydby Mr. Whit Perry

Ron Bradleyby Mr. and Mrs. Guy Purdy

Kole Briscoeby Mrs. Cheryl Rooker

Allison Brittby Mr. Marty Allison

Mary Broadwayby Mr. Joe BroadwayMr. and Mrs. Philips McCartyMs. Jean Nunnally

Cecil Burfordby Mrs. Sybil CanonMr. and Mrs. William Correro

Robbie H. Buttsby Mr. Joe ElliottMrs. June McCulley

Michael Byrdby Ms. Sandra Watson

Perrin Caldwellby Youth Progress Association, Inc.

Howard & Edna Carpenterby Mr. and Mrs. Herman Coats

Bela J. & Ruby Black Chainby Dr. and Mrs. Buddy Chain, Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Grant Hunter

Rita Carol Chanceby Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Chance

David Childersby Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Paul Wooten

Dot Childressby Northcentral MS Electric

Power Assocation

Joe Cosbyby J.K. and Tammy Smith

Charles Croftby Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Paul Wooten

Eva Danielsby Mr. and Mrs. William Correro

Holli Pond Dayby Mr. Zabron Davis, IVMr. and Mrs. Jerry Pilgrim

Pamela Joyce Dayby Ms. Lela HaleMs. Beverly Thompson

Charles & Elizabeth Deanby Mrs. Delores Jennings

Frances Marie Deanby Mrs. Linda Fite

Rich Defenbaughby Ms. Sylvia Hickey

Benjamin Hayes Dickinsonby Ms. Sylvia Hickey

Robert Dodsonby Mrs. Mildred Perry

Raiford L. & Inez C. Fancherby Mr. Arthur FinkelbergMr. and Mrs. Briggs Smith

Judge Anthony T. Fareseby Mr. and Mrs. EarwoodMrs. Margie FareseMr. and Mrs. Steven Farese, Sr.

Norris Faustby Mr. Norris Faust, Jr.

Charlotte Fergusonby Mrs. Anne B. Crockett

Martha Fiteby Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Still, Jr.

Aaron Germanby Ms. Dorothy BryceMr. and Mrs. Read MortonMr. and Mrs. Lowell Salmon

James P. GraeberLewis Graeberby The Graeber Foundation

Jessica Greshamby Ms. Linda S. Laine

Charles GurleyPaula Gurleyby Ms. Mary Minor

Russell Hadskeyby Mrs. Jean HadskeyMr. and Mrs. Todd Latham

Maury & Jane Harawayby Ms. Julie Niblett

Pete & Pauline Harrisby Ms. Joan PierceDr. and Mrs. Walter WickerMr. and Mrs. Dean Wright

Jimmy L. Herndonby Mr. Hugh BasingerMr. Dale GrahamMr. Bill Russell

Leslie, Paula, & Hal Herringby Mrs. Jenna GravesMs. Mimi Herring

William O. Hickeyby Mrs. Pat HickeyMs. Sylvia HickeyMr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Thompson

Tommy Hoganby Mr. and Mrs. Ken HarrisMrs. Penny Potts

Allen Hollidayby Mrs. Macelle Holliday

Carson Hollomanby Mr. Blaine Baggett

Kelly Wayne Hudsonby Ms. Sharon HudsonMrs. June McCulleyMs. Donna Sanders

Robert Hydeby Mr. Sherman AustinMr. Alfonzo Battle, Jr.Ms. Effie J. BootheMs. Bettye J. CaldwellMr. and Mrs. Roy ColeMr. and Mrs. James GarnerMr. Lionel HendersonMs. Daisy HerringMr. and Mrs. Charles HobbsMr. and Mrs. Hosie HolmesMrs. Cathryn HydeMs. Deborah JamesMrs. Helen M. JamesMs. Jacqueline JamesMr. Gene LelandMs. Mary A. LoveMs. Stella PearsonMs. Annie L. RiceMs. Lourine J. RobinsonMrs. Mildred Washington

James Jacksonby Mr. Dennis Cobb

Bert Johnsonby Mr. and Mrs. Milton AllenMr. and Mrs. Bill BaconDr. Robert H. Johnson

Charlotte Johnstonby Mr. Wayne FergusonMr. Marcus PerkinsMr. and Mrs. Greg SteinmanMrs. Amy Stewart

Finis N. & Vera D. Kellyby Ms. Dale K. Thompson

Ava Jewel Keoughby Mr. and Mrs. Guy Purdy

Khalid Khouriby Mr. Bud Donahou

Holly Koonceby Mr. and Mrs. Eddie BrananMr. and Mrs. John McCrary

Paul Lawrenceby Mr. and Mrs. Paul R. DuncanMrs. Barbara Lawrence

Maxine F. Layby Ms. Sylvia Hickey

Harvey Leeby Mr. Hugh BasingerMr. Dale GrahamMr. and Mrs. Sturgis MonteithMr. Bill RussellMs. Celeste Wilson

Tom Leishmanby Mr. and Mrs. Sturgis Monteith

honorariums/memorials

30 Northwest Now

honorariums/memorialsSenatobia Rotary Club

Elizabeth Wynne Lewisby Mr. and Mrs. Derrill ArgoMr. and Mrs. John BaurMr. and Mrs. Jim BlackMr. and Mrs. Don J. BlairMr. and Mrs. Boyce BradfordMr. and Mrs. Eddie BrananMrs. Kitt BrandMr. Joe BroadwayCannon Wright BlountCook and Bolton–Merrill LynchMr. and Mrs. Don CoreyCosmopolitan Club–SenatobiaMr. and Mrs. Tommy EllettMrs. Kathryn GabbertMr. and Mrs. John GermainMr. and Mrs. Jim GiustiMr. and Mrs. Sonny GranthamMrs. Mary Sue HankinsMs. Joanna G. HansbroughMs. Dana B. HudsonPaul, Nelda and Mallory JohnsonMs. Alice F. LishmanMs. Joyce MarguliesMs. Roberta MayfieldMr. and Mrs. Chis McCallMr. and Mrs. Randy McCallMr. and Mrs. Philips McCartyMrs. Mariglyn N. MeachamMemphis Guild of Handloom

WeaversMs. Gay MossMr. and Mrs. Raymond NelliganMs. Jean Nunnally Ms. Denise B. PechtChris PetersonMr. and Mrs. Willis PopeMr. and Mrs. Kenny PuryearMr. and Mrs. Raymond RogersMrs. Mary SingerMrs. Carolyn StanfordMs. Sarah TrotterMr. and Mrs. Wayne WilsonMr. and Mrs. Thomas C. Wood

Mary Elizabeth Walker Lewisby Mr. and Mrs. Al CanonMs. Gloria J. DarbyMr. and Mrs. Ken DossettMr. Bob Gray, Jr.Mrs. Mary GrayMr. and Mrs. Clay Moore

Robert Lightseyby Mr. and Mrs. Bob BurkesMr. and Mrs. William Correro

Bill Lipscombby Mr. and Mrs. Mark Lipscomb

James Manessby Mr. and Mrs. Guy Purdy

Angelé McClureby Mr. Jim McClure

Pennie McKinneyby Ms. Toni BardenMrs. Toni BlairMrs. Pam Briscoe

John Meachamby Mr. and Mrs. Richard CarothersMs. Anita MoffattThe Taylor Railey FamilyMr. and Mrs. Briggs Smith

Sandra Kay Merrillby Mr. and Mrs. Dreher Harris

Chief Bill Mooreby Mr. and Mrs. George H. LandMrs. Becky Moore

Clen Mooreby Mr. and Mrs. Al CanonMrs. Mariglyn N. MeachamMr. and Mrs. Julian E. Smith

Kirk Mooreby Youth Progress Assocation

Leonard Morrisby Mr. Gary AndersonMr. Sherman E. AustinMrs. Catherine FergusonMr. and Mrs. Leonard W. Morris

J.K. & Norma Moteby Mr. and Mrs. Phil Mote

Baxter H. Murphreeby Ms. Peggy Mark

Foman & Nita Musselwhiteby Mr. Thomas Lilly

Jeffrey Nicholsby Mrs. Elizabeth DickersonMr. and Mrs. Morris Thompson

Maxine Dunn Nicholsby Mrs. Cynthia NicholsMr. and Mrs. Harold Nichols

Stephen Nicholsby Mrs. Cynthia Nichols

John S. (Sonny) Orrellby Mr. Carson Hughes

C.W. Parkerby Dr. and Mrs. Steve AkreMrs. Dorothy Moore Parker

Jess “Jim” James Patridgeby Mrs. Kitt Brand

Arthur Pearsonby Ms. Stella Pearson

W.B. & Polly Perkinsby Mr. and Mrs. Frank Givens

Mr. William P. (Bill) Perkinsby Mrs. Frances Perkins

Michael Clyde Perryby Mr. Whit Perry

J.P. (Blue) & Virginia Varner Phillips

by Joel and Katie VarnerMs. Eleanor WinterThe Hon. Governor and

Mrs. William Winter

John Mark Pickettby Ms. Suzanne Speed

Scott Pottsby Mr. Don ClantonMr. and Mrs. Frank GivensMr. and Mrs. Ken HarrisDr. and Mrs. Gary Lee Spears

Stephen Purdyby Mrs. Vickie M. BradleyMr. and Mrs. Clifton DandridgeMr. John HarrisonMs. Kay Robinson

Marie Ann Rayby Mr. and Mrs. Guy Purdy

Priscilla W. Redby Mrs. Sybil CanonMs. Melody CarterMr. and Mrs. Keith GodboldLamar & Hannaford, P.A.Ms. Roberta MayfieldMrs. Frances C. PerkinsMr. and Mrs. Greg SteinmanMr. and Mrs. Thomas Paul Wooten

Mildred & Robert Reddingby Mr. and Mrs. Bobby ReddingMr. and Mrs. James Redding

Jerry W. Rileyby Mr. Tom Ferguson

Dr. Augustinus Rinaldyby Dr. Darrell BarnesDr. Larry Sylvester

Norma Shuford Riserby Ms. Katherine PinterMs. Elizabeth Johnston

B. Joan Robertsonby Mr. Floyd Robertson

Tony Robersonby Mr. Kevin Wulff

Ross & Lucile Robisonby Mr. and Mrs. Mike Robison

Loletta Rogersby Ms. Sylvia Hickey

Samantha Hayward Rossby Mrs. Kitt Brand

Berneice Royby Chip and Sandie McLaughlin

Shirley Ann Ryanby Mr. and Mrs. Guy Purdy

Robert Sandersby Mr. and Mrs. Paul BrownMr. Jerry Clark

Freddie & Bertha Sanfordby Dr. Everlyn S. Johnson

Jewel L. Segarsby Dr. and Mrs. Gary Lee Spears

C.D. Shorterby Chip and Sandie McLaughlin

Tim Shorterby Ms. Kathy BuchananMr. Joe ElliottMs. Darlene GreenleeMr. and Mrs. Scott HolmesMr. Matthew JohnsonMs. Suzette LoganChip and Sandie McLaughlinMs. Lisa Russell

Nickolas J. Sicilianoby Mr. and Mrs. Jack Siciliano

Clifton & Jessie Sipleyby Mr. John Henry VanHoesenMr. and Mrs. Robert VanHoesen

Thomas Smithby Ms. Tricia Wideman

J.E. Spurlockby Mr. and Mrs. Terry Williamson

Marlin Stanfordby Mrs. Carolyn Stanford

John Paul Statenby Ms. Sylvia Hickey

Delores Sanders Stewartby Mr. and Mrs. Paul BrownMrs. Sybil CanonMs. Jo Ann LottMr. and Mrs. Fred T. OggMr. Brian StewartMr. Walter StewartMr. Walter Stewart, Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Paul Williams

James L. (Trey) Sylvesterby Dr. Darrell BarnesMrs. Kitt BrandMr. Taylor D. and Dr. Bonnie BuntinMs. Sondra HollidayMr. Michael S. McDuffie

Dr. Larry SylvesterMr. and Mrs. Richard Tallo

Lauren Elizabeth Talloby Ms. Sondra HollidayMr. Michael McDuffieMr. and Mrs. Richard Tallo

Charles Taylorby Mrs. Julia AustinMr. and Mrs. Frank CanadaMrs. Sybil CanonMs. Winna Ree CunninghamMs. Gloria J. DarbyMrs. Jean HadskeyMr. and Mrs. Walter McKellarMrs. Marilyn N. MeachamMr. and Mrs. Martin MichaelMr. and Mrs. George Yow

Robert Tharpby Ms. Sylvia Hickey

Nat Trouttby Mrs. Lucile TrouttYouth Progress Association

Susan Tutorby Mr. and Mrs. William Correro

Jerry Veazeyby Bradley Arant Boult

Cummings, LLPMr. Perrin Caldwell, Jr.Mr. and Mrs. Thurman CaldwellMrs. Sybil CanonMs. Bonnie M. ChamblissMr. and Mrs. York CraigMs. Gloria J. DarbyEutaw Construction CompanyMr. and Mrs. Frank GivensMr. and Mrs. Paul GoolsbyMr. Coleman GrahamMr. and Mrs. John GreenMr. David S. HallMs. Anne C. KeenanCrossgates Baptist Church

Life GroupMs. Robert MayfieldMs. Frances McCainMr. and Mrs. Donald E. MeinersDr. and Mrs. Don MitchellMr. William R. NationMs. Faye PriceMr. and Mrs. Jeffrey RossMrs. Betsy VeazeyMrs. Cookie Williams

Lois F. Veazeyby Ms. Yvonne AshleyMr. Charles Veazey

James Edd Waldrupby Mr. and Mrs. William Correro

C.B. & Marjorie Walkerby Mr. and Mrs. Ken DossettMr. and Mrs. Gary Walker

Reverend W.L. (Bill) Wallaceby Mrs. Sybil CanonJeff and Sandy CottermanFirst United Methodist Church–

Wesley ClassMs. Bonnie FitzpatrickMs. Lucille FitzpatrickDon and Martha Kay HunterLost Tribe Christian Life GroupGerald and Reba MaynardGene and Maura MedleyDr. and Mrs. Clifton RandleRandy and Katie RandleMr. and Mrs. Harry T. SmithLouise SmithMr. and Mrs. Harry StarnesMr. and Mrs. W. D. StarnesDr. and Mrs. Wayne StarnesMrs. Ida WallaceMr. William L. Wallace

31

honorariums/memorialsJames & Jewel Wilbornby Ms. Patsy Wilborn

Bob Willflingby Ms. Sylvia Hickey

C. Chad Williamsby Mr. and Mrs. Brett CurtisMs. Ruby E. MagersMr. and Mrs. Steve Sturgeon

Marjorie Williamsby Mrs. Delores Delatorre

Sarah Williamsby Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Thompson

Wesley & Alice Williamsby Mr. George Williams

Virginia Murphree Willisby Ms. Peggy Mark

Ben & Alma Wynneby Mr. Joe BroadwayMs. Jean Nunnally

Drew Youngby Hinds Chapel United

Methodist Church SeniorsHorn Lake United Methodist

WomenMs. Jean SteadhamMr. and Mrs. Jimmy Young

Stella K. Youngby Mr. Mack Young

HONORARIUMSCharlie Aaronby Mr. and Mrs. Keith Godbold

Ruth Ann Allisonby Mr. Marty AllisonMrs. Ellen A. AndersonMr. and Mrs. A.E. BrittMrs. Beverly GaddyMr. and Mrs. Ronald Montgomery

Jerry Bakerby Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Montgomery

Dr. Marilyn Batemanby Mrs. Pam BriscoeMrs. Elizabeth HarveyMr. and Mrs. Sidney JohnsonMr. and Mrs. Walter T. Scott

Bill & Becky Beaversby Mr. and Mrs. Guy Purdy

Dr. Gordon Bigelowby Mr. Larry Anderson

Joe Brackenby Mr. and Mrs. Terry Williamson

Albert Broadwayby Mr. and Mrs. J.W. PoffMrs. Donna Sularin

Joe Broadwayby Ms. Jean Nunnally

Dr. Bonnie Buntinby Mrs. Kitt BrandMr. and Mrs. Al CanonMr. and Mrs. Keith GodboldMrs. Donna T. HallMr. Jerry and Dr. Gloria KellumMr. and Mrs. Jim Patridge

Elizabeth H. Burnsby Mrs. Kitt BrandMr. Taylor D. and Dr. Bonnie BuntinMr. Tracey L. BurnsMr. and Mrs. Keith GodboldMr. DeLoy J. LawsonMr. Richie Lawson

Dr. Jack Buttsby Mr. Joe ElliottMrs. June McCulley

Chuck & Diane Byarsby Mr. and Mrs. Geoffrey

Thompson

Al Canonby Ms. Roberta Mayfield

Sybil Canonby Mr. Taylor D. and Dr. Bonnie BuntinMr. Jerry and Dr. Gloria Kellum

Dr. Buddy Chainby Mr. and Mrs. Grant Hunter

Shirley Clantonby Mr. Don Clanton

Earline Cockeby Mr. and Mrs. Perry ArringtonMs. Glynda HallMs. Joan RoseMrs. Amy Stewart

Larry Colemanby Mr. and Mrs. Brett Curtis

Milton & Gale Cushmanby The Hon. Governor and

Mrs. William Winter

Jess Hayes Dickinsonby Ms. Sylvia Hickey

Ken & Gail Dossettby Mr. and Mrs. Gary Walker

Mike Dottoreyby Dr. Michael ButtsMrs. Sybil CanonMrs. Jere HerringtonMrs. Brenda HolmesMrs. Sandra McCraryMrs. Amy StewartDr. Chuck StrongMrs. MaryLee Sturgeon

Keith Godboldby Mr. Taylor D. and Dr. Bonnie BuntinMr. and Mrs. Sidney JohnsonMrs. Dawn Stevens

Anita S. Grahamby Mr. Wayne Ferguson

Sandy Grishamby Mr. Bud DonahouMs. Susanne VanDyke

Doc HarrisWayne Harrisby Ms. Joan Pierce

Pat Hickeyby Ms. Sylvia HickeyMr. and Mrs. Geoffrey Thompson

Dr. Jerry Hollisby Dr. Darrell BarnesDr. Carol ClevelandMr. Bud Donahou

Brenda Holmesby Mr. Joe Elliott

Cathryn M. Hydeby Mr. Sherman AustinMr. Alfonzo Battle, Jr.Ms. Effie J. BootheMs. Bettye J. CaldwellMr. and Mrs. Roy ColeMr. and Mrs. James GarnerMr. Lionel HendersonMs. Daisy HerringMr. and Mrs. Charles HobbsMr. and Mrs. Hosie HolmesMs. Deborah James

Mrs. Helen M. JamesMs. Jacqueline JamesMr. Gene LelandMs. Mary A. LoveMs. Stella PearsonMs. Annie L. RiceMs. Lourine J. RobinsonMrs. Mildred Washington

Col. Charles R. Johnsonby Mr. and Mrs. Milton AllenMr. and Mrs. Bill Bacon

Tony & Susan Kaufmanby Mr. and Mrs. Guy Purdy

Dr. Gloria D. Kellumby Mr. and Mrs. Al Canon

Richie Lawsonby Dr. Darrell BarnesMr. Taylor D. and Dr. Bonnie BuntinMr. and Mrs. Keith GodboldMr. DeLoy J. LawsonMr. and Mrs. Roger L. SpillyardsMr. and Mrs. Jay Turner

George M. (Max) Leeby Mrs. Jennifer Poulin

Pat Lewisby Mr. Joe BroadwayMs. Jean Nunnally

Donna Lucchesiby Mr. and Mrs. Terry Williamson

Zada Maloufby Ms. Joan Pierce

Ashley, Benjamin and Caleb McCall

by Mr. Joe BroadwayMs. Jean Nunnally

Robbie & Margie Merrickby Mr. and Mrs. Guy Purdy

Patricia Millerby Dr. Carol Cleveland

John Millsby Mr. and Mrs. Brett Curtis

Schell Ann & Julia Wynne Montville

by Mr. Joe BroadwayMs. Jean Nunnally

Elizabeth Morrisby Dr. and Mrs. James Robertson, Sr.

Read & Teresa Mortonby Mr. and Lowell Salmon

Gary Mosleyby Sycamore Bank

Andy & Mary Kathryn Nicholsby Mr. and Mrs. Harold Nichols

Jerry Nicholsby Dr. and Mrs. Jeff GinnMr. and Mrs. Morris Thompson

Jonathan Nicholsby Mrs. Elizabeth DickersonMr. and Mrs. Morris Thompson

Phelan NicholsSammy Nicholsby Mr. and Mrs. Harold Nichols

Jean Nunnallyby Mr. Joe Broadway

Joan Pierceby Dr. and Mrs. Walter Wicker

Guy Purdyby Mrs. Vickie M. Bradley

Mike & Jeannie Rayby Mr. and Mrs. Guy Purdy

James Reddingby Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Reddinig

Jayne Riverby Mr. Joe ElliottMr. Keith River

Mike Robisonby Ms. Joan Pierce

Senatobia High School Softball Team & Coach Tammy Young

by Ms. Patti Gordon

Carolyn Shumakeby Mr. and Mrs. Grant Hunter

Betty Smithby Dr. Robert Smith, Jr.

Dr. Gary Lee Spearsby Mr. Taylor D. and Dr. Bonnie BuntinMr. and Mrs. Larry SimpsonSycamore Bank

Marilyn R. Spearsby Mrs. Carol Peterson

MaryLee Sturgeonby Mr. and Mrs. Brett CurtisMs. Ruby E. Magers

Rosemary Lauren Talloby Mr. and Mrs. Richard Tallo

Jim & Margaret Tannerby Mr. and Mrs. Guy Purdy

Katie Beth & Chance Thweattby Mr. Joe BroadwayMs. Jean Nunnally

Norman Thweattby Mrs. Elizabeth Johnston

Glenn Triplettby Ms. Patsy Wilborn

Joel & Katie Varnerby Mr. and Mrs. Milton Cushman

Elwin & Mary Ann Walkerby Mr. and Mrs. Gary Walker

Claude Williamsby Mr. and Mrs. Brett Curtis

Minnie Williamsby Mrs. Aime AndersonMrs. Charlotte CookeMrs. Suzanne GeeslinMrs. Becky MooreMr. Dan SmithMs. Ardina Wilson

W. Ed Williamsby Mrs. Delores Delatorre

Jane W. Williamsonby Mr. and Mrs. Frank Givens

Elise V. Winterby Mr. and Mrs. Milton Cushman

Dolores Wootenby Mr. and Mrs. Al Canon

32 Northwest Now www.northwestms.edu

NowSpring 2015

It is at this time of year that I beginwriting letters to all of the scholarshipsponsors giving them information aboutthe upcoming recipients of thescholarships they have established. It isa huge undertaking since, thankfully, wehave almost 600 students this year whoare receiving scholarships. It is also atime of reflection for me as I look atthose who have been honored withscholarship endowments.

There is an expression that is sometimes over-used and one that I justcan’t completely agree with—“turning tragedy into triumph.” Perhaps, itwould be better to say “bringing some triumph to a tragic situation.” I saythat because we have a number of scholarships that are named afteryoung people who have left this world much too early, and, even though thescholarship endowment brings help and happiness to those who receive it,the tragedy of a life cut short is still there.

Some of those that come to mind are The Lauren Elizabeth TalloEndowment, The Holli Pond Day Endowment, The Ethan Eric BaylessEndowment, The Matt Gregory Endowment, and many others.

Lauren Elizabeth Tallo died in a car accident on Mother’s Day, just aweek before her high school graduation. Lauren’s mother, LaJuan Tallo,always takes a special interest in the recipients of her daughter’sscholarship. She writes a blog called “Wounded Faithful” in which she triesto help others who have faced the daunting challenge of dealing with sucha loss. Indeed, the tragedy is still there, but she finds a way to achievesome measure of victory over it.

Holli Pond Day had graduated from Northwest’s nursing program, hadmarried the man of her dreams, and was expecting their first child. Then,the tragedy came, and she died. Her family and friends were devastated,but they almost immediately wanted to memorialize this precious youngwoman with a scholarship for a nursing student at Northwest. Is it still atragedy? Yes, it is, but those who love Holli can know that, forever, Holli’sname will be remembered and a nursing student will be helped.

Ethan Eric Bayless was only two when he was senselessly killed by adrunk driver. Long before the scholarship was established, his parents,Jason and Ginger, began speaking to school groups and, through a programcalled DETER in DeSoto County, began explaining to persons arrested fordriving under the influence the awful things that can happen whensomeone chooses to drive while intoxicated. Ethan’s scholarship is anotherway to remember this child, but the tragedy still exists. It is not erased, justperhaps made a little easier to bear.

Matt Gregory was a typical Delta boy who loved hunting and fishing. Hewas also a crop duster, and he loved it. However, an accident took his life.His uncle, Steve McClellan, was working at Northwest at the time, and heestablished this scholarship, with help from family and colleagues. Heemailed me recently after receiving his letter with these comments: “I justwish there was a way for each of the students who are receiving hisscholarship to know Matt, who is hopefully smiling knowing he is helpingthese students every year. He was definitely someone who would ‘Pay itForward.’”

For all of our sponsors, please know that every student who receives ascholarship is given information about the person for whom the scholarshipis named. It is vital that each student understands that these names areimportant. We cannot dispel the tragedy, but we can rejoice in the triumphfrom the “heart of Northwest”!

Sybil R. CanonThis issue, I want to

share some photosfrom an alumnireunion that tookplace May 2 at JohnW. Kyle State Park inSardis. Alums from theyears 1965-69gathered for a picniclunch and fellowship. Itwas a beautiful day for reconnecting with oldfriends, meeting new ones, reminiscing aboutthe great days at Northwest and learning aboutwhat others had been doing in the days since.

Plans are already underway for anotherreunion. If you attended Northwest between1965 and 1969, please join the Facebookgroup Northwest Mississippi (Junior)Community College (1965-1969) or emaildrsaveryfl@aol.com for information on futurereunions.

D o l o r e s W o o t e n

features

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2421

top educatorDeSoto Center instructor Ricky Stevens named one of the top 20 cardio tech instructors by online blog.

capitol honorsSix students honored by the state Legislature as Phi Theta Kappa All-Mississippi Academic Team.

cover story: home againAlumnus Dr. Jason Walton returns to his beloved

home state on a mission to better young lives.

a small gestureFormer yearbook editor given life-changing

opportunities through small gestures of instructors.

a place in historyTwo-sport athlete Max Lee joins state’s elite as

new member of MACJC Sports Hall of Fame.

1 student snapshot/tiffanee merritt

2 president’s reflections/dr. gary lee spears

3 around campus

alumni president’s notes/mike boren

14 the legacy continues

21 the sporting life

33 from the heart of northwest/sybil canonalumni news/dolores wooten

On the cover: Dr. Jason Walton, a 1994 alumnus, has returned to his homestate after being selected as Head of School at Jackson Prep last July.

Photo by Hubert Worley/Jackson Prep

A publication ofNorthwest Mississippi Community College

Northwestcontents

departments

from the of Northwestheart alumni news

PresidentDr. Gary Lee Spears

Vice President for FinanceGary Mosley

Vice President for Student Services/Chief of StaffDan Smith

Vice President for EducationRichie Lawson

Vice President/RegistrarLarry Simpson

Chairman, Northwest Board of TrusteesMilton Kuykendall

Northwest FoundationAssociate Vice President of Development & Special Projects/Associate EditorSybil R. Canon • srcanon@northwestms.edu

Director of Alumni Affairs & DevelopmentOperationsDolores Wooten • dbwooten@northwestms.edu

CommunicationsDirector of Communications/EditorSarah Sapp • ssapp@northwestms.edu

Assistant Director of Communications/Graphic DesignerJulie R. Bauer • jrbauer@northwestms.edu

Communications AssistantLaJuan Tallo • ltallo@northwestms.edu

Coordinator for Sports InformationKevin Maloney • kmaloney@northwestms.edu

Editorial OfficeNorthwest NowNWCC Box 7039 • 4975 Hwy. 51 N.Senatobia, MS 38668Phone: (662) 562-3276 • Fax: (662) 562-3499www.northwestms.eduFor address changes, please contact AlumniAffairs at (662) 560-1105.

Northwest Now is published bi-annually as a joint effort of theNorthwest Foundation and the Office of Communications.

Winner of the 2007 &2009 Grand Award,Print Media category

College PublicRelationsAssociation ofMississippi

1965

1966

1967

NowNorthwestNORTHWEST MISS ISS IPP I COMMUNITY COLLEGE SPR ING 2015

NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPICOMMUNITY COLLEGEFOUNDATION

P.O. Drawer 7015 • 4975 Highway 51 NorthSenatobia, MS 38668

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

AFFIRMATIVE ACTIONPlease visit the Northwest website at www.northwestms.edu/affirmativeaction to view the College’s Notice of Non-Discrimination, Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action.

Mike Dottorey greetsDirector of Recruiting JereHerrington (left) and StudentDevelopment CenterDirector Meg Ross duringhis retirement receptionJune 3. Dottorey divided histime at the college betweenthe two departments,serving as both DisabilitySupport Servicescoordinator in the SDC aswell as a recruiter for theRecruiting Office. Dottoreyretired in June after 35years at Northwest.

Photo by LaJuan Tallo

INSIDE: Hall of Fame • HEADWAE • spring sports • 2015 retirees

Partingshot

ComingHomeAlumnusreturns to stateas head ofJackson Prep