profile SPOTLIGHT Child Development Students Support Center for Pregnancy Choices
Students in Cindy Ehrhardt’s child development classes at Florence High School donated baby supplies to the Center for Pregnancy Choices in Pearl. The class hosted a baby shower at the center in October to celebrate the donations. The Center for Pregnancy Choices assists pregnant women with counseling services and baby supplies. The center’s director, Jay-Tea Leggett, attended the baby shower and spoke to the class about teen pregnancy. Pictured: Students from Florence High School’s child development classes at the Crisis Pregnancy Center’s shower.
Blue Ribbon Award Winners
Moss Point students Yazmine Carter and Chris Smith represented the Moss Point STEM Team in the 4-H Robotics Competition at the state fair in Jackson in October. Carter and Smith competed in the 14- to 18-year-old division, dubbed “Senior 4 H’ers.” For the state fair competition, senior 4 H’ers were required to construct an animal. Carter and Smith chose to build and program the “Magnolia Mutt,” a robotic puppy named in honor of the state flower of Mississippi. Carter said, “Building the robot was a lot of fun. This was my first opportunity to touch, build, and control a robot.” Moss Point STEM Team advisors on the project were Billy Carroll and Nikki Cunningham. “Robotics plays a great role in STEM education. The purpose of this project was to give our students an opportunity to learn more about STEM and STEM-related careers through this robotics project,” Carroll explained. Carter and Smith were awarded a blue ribbon for their robotic puppy. Blue ribbons are awarded to the top entries in each category.
Left to right: Betty Clark (Singing River Electric Representative), Billy Carroll (Sponsor), Takya Millender, Shunnessy Odom, Jasmine Irving, Nikki Cunningham (Sponsor), and Durand Payton (CTE Director).
Moss Point STEM Team Receives Grants
The Moss Point STEM Team was awarded a $1,400.00 grant from Singing River Electric through the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Community Grant program. The grant will be used to purchase a structural testing instrument for the team’s upcoming bridge building competition. The Moss Point STEM Team also received two grants totaling $8,146.00 from Ingalls Shipbuilding through their STEM Grant program. The Ingalls STEM Grant program provides resources to educators for promoting an educational foundation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These awards will be used to purchase robotics equipment for the STEM Applications program and for the team’s upcoming competition.
Pictured at left, from left to right: Yasmine Carter and Chris Smith
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CONNECTIONS Spring 2014