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“Martin Said
So” emphasizes Black History Month
As a part of
Black History Month, Ripley High School students and faculty
have joined with the Lauderdale County Council of the Arts to
present “Martin Said So,” a one-act play by Wanda Schell and
Kenny Bento, that tells the story of four generations of an
African-American family as they are affected by the Civil Rights
movements of the 1950s and 1960s.
The play,
directed by RHS teacher Mary Kathryn Coffman, was performed at
high schools and junior high schools across the county, with
talk of additional presentations outside of the school setting.
“The authors
blend an unbelievable amount of factual information into the
fast-moving plot,” said Coffman in a promotion released for the
play. “With strong emotion and dramatic conflict, the play shows
how the philosophies of both Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and
Malcolm X change this family’s life and affect the attitude of
the younger generation. The historical facts are presented
frankly and fairly, with emphasis on Dr. King’s dream of a
nation without prejudice and violence.”
Cast members
are Sabrina Edwards, Sky Hickey, Terrance Henning, Marquez
Jackson, Demetria Currie, Apollo Muex, Kirby Long, and Justin
Word, and stage manager is Robbie Taylor. Charletta Campbell, a
member of the board of the Lauderdale County Council of Arts,
plays the part of Nanny who tells the family’s story.
“The cast has
done a terrific job,” said Coffman.
“Martin Said
So” is presented by special arrangement with I. E. Clark, Inc.,
Schulenburg, Texas, and expenses are being paid by the
Lauderdale County Council of Arts, Tonya Dudney, President.
RHS JROTC
Air Rifle Team finishes fourth in Eastern Region
The Ripley High
School Army JROTC recently ranked fourth in the 2007 Eastern
Region JROTC Air Rifle Championships in Fort Benning, Ga., with
240 individuals and teams representing 71 different Army, Marine
Corps and Navy JROTC units competing shoulder-to-shoulder. The
three-in-one match determined Army, Marine Corps and Navy JROTC
team and individual champions for their Eastern Regions as well
as who would advance to the National JROTC Air Rifle
Championship in March.
Equipment checks and electronic targets were a new experience
for many of the competitors attending their first major
competition. To qualify for the Region Championships, teams and
individuals had to first post top scores in the JROTC Air Rifle
Postal Matches. In this phase, Ripley’s JROTC team finished 1st
in 7th Brigade, which is composed of Tennessee, Ohio, and West
Virginia. Team members included Matthew Berkley, Crystal
Jackson, Jordan McCalvin, and Jasmine Shaw, who earned 2043 in
the team event. This put them in 4th place, just seven points
behind 1st place Craigmont High School from Memphis. This is the
4th consecutive year that Ripley has represented 7th Brigade at
the Eastern Region Championships.
To determine individual champions and top at-large individuals
who will go on to compete in the JROTC Nationals, a Final was
shot at the end of the regular 3x20 course of fire. During this
event, the top eight finishers shot an additional ten-shots
standing. The top individual for the Army was Ripley High
School’s Matthew Berkley, who earned an invitation to the
national competition in March. In the individual Alternate
event, Ashley Rorie finished first.
JROTC
completes “Operation Uplink”
The Ripley High School Army JROTC advanced cadets recently
participated in a service-learning project. For this year’s
project, cadets assisted the Covington VFW with Operation
Uplink.
Each Saturday in January,
two cadets from RHS joined representatives of the VFW and
Memphis Marine Reserve Unit at Kroger stores in Covington and
Atoka. There, they collected donations for the program, which
provides military personnel and hospitalized veterans with phone
cards. Through the program, JROTC cadets assisted in raising
over $4,500 to keep servicemen and women in touch with their
families.
RHS JROTC members who
participated in the project included SimmiRay Dinkins, 1LT
Ashley Conrad, 1LT Allison Thurmond, 2LT Roberta Taylor, Captain
James Roark, 1LT Nick Jacobs, 1SG Jason Adkins, SFC Emily Hodson,
and 1LT Leah Meyer. Each cadet was presented with a certificate
of achievement from the Tennessee VFW organization at a recent
ceremony. An additional medal will be awarded to the cadet who
writes the best paper about what they learned during the event.
This medal will be presented at the organization’s Cadet Ball,
to be held in April.
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