Students from McComb, North Pike and South Pike high schools, Parklane Academy and the Jubliee Performing Arts Center were honored at the Mississippi Scholars banquet Friday night at the Horace Holmes Student Union at Southwest Mississippi Community College.
The banquet, sponsored by the Pike County Chamber of Commerce, recognized 115 students for their academic achievement.
Circuit District Judge Michael Taylor, who serves Pike, Walthall and Lincoln counties, was the guest speaker. He was appointed to the State Drug Court Advisory Committee in 2006.
He told students they have the opportunity to do whatever they set their minds to do.
He said the students in attendance achieved more than what he did when he was in school.
“These programs didn’t exist when I was in high school,” Taylor said.
He said that when he usually addresses a crowd it’s because someone has done something bad, but he was glad to speak to a crowd of students who had done something good.
He warned the students that they are in the worst of times because of the recovering economy and anemic job market.
However, they are in the best of the times because of advances technology and they have opportunities that were not granted to those before them.
The chamber gave 30 $500 scholarships to area students totaling in $15,000.
Students who applied for scholarships through the Chamber must have completed 40 hours of community service, held a 2.5 grade point average, must not have any out of school suspensions, had three letters of recommendation for counselors, principals or business owners and must have scored a 18 on their ACT.
Students also had to complete essays telling judges why they were deserving of the scholarships, how the money would help them and what their future plans were.
SMCC gave eight $1,000 scholarships to students.
Karinlee Brister, admissions counselor for the college, told parents they should be proud of their child’s accomplishments.
The Southwest Mississippi Board of Relators gave two scholarships.
Sanderson Farms also gave every Mississippi Tech Scholar student a scholarship.
The biggest honor of the night was the Burger King Scholarship, which is given to the student who scored the highest during the judging of the chamber scholarship applications.
Emily Duck from North Pike was the 2016 Burger King Scholarship recipient.
Michael Brown, training manager for Sanderson Farms, presented scholarships on behalf of the company.
Brown, 25, was also a Mississippi Scholar.
“This is really nostalgic for me because I can remember walking up and getting my Mississippi Scholar certificate,” he said.
He told students to continue to work hard to achieve their goals.
“This honor will set you apart from other applicants,” he said.
Chamber education committee chairman Roger Graves thanked the committee for all of its hard work to make the banquet a success.
