FULTON — Several area residents will receive their pins and lamps from Itawamba Community College’s Practical Nursing program Thursday, at the Davis Event Center at the Fulton Campus. The public is invited to attend.

Graduates include Jordan Coker of Belden; Kelsie Dixon of Columbus; Sharon Cribbs, Kayleigh Underwood, both of Fulton; Cameron Pettey of Guntown; Jessica Anderson of Hatley; Carrie Criddle, Olivia Hall, both of Houston; Laken Crane of Mooreville; Shelby Flurry of Nettleton; Alivia Buchanan of Okolona; Sherman Ross, Brittney Wharton, both of Pontotoc; Amanda Armstrong, Brooklyn Hawkins, Alexis Koonce, Summer Raines, all of Saltillo; Jasman Mitchell and Angelica Nail, both of Tupelo.

Practical nursing is a one-year (three-semester) program. Upon completion, graduates receive a Certificate of Completion and are eligible to take the N-CLEX (national board examination) to become a Licensed Practical Nurse.

Starkville schools announce dismissal times

STARKVILLE — Starkville-Oktibbeha Public Schools have announced their dismissal times for the 60 percent day on Dec. 21. The times are noon, Sudduth and Discovery Learning Center; 12:10 p.m. Henderson, Ward, Stewart and West; 12:15 p.m., OES; 1 p.m., Partnership Middle School; and 1:20 p.m. Armstrong Junior High and Starkville High School.

EMCC garners 2021 ACE Award honors

East Mississippi Community College was named a 2021 BankMobile Disbursements ACE (Achieve Campus Efficiency) Award recipient, which recognizes colleges and universities that deliver financial aid and other credit balances to students securely and efficiently.

EMCC is among 194 higher education institutions nationwide to receive the ACE Award. Criteria for the award requires that more than 90 percent of student refunds from Jan. 1 to Nov. 1 were disbursed electronically and that 40 percent of all students, regardless of financial aid eligibility, completed the refund selection process.

“I want to applaud the entire Business Office team,” EMCC Chief Financial Officer Tammie Holmes said. “They have openly embraced efficiency improvements in our area, and this is evident in these statistics.”

BankMobile Disbursements is a technology solution powered by BMTX that processes and disburses student financial aid credit balances on behalf of college and university administrations in compliance with federal regulations, according to the company’s website.

“To be announced as an ACE Award recipient underscores the fact that we are doing the right things and we are going in the right direction,” she said.

W singers score at regional competition

Mississippi University for Women voice majors recently won first prize in their respective categories at the Southern Regional Conference of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competition held recently at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.

The three first place winners from The W were Samantha Saine, first place in adult classical; Payton Tanner, first place in fourth/fifth year classical for treble voices; and Jerry Brown, first place in lower student adult classical.

Saine, a soprano and music major, is a voice student of Elizabeth Jones. Tanner, soprano and music therapy major, and Brown, tenor and music education major, are voice students of Dr. Susan Hurley.

In addition to the three singers named above, baritone Aaron Rishel, a music major with a performance emphasis, also a student of Hurley, was named a semifinalist in Third Year Classical for Tenors, Baritones, and Basses.

During the two-day conference, Saine further represented The W at the Musical Theatre Masterclass, an additional conference event, performing “On My Own” from the musical Les Misérables.

Nearly 200 singers from Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi advanced to the semifinal round and participated in last Friday’s auditions.

Finalists were announced Nov. 12. The final round took place live Nov. 13, at the Parkway Heights United Methodist Church in Hattiesburg, and was broadcast publicly via livestream.

NATS is the largest professional association of singing teachers in the world.

Mississippi State to host commencement ceremonies

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State is announcing plans for fall commencement exercises to be held on the university’s Starkville and Meridian campuses.

The Starkville campus will host two ceremonies — 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. — Friday in Humphrey Coliseum. MSU-Meridian will celebrate commencement at 11 a.m. Thursday at the MSU Riley Center.

Those who wish to watch these events remotely can do so via the MSU TV Center’s livestream at livestream.com/mstv/live and the MSU Facebook page at facebook.com/msstate.

Attendance on Friday in Starkville will be limited to eight guests per graduate, and the Athletic Ticket Office will provide electronic ticketing for contactless entry. Tickets are free and can be claimed by visiting registrar.msstate.edu/students/graduation for instructions. Contact the Athletic Ticket Office at 662-325-2600 with any questions.

A separate hooding ceremony will be held for summer and fall 2021 doctoral candidates on Dec. 9 at 4 p.m. at The Mill at MSU. For questions regarding this ceremony, contact MSU’s Graduate School at 662-325-7400.