2005

Decatur placed second in Major Appliance Repair, and Mathew Smith of Mor– ton finished eighth in Industrial Motor Controls. Students enrolled in the College's practical nursing and surgical technology programs won various hon– ors at the HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America) National Leader– ship Conference held m Orlando. Florida. Nursing students who received awards included Ashley White of Newton and Shelby Swanner of Bai– ley, second place, EMT; Anne Steptoe of Forest, Vincent McElhenney of Union and Genna Pope of Philadelphia, Top 10 Cre– ative Problem Solving; Celeste Martin of Carthage and Laura Rosar of Union, Top 10 Health Education: and Gloria Martin of Carthage, Top 10 Nursing Assisting. Award-winning surgical technology students includ– ed Mary Vega of Newton. frrst place, Human Growth and Development; Jashemia Cherry of Porter– ville, fourth, Extemporane– ous Health Poster; and Ben Boyette and Keith Jacoby, both of Meridian, fifth , Community Awareness. DeAnna Morrow of Philadelphia was selected to serve as Central District Representative for Missis– sippi. Students in the College's Phi Beta Lambda chapter also won honors at their national convention in Den– ver, Colorado. Linda Moody of Walnut Grove and Megan Stovall of Philadel– phia placed sixth in Multi– media, and Brad Walton of Decatur and Chris Rush of Union finished ninth in the same categon: MoodJ and Stovall also placed sixth in the American Enterprise Project, and Stovall fmished ninth in the Local Annual Business Report. Among students receiv– ing state honors were Jenna

Kristin Chaney of Little Rock, a standout member of the Lady Warrior basket– ball and softball teams, also received All-American recognition as she was the only freshman softball play– er chosen on the All-Ameri– can Second Team. She was also selected All-Region 23, All-State and All-Division and helped lead the Lady Warriors to a 26-14 regular season record and a berth in the state playoffs. Chaney also played a key role in leading the Lady Warrior basketball team to the Region 23, MACJC and South Division titles and a berth in the NJCAA Divi– sion I Women's National Basketball Championship in Salina, Kansas. The Lady Warriors fmished runners– up in the in Consolation Bracket and were ranked eighth in the fmal NJCAA poll with a record of 31 wins and just four losses. Honors she received included being named to the All-Region 23 Tournament Team and .first-team All-State. Rodeo team member Chance Smart of Newton also received national recognition by placing tenth in the bull riding com– petition at the College National Finals Rodeo held in Casper, Wvoming. National honors were also presented to students in various clubs and organi– zations. The College's Theta Xi Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges. received honors at the organization's interna– tional convention held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Theta Xi was named a Distinguished Chapter, Jenna Talbert of Newton received a Distinguished Chapter President award and Christy Ferguson was presented a Paragon Award for new advisers. In the Skills USA Compe– tition held in Kansas City, Missouri, Josh Weaver of

Spt·nal to I11e Record A record fall enrollment, student honors and campus improvements were among highlights of 2004 at East Central Community Col– lege in Decatur. For 20 consecutive years, East Central has experi– enced a fall semester enroll– ment increase, and in 2004 a record 2,739 students regis– tered for classes on the Decatur campus and at var– ious off-campus sites in the five-county district. This year's student body includes 1,877 academic stu– dents. 766 technical majors and 96 students who are enrolled in career courses. Of the total, 1,736 are fresh– man and 1,003 are sopho– mores. Regarding the new enroll– ment record, ECCC Presi– dent Dr. Phil A. Sutphin responded: "We are proud of the continued growth of East Central and we pledge to continue to provide qual– ity instruction and training in many programs to the citizens of our disttict." As is the case each year, numerous EC students received academic and or athletic honors on the national and state levels. Seven student-athletes were named NJCAA Aca– demic All-Americans for 2003-04. Those selected Dis– tinguished Academic All– Americans - students who earned a 3.8 grade point average or above - included Krissi Harris (fast-pitch softball) and Kery McDill (tennis), both of Decatur; Courtney Puckett (tennis) of Louisville; Drew Kenna (baseball) and Jonathan Sigrest (baseball), both of Forest; Jim Talley (base– ball) of Saltillo and Cyrus Doe (soccer) of Monrovia, Liberia. Students chosen Academic All-American~­ those with 3.6 grade point averages or above· included Miranda Rosar (basketball) of Union and Rita Birden (Qasketball) of Monroe. La.