Published: May 07, 2008 01:02 am            

Excellence in Education

OXFORD – Mitchell Kemp Mosley of Meridian has received the University of Mississippi's highest academic honor, the Taylor Medal.

The Marcus Elvis Taylor Memorial was established in 1904 and is awarded to no more than 1 percent of the student body each year. The Taylor Medals were announced during Honors Day ceremonies.

Mosley, a senior managerial finance major at UM, was also the 2007 managerial finance student of the year. He is the son of Mitch and Kim Mosley.

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Stephen Chad Boteler of Florence has been selected to receive the Jacob Chester Frist Memorial Scholarship.

This $1,500 award is funded through the MCC Foundation from an endowment established by Dr. Thomas F. Frist of Nashville, Tenn., in tribute to his father. Frist was awarded the Carnegie Award for rescuing a lady and her child from the train tracks where he worked as station master. He died as a result of injuries sustained in that rescue.

Dr Frist, a physician for over 50 years, was one of the founders of Hospital Corporation of American and American Retirement Corporation. Because of his lifelong commitment to the healthcare field, he designated the scholarships awarded from the earnings of the endowment go to an associate degree nursing student.

Boteler, a 1995 honors graduate of Florence High School, is a third semester student in the nursing program with plans to graduate in December 2008. Boteler is a member of the Association of Student Nurses and Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year college students. He plans to pursue a bachelor of science in nursing degree and then apply to anesthesia school.

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Meridian Community College Sheryl Beddingfield has recently earned the National League of Nursing Certified Nurse Educator designation.

The Associate Degree Nursing Program instructor, who has a master’s degree in nursing administration, is the first MCC nursing faculty to receive the designation. There are only 500 CNEs in the U.S. and less than 10 in Mississippi.

For academic nurse educators, certification establishes nursing education as a specialty area of practice and creates a means for faculty to demonstrate their expertise in this role. It communicates to students, peers, and the academic and health care communities that the highest standards of excellence are being met. By becoming credentialed as a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE), one serves as a leader and a role model, according to the National League for Nursing.

The certification is in effect for five years. Beddingfield will have to complete 50 continuing education activities to renew the certificate.

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Three Northeast Elementary School students were among area students honored at the Regional Science Fair, which was held on the campus of Mississippi State University.

Trey Gladwell, won first place, Earth, Space and Environment division; Jacob Leake, second place, botany; and Ryan Freeman, third place, engineering, computers, and math division.

        

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