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Legislature honors 2019 All-Mississippi Academic Team Pictured at the All-Mississippi Community College Academic Team Recognition Luncheon are (left to right) Hallie Westbrook, Lake Shipp, Courtney Dees, Chelsea Williams, Bradford James and Holmes President Dr. Jim Haffey. Not pictured: Abigail Wilkerson.
Holmes Community College students Courtney Dees, Bradford James, Lake Shipp, Hallie Westbrook, Abigail Wilkerson and Chelsea Williams were honored at the All-Mississippi Community College Academic Team Recognition Luncheon on April 10.
Held at the Clyde Muse Center in Pearl, the luncheon recognized those students named to both the All-Mississippi First Team and Second Team. The program was established by the Mississippi Association for Community and Junior Colleges, the Mississippi Community College Board, and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Nominations are based on outstanding academic performance and service to the college and community.
Courtney Dees of Grenada, a nursing major, is president of the Alpha Mu Beta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (on the Grenada Campus) and was named a 2019 Coca-Cola Academic Team Silver Scholar. She is also an Ambassador, on leadership team for Baptist Student Union, serves as secretary for Student Government Association and was inducted into the 2019 Hall of Fame.
Additionally, she was elected as Class Favorite both as a freshman and as a sophomore. Dees plans to attend Delta State University after Holmes to pursue her BSN and eventually become a nurse practitioner.
Bradford James of Gore Springs, who serves as vice president of scholarship for Phi Theta Kappa, was also inducted into the Hall of Fame. An accounting major, he is Mr. Holmes for the Grenada Campus, a President's List Scholar, an Ambassador, a Student Government Association representative and a member of the Baptist Student Union. He has served as a math tutor and works at Grocery Basket, his family farm (James Farm) and John Mark King, CPA.
Upon graduation from Holmes, James plans to attend the University of Mississippi to earn a bachelor's and master's degree in accounting. He received the prestigious Lyceum Scholarship to Ole Miss, and his career goal is to become a CPA.
Lake Shipp of Benton, an educational psychology major on the Goodman Campus, has been a member of the Holmes cheerleading squad both years. She is a President's List Scholar who received a Scholar Athlete Award and was nominated for the All-USA Academic Team. Shipp is a Math Mastery Tutoring Lab tutor who has participated in numerous community service activities.
After graduating from Holmes, Shipp plan to attend Mississippi State University to pursue a degree in educational psychology. After earning her bachelor's, she plans to obtain a master's degree in speech-language pathology and pursue a career in speech pathology in the Mississippi school system.
Hallie Westbrook of Pickens, vice president of the Kappa Alpha Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, completed her AAS degree in Architectural Engineering Technology in December 2018 and will complete her AA degree in Accounting in May 2019. A student on the Goodman Campus, she was inducted into the 2018 Hall of Fame and received the Architectural Engineering Tech Award in 2017, the English Composition Award in 2018 and the Phi Theta Kappa Golden Key Award in 2018. She was chosen as the 2019 HEADWAE student recipient for Holmes, as well.
Westbrook is a member of the SkillsUSA Opening and Closing team that won the Gold Medal at the 2019 state competition. In 2018, she won a Silver Medal at state-level for Technical Applied Mathematics. She is also president of Goodman Campus SkillsUSA Chapter, a Get2College FAFSA Corps member and a work-study student in the Holmes Financial Aid Office.
Abigail Wilkerson of Madison is the vice president of Honors and Action for the Alpha Lambda Sigma Chapter for Phi Theta Kappa. She was named a New Century Scholar and received First Team All-Mississippi designation (the others were Second Team). An engineering major on the Ridgeland Campus, she has been on the Dean's List or President's List every semester and was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Wilkerson works as a barista at Mocha Mugs and serves as a leader for the youth group at Vertical Church. After Holmes, she plans on transferring to Mississippi State University to earn a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.
Chelsea Williams of Clinton, who serves as College Project Coordinator for the Phi Theta Kappa Alpha Lambda Sigma Chapter, is a pre-physical therapy major. She is also a Get2College Corps member, Focus Factor member and President's List Scholar on the Ridgeland Campus. Williams was nominated for the Hall of Fame and serves as vice president of Usher and Youth Ministry at Nazareth MB Church in Jackson.
Upon graduation from Holmes, she plans to attend Mississippi State University and major in kinesiology with a concentration in neuromechanics.
The All-Mississippi recipients and their families attended the All-Mississippi Academic Team Recognition Luncheon where they were individually recognized for their academic accomplishments.
For more information about Phi Theta Kappa, visit https://www.ptk.org/.
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