MCEF NAMES MARCH STUDENTS OF THE MONTH
RECOGNITION CELEBRATES TOP-PERFORMING CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION STUDENTS
- March 4, 2019
PEARL ― The Mississippi Construction Education Foundation is recognizing four career and technical education standouts as its students of the month for March.
Selected from MCEF’s four districts are Matthew Powell of Jones County Career and Technical Education Center, Madelyn Rich of George County Career and Technical Center, Vincent Solano of Canton Career Center and Daulton Terry of Grenada County Career and Technical Center.
Winners are chosen based on grades, attendance, discipline in class, outstanding achievements, leadership abilities, and post-graduation plans. All will compete for student of the year honors at the foundation’s annual awards program in May.
“We congratulate our student of the month winners for being such excellent representatives of high school career tech programs in Mississippi,” said Mike Barkett, MCEF president. “We’re proud of each of them for helping ensure our state has a highly skilled workforce to support the state’s growing construction and manufacturing industries.”
Powell is the 2018 FFA district champion in the opening/closing and parliamentary procedures divisions and his center’s advanced welding outstanding student, student of the month, and Hi Five recipient. He also is a three-term officer in the Northeast Jones High School FFA and is a member of the Jones County Career Tech student council and the 4-H Club Congress.
Of significance are Powell’s 150 hours of community service with FFA, Hurricane Baptist Church, Food Mission and Glory House. Upon graduation, he plans to join the United States Army with his sights set on becoming a Green Beret.
Touting a perfect grade point average, Rich is a member of the Collegiate Academy that puts her on course to graduate high school with an Associates Degree. She is active in craft events across the state, recently capturing second place in the district FFA welding division and practicing now for the SkillsUSA welding fabrication competition.
Rich is equally impressive in the classroom, having been cited as a top student in English I, II, III Honors, Honors Algebra II and Trigonometry, Algebra I honors, and all of her college prep classes consisting of World Civilization I and II, Psychology, Comp I, College Algebra, and College Biology. Rich intends to become a welding instructor with hopes of eventually getting a degree in administration.
Considered a model student by instructors, Solano enjoys testing his skills in craft competitions while using them to improve his community. A solid participant in the SkillsUSA district and state competitions in 2018, he hopes to advance to the state championship again in April while leading his team to a strong showing in the MCEF Building Futures construction competition.
Solano also leads in the classroom evidenced by his selection to Canton High School’s honor roll and superintendent’s list as well as being honored for the highest grade on the Mississippi subject area science test. Following graduation, Solano plans to attend college with hopes of running his own construction company someday.
Praised for his impressive work ethic, Terry is one of his center’s top-performing students. His strong leadership and craftsmanship skills make him a natural in helping his fellow classmates achieve success.
After graduation, Terry plans to enroll in the Agricultural/John Deere Technology program at Northwest Community College.
MCEF is a non-profit educational foundation that provides NCCER craft training and credentialing in more than 100 career and technical programs across the state. The foundation’s mission is to train individuals for the construction and manufacturing industries in Mississippi.
MCEF also offers workforce training and credentialing in construction, industrial maintenance and manufacturing trades.