During the regularly scheduled McKenzie Special School District Board meeting June 15, the school board voted unanimously to approve the 2023-24 budget, proposed by Dr. Justin Barden, McKenzie’s new director of schools, and Brad Davis, the new school finance director. more

Coach Wilkins along with the Lady Rebels and Rebel basketball teams are back to host another year of Summer Basketball Camps to children going into first through eighth grade. more

McKENZIE (MAY 31) — Lynn Watkins was honored for his service during a non-business, informal gathering of the McKenzie Board of Education on Wednesday, May 31 at the Board of Education office. more

Erika Cole introduced a new class to young minds this summer: Español with Señora Cole. The McKenzie High School Spanish instructor opened her classroom for students, ages 6-11, to learn Spanish and Mexican culture. more

Three weeks after the TCAP English/language arts (ELA) scores revealed that more than half of Tennessee’s third-grade students faced high retention risks, the Tennessee Department of Education released a new chart representing students from each school district who decided to retake the assessment. more

The McKenzie High School Alumni Association held its first official meeting Thursday, June 8, in the McKenzie High School Theater. Brad Camp, Class of 1983, led the meeting and reviewed the organizations new bylaws and committees. Attendees were urged to sign in via a Google Form where they inputted their names, email addresses and phone numbers for contact. They also answered when they graduated from McKenzie High School, their involvement in school organizations, and if they would be interested in joining a committee. more

After a series of tornadoes hit West Tennessee on December 11, 2021, Carey Counseling Center responded to local communities and schools. The organization sent social workers and licensed counselors to help children and families learn how to cope and talk through their concerns and anxieties following the natural disaster. more

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville announced its second cohort of Distinguished Tennessean Scholars on May 26. UT launched the Distinguished Tennessean Scholarship in fall 2022 with the goal of awarding a tuition and mandatory fees scholarship, renewable for four years, to one outstanding student from each county across the state. more

Players, coaches and parents of the Lady Rebels softball team gathered inside Hometown Hangout June 11 for a bittersweet end-of-season banquet. It marked the end of Kristi Brown’s last season as head coach of McKenzie High School softball. more

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville released its Spring 2023 Dean’s List Tuesday, May 30. The Dean’s List recognizes the dedication required, and the contributions each student makes to the Knoxville campus and community. Several students from Carroll, Henry and Weakley counties made the spring list. more

JACKSON — Union University’s spring commencement honored 495 graduates on May 6. Nine of the 495 students are from Carroll County. more

SEARCY, Ark. — More than 600 students, including two students from Weakley County, received diplomas and were recognized as Harding University graduates for Spring 2023 during a commencement ceremony on May 6, 2023. more

JACKSON — Students from Carroll, Henry and Weakley counties were honored on Union University’s President’s List and Dean’s List for the spring 2023 semester. more

The University of Mississippi announced students named to its Spring 2023 Chancellor’s Honor Roll and Dean’s Honor Roll. Six local students made the lists. more

MARTIN (June 2) — The University of Tennessee at Martin hosted its annual Greek Awards ceremony June 2, and several Carroll County students received awards. more

Justin Barden will assume his new role as McKenzie’s director of schools at the McKenzie Special School District Board of Education June meetings. more

The Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) hosted its second annual Tech Discovery Camp for rising eighth graders May 22-26 for Bruceton and Clarksburg students and May 30-June 2 for McKenzie students. The camp was introduced last summer as a way to introduce students to technical career options. more

After a month-long competition to master the most words in Vocabulary.com’s 2023 Spring Training Challenge, McKenzie Middle School students took first place in their division. The students collectively learned and mastered 29,850 words. more

MARTIN — During commencement exercises on May 6, Jack Lawrence of McKenzie received a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from the University of Tennessee at Martin. Here, he is pictured with his parents, Benjamin and Nichole, and his grandmother, Susan. more

The Tennessee Department of Education released scores from the spring English/language arts (ELA) TCAP assessment Wednesday, May 25, revealing that more than half of Tennessee’s third-grade students are not meeting proficiency in the subject. While some area schools have higher proficiency percentages than the statewide average, McKenzie, Hollow-Rock/Bruceton, Milan and West Carroll special school districts have found their percentages below the state average. more