Forrest City Schools represented well at the 25th Annual Great Rivers Education Service Cooperative Gifted & Talented Project Fair. Each student participating created a project which included an oral presentation, a research paper, and or physical items related to their topic of choice. Each project had to exemplify the student used higher level thinking skills in project work. Each student received a certificate of participation. Some students received a Blue Ribbon of Excellence, where each of the 6 criteria were observed in the presentation. Some students received the Judges' Award where each of the six criteria were observed with at least three being superior in presentation. And one student from FCSD received the WOW Award where each of the six criteria was observed with all six criteria being superior in presentation. To be eligible for this award, the students had to have received a minimum of two judging's.

Pictured are students from Lincoln Middle Academy of Excellence who recently received awards at the Great Rivers Educational Cooperative Gifted & Talented Project Fair held in Helena/West Helena.



(Not in order...)

5th Graders who received Awards of Excellence are Jayla Beale, Brett Jumper, Mackenzie Kinman, Sasha McCoy, Zora McCoy, & Zachary Oswalt. Mackenzie Kinman and Zora McCoy also received the Judge's Award.

6th Graders who received the Awards of Excellence include Tamilya Brown, Stanrius Buford, Ebony Garrison, Bobby Hardrick, Maia Henderson, and Lydia Price. Ebony Garrison, Maia Henderson, & Lydia Price received the Judge's Award.

Ebony Garrison is pictured for winning the "WOW" Award, WOW stands for "What Outstanding Work". She is one of only two students from the Project Fair to receive this award. Her project was on plaque psoriasis. Gifted and Talented Director, Marna Gardner said, "She definitely deserved this award for the quality of her work and the amount of research she did really stood out. The Judges were so impressed with her knowledge and how much work she had put into it including the different aspects of her project. She covered the physical aspect, emotional aspect-how this illness has affected her family."

There were over 300 students from cooperative area that competed, comprising 12 districts. Forrest City School District took 14 students from Lincoln Middle Academy of Excellence and all students qualified.

Some students from Central Elementary recently received a gift from their Rolling Reader just before school was dismissed for the break. Under the Rolling Reader guidelines, each student in a classroom that has a regular Rolling Reader who comes to the class regularly, receives a book as a gift from the program. Almost 550 books were distributed to students in Kindergarten through 2nd grades. The books are purchased through the local Rolling Readers organization, which is funded by private donations and in part by a grant from the St. Francis County Community Foundation. Rolling Readers volunteer organizers are Gail Carey and Lisa Martin who head up the Book Giveaway project of the local program along with School Coordinators Tara Thomason and Joye Hughes. For more information on becoming a Rolling Reader, please contact Gail Carey at 633.0556. Pictured are students in Valerie Cathey's 1st grade class at Central, each receiving a book from their Rolling Reader, Nicole Wright of Forrest City.

In conjunction with the St. Francis County Food Pantry, Lincoln Middle Academy of Excellence Teacher, Mary Allen recently had the idea to allow Lincoln students the opportunity to give to others. The result was a very successful food drive.

Lincoln Middle Academy of Excellence participated in the "Spirit of Giving Food Drive". This event was sponsored by KATV - Channel 7, Stallion Transportation Group, US Bank, the Arkansas Athletic Association and the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.

Lincoln was paired with the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas. The purpose of this event was to engage the students in the spirit of giving by helping those in need in the community and to teach students about giving back to their community.

LMAE collected 1,041 pounds of food. This donation will be used to provide meals for individuals in need in Northeast Arkansas. The school was the top giver in the event so as a reward, Matt Townsend with Bonanza Steakhouse of Forrest City, donated a meal of chicken strips and french fries to show their appreciation to the students for their giving spirit. The top classes of both the 5th & 6th grades enjoyed treat.

Click here to see images of the event.

Central Elementary recently named the Artists of the Month for November, under the instruction of Art Educator's Sue McCoy and Brenda McBride. They are pictured from left to right: 1st grader, Andre Artis from Mrs. Turner's class, 2nd grader, Betthany Fleming from Mrs. Bartlett's class, and Kindergartner, Jessica Hill from Mrs. Hill's class.

And the winner is.... 5th grade student, Joel Latham. The top four winners of the Lincoln Middle Academy of Excellence (LMAE) Spelling Bee are all students in the 5th grade of LMAE. This event held Monday, was the preliminary contest for the county spelling bee to be held this Spring at East Arkansas Community College. Pictured from left to right are: Chris Oswalt, LMAE Literacy/Social Studies Instructor, Latham, 1st place winner, Aaron Wright, 2nd place winner, Chelby Randle, 3rd place winner, Sasha McCoy, 4th place winner, and LMAE Principal, Shirley Taylor.

In addition, Joel Latham was the 1st place winner as a 4th grader during the Central Elementary Spelling Bee, this past school year. Sasha McCoy was also the 2nd place winner and Chelby Randle was the 3rd place winner, proving to be contenders again this year.

Also pictured is 6th grader Irving Jackson competing as classmates wait their turn.