Students From 12 High Schools Visit Columbia Campus

Photo Caption: Columbia Central High School Students Dylan Platt (left) and Charmaine Igot (right) participated in Columbia State Community College's High School Competition, on Friday, March 26. Platt was awarded a medal for first place in the Essay Competition and Igot was awarded a medal for first place in the Piano Competition.

Students from 12 high schools around Middle Tennessee arrived at Columbia State Community College's Columbia Campus early Friday morning, March 26 for the annual High School Competition for the Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

"High School Competition gives the faculty here at Columbia State a chance to interact with some of the area high school faculty and, more importantly, an opportunity to meet and work with students, some of whom we hope to teach in our college classes," said Susanna Holmes, a Co-Chair of the Competition and Associate Professor of English at Columbia State. "This year's slogan 'Make the Academic Connection' was about the transition from high school to college work."

During the competition, students were split into groups and sent to different sites around campus to compete academically against students from other schools. Students competed in categories such as Extemporaneous Speaking, The U.S. Constitution, Spanish Translation, Mass Communications, Psychology, and there was even a vocal competition and a video competition.

Students from various schools including Richland High School, Hickman County High School, Zion Christian Academy, Perry County High School and Frank Hughes High School in Clifton participated in the competition. High Schools throughout Maury County also participated. Columbia State has hosted the High School Competition for more than 20 years.

"This year's competition was great. We had 12 schools represented with students competing in 14 competitions. The students seemed to have a lot of fun and our teachers were impressed with their work," added Holmes.

The top three students in each academic discipline were recognized during an awards presentation and awarded medals engraved with the academic discipline they placed in. First place was awarded a gold medal, second place a silver medal and third place was awarded a bronze medal.

Columbia State is a two-year college, serving a nine-county area in southern Middle Tennessee with locations in Columbia, Franklin, Lawrenceburg, Lewisburg, and Clifton. As Tennessee's first community college, Columbia State is committed to increasing access and enhancing diversity at all five campuses. Columbia State is a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents, the sixth largest education system in the nation. For more information, please visit www.columbiastate.edu.

CAPTION ABOVE: Several Hickman County High School students attended a High School Competition on Friday, March 26 held at Columbia State Community College. Students placing in the top three of each Academic Discipline Contest were awarded medals. The following students took home awards: (from left to right) Jordan Murphy was awarded third place for Impromptu Fiction, Clea Harrelson was awarded second place for American History, and Sarah Copley was awarded second place for Intermediate Spanish Translation.

CAPTION ABOVE: Several Spring Hill High School Students attended a High School Competition on Friday, March 26 held at Columbia State Community College. Students placing in the top three of each Academic Discipline Contest were awarded medals. The following students took home awards: (from left to right) Joshua Hardison was awarded first place for Oral Interpretation; Brett Mullens was awarded first place for Oral Interpretation; Michelle Awad was awarded second place for Impromptu Creative Writing; Joey Clark was awarded second place in the Video Competition and Ademola Thompson was awarded third place for Impromptu Creative Writing.