SPECIAL TO THE SIGNAL

Five Lowndes County students recently participated in National History Day at the University of Maryland.

Harold Hulett, Montez Baity, Xavier Simpson, Orianna Gordon and Santanna Thomas competed at the state level at Auburn University in March, winning their division with a historical performance and exhibit board presentation.

Baity of Lowndes County Middle school and Simpson of Hayneville Middle School presented an exhibit board on the Lowndes County Freedom Organization of the 1960’s.

Gordon of Lowndes County Middle School, Thomas and Hulett of Hayneville Middle School wrote and performed a historical play about the same organization.

Paula Westmoreland, gifted education teacher for Lowndes County Public Schools, said all of the students performed well at the national competition.

The exhibit group, she said, received comments praising their interview, and the performance group was within one point from being in the finals, “the closest any junior performance group from Alabama has ever gotten.”

Westmoreland said the students met Congressman Martha Roby and guided tour of the U.S. Capitol.

They were given gallery passes to observe a debate on the floor of the House.

The students also visited the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the National Gardens, the National Zoo and historic sites along the National Mall.

Westmoreland said the students wanted to thank all those who helped them make the trip possible including:

William Barry Robinson, Eli Seaborn, Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, Mrs. U.A. Haynes, Cecil Messer-Pat’s Kitchen, Mickey J. G. McDermott, Hayneville Middle school PTSA, Barbara Evans, Annie S. Pringle, Lowndes County Political Action Committee, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gardner, Citizenship Trust Public Educational Corporation, Katherine C. Lawson, Will R. Kelly, Jerry Lambert Excavating & Construction, Town of Fort Deposit, Lowndes County Commission, Larue Pringle, J and L Landscaping, Sheila Payton, Harold Bell, Mickey Mayes, De’Corey Rush, Ellis Brandy, Alex Hardy, Julius Bennett, Katie Jackson, Namon Carnes, Helen Bell Hunter, Reginald Sharp, Bill Williams, Alma Gordon, Percy James Hardy, Mattie Peterson, Johnnie Watkins, Ura Bell Reeves, Sonny Webb, Tommy Benson, Andrew Rudolph, Clara Williams, Mark Williams, Willie D. Williams, David Williams, Cynthia Payton Carter, Shirley McCall, District Judge Adrian Johnson, School Superintendent Dr. Daniel Boyd, Circuit Clerk Ruby Thomas, Sheriff John Williams, Jesse McCall, Althea Thicklin, Sedrick Smith, Billy’s Tire Service, attorney Randall Bozeman, Jerome and Benita Means, Zenobia Hayes, Lowndes County Public Schools, The Lowndes Signal, Probate Judge John Hullet Jr.