Kevin Williams, Courtesy

TJC’s Beth Maddox wins collegiate twirling award

Tyler Junior College feature twirler and Presidential Honors Scholar Beth Maddox, a sophomore biology major from Van, was named the National Baton Twirling Association Collegiate Southwest Regional champion at the recent competition held in The Woodlands.

“Beth is the first feature twirler from a junior college to receive this prestigious award, having placed first this year over several Division 1 universities including TCU, SMU, Baylor, Arizona State and others,” Jeremy Strickland, TJC director of bands, said in a news release. “We are extremely proud of Beth for her hard work and dedication as an ambassador for TJC.”

Maddox will advance to the NBTA national competition, to be held this summer at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana.

In addition to her involvement with the TJC Apache Band, Maddox is in the Presidential Honors Program and is active with the Apache Chiefs, a group of student leaders who assist with new student orientation and provide campus tours.

After graduating from TJC, she plans to attend Baylor University, where she will be a pre-med major.

Regional Citizen Bee

Local students competed at the Regional Citizen Bee held at Region 7 Education Service Center in Kilgore. Forty-six students representing 12 school districts took a timed written test and then answered four rounds of oral questions in front of a panel of judges, according to a news release.

The Texas Citizen Bee, sponsored by the Law-related Education Department and funded by the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation, is a statewide civic education program and competition. Questions are asked about the Founding Fathers and documents, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, Landmark Supreme Court cases, important historical people and political and current events.

Winners this year were: 1st, Tyse Burckhartt, Whitehouse High School; 2nd, Joanna Moran, Whitehouse; 3rd, Mason Haught, Gilmer. The first-place winner will proceed to the State Citizen Bee competition in Austin, where winning students receive scholarship monies.

Foundation Helps Raise Money, Awareness About Historic Amistad Murals

The Tom Joyner Foundation is recognizing Texas College in Tyler as the April 2018 School of the Month.

The foundation, formed by the nationally syndicated radio personality, chose Texas College as part of its ongoing effort to assist these institutions in broadening and strengthening their efforts to raise money to help keep students attending HBCUs, according to information from a news release.

As one of the Tom Joyner Foundation Schools of the Month, each school will be promoted by the Tom Joyner Morning Show and receive those funds raised from listeners, alumni and other interested parties that month. The show, aired in 115 markets around the country, reaches nearly eight million listeners every week.

Celebrating 124 years of providing educational opportunities, Texas College is a historical black college founded in 1894, by a group of CME ministers.

For information about the scholarship program, students should contact their school administrators. For more information about the foundation, go to TomJoynerFoundation.org.

Former General Motors executive keynote speaker for Jarvis Christian College Honors Convocation

Kevin W. Williams, former board chairman, president and managing director of General Motors of Canada Ltd., will give the keynote address during Jarvis Christian College’s Honors Convocation at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the Smith-Howard Chapel, according to information from a news release.

As president and managing director, Williams was responsible for leading all General Motors operations in Canada.

Williams began his GM career in 1983 as a reliability analyst at Buick Motor’s division in Flint, Michigan. In 1989, he became the general supervisor of production at the Lansing Craft Centre in Lansing, Michigan. In 1991, he was appointed program readiness manager for GM’s first electric vehicle program.

Williams and his wife of 30 years, Arlene Pope Williams, reside in Nashville, Tennessee. They have two daughters, Alisa Williams, 26, a graduate of Yale University; and Kaylyn Williams 23, a student at Yale University.