Benton High School’s Tiger Players will present the play “Our Town” on Friday, February 17 and Saturday, February 18 at 6:30 pm in the Benton Library.  A Sunday Matinee of the production is also scheduled at 2:00 pm in the same location.  Tickets are on sale now--$3 for students, $6 for adults.  Everyone is invited to attend this first dramatic production for the Tiger Players.

It’s time for the 2006 Miss Shere Kahn Beauty Pageant!  The pageant will be held on February 4th at Airline High School at 7:00 pm.  The pageant includes competitions for the Young Miss (5th and 6th graders), Junior Miss (7th and 8th graders) and Miss Shere Kahn (9th through 12th  To date, there are 31 high school students and 40 elementary and middle school students who have entered the pageant.  Benton High students Holli Thomas and Nicole Nezat will emcee the event.  The pageant is sponsored by English teacher Jolie Mizell, and is the major fundraiser for the Benton High School Yearbook. Tickets are $5 and will be available beginning January 31.  Reserve the date on your calendar! graders).

Teacher Rose Ann Holomon was honored at a reception in the Benton High library this past week.  Mrs. Holomon is retiring after 30.5 years of teaching.  She began her career teaching Art at Bossier High School; she was the Graphic Arts Specialist for the Bossier Parish School Board for one year; after staying home for four years to raise her young sons, she returned to teaching at Haughton, Bossier Parish Community College, and then Plain DealingHigh School.  At Plain Dealing, Mrs. Holomon coached girl’s basketball, and led the team to the State Championship finals.  She was voted District Coach of the Year by her fellow coaches.  Mrs. Holomon then began teaching at Benton High, and has taught Art here for 15.5 years.

Benton High’s chapter of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) collected angels from the Pierre Bossier Mall angel tree, which is decorated with paper angels containing Christmas wishes of needy families.  The names of these families were distributed among SADD members during their weekly meeting and members purchased the gifts on the families’ wish lists and delivered them back to the mall for the needy families. This annual SADD program is greatly appreciated by the community and the  families, and is an example of one of the best BentonHigh School student activities.

Headquarters AFJROTC completed a Staff Assistance Visit by Col. Wolfgang Gesch.  Col. Gesch stated in his executive briefing that the Benton ROTC unit was one of the best he had observed.  High points were the scholarship tracking system that is utilized to track seniors and scholarship opportunities, Kitty Hawk Air Society’s mentoring program, the Benton ROTC Veterans’ Day Program (especially the video), and the unit’s community project for Shriner’s Children’s Hospital.  Colonel Gesch also presented “Top Performer” certificates to Cadet/Colonel Tasha Yates, Cadet/Lt. Colonel Cornelius Blackman, and Cadet/2^nd Lt. Britnie Mahoney.

“Honoring All Who Served” was the theme of the Veteran’s Day program at Benton High School this past week.  Over 100 VIP guests (including Veterans from every branch of the Armed Services, local politicians and school administrators), the entire Benton faculty, parents, and a student body of over 600 listened reverently as Benton’s ROTC Officers and Cadets honored Veterans on this special day.  C/Colonel Tasha Yates served as Emcee for the event, which included the Presentation of Colors by the AJROTC Color Guard, the Invocation by C/SSgt. Mandie Emfinger, and the Pledge of Allegiance by C/SMSgt. Bersheika Player.  The Benton Fighting Tiger Marching Band played throughout the ceremony—including the National Anthem and America the Beautiful.