St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School in Long Beach has an after-school gymnastics program on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the second year. Ginger Scarborough teaches tumbling and balance. Preschool through kindergarten participate Tuesdays, and first through sixth grades practice Thursdays. The students put on a show at the end of the year for family and friends. Pictured: Ally Carlson, Ella Lansford and Ashton McShane.

The Gulfport Exchange Club recently honored Ian Murray and Jacob Burnett of the Gulfport Fire Department as Firefighters of the Year. They were chosen from nominees from two local fire departments. They are credited with saving the life of a Gulfport woman who suffered a heart attack at a local school. The Gulfport Exchange Club meets every Tuesday at noon at the Gulfport Yacht Club. From left: Mark Ballman, battalion chief, Gulfport Fire Department; Ian Murray; Jimmy Johnson, Exchange program chairman; and Chief Bill Bragg, deputy chief, Gulfport Fire Department. Not pictured: Jacob Burnett.

The Gulfport Charter Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association recently installed officers for 2010: Dana Sleger, president, left; Liz Hoop, vice president; Nancy Cloutier, secretary; and Eileen Walker, treasurer. Sleger appointed the following chair persons: Walker, bulletin; Cloutier, education; Janice Ladner, fundraising; Maria Cobb, membership; Phyllis Adudell, newsletter; Barbara Hannula, program; and Walker, publicity. The club meets the fourth Monday of the month at the China Star, Courthouse Road, Gulfport. Details: 863-8628.

Four Gulf Coast students represented Mississippi at the National Federation of High Schools Student Leadership Conference in Indianapolis recently. The students are Len Bentz, son of Leonard and Amber Bentz of Biloxi; Savannah French, daughter of John and Marcia French of Long Beach; Kendall Holloway, daughter of Kenny and Diane Holloway of Biloxi; and Matthew Wahl, son of Larry Wahl and Lauren Semski of Biloxi. The students were selected by the Mississippi Student Council Association. During this conference, students heard Harvey Alston, author of “Be the Best”; saw the magic of Stephen Bargatze; and met Olympic gymnast Samantha Peszek and track heptathlete Deedee Nathan. From left: Wahl, French, Holloway and Bentz.

Allied Health students at Keys Technology Center in Ocean Springs recently received a visit from Stacey Randall, local veterinarian; Ellen Villines, veterinarian technician; and Carla Anderson, puppy raiser, as part of their animal medical careers unit of study. Allied Health teacher is Judy Dalgo. Randall, from Bienville Animal Medical Center, leads the annual Pet-Vet Day, during which the students bring in their pets for examination and breed study. Anderson, who volunteers with Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc., brought in her newest puppy, Tish, who is being evaluated as a guide dog. Anderson talked with the students about volunteering as puppy raisers and shared stories about guide dogs she has trained. From left: Brittany Santamaria, Tave Henry, Anderson with Tish, Caitlin Catchot and Shelby Campbell.

The student body of St. John Elementary School in Gulfport gathered in front of the Katrina tree, which survived Hurricane Katrina and was named by the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi as a memorial tree, to offer prayers for those who experienced loss during the 2005 hurricane. Third-grade students listen as Cindy Hahn, principal, speaks about the memorial. From left: Jaeden Saucier, Azaria Breaux, Cameron Morand, Jared Brock, Alexis Hollis, Manning Koury and Sara Macayle Rehor.

Third-grade Explore students at DeLisle Elementary School celebrated International Day of Peace by participating in the Pinwheels for Peace Project. Pinwheels for Peace is an art installation project that gives students the opportunity to make a public visual expression of their feelings towards war, peace, tolerance, cooperation, harmony and unity in the world and in their lives. After creating pinwheels that contained visual representations of their feelings, the Explore students took a walking tour of downtown Pass Christian and distributed their pinwheels to city offices and local businesses and made presentations requesting the businesses display their pinwheels Sept. 21, International Day of Peace. Pictured at the Pass Christian building code office, front row: Dakota Martin; middle row: Charles Coster, Logan Dubuisson, Payton Davenport, Megan Hansen, Destiny Cuevas, Haley Holmes, Amiah Cappie, Luke Meyer; back row: Debra Welch.

Pass Christian Middle School students recently brought their families to meet their teachers, tour the new classrooms and view their projects and accomplishments during Open House at the school. Daniel Taylor, second from left, a sixth-grader, presented his landform project to his family. From left: Gregory Taylor, Daniel Taylor, Benjamin Taylor, an eighth-grader; and Susan Taylor.

South Mississippi’s Coastal Chaos 14U fast-pitch softball team took second place in the Cross Fire 18U high school tournament this fall in Orange Grove. Coaches Eddie Barton and Dennis Laubmeier led their eighth- and ninth-grade freshman team up in the older 18U division. Chaos won their opening two pool games, against Mobile Velocity 7-5 and Alabama’s Spanish Fort 3-2. In their first bracket game they beat Biloxi Overdrive 7-0, then Louisiana’s Extreme Velocity 1-0 in overtime before losing to South Mississippi’s Cross Fire. Battling in the loser bracket they beat Alabama’s Mobile Thrillers 5-4 in double overtime to make it to the championship game, but lost again to Cross Fire. Chaos pitcher Kaitlin Lee of Christian Collegiate Academy had two wins, both shutouts, and Danielle Barton of Harrison Central High was 2 and 1 with one shutout. Lauren Pearce of Petal High batted .545 and Lauren Walker of St. Martin High School batted .429. The team averaged .297 against the older teams. From left, front row: Randy Baker, Brody Blaker, Dorian Fairchild, Anna Moran and Kayla Cross; second row: Lauren Pearce of Petal; Barton of Saucier; Caitlin Beech of Pass Christian; third row: Nicole Smith, Pepper Baker and Tori Fairchild of Poplarville; Lauren Walker of St. Martin; fourth row: Taylor Brewer of Saucier; Tiffany Devore of Picayune; Brittany Brown of Bay St Louis; Demi Blaker of Long Beach; Brittany Howell of Mobile; Emily O’Connell of Long Beach; back row: Laubmeier, Barton, Lee, of Saucier; and Kevin Moran.

The Scouts from Troop 271, Den 8, met with Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran, Battalion Chief Nate Wilson, officer Patrick Brandle and his K-9 partner, Max, from the Ocean Springs Police Department and Eric Meyer from the Planning Department. The Scouts are working on their citizenship requirements. Each city official described the details of his/her job to the Scouts. Moran concluded the meeting by giving all the Scouts a few things to take home and a tour of her office. From left, front row: Ben Dengler, Alex Kinnard, Mickey Forgione, John Karl Ford, Marc Malloch and Noah Moran: back row: Rob Malloch, den leader; Moran, Wilson, Meyer and Brandle.

At a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Ocean Springs, Past President Ward Wicht, center, was awarded an honorary gavel for his service to the club for 2008-09. As part of the celebration, five past presidents congratulated Wicht for his achievements. From left: Don Green, past president 1962-63; Jim Collier, past president 2005-06; Travis Green, past president 2007-08; Wicht, Amon Holcomb, current president; Janet Green, past president 1994-95; Russell Thompson, past president 1980-81.

Service was the theme in 2008 for Catholic Schools’ Week at Resurrection Catholic School in Pascagoula. This made RCS religion coordinator Donna Harper wonder what gives the school its Catholic identity. This year each student will complete a minimum of 20 hours of service, 10 for each semester. In addition, Kiley Leonard will keep track of the hours the students complete and will assist in recording them as religion grades. Those students who complete more than 40 hours of service will receive an additional award for their outstanding works. From left: Lauren Tomsik, Harper, Leonard, Holley Cunningham and Alyssa Hill.

Members of the STS-127 shuttle mission visited Stennis Space Center recently to share with site employees details of their July visit to the International Space Station. During an all-hands session the astronauts thanked Stennis employees for providing main engines that gave them a beautiful ride aboard space shuttle Endeavour. During their 16-day mission, the astronauts delivered the Japanese Experiment Module’s Exposed Facility and the Experiment Logistics Module-Exposed Section. The mission featured five spacewalks to install the equipment and perform other work on the space station. The crew shared a video of highlights from the mission with Stennis employees and signed lithographs. Following their report, the astronauts traded commemorative plaques with Stennis Deputy Director Patrick Scheuermann, center. Astronauts visiting Stennis were from left: Chris Cassidy, Doug Hurley, Mark Polansky, Julie Payette, Thomas Mashburn and David Wolf.

The Pass Christian Center for Excellence cafeteria staff displayed school spirit and support of the Pass Christian Middle School Pirates football team through balloon art and table arrangements. Debi Necaise, who is a full-time Pass Christian School District bus driver and a part-time cafeteria staff member, created an enormous goal post and a football player out of balloons and decorated the tables with balloon arrangements. Kindergarten through eighth-grade students were enthusiastic to see the displays. From left: Terrie Ladner, cafeteria manager; Alma Dedeaux, Ella Hatcher, Necaise, Tiffany Mitchell, Angela Spencer and Paula Malley. Not pictured: Belinda Fields, Eileen Pavolini and Jennifer Shultz.

From sunup to sundown for four days straight, Moss Point junior high and high school cheerleaders recently participated in the Universal Cheerleading Association Cheerleading Camp in Panama City Beach, Fla.

A Grandparents Day Mass was recently held at Our Lady of Fatima Elementary School in Biloxi. Students invited their grandparents and a reception was held in the school cafeteria after the Mass. Ashton Goundas, center, a fifth-grade student in Cindy Grammar’s class, attended with her grandparents, Joy and Angelo Goundas.

The Biloxi Bay Chamber of Commerce announced its Biloxi High School senior representatives for the 2009-10 school year, John Wetzel and Haley Whiteman. These students attend the monthly board meetings to report on activities at Biloxi High. Wetzel is the son of Jim and Elizabeth Graham. Whiteman is the daughter of Diana and Glen Whiteman.

The Gulf Coast United under-11-year-old girls soccer team became champions, winning first place in the Gator Classic Tournament. The tournament, a two-day event, was played in New Orleans at Lafreniere Park and ended Sept. 20. The team participated in the gold bracket, the most competitive division of play. From left, bottom row: Iben Madsen, Haley Kim, Gabby Vincent, Alexis Arnoult, Amanda Sylvia, Lauren Penny, Cassidy Couch, Kayle Vincent; top row: Coach Henrik Madsen, Summer Hansen, Mary Rimmer, Savannah Goolsby, Madeline Appel, Autumn McCumber and assistant coach Jesse Vincent.

At first glance worms seem like simple creatures, but students in Lisa Couey’s first-grade class at DeLisle Elementary learned these burrowers with interesting anatomical structures are an important part of the ecosystem. After reading “The Diary of a Worm,” the students engaged in a discussion about worms and the significant role they play in composting. As a culminating activity, room mothers Kelly Decker, Dawn Halstead and Tricia Lowery assisted the students in planting a classroom flower garden. From left, front row: Ashlin Pena, Carson Cuevas, Madison Rutherford, Dominic Patton, Brooklyn Beech, Lanae Dedeaux, Daylan Cullens, Briar Williams; Back row, left to right: Mikynna Molandes, Kendrick Lowery, Rick Woods, Andra Niolet, Kallie Wilson, Isabella Viera, Brianna McKay, Briana Wendt and Gavin Myers.

St. Patrick Catholic High School student Cliffe Horne, center, looks warily at emergency room nurse Linda Dutil, left, as she begins to demonstrate one of the medical interventions for drug and alcohol overdose. Raven Gutierrez, right, acted as a nurse assistant. Seventh- and eighth-grade students at the school listened and watched intently during Dutil’s assembly program, “A Taste of Reality.” Dutil, from Maine, shared personal stories, pictures and interactive demonstrations about the consequences of poor decisions young people sometimes make with drugs and alcohol. Throughout her message, she emphasized, “Take care of your friends.”