The West Marion Trojans football team and marching band had great seasons this fall and both were honored at the beginning of last week’s Marion County School District Board of Education meeting.
Football coach Brad Duncan and his staff were honored for winning the Marion County Football Championship this year and making it into the second round of the MHSAA playoffs. Ryan Pippin and his staff took the band to state competition in Clinton and finished sixth out of the 10 bands in Class 3A.
Superintendent Wendy Bracey called Duncan up to the front of the room during the Nov. 13 meeting and then spoke about the football team.
“I want to say thank you to all of our football teams in the county,” she said. “I want to recognize what a good job coach Brad and coach Kevin (Jackson at East Marion) and their staffs did. We appreciate their hard work, the dedication, the hours and time and effort they put in to being role models for our students in leading and guiding them. I appreciate that both teams made the playoffs this school year. You did a great job and I think we had a great season on both sides.”
Bracey then addressed the West Marion team and fans.
“Tonight we’re here because the West Marion Trojans won the County Trophy once again,” she said. “They had a presentation with the football team and a whole bunch of folks. It was great. I’m excited that this is the fourth consecutive time for them to win it.”
Duncan then spoke about the team.
“Part of the credit has to go to coach (Todd) Harmon, too,” he said. “That’s why I brought him up here. He does our junior high program. We’ve won it three times at the junior high level and that’s where it gets started. Coach Harmon is a very important part of the along with coach (Brandon) Thornhill and coach (Don) Clanton, who get us to the point where we have them in high school and without that level, we couldn’t make it to where we are.”
Duncan pointed out that Harmon was 69-6 as the junior high coach.
“That’s where it gets started, folks,” he said. “They work on values to instill in them and by the time they get to us, we don’t have any discipline problems. We have very few problems because of what they do at the junior high level.”
Duncan also pointed out several facts about the Marion County Championship.
“Last time was the first time anyone had won it three times in a row,” he said. “This year, it was the first time it has been won four in a row. Six out of the last eight we’ve won. We’re going to keep it there for as long as we can. I know there are some East Marion folks that say, it’s not going to happen. By the way, East Marion has won it seven times and West Marion has won it seven times since it started. Next year will be the tiebreaker.”
Duncan said that out of the 19 years the trophy has been awarded, the Marion County schools had won it 14 times, with Columbia winning it five times.
Bracey then introduced Pippin and the West Marion band staff, which brought several members for the acknowledgment. She also introduced East Marion band director Orlando Ratliff, who was also present.
“I’d like to say thank you to both of them because they’ve been working hard with our bands at the schools,” she said. “I appreciate it. A lot of people don’t realize how many hours and how much time goes into band work. It’s kind of like football and any other sport. You have to put the time in to make a good program.”
Pippin introduced his assistants, Jimmy Gooch, the percussion instructor and Alexis Ridge, the color guard director. Bracey then told the Board about the sixth-place finish and showed the plaques to them.
“They worked super hard and we are super proud of them,” she said. “I certainly appreciate all that has been done and all of the hard work. I am a band fan.”
Pippin spoke briefly about the program and Bracey noted that it had been eight years since the band had gone to state.
“It’s hard to put it all into words what these kids accomplished,” he said. “From a director’s point of view, we counted up the number of hours we practiced starting in June and we ended up practicing 360-some hours from June until the end of October. It’s crazy to think we practiced that long for eight minutes of show time. It’s mind boggling. They really pushed us to work and allow them to do better. I couldn’t be more proud of our students.”
In other action, the Board:
• Approved 29 fundraisers for the various schools and programs.
• Heard the student achievement report from Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Michael Day.
• Approved several first readings on Board policies.
• Received the monthly data on student enrollment and attendance.
• Approved a disciplinary recommendation for a student.
• Approved the East Marion Marching Storm to take an out-of-state trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., for the Main Street Parade from June 3-7, 2018.
• Approved the resignation of Samantha Groth and the recommendations to hire Lisa Williamson as West Marion Primary secretary, Carrie Pounds as a WMP teacher’s assistant, Holly Grimes Smith as an alternative education assistant at West Marion High School and Pam Jays as a custodian at East Marion Elementary School.
• Approved a contract with Quality Alarm and Security for services at the District office and the maintenance building,
• Approved a single-source purchase from Technical Training Aids for a 3D printer and installation kit at a cost of $25,000, to be paid with an MDE 3D Printer Grant.
• Discussed legal matters in executive session.
• Approved several 16th Section Land leases and an invitation to bid on other lands.
The Board next meets in regular session at 6 p.m. on Dec. 11 at its offices on Mississippi 13 North.
Pictured Above: West Marion football coaches Todd Harmon, left, and Brad Duncan speak with Superintendent Wendy Bracey about the Marion County Football Trophy. |Photo by Mark Rogers
