Students receive Excellence in Education awards
The Homewood Chamber of Commerce honored an outstanding student from each Homewood school during its annual Excellence in Education Award luncheon on April 16.
The high school student received a $1,000 scholarship from the Chamber.
Award winners were:
- Reed Jeffries, Edgewood Elementary School
- Frank Studinka, Hall-Kent Elementary School
- Mitchell Prewitt, Shades Cahaba Elementary School
- Joshua Ndegwa, Homewood Middle School
- Frances Kyle, Homewood High School
Following the awards presentation, State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tommy Bice spoke about education initiatives for the state. Under his leadership the past three years, the state graducation rate has increasesd from 72 to 80 percent, the highest it’s ever been after the state provided the individual school systems to do what they needed to do, he said.
He also spoke about how business and industry leaders say that high school graduates are lacking intellectual curiosity. In order to address this, the state is using college and career readiness standards in place of a high school graduation exam and is encouraging teaching that involves students solving real world problems.