MCC School

There were over 250 students from over a dozen schools competing against each other as individuals and teams. The competition consisted of one round of math fact drills, 3 individual rounds of mathematical story problems, and 3 team rounds of more math problems.

Coming to the United States has always been a dream of Francesca Bet, a 17-year-old foreign exchange student from Fiume Veneto, a province of Pordenone, Italy. “I’m enjoying this beautiful experience,” said Bet, who is currently living with host parents, Tim and Shannon Rhodes of Slayton.

We are very excited to introduce to you a new member of the MCC staff, Murray! Murray was donated to the school by a very generous family. He is a Cavapoo, and he is going to be an essential part of our school community.

Murray County Central students have a new educational space to enhance their classroom experience. The opportunity comes in the form of a hydroponics Grow Shed, an 8 foot by 12 foot insulated building.

The Murray County Central One Act Play members are gearing up to perform “The Last Illusion” for subsection competition on Saturday, Jan. 27 at noon at Redwood Valley High School and for a public presentation at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2 in the MCC auditorium.

The Murray County Central Rebels opened the Subsection playoffs this past Saturday in Worthington. The Rebels played the Hills Beaver Creek Patriots for the third time this season.

With the theme “Music is All of Us,” March is Music in Our Schools Month, and Murray County Central is participating in the celebration. The program has a multitude of events scheduled for the month of March and the best part is that each performance is free to the public.

Photos by Jenny Kirk

With the new school year come several new teachers and one new support staff all eager to build relationships and begin a positive experience: Melissa Sheppard - Replacing long-time school counselor Mary Beech is no small task, but Ms. Sheppard is more than capable. She was bom and raised in the Adrian/Ellsworth area and is really happy and comfortable working in a rural school. Ms. Sheppard earned her bachelor’s degrees in psychology and criminal justice from South Dakota State University and is currently finishing her master’s degree through Arkansas State University. For the past several years she has worked as the behavior interventionist and school registrar at a Sioux Falls middle school, and before that time she worked as a sexual abuse victim counselor. Her position at MCC is quite varied and she approaches her tasks with purpose and determination. “I want to advocate and guide students to help them meet their academic, personal and social goals. I want to make an impact, giving students hope and faith. I will cheer them on and never give up!” Ms. Sheppard looks forward to getting to know all of the students in seventh through twelfth grade and provide them whatever kind of support they need for a positive school experience. She has three children of her own and one young grandchild. Though much of her spare time is spent finishing her own school work, she loves time with family, time outdoors and barrel racing.

The Rebels and Eagles played off in a tough battle this past Monday night. Both teams started the evening right in the middle of the pack for the conference. Whichever team came out victorious, would edge up in the conference standings. MCC started off the first set with great serving from Kiana Felber and an early lead. Felber tallied up 11 digs, which allowed the Rebels to move the ball around well offensively. MCC topped SWMC 25-20. Game two began with a rocky start for the Rebels. MCC made a few too many defensive errors, which allowed the Eagles to jump out ahead. The Rebels chipped away at SWMC’s defense, but in the end it wasn’t enough to make up the point deficit. The Eagles took the second set 23-25. The third set started with great plays by both teams. The Rebels started to struggle digging up hits from the Eagles midway through the set. This gave SWMC a seven point advantage. MCC took a timeout, and from there Sophie Larson racked up 5 ace serves. The Rebels took 8 straight points, gaining the lead back. Both teams battled and had great rally plays. In the end, two hitting errors by the Eagles gave MCC the win 26- 24. Game four began with a lot of back and forth action for the teams. Both squads battled to gain more than just a few point lead at a time, but were unsuccessful. It came down to which team could have better defensive efficiency. MCC’s offense came out and dominated their defense and solidified the win 25-22. The Rebels defeated the Eagles three games to one.