Northwest Mississippi Community College will have its annual Les Fauves Holiday Art Sale on Friday, Dec. 1 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Art Gallery on the Senatobia campus.

The art sale is being held by the Les Fauves campus art club, which functions to promote art in the area. Club membership is open to anyone who is taking at least one course in the Art Department.

The event will feature drawings, paintings, pottery, photography and mixed media pieces from art department students and faculty.

“Those who come to the sale can have a chance at winning one of three original works from the art faculty,” said Lawayne House, an art instructor. at the college. The other instructors are Lane Tutor and Eunika Rogers.

For more information, contact the Art Department at 562-3399.

The Northwest Mississippi Community College Symphonic Winds will present their Winter Concert on Thursday, Nov. 30 at the Fine Arts Auditorium on the Senatobia campus. The group is under the direction of John Ungurait, director of bands, and Howard Luttrell, assistant director of bands, at the college.

This year’s selections will include “Black Granite” by James L. Hosay, a tribute to veterans of the Vietnam War, a Percy Aldridge Grainger piece entitled “Austrailan Up- Country Tune,” and a John Philip Sousa march, “The Fairest of the Fair,” as well as several other pieces.

"The concert is based on a varity of selections of concert band literature from traditional Sousa marches to modern publications and should offer something enjoyable to everyone,” Ungurait said.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free to the public. For more information, contact the Fine Arts department at (662) 562-3335.

There is still time to sign up for Northwest Mississippi Community College Division of Continuing Education’s Lifelong Learners trip to see the comic strip heroine Little Orphan Annie come to life in the DeSoto Family Theatre’s production of “Annie.”

One of the best-loved musicals of all time, “Annie” brings to life the timeless tale of Little Orphan Annie, who never gives up hope. The play will be presented on Friday, Dec. 8. The group will leave Northwest at 6 p.m. and return at 10 p.m. The $15 fee covers the show ticket and transportation.

Deadline to register for “Annie” is Dec. 1.

The Northwest Lifelong Learning Program recoginzes that adults are still eager to learn and desire intellectual stimulation. It seeks to provide an opportunity for member so keep their minds active and meet other people. The program is open to adults age 50 and older, or to persons who want to be a part of this member driven program.

For more information contact Patricia Lowder, coordinator of Continuing Education, at 562-3349 or e-mail pwlowder@northwestms.edu.

Auditions for Northwest Mississippi Community College's Spring production, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” will be held Nov. 27 and 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Auditorium on the Senatobia campus. Those wishing to audition should bring a short song, with taped accompaniment or sheet music. An accompanist will be provided. Be prepared to dance and to read. Rehearsals will start Jan. 9, and will be Sunday – Thursday nights. Production dates are Feb. 22-25, 2007.

For more information contact Jo Ellen Logan at 662-562-3328.

Saundra Bishop, a music instructor at Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia, will present a piano recital at the Northwest Fine Arts Auditorium on Thurs., Nov.16 at 7:30 p.m.

Bishop, who has been at Northwest for six years, is studying for her Doctor of Arts in Piano Pedagogy at the University of Mississippi.

The evening’s program will include “Piano Sonata No. 1” by Argentine composer Alberto Gianstera, three piano etudes by Claude DeBussy, and the B Minor piano sonata by Fredric Chopin.

Dr. Kenneth Sipley, Northwest’s division director of Fine Arts said, “Saundra Bishop is easily the best musician on our faculty.  She is equally at home in classical music and popular music, a rarity among pianists.  In addition to being a fine solo performer, she is also one of the best accompanists I have ever worked with.  Her recital will be an outstanding musical event for this area.”

Bishop is originally from Fulton. She received her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Alabama, and her Master of Music in Piano Performance from Louisiana State University. She and her husband Chris are residents of Oxford. They are the parents of two sons, Vic, 11 and Aubrey, 4.

Bishop will be performing the recital again on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. at the University of Mississippi as partial fulfillment of the degree requirements towards her doctorate degree.

The recital is free to the public. For more information, contact the Fine Arts Division at 662-562-3334.

Literacy in America will be the focus of the November Reading Roundtable at Northwest Mississippi Community College as participants discuss the book, “The Teacher Who Couldn't Read" by John Corcoran. This month's Reading Roundtable will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 27 in the R.C. Pugh Library on the Senatobia campus.

Imagine a high school teacher who cannot read. The story is sad and shocking, and relates a flaw in our education system. This book examines the question, "How do our students graduate from high school and remain functionally illiterate?" This month's discussion will be led by Crystal Giles, catalog librarian.

The purpose of the program is to provide a forum for senior adults to read and discuss a variety of books during the course of each semester. Discussions will be led by library faculty at Northwest.

For more information, contact the college’s R.C. Pugh Library at (662) 562-3268 or e-mail mrogers@northwestms.edu.

Leapin’ Lizards! Northwest Mississippi Community College Division of Continuing Education is offering Lifelong Learners the chance to see the comic strip heroine Little Orphan Annie come to life in the DeSoto Family Theatre’s production of “Annie.”

One of the best- loved musicals of all time, “Annie” brings to life the timeless tale of Little Orphan Annie, who never gives up hope. The play will be presented on Friday, Dec. 8. The group will leave Northwest at 6 p.m. and return at 10 p.m. The $15 fee covers the show ticket and transportation.

Deadline to register for “Annie” is Dec. 1.

The Northwest Lifelong Learning Program recognizes that adults are still eager to learn and desire intellectual stimulation. It seeks to provide an opportunity for members to keep their minds active and meet other people. The program is open to adults age 50 and older, or to persons who want to be a part of this member driven program.

For more information contact Patricia Lowder, coordinator of Continuing Education at 562-3349 or e-mail pwlowder@northwestms.edu

Recently, the Mississippi Department of Education announced that eighth grade students will take the Internet and Computing Core (IC3) certification exam as the state test for students on technology. As a result of this action, seventh and eighth grade teachers will need to be trained to teach IC3. Northwest Mississippi Community College has two instructors authorized to teach the classes required for IC3 certification.

Classes are offered at the Batesville Enterprise Center, located in the Batesville Industrial Park, 275 Nosef Drive and Lafayette-Yalobusha Technical Center (LYTC) in Oxford by two certified instructors, Helen Williamson and Kathy Buchanan. The classes cover a variety of subjects including Computing Fundamentals, Key Applications, and Living Online.

In July, State Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds announced in his online column that “the draft plan “Redesigning Education for the 21st Century Workforce in Mississippi” was developed to give students the skills they will need to be successful once they join the workforce and to give Mississippi's business and industry community the skilled workers they need to be successful.”

Bounds also stated that a Discovery Task Force “recently examined the direction of the current seventh and eighth grade discovery courses and how we could best serve the students of Mississippi to prepare them for the 21 st century workforce. Based on their recommendations, career and computer discovery courses will be converted to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) I and II.”

“The high-quality, research-based seventh and eighth grade ICT curriculum is aligned with industry, technology, 21st century skills and academic standards. Eighth grade students will have the opportunity to attain a technology industry certification called IC3. The certification exam will serve as the state test for students on technology,” he added.