Students place in poster, youth poetry contests
On April 22, the Byhalia Garden Club hosted an wards pizza party for students at Byhalia Middle School who participated in the Smokey Bear/ Woodsy Owl poster contest and the Youth Poetry Contest.
The poetry contest is designed to encourage students to explore their creative thoughts. The theme was “Croaking, Leaping Frogs.”
The poems were rated by combined elements of title, content, creativity and style.
Entries for the poems and posters are judged at the Byhalia Garden Club and first place winners are submitted to the state level. State first place winners are submitted to the Deep South Regional, which covers six southern states.
Deep South Regional first place winners are submitted to the National Garden Club.
The poster contest winners are Deacon Chitwood, Dyana Butler, Jolie Chea, Syncere Provost, Juslyn Chea and Alexus Pound.
The poetry contest winners are Dyana Butler, Fredrick Akins, Katherine Porterfield, Miles Jones, Hannah Burks.
Miles Jones, Dyana Butler and Fredrick Akins won first, second and third place, respectively in the state level poetry contest.
Carie Dever Boaz has been named the head softball coach at the University of West Alabama (UWA), the school announced June 7.
Dever Boaz will replace Will Atkinson after nine seasons as head coach of the Tigers. It will be her first collegiate head coaching job since spending the 1997-2004 seasons at Arkansas.
Dever Boaz served as the Rangers’ assistant coach the past three seasons alongside hall of famer Mike Rowan, helping Northwest to a combined 74-42 overall record and 49-27 mark in division/conference play to go along with a pair of playoff appearances and 2015 north division title.
In her first season working with hitters in 2014, the Rangers set new single-season school records in slugging percentage (.492), hits (390), doubles (83), triples (22), stolen bases (143), hit-bypitch (48), RBIs (253) and total bases (550). Boaz was recognized as the NFCA Assistant Coach of the Year in NJCAA Division II for her efforts.
Dever Boaz spent the 2009-13 seasons as an assistant at Magnolia Heights, helping the Lady Chiefs to five state tournament appearances with two runner-up finishes. She also taught science and established the first ever SADD program at the school.
In 2007, Dever Boaz left the college ranks to coach in the National Pro Fastpitch League for the Washington Glory. She guided the team to a combined 64-28 record in two seasons, winning the World Title in 2007 and finishing as runner-up in 2008. She was named the 2007 National Manager of the Year.
Dever Boaz was the pitching and hitting coach at the University of Virginia from 2005-07, and before that, served as the University of Florida’s offensive and fielder’s coach.
In June of 1995, Dever Boaz was hired as the head coach for Arkansas’ inaugural softball season (which was 1997). In eight seasons, Dever Boaz coached the Razorbacks to five SEC Tournament appearances and two NCAA Regional berths. In 1999, the SEC named Dever Boaz Coach of the Year after leading the Razorbacks to a 46-29 record and a runner-up finish in the conference tournament. She coached eight All-SEC players, one AllRegion performer and two NCAA Regional AllTournament players during her tenure.
Before spending two seasons on the coaching staff at South Carolina, Dever Boaz began her coaching career in 1990 as the head varsity softball and volleyball coach at Tulare Western High School in Tulare, Calif. While coaching at Tulare Western, Dever Boaz worked toward her teaching credentials by educating students in health and personal fitness.
The success of Dever Boaz’s coaching career stems from a prestigious collegiate softball resume compiled at Fresno State University. Before graduating with a bachelor’s degree in health science in 1990, she reached the NCAA Women’s College World Series championship game in three consecutive seasons.
For her athletic excellence during the championships, Dever Boaz was selected to the alltournament team on two