Three veteran public school superintendents are 1997 selections for leadership and service honors given by two Mississippi State University-based educational support organizations.
Larry L. Box of Starkville, Joe A. Haynes of Greenville and Dan R. Merritt of Jackson recently were recognized at a joint conference of the Program for Research and Evaluation of Public Schools and the Mississippi Academy of School Executives.
Box, head of Starkville School District since 1990, was presented the Hugh I. Peck Award, while Haynes, who became the Delta city's top educational leader in 1994, received the Lamar Moody Award.
Merritt was presented the Courage Award. He currently is serving as the Jackson Public School District's interim superintendent, the second time since 1994 he temporarily has led the capital city's system since retiring in 1991 as its deputy superintendent.
PREPS is an educational extension service; MASE, a professional organization for superintendents, principals and others in major leadership positions. The office of both organizations are located in Mississippi State's College of Education.
The Peck Award is a memorial to the late PREPS director who died in 1994. The Moody Award is named for the emeritus head of Mississippi State's educational leadership department who founded MASE.
Box taught mathematics in Columbus before joining the Starkville schools in 1968. He was named principal of Sudduth Elementary in 1970 and Henderson Junior High in 1983, then was elevated to assistant superintendent in 1985. He holds bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from Mississippi State.
Haynes, a former member of the state Board of Trustees, Institutions of Higher Learning, has led the Greenville Public School District since 1994. Before going to Greenville, he served for a year as acting department chairman and assistant professor of educational foundations and leadership at Jackson State University. From 1966 to 1993, he worked in the Jackson school system, rising from science teacher to deputy superintendent for operations. He holds a bachelor's degree from Alcorn State University, a master's from the University of Georgia, an educational specialist degree from Mississippi College, and a doctorate from Mississippi State.
Merritt spent his career with the Jackson school system, beginning in 1961 as a teacher and coach at Whitten Junior High School. He holds a bachelor's degree from Mississippi State, a master's from Mississippi College and a doctorate from the University of Southern Mississippi.