Contact: Sammy McDavid
Dennis Shirley (l) receives the MSU honor from President Malcolm Portera
Dennis Shirley of Corinth is receiving the second Schillig High School Counselor Award given by one of Mississippi State's top scholar programs.
The award was established last year by the university's Ottilie Schillig Leadership Scholars Society to honor a counselor "who has made significant contributions to the academic progress of his or her students."
MSU President Malcolm Portera presented Shirley with a plaque and a $500 check Sunday [April 1] during campus Scholarship Recognition Day activities.
Shirley became a guidance counselor at Corinth High School in 1992 following a 14-year career at the school as a teacher and coach. A 1969 Tupelo High School graduate, he attended Itawamba Community College before enrolling at MSU in 1971. Following graduation in 1973, he joined the Moss Point school system, where he worked until leaving for Corinth in 1978.
Shirley also holds a master's degree from MSU and counseling certification from the University of Mississippi.
During his career in education, Shirley has received several major honors, including selection in 1991 as both Corinth High's Teacher of the Year and STAR Teacher. As active in his community as he is at school, Shirley is a twice-elected city alderman, among other accomplishments.
"In addition to his daily work schedule, Dennis devotes countless hours after school attending to the details that make him an extraordinary counselor," a CHS colleague wrote in support of the selection.
Not only does Shirley assist students in their quests for university and college scholarships, the colleague continued, but he also "serves as an advocate and a confidante for troubled teenagers who may have no one else. They see him as a sounding board, a willing listener who will shoot straight with them and give them good, honest advice."
Becky Rowan of Pearl High School received the first Schillig counselor award.