Biloxi High School is launching the 2009 track season with the establishment of a Track Booster Club.

Parents, guardians, alumni and supporters are encouraged to become a booster club member, which will allow them more input in their child’s track and field travels, and make suggestions for fundraisers and the year-end banquet.

Membership fee is $5, and individual or corporate sponsors with a donation of $100 or more will have a banner with the name of their business displayed at the Biloxi High School stadium this season.

Those interested in joining can make donations to the Biloxi High Track Booster Club at any Hancock Bank or contact President Clarence Taylor at (228) 594-3361 or Vice President Kirk Jackson at (228) 424-7915.

Members will each receive a membership card that can be presented upon registration or mailed to you.

Three Biloxi public schools – Beauvoir and Lopez Elementary, and Biloxi Junior High -- have been chosen by Mississippi Department of Education to participate in The National Assessment of Educational Progress.

The NAEP is a national assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. NAEP assessments are administered uniformly using the same sets of test booklets across the nation. NAEP results serve as a common metric for all states.

NAEP scores are important for Mississippi for a number of reasons. Said Gov. Haley Barbour: "When businesses decide where they want to locate their next plant, distribution center, retail outlet or office, they look at our NAEP scores to judge the quality of our educational system and the quality of our workforce.”

Online video messages: Dr. Hank Bounds, state superintendent of education, has online video messages for teachers and students about NAEP. To see the message for teachers, click here. To see the message for students, click here.

For more information or questions about NAEP in Biloxi Public Schools, contact Dr. Karen Norwood, director of Secondary Education and Federal Programs at karen.norwood@biloxischools.net or at (228) 374-1810, extension 134.