The Mississippi School Boards Association has announced that the Biloxi Public School District is one of the Top 20 school districts in the state.

Biloxi Public Schools is again being recognized by the association as one of its 2010 Lighthouse School Leaders.

Biloxi's award is a Lantern Award, which is presented to those districts that scored a QDI rating of at least 180. The QDI, or Quality of Distribution Index, measures achievement and the distribution of student performance on state assessments at the basic, proficient and advanced levels.

Among those being recognized this year:

Beacon Award (QDI of 200 or above): Enterprise, Pass Christian, and Petal.

Lantern Award (QDI of 180 or above): Biloxi, Booneville, Clinton, Corinth, DeSoto County, Gulfport, Hancock County, Harrison County, Kosciusko, Lamar County, Long Beach, Madison County, Ocean Springs, Oxford, Pontotoc, and Tishomingo County.

Torch Award (where 90% or more of the students are eligible for the free and reduced lunch program and in which at least one school had a QDI of 180 or above and met the growth expectations established by the Mississippi Board of Education): Greenwood, Bankston Elementary School.

Football: The Biloxi Indians face Harrison Central this evening. For more on the Tribe, including how you can listen to the game online, click here.

Achiever: Gina Moon, senior class president at Biloxi High and youth coordinator of Gulf Coast REACH, gathered talent and dance crews from across the Gulf Coast to participate in Gulf Coast's Got Talent and Gulf Coast's Best Dance Crew. REACH is an organization to promote Asian culture and heritage across the Gulf Coast, and it was recently awarded a $25,000 Pepsi grant to stage the annual Mid-Autumn Harvest Moon Festival. Gina also serves as BHS Key Club Recording Secretary, yearbook photo editor, editor/producer of WBHS, and is a member of the National Honor Society, National Technical Honor Society, and Technology Student Associations.

Motivational speaker: Biloxi athletes and interested parents will have a chance Tuesday to hear speaker George Henshaw, a former college standout and onetime collegiate and NFL coach. Henshaw will discuss the importance of staying in school and how to qualify for NCAA scholarships. He will address high school athletes Tuesday morning, and junior high athletes and interested parents Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the junior high auditorium. To print a flier about the event, click here.

T-shirts: The Biloxi High School cheerleaders are selling "Get Gulfport Good" T-shirts. For an order form, click here.

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice: Main Street Biloxi will host the outdoor showing of "Beetlejuice" Saturday evening on the Biloxi Town Green. For details, click here.