Over achieving

Thumbs-up to everyone who contributed to the 2016 Jackson County United Way fundraising campaign, which finished at $825,724. That’s $15,724 more than the goal.

Bigs and Littles

Thumbs-up to Traci and Jeff Peters of Seymour for recently being named 2016 Volunteers of the Year by the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeast Indiana, which serves Jackson, Jennings and Scott counties. The Peters serve as mentors and enjoy spending time with their “littles,” Erica and Carsen.

“Fun-raising”

Thumbs-up to the police officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers who raised money for the Jackson County Dog Shelter and collected canned goods for Anchor House food pantry during the second Battle of the Badges basketball tournament Jan. 27 at the Boys and Girls Club of Seymour.

Accepting the challenge

Thumbs-up to Brownstown Central High School students Cameron Eggersman and Jacob Wischmeier for winning the Jackson County Maverick Challenge, a business planning competition for high school students. The two seniors, who designed a device that allows farmers to plant cover crops in one pass instead of two, split the top prize of $2,150 and advanced to the regional competition on March 4 at the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce. Their classmate, Tyler Neal, also deserves a thumbs-up for finishing second and earning $1,500 for his mounted system that allows a person to install a hunting tree stand by themselves.

Excellent student

Thumbs-up to Brownstown Central High School student Jacob Tormoehlen, who will receive the Student Career and Technical Education Award for Excellence during a ceremony at 1 p.m. Feb. 17 at the Indiana Government Center South Auditorium in Indianapolis. The junior is a student in the Collision Repair program at Bedford North Lawrence Career Center and one of 12 student award recipients being recognized statewide in 2017 for excellence in career and technical education.