Trent Lott Middle School student wins Mississippi Maritime Museum’s ‘Name a Catboat’ contest

The Mississippi Maritime Museum officially announced a winner for its ‘Name a Catboat’ contest held this month.

The contest was held to name the catboat the museum received about two years ago.

T.J. Sampson, a sixth-grade student at Trent Lott Middle School, won the contest with the name ‘Sea’s the Day.’

He will be an honorary guest for Pascagoula’s Maritime Day Celebration this Saturday.

The contest was held amongst several schools in Pascagoula and had around 150 to 200 entries.

T.J. and his mom, Summer, both say they could not believe it when he was announced as the winner. “I was about to cry…I was about to cry then I heard the paper fell out and that I was the only one. I was totally shocked.”

“He completely deserves this. He works extremely hard at school. He’s gone through a lot in his life and I think it’s so good for him that he won something. I’m extremely proud of him.”

The museum is located at 609 Dupont Avenue in Pascagoula. It is open Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to noon.