Lynn Meadows Discovery Center (LMDC) is a 501(c)3 non-profit children’s museum located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast that provides an educational space for children to learn through discovery and play. Lynn Meadows is governed by a Board of Directors made up of 15 community leaders representing private
businesses, non-profits, education, and media. Lynn Meadows currently has 8 full-time staff and 13 part-time staff members. In addition to paid staff, volunteers are an integral part of the museum’s operations. The museum is 15,000 square feet of indoor space and 7.5 acres of outdoor space located in an old school
building. LMDC was the first children’s museum in the state of Mississippi to see about 100,000 people a year (pre Covid). The mission of Lynn Meadows Discovery Center is to inspire children, families, and communities through the arts, interactive educational experiences, and exploration (LMDC Boar, 2016).
Lynn Meadows Discovery Center (LMDC) has supported the Gulfport School District community since they opened their doors in 1998. Although teachers across the coast regularly visit LMDC with their students for educational field trips, LMDC has partnered with the Gulfport School District to provide opportunities for high -needs students and their families to enhance the learning experience beyond the classroom doors. Gulfport School District is comprised of six elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school.
There are approximately 6,500 students enrolled in grades Pre-K - 12th grade. The district is an A rated Title I school district with a diverse population consisting of 49% female, 51% male, 53% African American, 35% White, 8% Hispanic, 4% Other Races, 15% Special Education Students, 3% English Language Learners, and
12% Gifted and Talented Learners. Overall, 72.8% of students in the district are identified as low-income based on the percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Gulfport School District relies heavily on support from our community partners. Lynn Meadows is one of our most active partners and is recognized annually by the school board for their partnership with the district impacting students and families at all grade levels.
In recent years, Lynn Meadows Discovery Center has established a program to support kindergarten students at Title 1 Schools in the Gulfport School District through the development of STEM learning and exploration. The SMARTIES program transports these. kindergarten students and their teachers to the museum where they engage in activities based on the Engineering is Elementary program provided by the Boston Science Museum. The Engineering is Elementary curriculum engages the student in multiple cycles of research, development, testing, and improvement to develop problem-solving skills through application. The program integrates literacy and social studies with engineering and science to help the students understand how STEM subjects are relevant to their lives. During the trips to the museum, students are supported by their teachers, museum staff and Gulfport School District high school students that are involved in the Teacher Academy. The Teacher Academy at Gulfport High School is a program that supports high school students as future educators by giving them training and hands-on experience working with children. This program is a true partnership that supports our schools and community.
While the Gulfport School District and Lynn Meadows have had a long standing partnership with the shared goal of providing educational opportunities to lower socioeconomic status families, the methods for accomplishing this goal had to shift when schools shut down in March 2020. Public schools were forced to provide virtual education and the Gulfport School District immediately recognized that students without internet access would be at a severe disadvantage. The Gulfport School District partnered with WLOX to broadcast two-hour, daily segments of educational videos created and produced by Gulfport School District on Bounce TV, a free subchannel of WLOX. Without hesitation, Lynn Meadows Discovery Center stepped up to offer support in this endeavor. Lynn Meadows Discovery Center provided educational content and even offered the museum, which was closed to the public, as a space to be used for recording the programs.
In response to the changing needs of the community due to the pandemic, Lynn Meadows Discovery Center added “Outreach” as a major goal to their 2021-2025 Strategic Plan. When schools and the museum closed their doors, LMDC had to find a new way to support the community. The museum began distributing “Discovery at Home Kits” through “Feed My Sheep,” a local food bank that serves the Gulfport School District community. These kits provided families with all of the materials and resources needed to complete an activity to promote literacy and/or STEM skill development. LMDC recognized the success of these kits and this program led to the creation of a “Discovery on the Go” initiative. Through “Discovery on the Go,” Lynn Meadows Discovery Center plans to continue providing “Discovery at Home Kits” to local food banks, bring museum experiences to the classes in the Gulfport School District, and support families in the Gulfport School District through outreach experiences. The support that Lynn Meadows provides for the
Gulfport School District students, families and teachers is vital in closing the gaps we see for our students of low socioeconomic status.
Lanier High School (LHS) is the oldest African American high school in Jackson, MS. The rich traditions and history are still evident where approximately 600 students are enrolled and learning daily. Although
located in the heart of the capital city and minutes away from the largest healthcare provider, students and families of Lanier High School and their feeder schools face overwhelming health disparities, such as access to healthcare due to transportation, gaps in care, food insecurities, and supporting resources to ensure college and career readiness. Since 1998, the mission of the Lanier High School National Alumni Association (LHSNAA) has been to support academic success and to support the development of the skill sets that will contribute to participatory citizenship of all students. LHSNAA was created by a group of LHS graduates who were committed to actively working to ensure that students who came after them would have the additional support needed to be successful. The ultimate goal of our association is to support all
aspects of Lanier High School and serve as a resource for school leadership, families, and students. The needs of students and families during the pandemic have been ever-changing. In response, LHSNAA efforts became dynamic and bridged the gap for covid response, food insecurity, and student athlete and
scholarship needs. While continuing to make an annual financial contribution to support LHS, the association continues to identify community partners to expand the reach of services to make a greater, more meaningful impact. The highlight of work by LHSNAA is their ability to sustain its projects by seeking out like-minded, long-term partnerships. Each service provided in 2020 was not only continued in 2021, but expanded upon.
LHSNAA will continue our objective of improving parental support in all areas of Lanier High School. We will assist the parents in maintaining a successful PTSA. This will enable parents to have a better appreciation of their part in the school by having an active role within the school. Further, our vision is to increase the number of students that graduate from Lanier High School. We will assist with increasing test scores in all subject areas as well as ACT test and state required testing. Our goal is to see the students at Lanier High School have ACT test scores and state require scores that exceed the state average. With continued work, we will see Lanier High School performance being considered the standard for students, not only in Jackson Public School District, but in Mississippi and even the nation. These objectives will be obtained by providing study workshops, tutoring, and using ACT prep articles and with study guides on passing the ACT test.
]]>Children who enter school without the fundamental knowledge, attributes, and skills necessary or success are more likely to struggle throughout their education if appropriate interventions are not put in place along the way. For every 50 children who don’t learn to read in
kindergarten, 44 of them will still have trouble reading in the third grade.
The Vicksburg/Warren Excel by 5 Coalition was formed in 2017 to coordinate the efforts of the community to stop this cycle and build the foundation of learning in our youngest children. Brain science is definitive that 0-5 years provides the greatest window of opportunity to optimize a child’s early experiences, developmental interactions, healthcare, nutrition, childcare and education. Ages 0-5 are the most critical time in a child’s cognitive development.
The Vicksburg/Warren County Excel by Five Coalition stresses the importance of the guiding principles of the certification process (1) collaboration is the key to success, (2) caregivers and early childhood educators need access to the appropriate resources and training, (3) economic growth is desired by all, and (4) the community needs to optimize existing resources while building capabilities through continuous improvement.
The Coalition earned the official Excel by Five Certified Community distinction in 2019, only two short years after their inception. The partners have come together to train private sector day care center employees, distribute thousands of books to children to encourage reading in the home, hosted Days of Action days to promote early childhood learning, open an Early Learning Resource Center at the local library where families can come to have access to computers and other resource and much more! (We dare say they have had a great time doing it, too!)
Generously funded by the City of Vicksburg, this partnership depends on the synergy between the funding organization, the School District, United Way of West Central Mississippi, Vicksburg
Family Development Services, and the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library for its success. This partnership is a great example of how organizations can work together to improve the lives of students and change the trajectory of an entire community.
The 2021-2022 school year was off to a great start when Obama Magnet School gained its newest adopter: The Mississippi College School of Law. This partnership began after John Pyles, Law Student Bar Association Vice President, reached out to the District about law students volunteering. Given their proximity to Obama Magnet, and a recent successful collaboration with the school, MC Law was excited to officially adopt the Barack H. Obama Magnet School. MC representatives met with principal John Johnson Ed.S., to discuss potential activities based upon the needs of the school. After initial contact, David Schommer, who serves as the school adopter coordinator, was included in the planning process to help
maximize the benefits of the partnership. Information was gathered from a variety of sources to determine areas of need. Several areas were quickly identified including providing Helping Hands (general classroom volunteers), assistance with outdoor maintenance, (including school entrance, playground project, outdoor classroom, and student garden) supporting health and wellness needs, and providing various forms of academic support. A community partnership program plan was developed, which included activities,
program areas impacted, and timeline. Since July 31, 2021, the MC School of Law has been actively involved in at least 10 school events as well as other ongoing activities ranging from school beautification, to supporting academics, health and wellness.
N.R. Burger Middle School is a dynamic learning community that promotes college and career ready students who are prepared to succeed in a diverse, global society. As educators, the work we do to prepare our students can be quite fulfilling and rewarding. However, this preparation process can also be relatively challenging. One challenge is the constant change to what has been known as a traditional family unit and its dynamics. Across America, there has been an increase in single-parent households and children being
raised by their grandparents. In addition, an uptick in violence and drug use has led to some undesirable family environments. Also, as educators, we must acknowledge and understand that there are many parents and guardians who have the desire to become involved at their child’s school, but because of strict work schedules and work hours, their participation is limited or nonexistent.
Hattiesburg Public Schools has seen the negative effects of these societal changes. As a result, we have embraced the African proverb, “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child.” Recognizing the benefits of working with our community, one of our district’s five goals is Family and Community Engagement. Over the years, it has
become evident that collaboration between schools and their respective communities is a key factor in the success of our students and families. Continual efforts to establish strong partnerships with our various community members has definitely contributed to the overall success of our school and our school district.
This year, our longstanding community partners have remained resilient and have continued to ”Partner with a Purpose” by volunteering their time and resources to the staff, students, and community of N.R. Burger Middle School. They have been our strong, dependable supporters for years. We have also formed
relationships with some new community partners who have joined in the effort to promote the expectations for our school environment. Moreover, several Burger parents have enthusiastically donated various items and sponsored events for our staff and students. At N.R. Burger, we are always striving to maintain academic proficiency and social responsibility among our students. Additionally, focus on our Positive Behavior Incentive System (PBIS) is critical to the attainment of our goals. PBIS is designed to promote and
encourage positive trends in academics, behavior, and attendance. We continue to utilize PBIS to encourage student attendance, ideal academic performance, and suitable student behavior. The presence
and financial contributions from our community partners supports our desire to achieve and maintain the following:
1) Academic Proficiency - maintain the number of students who are meeting and/or exceeding academic
expectations
2.) Social Responsibility - maintain good attendance-average daily attendance (ADA) among students;
maintain appropriate behavior demonstrated by students (decrease office referrals)
Each year to over 500 students, Milam emphasizes the importance of serving the community and being the best version of themselves academically, socially, and emotionally all while exhibiting good character. Fifty percent of Milam students are recognized quarterly for their academic achievement. Being that all students do not excel in the area of academics, we believe students should be rewarded for excelling in other areas as well, so we wanted to recognize those students. One of our most supportive and influential community
partners is Shawn King State Farm. This partnership affords our students the opportunity to be recognized for improving in areas other than academics. These areas can include but are not limited to attendance, effort, and mannerism. Furthermore, Shawn King State Farm and Milam partner to recognize the whole child while fostering a developed sense of citizenship and service.
Therefore, under the direction of our school counselor, Tamekia White, and our teachers, our student population is recognized each month for improvements in various attributes. Shawn King State Farm provides certificates and restaurant gift cards for each honoree. In addition, students complete a note of gratitude to a teacher of their choice. These notes are distributed to the designated teacher by the students.
The Fall Food Drive, which emerged from our recognition program, provides an opportunity for students to serve with a host of businesses and other volunteers from Milam’s partnership with Shawn King State Farm. The Hunger Coalition of Northeast Mississippi (formerly Tupelo Lee County Hunger Coalition) reports 1 in 5 Lee county residents are food insecure. Seventy percent of Milam’s students qualify for free/reduced lunches.
]]>It is no secret that there is a current teacher shortage in the state of Mississippi. William Carey University's Education Department has a desire to assist the schools in Mississippi by producing quality teachers who have a passion and talent for fill this critical need. The Alternate Route program at William Carey has especially gone above and beyond to work directly with school districts to fight this teacher
shortage.
The MAT/Alternate Route program is a program that allows individuals with a bachelor's degree in something other than education to obtain a teaching license. Once students are admitted to this program, the Alternate Route department at WCU personally helps them through the process of being admitted, becoming highly qualified to teach, and licensed. The Alternate Route program is also called the MAT (Master's in the Art of Teaching) program because it not only leads to a teaching license, but it can also lead to an optional master's degree.
Due to the extreme teacher shortage, and Covid-related issues, William Carey University's MAT/Alternate Route department has personally reached out to EVERY school district in the state and
invited them to form a partnership with the department. When a school district makes a decision to form a cohort with the Alternate Route department, our MAT coordinator, Dr. Cassandra Weiss, works individually with them to meet their specific needs.
The school districts who have made an official decision to become partners with William Carey University have included Jackson Public Schools, Meridian Public Schools, McComb Public Schools, Holly
Springs Public Schools, Benton County Public Schools and Marshall County Public Schools. The administrators and human resource personal were invited to virtual meetings with the MAT Coordinator, the Dean of Education, and the Executive Vice President of the. university. During these meetings, our team worked with the school district to ensure that we understood their specific needs and formed a plan of action to begin our partnership.
For each of our partners, our MAT/Alternate Route team created social media graphics and began advertising our partnership in the specific community of the school district. We also contacted local radio stations, churches, and other community events to recruit teachers. The advertisements invited interested. individuals to attend an in-person interest meeting on the school grounds. Dr. Weiss and the team, traveled to each of the school campuses to conduct these meetings in-person and answer the individual questions of each interested candidate.
As community members began applying for the MAT/Alternate Route program, the team at WCU contacted each one of them personally and walked them through the admissions process, registered the for classes, and personally helped them through the licensure process acting as a liaison between the student and MDE's licensure department. From 2020-2022, over 800 new teachers have applied for a teaching license in the state of Mississippi because of the MAT/Alternate Route program.
When teacher candidates become part of this program, they are required to take two classes up front in. order to apply for a 3-year alternate route license. Our WCU Alternate Route program worked with each school district to communicate the progress of the teacher candidate and allow them to hire them on a contingency basis as they entered the program. Over 800 teacher candidates are now qualified to begin teaching. We also added a personal touch by obtaining specific information from each school district that was used to train the teachers prior to them entering the classroom. Each teacher candidate was trained to create a Classroom Management plan, write lesson plans, and learn specific information about their new school district.
In order to apply for a 5-year license, the new teachers must complete an internship with WCU's MAT/Alternate Route program. This school year, we had a record breaking 320 teacher interns that
spanned from the northern most tip of Mississippi to the Gulf Coast. Our team expanded to hire additional faculty to accommodate this number of interns so that we can ensure each student received personal support. Our faculty members visited each teacher intern two or more times in his/her classroom, hosted 4 Saturday training seminars, and responded to weekly reflections for each student in addition to the regular coursework required. We also hold a follow up conference in June to provide ongoing support to our teachers even after they have completed the program.
Starkville High School is located in a college town where demographics are diverse, expectations are high, and community is everything. In 2015 there was a Department of Justice consolidation of the Oktibbeha County schools and the Starkville City schools which led to a great deal of change and new conversations regarding helping all students become college and career ready. In 2017 our district and building level administrative teams, along with the Starkville business community, determined that career academies could be the solution to many of our struggles. Over the last four years Starkville High School has made small modifications such as adding a freshman focus course and grouping teachers to begin the career academy process. As we started the 2021 - 2022 school year, we jumped in head first, and we are now considered the first “wall-to-wall” career academy school in Mississippi.
This year The Academic Houses at Starkville High School had qualitative data from students, staff, and family members that identified they did not understand what the Academic Houses were or how they were helping students. Our graduation rates and state test benchmark data showed that we were improving, but still needed to make some significant gains for our students. The building administrative team used that data to develop their strategic plan for the school year including adding a building goal of increasing community involvement and partnerships by 10%. Our students were still missing that real-life connection to their future career(s) and the relationships from our small learning communities. After developing the strategic plan to focus on taking our career academies to the next level, the school started to truly transform into the Academic Houses physically, operationally, and emotionally.
The purchase of three new giant House flags set the stage and tone for the school year. They stand outside the front of the building and spark conversations with students, parents, and community members about the work that is being done within the school. Each Academic House has its own logo and colors which are used in emails, documents, and decoration throughout the building. Teacher classrooms have been organized so that each hallway in the building is dedicated to only teachers of that Academic House. Offices of counselors and House principals have also been moved into those specific hallways so they are easily accessible.
One of the largest changes this year came from how we updated operations to fit the National Career Academy Coalition (NCAC) National Standards of Practice (NSOPs). The assistant principal role changed into House principals, leading each House of teachers and students with instruction, accountability, discipline, and building operations. Our building level principal shifted to Executive principal: He oversees the entire building, supports the House principals, and trains the administrative team. Students were given another chance, through a survey, to select which Academic House they wanted to be in and that best connected to their future plan(s). Teachers began attending monthly Academic House professional learning community (PLC) meetings as well as attending professional development sessions about the NSOPs, the history of career academies, and brainstorming ways to connect with community partners. As. the conversation started around scheduling for the next school year, the administrative team determined that the next step was cohorting our students based on their Academic House and increasing work based learning, internship, and job shadowing opportunities. The administrative team and counselors met with
our partner, the career academy initiative at MDE to develop a plan to reimage our building, courses, expectations, and career focused opportunities. The counseling team overhauled the scheduling
documents and started meeting with students one on one to ensure they were being scheduled for the courses they needed to graduate, they were scheduled within their pathway cohort, and they were given the same information about work based learning, advanced placement, and dual enrollment opportunities. The district approved a new Academic House Coach position to facilitate working with community partners, training a group of student ambassadors, and organizing work based learning/internship/job shadowing opportunities with those partners.
Finally the largest transformation this year has been the emotional connection to our career academy goals and our community partners. The House principals have been out of the building meeting owners, managers, and directors of local businesses and organizations. We have welcomed these potential partners into our school to observe, share, and teach. Students have been excited to hear about each new partner who has joined their House, looking forward to the cool projects and real life connections in their
classes. Teachers have been refreshed with creating more project based learning opportunities with our partners and facilitating learning rather than presenting information block after block. Student centered has been a focus in education for a while, but it has only been connected to their academics. This is a whole new way of tailoring a public school education to the goals and dreams of each student. They will be in classes with students who have similar goals and can begin to network with our community partners. This is not one event we did with a community member; it’s a life changing overhaul for our school and the community that surrounds it. Our students will become the next leaders of this community, and it won’t happen years after they graduate; they will get the academics, training, and hands-on experience with local professionals the first day they step on campus.
The ‘Man of Steel’, Superman, once said, “A hero is an ordinary individual who perseveres in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” Spann Elementary’s valuable partners, heroes in our eyes, have set their course to provide students the tools to do just this – thrive in the midst of challenging times. With public and school libraries restricting handling of books and lack of enriching literacy experiences, we saw that our students had concerning deficits in their literacy and comprehension assessments (MAAP May,‘21, STAR Aug.’21). Our staff intentionally sought community involvement to help remedy the critical needs and creatively
designed our project – Lovin’ Literacy. Over the past year, partners have joined us in planning and targeting ways by which this could be carried out. Together we planned and implemented virtual, holiday themed Read Aloud sessions, provided primary students the opportunities to develop individual reading skills with
literacy projects where kindergartners designed garden boxes on the school lawn. We even recruited Congressional Certificate Program participants to serve as Reading Buddies (via Zoom) for various grade level learning sessions. Discussing and forming specific literacy goals with our partners, staff, and students allowed us, as a comprehensive team, to consistently implement plans and activities by which students could build background knowledge, develop in comprehension skills, and enrich their literacy experiences – with real people in real time. These acts of kindness began to literally multiply into vast examples of volunteerism and educational opportunities provided for Spann’s student body. Lt. Gov. Hoseman, Mangia Bene, Rotary Club of Jackson, and Congressional Award Program volunteers gladly faced the technical challenges of working with students via virtual platforms. MS Children’s Museum funded in-school exhibits for grades K-5 to physically learn science concepts as students further developed in comprehension with
informational texts in classrooms. New community volunteers read virtually with students, helped them explore life through children’s books, and taught them how to carry out fun comprehension tasks. Cane’s management provided incentives (free kids meals) for students showing growth in their reading skills – for
students who are receiving high levels of intervention to those who need to be nudged to greater levels of achievement. The continual collaboration between Spann and community partners is producing viable impact. Our project, Lovin’ Literacy, is ensuring that our students not only develop in literacy skills but also develop in their l-o-v-e for reading. The project’s problem-solving design involving staff, students, families, and community partners is laying the foundation for current and future successes of students who have
been educationally affected by the pandemic. Implementing these goal-oriented activities is boosting student achievement as we make our students’ literacy development a top priority at this time in their young lives.
During the 2016-2017 school year, the robotics program in the Pass Christian Public School District was formed in the elementary school gifted classes. While the program was doing well for a beginner-level team, the robots being used were not top of the line. A DeLisle Elementary student, knowing that the team could be more competitive with better hardware and electronics, passionately advocated to community partners for support. After a presentation to the Pass Christian Rotary Club, a check in the amount of $2500.00 was awarded to support, expand, and update the robotics program at the elementary schools. With continued encouragement and support from the Pass Christian Rotary Club, the district has been able to expand the robotics team to include all eligible students in grade levels 4th-12th, in both general and gifted education. The Pass Christian Public School District Robotics Team has since taken home multiple awards at various local and state competitions including the Excellence, Design, Tournament Champions, and more. Ultimately, the VEX IQ elementary and VEX IQ & VRC middle school programs were recognized at the State
Championship by winning the Excellence Award, the highest award presented in the VEX Robotics competition. This award is presented to a team that exemplifies overall excellence in building a high-quality robotics program. The PCPSD teams that earned this award went on to compete in the VEX World Championship. One team won the Design award which is presented to a team that demonstrates an organized and professional approach to the design process, project and time management, and team organization.
With the generous support from the Pass Christian Rotary Club, not only was more innovative hardware and electronics purchased for the robotics program, but there was also a district-wide initiative, in concert with the Pass Christian Public School District’s beliefs and mission, to intentionally teach our students 21st century learning skills through the emphasis of STREAM (science, technology, reading, engineering, art, and mathematics) education for all via the district’s X-STREAM Learning Plan. As part of the X-STREAM
Learning Plan, every grade band has access to an instructional model that includes the importance of productive struggle and critical thinking through the use of collaborative and imagineering principles of design via robotics and makerspaces.
As a district, we have a belief that students excel when learning is a shared responsibility. Because a DeLisle Elementary School student was committed to that belief and acted upon it, a true school-
community partnership between the Pass Christian Public School District and the Pass Christian Rotary Club allows the district to prepare our Pirate Learners for careers that do not yet exist by ensuring that students leave the district as college and career ready learners with the ability to address real-world asymmetrical problems.
Mental health has become a top priority in the PGSD. “The increase in the number of students we are seeing who have indicated depression and harming themselves, especially at the elementary level, is alarming,” said Kristen Sims, Pascagoula-Gautier School District Positive Behavior Specialist and Whole Child Coordinator. “We have seen an increase in the number of mental health risk assessments we are doing with students who have indicated they are a danger to themselves -with the biggest trend at the elementary level. We’ve never seen this many at the elementary level - not to this extent. We’ve done more risk assessments at the elementary level than we have at the middle school level and that’s very alarming. We don’t want that number of children in distress.” COVID-19 has changed the world – especially for children. In the PGSD, children have been afraid of getting sick themselves and or have watched the people they love become sick and die. When job losses and the social aspects of isolation due to quarantine are factored in – all have negatively influenced the home environment. This world is in a constant state of stress, and human bodies,
especially young children, are not meant to stay in the heightened state of aggression with everyone irritable and on edge. The world is in a crisis mode, and COVID has aggravated that stress even more. “Our children are in a state of flight or fight. Our bodies are only meant to be stressed for a short amount of time so we can fight the stress or run away from it. Staying in crisis mode for an extended amount of time is terrible for the mind and body especially in young brains because trauma rewires their brains and makes them hyper-
sensitive to aggressive behavior,” Sims said. “Elementary children don’t have the skills to cope with all of the extra stress in their lives.” PGSD worked with community partner, Singing River Services, a mental health agency, and school guidance counselors to offer counseling for students. The district also has six Behavioral Specialists and six Behavioral Facilitators. They work with parents, giving them guidance and advice on how to help their children, digging deep to find the root of the distress in their lives. Newsletters go home to parents twice a month to teach them how to engage their children in positive conversations about their feelings focusing on relationship skills, responsibility and making good decisions. One of the most positive implementations has been the creation of social/emotional learning cards to help increase
students’ emotional intelligence and to teach them to self -regulate. The district partnered with Todd Trenchard with the Bacot-McCarty Foundation, Bobby Brasher with BXS Insurance, Tee McCovey, CEO of United Way for Jackson and George Counties, and Ryan Florreich with JBHM Architectural Firm, to present laminated cards to all students and help them identify with one of four zones – happy, sad, anger or frustration. On the flip side are coping strategies and words of affirmation to help students cope with their negative feelings. The cards are a simplified way of identifying a child’s feelings and how those feelings impact their behaviors. Behavior Specialists work with students to identify their feelings, get them comfortable with how they feel and help the children feel valid and safe. They work with students on how to develop appropriate coping skills by using positive affirmations. Teachers have been trained on how to deal
with these behavior situations, better equipping them with classroom management skills and attending to the emotional well-being of their students. Teachers have built one-on-one relationships with students and parents to keep the lines of communication open. All 556 teachers in the district made a video, telling the students how much they love them as a way to support them in every way they can. The mental well-being of all students must be addressed in order for learning to continue in the classroom.
Creating a pipeline of new workers will be integral to filling the workforce needs in Mississippi. The newly formed partnership between Entergy Mississippi, the State of Mississippi, and school
districts in Claiborne County and Vicksburg-Warren County was established to address a part of this issue.
The Energy Academy model has been implemented to meet the increased demand of quality workers in the utility field. In these school districts two energy academies have been developed
to encourage students in those areas to learn about and consider careers in the energy industry. Using the Vicksburg-Warren School District’s existing career academy model, the two districts are working with the Center for Energy Workforce Development and National Energy Education Development on an energy curriculum and national certificates that students can obtain before graduating high school.
Entergy Mississippi, and two state agencies; The Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Department of Employment Security have provided substantial support to the two
academies, which were successfully launched during the 2020 – 2021 academic year. Entergy’s and the Mississippi Development Authority’s support has been tremendous.
Entergy’s support has included special topic discussions that strengthen the curriculum, energy teacher workshops, and hands-on opportunities. The Mississippi Development Authority has facilitated specialized training workshops and other resources for teachers, provides support for the budget, as well as oversight of the annual budget.
]]>Like the entire world, Jackson Public Schools came to an abrupt halt in March 2020 with the announcement of COVID-19. Overnight, District administrators and educators worked to create at home learning opportunities for our scholars who were enrolled in 31 elementary schools, 10 middle schools, 7 high schools, and 4 specialty schools- (JPS-Tougaloo Early College Program, Capital City Alternative School, Wells Academic and Performing Arts Complex, and REAP). Fast forward to July 2021. We were shifting back to in person instruction. Aged buildings, mostly left dormant for much of the past 16 months, would be home again to over 20,000 scholars in less than 30 days.
How do we create a welcoming environment, not just for our scholars, but our teachers as well? After grappling with unprecedented challenges in addition to the isolation, illness, and unfortunate deaths, Partners in Education launched a community effort entitled "JPS Beautification Day: All Hands On Deck." Our goal was to create a welcoming, aesthetically pleasing environment at all 52 JPS sites to provide a visual of support, as well as to assist with classroom supplies in the midst of staff shortages and supply chain challenges, resulting in sparse and more expensive resources.
More than 975 volunteers provided 1,000’s of hours of service across the district to assist in three main areas:
(1) Helping teachers set up their classrooms
(2) Enhance school entrances, and
(3) Cleaning up school grounds.
Additionally, donations of plants and other landscaping supplies, paint and school supplies supported this initiative that is now a part of our annual Opening with Excellence process. While the actual day occurred on Friday, July 30th, many partners visited one of our 52 school sites throughout the month of July and into August to prepare for our scholars return to a traditional school setting.
]]>The Hattiesburg Public Schools (HPS) partnership with four dynamic, committed organizations and groups is entitled the “Tiger Partners”. Through the work of the “Tiger Partners” community partnership project, Hattiesburg Public Schools students, staff, and community have experienced great gains in academics, staff quality, and community engagement. Moreover, the support and actions of the “Tiger Partners” collaboration continue to support the mission of educating all students and the vision of becoming a model teaching and learning environment for the Hattiesburg Public Schools.
The “Tiger Partners” consist of the following four key collaborators: The City of Hattiesburg, University of Southern Mississippi, William Carey University, and Pearl River Community College. These strong
partnerships have proven beneficial in engaging students, staff, parents, and community members in the important work of educating our students to become responsible and successful individuals. The goal of the “Tiger Partners” group is to collectively through strategies, events, initiatives, activities, and practices systematically support increased student achievement and the district success of the students, teachers, and staff of Hattiesburg Public Schools.
The Hattiesburg High School Resource Project, “PAWSet”, was initiated during the fall semester of the 2021-2022 school year. The PAWSet Resource Room earned its name by combining HHS’s mascot (Tigers/Paws) with Closet. Following an on-campus transition-employment fair, a teacher realized that many of our students did not have appropriate clothing to attend job interviews. An incident occurred where a student approached a teacher requesting to borrow his pants to attend an interview. The student was wearing sweat pants and explained that he did not have access to appropriate pants. The student admitted he was wearing his nicest clothing—jogger pants—and worried he would not get the job in that attire. The teacher immediately agreed to loan his pants to the student for the interview and the assistant principal agreed to share his belt. Although the student had a desire to gain community employment, he did not have the resources to purchase the needed attire. According to research conducted by the Commonwealth
Institute (2014), findings suggest there are fewer opportunities and decreased educational outcomes for students with limited access to resources.
The teacher (Mr. Smith) shared his idea of providing the students of HHS with access to interview clothing. As a result of the teacher’s observation and discussion with colleagues, an increase in staff
awareness made it evident that student needs also included access to washers/washing service, basic hygiene items, and school uniforms. Further, upon review of school discipline and attendance records, it was noted that students were missing a significant amount of instruction due to disciplinary actions for. dress code violations. An additional aspect affecting student achievement included district-wide COVID protocols which limited off-campus vocational learning experiences for students with disabilities. The team developed a plan, the PAWSet, to meet both the resource needs of the students while creating a real life environment that simulated vocational learning experiences to teach students with disabilities valuable pre- employment skills.
The PAWSet team realized the plan to transform a classroom into a resource room for all students would require a large amount of materials and manpower. Although the initial set up would require supplies and volunteers, ongoing sustainability also had to be considered and planned for. A partnership was formed between Hattiesburg High School PAWSet team, Venture Church, Edwards Street Fellowship, and Hattiesburg Junior Auxiliary. Venture Church was eager to provide volunteers, building materials, personal
hygiene items, and labor/installation. Edwards Street Fellowship generously supplied all needed clothing for initial setup (school uniforms, interview clothing, shoes, etc...) as well as pledged to provide ongoing supplies to maintain sustainability. The Junior Auxiliary has provided monetary donations for warm clothing and coats.
Students, staff, and parents are able to make referrals and requests through an online, confidentiality- sensitive system. The online request is then sent to the PAWSet team members who escort the students to the resource center where they get to choose their own clothing, shoes and hygiene items. Students with disabilities who are enrolled in the prevocational class assist by setting up the resource room, conducting inventories, hanging clothing, sorting items, completing
care tickets, and laundering clothing.
The Class of 2021 Medical Science Academy set out to develop a community service project that could include the entire community of Florence, while also incorporating knowledge they had learned throughout their four years in the program. With a focus on fitness, nutrition, and getting the community active, students created “Get Fit Florence". Get Fit Florence was a student-led service project that challenged the city of Florence to walk and log 2021 miles over a one week time period. The students wanted as many members of the community to be involved as possible, so they began promoting the project on social media and looking for ways to include local businesses. The whole project was turned into a competition with a plan to award prizes to individuals and businesses who logged the most miles. The senior class students were responsible for all aspects of creating and implementing this project into the community. Students contacted local businesses and collected prizes that would be awarded. They also contacted all the faculty and staff of the two elementary schools, one middle school, and high school in our town. Flyers were created and passed out at local businesses. Social media posts were made and shared across multiple platforms regularly leading up to the week of the event. While social media was used to promote the event, it was also used to share nutritional information, recipes, and facts. During the planning, students formed the biggest partnership, with Performance Therapy Florence. This is a relatively new Physical Therapy clinic in our town, and they have been looking for ways to get involved in the community. They worked with us to create the 1st ever Florence Walking Club. They created social media accounts, had flyers and signs made, and promoted the club throughout our community. They set specific times to meet at our local park and walk as a group. After getting the club started, they helped us promote our event and made sure all their members logged miles through our online platform to help us reach our goal.
The week of logging miles threw the students a few curve balls. There were days where the weather was not ideal . However, the community rallied behind our students and worked to help reach the goal. Teachers at all schools took breaks from their classrooms and brought students outside to walk a few laps around the track. No matter the time of day, you could always ride by the local park and see people walking laps. As always, it came down to the very last day but in the end, the students were able to document 2028.9 miles with over 1000 entries logged into the online platform. The community support received was refreshing and the eagerness of people wanting to get out and exercise led to an additional project being created. With the high participation in the “Get Fit Florence” event and the creation of the new Florence Walking Club, the Medical Science Academy decided to team up again with Performance Therapy and plan a 5K in our town. It has been years since a 5K was held in the city limits of Florence, but we knew the willingness to participate was there. Performance Therapy took the reins and set the date for August 2021. They created this event as a fundraiser for our Medical Science Academy, as well as the brand-new Health Science Academy at McLaurin High School.
The August 2021 date gave us enough time to promote the event throughout our community. Once again, we worked on getting sponsorships for the race, but more importantly, we used social media for advertising and promoting the event. We only had 4 months to do this, and no one was experienced in putting on such a large event. With a lot of hard work from local businesses and our students, the event happened August 21, 2021. The goal was to have between 75 and 100 racers registered for this first event. On the day of, we ended up with 159 registered. Even though Performance Therapy put the race on, there were many groups involved in making it happen. The Florence High School Medical Science Academy and McLaurin High School Health Science Academy students worked to pass out water and direct traffic around the course. Tanner Wilson from Farm Bureau supplied all the water to be passed out at the end of the race. He even showed up the day of to pass it out himself. The staff from Performance Therapy and the Rankin County Junior Auxiliary worked the registration tables and passed out awards. While there were a lot of racers present that day, there were close to just as many community members there volunteering.
When the students created the “Get Fit Florence” event in the Spring of 2021, they anticipated that it would be a one-time thing and initially just wanted to reach their goal of 2021 miles to represent their graduating class. No one ever anticipated it turning into an even bigger event that will more than likely now be a recurring event each year. The students worked hard creating relationships with businesses around the community. They were able to improve on their networking skills, learn how to advertise on social media, and improve their community all while achieving a goal they set for themselves. The outcome of that event can still be seen around our community with the walking club and a date already set for the Spring 2022 for another race to be held.
]]>The GCE 1st Annual Career Carnival was a project that not only helped build student knowledge in the world of work but enabled students to see real individuals from within their community in career fields that they may one day be in themselves!
In preparation for the 1st Annual Career Carnival, stakeholders met on various occasions to determine needs, goals, and how each would contribute. Next, activities were planned out over a period of time that helped build students’ background knowledge. At the school level (school-wide), students received information and participated in activities across various career clusters to build their awareness and knowledge in those fields. Next, amazing personnel from Community Bank (including the Bank resident) brought “Bankers in the Classroom ”to GCE. This program raised students' awareness in the career of banking and the act of saving and spending. Then students gave input on what careers/jobs they would like to learn more about, what games they wanted to play, and what foods they would like to eat at the career carnival. Lastly, school personnel and the partners recruited teachers, parents, and community members to hold a booth or volunteer in some capacity at the event scheduled for March 10, 2020 at 6:00PM.
Working with First Presbyterian Church, Hardy Street Baptist, Community Bank, and the Grace Christian Elementary PTO was very beneficial. The partnership and completed project helped to bridge a gap between our school and local organizations, build college and career awareness and knowledge, expand students’ knowledge of earning, spending, and saving money, and gave students the opportunity to see people from their community in career fields that they learned of during the school year. The Grace Christian 1st Annual Career Carnival was received with positive enthusiasm as well as positive feedback from students, teachers, parents and community partners.
Community Partners:
Partner 1- First Presbyterian Church (Molly Blast), Partner 2- Hardy Street Baptist (Makenzie Pierce), Partner 3-Community Bank (Lennie Shilling & Clayton Rush), Partner 3-Grace Christian Elementary PTO (Michelle Shinall, Crystal Gholar), Partner 4- University of Southern Mississippi (Michelle McLeese and Moneisha Hilbert), Partner 5- Coca Cola of Hattiesburg ( James Coward).
Woodley has also had the distinction of partnering with The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal, and Forrest County for the past three years to provide literary enrichment for our extensive EL population. Each semester, The Library, along with Woodley’s EL Teacher, Samantha McSparrin, hosts the “Noche en la Biblioteca” event to encourage families within the community to become or remain engaged with the world around them through books and technology. This event also serves to educate families on all the services and events available to them.
These services include but are not limited to, Spanish copies for adults and children, library tours, refreshments, technology tours, and storytime schedules. Ms. McSparrin and the library work with families to ensure they are well informed and prepared to complete school projects throughout the year. This past year we were proud to begin a partnership with the Hattiesburg Youth Soccer Association. This partnership provided 15 scholarships and uniforms to our students, which allowed them to participate in local matches and tournaments. Being a part of the league helps to foster the feeling of belonging, develops skills required for cooperation and team building, while encouraging the students to be active and healthy. Each of these partnerships is instrumental for the success and overall well-being of the students who attend Woodley Elementary.
Community Partners:
Parkway Heights, The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County, Hattiesburg Youth Soccer Association
The Oktibbeha County Master Gardener Volunteers (OCMGV) and Sudduth Elementary School students and staff collaborate each year to provide opportunities for hands-on experience with nature and growing plants for a group of diverse Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade students at a consolidated public school. Many students are apartment dwellers with little chance of planting a seed or harvesting a food product. The Sudduth Elementary Exploration and Discovery (SEED) Garden is a place of discovery and exploration for students to experience on a very small scale the full process of planting a seed, watching as it grows, taking care of the plant as it produces a fruit or vegetable, and then harvesting that crop. Once the students have completed the harvest, there is an opportunity for the students to taste test what was grown.
Smells of garlic and herbs waft through the school as ooohhhhhhs, ahhhhhs, and “I’m not eating that” can be heard throughout the halls during the taste tests. Each academic year, twelve simple, entertaining lessons and 3 supplemental activities presenting basic facts about the living environment and how food is grown are taught by Master Gardener Volunteers. One Master Gardener, fondly known as “Garden Granny”, serves as coordinator between the school and other Master Gardener volunteers. Lessons are customized by season and scheduled according to the academic calendar and teachers' time preferences. Snacks that are provided are lesson specific, and children have the opportunity to taste some foods they have never eaten, or possibly even seen or heard of. Visual learning resources and plant examples supplement every lesson.
Community Partners:
Oktibbeha County Master Gardeners
The year 2020 was a year that changed the course of our world. The impacts of the pandemic affected so many people around the world, but especially the population of school-aged children. When COVID-19 began to impact our neighborhoods, schools, and families, we knew as an organization that we must act fast.
That’s why we created a plan to target the immediate needs of our students and communities to stand in the gap and provide resources to address their top priorities. We dedicated this year as The LHSNAA Response to the COVID 19 Pandemic, “Meeting the Need of our Community”.
Our vision for this year was to bridge the gap and push beyond our normal activities as an organization. We wanted to ensure that nothing would stand in the way of our scholars receiving a quality education even though it would look entirely different from what the students and families were accustomed to. Our partnership project focused on three priority levels: Virtual Learning, Food Insecurity, and Community Service.
The timeline for this specific project began as soon as the news broke that the pandemic would close down our schools. We knew how the closure of our schools could be challenging for our students and families. Resources such as Feeding America studies show that throughout the pandemic, Mississippi ranked the highest for food insecurity out of all the states with 22.6% of the population lacking proper nutrition during the pandemic. Our students would face many challenges to receive access to nutritious meals each day.
This was just one of the barriers that would stand in the way of students receiving an education. Our next priority was to address the technology needs for students to access their virtual classes. Lastly, we knew that our communities needed access to the proper resources in order to successfully navigate through a global pandemic. We used our network to create a plan to provide what our community needed.
We are an organization that is familiar to providing services to our community and acting as advocates for our students. The pandemic allowed us to utilize our skills more creatively, but we knew that we must be ready to serve when our students and families needed us the most. Together our organization planned and implemented our call to action “Meeting the Needs of our Community”.
Community Partners:
Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, University of Mississippi Medical Center (School of Nursing), Lanier High Teen Wellness Clinic, Weakley & Associates Accounting Firm(Houston, TX), Farish Street Community of SHALOM Religious Organization
In 2015, the Vicksburg Warren School District was looking to dramatically transform high school education to support its goal of graduating every student college, career and life prepared. The District, with the help of Ford Next Generation Learning, created the Vicksburg Warren College and Career Academies. A Master Plan to successfully transform both Vicksburg High School and Warren Central High School into wall-to-wall (all ninth through twelfth grade students participate) academies. More than 200 business and community leaders contributed to the writing of the plan. The plan (submitted as supporting documentation) outlined the following career academies which have been implemented at both high schools.
As the plan evolved, the VWCCA Workforce Engagement Council was formed (2017) to support ongoing community involvement in the schools. This vibrant council, made up of more than 50 active volunteers, has touched all VWSD high school students through their creation of guidelines and requirements for VWSD’s student exit strategies.
The four exit strategies, known as the 4 E’s, include Enrollment (in post-secondary education); Enlistment (in the military); Employment (with meaningful credentials earned in HS); and Entrepreneurship. The Workforce Engagement Council brought their industry expertise to the table and provided valuable insights to create activities and suggested requirements for high school students in each of these strategies so all students possess the skills they need upon graduation to be successful.
To support these exit strategies, the Council went a step further, organizing and leading activities such as teacher externships (see video), student internships and job shadowing, freshman speaker series, sophomore industry visits, senior mock interviews and more. They have also been a major force in the creation and promotion of the Academy Showcase. This event, held annually, allows high school students to present their academy projects and experiences for all eighth grade students so they can best choose their academy placement for the following year.
Input and involvement from this Council has drastically changed the focus and how students are prepared for graduation. They have helped to shift the focus to long-term success for our students and the community.
Community Partners:
Vicksburg Warren College Career Academies Workforce Engagement Council, Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce
The Neighbors @ Hawkins program has provided a full-time Program Coordinator to work at Hawkins Elementary School. This individual coordinates volunteer efforts and serves as a connection between the school and community partnership/agency.
Hands-On Hawkins is an addition organization within Ekklesia that encompasses individuals that work on projects throughout our school. Many of these projects help to revitalize and improve the appearance, atmosphere, and overall environment and the culture of the school for all.
St. Paul Methodist church is dedicated to helping the community through volunteerism, charity, relief, offerings, and philanthropy. St. Paul has advanced Hawkins Elementary School by bestowing gifts of change granted through the following contributions. St. Paul Methodist Church has been dedicated to the mission of supporting the following endeavors:
Community Partners:
Neighbors @ Hawkins (A partnership through Ekklesia Ministries), Hands-On Hawkins (A partnership through Ekklesia), Saint Paul Minustries
Due to the pandemic, many students are learning virtually. The team had to be creative when providing incentives for positive behavior for those virtual students. In an effort to address academic achievement, the team decided to begin by providing student backpacks as well as school supplies. The hope was that no child would be lacking a backpack or school supplies. Currently, 30-40 volunteers a year participate in the collection and organization of backpacks and school supplies. The volunteers work with the leadership to provide on-going support for purchasing student backpacks and supplies.
Incentives such as “Happy Meal” coupons were distributed to honor roll students with the goal of improving student achievement. These coupons were also distributed to virtual students who exhibit positive behavior. On a monthly basis, virtual students receive via mail, their coupons. The benefits of this school-based partnership for students include improving academic outcomes as well as promoting positive student behavior while exposing students to community resources. This partnership has created a more positive atmosphere at the school as well as assisted in building relationships between the school and the community. The outcomes produced through this partnership define the meaning of “every community behind every child”.
Community Partners:
Ron, Michelle, and Chad Williams, McDonald's Corporation
The Obama Magnet PTA wanted to do our part and, in June, we began conducting research on ways to support the school during this unprecedented time. It was quickly determined the following areas needed to be addressed: 1) the social, emotional, well-being and mental health of our students (and faculty/staff) during the pandemic 2) distance learning, including internet and device access (which would serve multiple purposes) 3) provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to faculty and staff (and students as well as their families, upon reopening) and 4) prepare for a possible reopening as early as January, 2021. The PTA reached out to the National PTA, local businesses, a foundation, and agencies for assistance.
The results have been tremendous! We received a $5,000 Covid-19 Relief Fund Grant from the National PTA. Through the initial $5,000 grant, 10 laptops were purchased through Office Depot, along with a storage cabinet and charging harness. By focusing on technology, we were able to provide equitable and uninterrupted service, as needed, addressing all 4 target service areas identified by the National PTA: 1) Social Emotional Well-Being and Mental Health 2) Distance Learning 3) Internet and Device Access - distribution of laptops and WiFi hotspots (provided by Jackson Public Schools) to families in need and to ensure effective communication. 4) Food Insecurity – by using the technology to identify food resources in the community.
We then applied for and received an additional $2,500 from the National PTA to address technical and logistical challenges that must be addressed as we attempt a hybrid-reopening, in mid-January. This funding is being applied to: 1) student headphones with noise reduction microphones that will be needed during hybrid Zoom sessions 2) classroom laptop surge protectors to be used as charging stations and 3) portable folding tables to reconfigure the school auditorium to serve as an alternative classroom site that allows for increased social distancing. Bowie Audio-Visual has also assisted by donating over 200 headphones and listening centers!
The Obama Magnet PTA also partnered with Mississippi Cares and MEMA to address the need for PPE. Mississippi Cares provided PPE to faculty and staff during the first semester. MEMA has provided over 600 adjustable and reusable cloth masks for all students and their families for the start of the second semester!
In anticipation of an increasing number of students that will return to the regular classroom as the second semester progresses, we have partnered with the Selby and Richard McRae Foundation to fund a $12,500+ renovation of our existing outdoor classroom. During this pandemic, a newly renovated outdoor classroom would provide an oasis for the promotion of physical, mental and emotional health of all of our students (and teachers). In light of the pandemic, it will allow for increased social distancing and plenty of fresh air! We anticipate renovations to be completed by mid-March, just in time for enjoyable spring weather! Our supporter, The Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, has also been invited to offer health and wellness activities in our new outdoor classroom. They are looking forward to the opportunity.
Community Partners:
National PTA, Mississippi Cares, MEMA, Bowie Audio-Visual, Selby and Richard McRae Foundation, Jackson Public Schools, Office Depot, Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, Obama Magnet PTA
N.R. Burger Middle School is a dynamic learning community that promotes college and career ready students who are prepared to succeed in a diverse, global society. More than ever, it has become evident that educators have to address students, parents, and families from a holistic approach. In doing so, it is vital that we solicit help from our community. Over the years, building strong partnerships with various organizations and members of our community has contributed to the overall success of our school and our school district. In March, when the initial onset of the coronavirus epidemic and national lockdown occurred, naturally, no one was prepared for the unknown. We had no way to predict what the world of education would become, and we definitely had no idea how to proceed in anticipation of the upcoming school year. In the midst of this global pandemic, this school year has looked completely different from any other school year.
Implementing a combination of virtual, hybrid, and traditional scheduling became our “new normal.” This new implementation required flexibility and adjustment for staff and students. Faced with the unfamiliar, the district’s educators have still been tasked with providing quality education, a safe environment, and positive incentives to our students. In the past at Burger, providing these safety nets and rewards has been a result of a collaboration between the school staff and our community partners. Through all the continual unexpected occurrences attached to COVID-19, we were uncertain about participation from our community partners. With social-distancing and mask mandates, we felt that our partners may have been quite apprehensive about supporting the efforts of our school this year. As a school staff, we have been determined to make this a great school year, regardless of the circumstances; however, at times, even we have been riddled with some feelings of insecurity. Therefore, we feared that our community partners may have shared the same feelings of ambiguity. Fortunately for us, this has not been the case. Many of our seasoned community partners, along with a few new ones, contacted us to inquire about the needs of the school and what they could do to assist the Burger team in our efforts.
This year, ”Partnering Through a Pandemic” has consisted of both individuals and members of organizations who have willingly volunteered their time and resources to the staff, students, and community of N. R. Burger Middle School. We have solicited their help in maintaining academic proficiency and social responsibility among our students. During crises, mental health and emotional issues tend to surge, and we have been well-aware that both staff and students will have some challenges in trying to cope with the conditions of the pandemic. Finding ways to, proactively, support the social-emotional needs of our Burger family and attempting to provide them with a good sense of well-being quickly became a priority. Continued focus on our Positive Behavior Incentive System (PBIS) has become even more vital this particular school year. At N. R. Burger, the system is designed to promote and encourage positive trends in academics, behavior, and attendance. We have depended, heavily, on the PBIS system to encourage student attendance, whether it be in-person or virtual, and to place emphasis on strong academic performance.
Our community partners’ human capacity and financial donations have aided in supporting our efforts to achieve the following:
1) Academic Proficiency Through Focus on Attendance - maintain the number of students who are meeting and/or exceeding academic expectations
2.) Social Responsibility With Focus on Social Emotional Well-Being - maintain good attendance-average daily attendance (ADA) among students; maintain appropriate behavior demonstrated by students and promote care to address social and emotional well-being for students and staff (decrease office referrals)
Community Partners:
Sharon Brinson, Jani-King; Jermaine Brown, Kappa Alpha Psi; Chris Dunkley, Hattiesburg Coca-Cola Bottling Company; Adina Green; Robert Johnson, Real Life Church; Mark McLain, Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, Junior Shows, Play It Again Sports; Mrs. Deborah Williams, House of the Lord Baptist Church; Joann Wynn, Rare Edition, Corner Market, Dick's Sporting Goods, Target, Wal-Mart, and Winn-Dixie
The forced closures of public schools resulted in an unprecedented disruption in K-12 education. That, however, did not stop the students of Gulfport School District from having access to quality educational materials and instruction. Superintendent Glen East called for and orchestrated the distribution of such materials by reminding the district faculty and staff, “...we must continue to plan and prepare to respond in the best interest of our students and our employees.” While access to certain materials such as workbooks would be easy enough, providing access to valuable virtual instruction would create more of a challenge due to a lack of internet access in many homes. Providing equitable access to instruction and educational opportunities did not stop the Gulfport School District.
So how then would all students have such access when not all students have Internet service? The answer to that question came from the partnership between WLOX and Gulfport School District. WLOX, an affiliate of ABC and CBS, is a local television station. Its subchannel Bounce TV is available free over the air. WLOX agreed to broadcast two-hour, daily segments of educational videos created and produced by Gulfport School District on the Bounce TV. Stakeholders from every facet of the students’ educational journeys contributed to the video collection including teachers, administrators, community members, parents, students, and neighboring school districts even joined in by sending teacher created videos.
The Instructional Programs staff communicated with all stakeholders and organized the creation and collection of instructional videos from a tremendous number of volunteers within the school district and from neighboring school districts such as Biloxi School District and Harrison County School District. The Instructional Program’s Department and Gulfport High School’s teachers from the Television Production and Broadcast Journalism Department worked closely together to produce, edit, and publish educational videos from March throughout the summer until students returned to campus. The videos aired on BOUNCE TV and were then housed on the WLOX website for additional viewing. Some of the videos are still available at
https://www.wlox.com/2020/04/08/mississippi-education-series-school-home-learning/
and on Gulfport School District's Youtube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_3QMKC5eEUrpBD_Sy3oJRA/playlists
The activities, resources, and lessons in the video collection were all aligned to the same standards the students would have been working on if they were able to attend school in the traditional classroom setting. The partnership between Gulfport School District and WLOX gave access to all students across the coastal area and in various other parts of the state such as Meridian and Hattiesburg, regardless of the digital disparities. Rick Williams, WLOX general manager, stated, “WLOX feels an obligation to leverage its resources to help school districts and parents in the extra-ordinary times.”
Community Partners:
Gulfport School District, WLOX-TV Station
To meet the social and emotional needs of our families, Partners in Education, in partnership with our office of Child Nutrition, created the JPS Food Distribution Plan. Another factor in providing support was an issue of food safety. In an effort to avoid a potential spread of COVID-19, it was imperative of us to locate a food vendor to safely contribute to this initiative. After an intense search for a food distributor, Footprint Farms was selected due to their ability to grow, harvest, package and deliver the fresh produce with consistent staff members.
Three distinct programs were developed as a part of JPS Food Distribution Plan to offer nutritional support to our scholars and their families. Dinner meals and produce distributions were offered March 26-May 21, 2020. As a result of generous donations from our community partners, which totaled over $118,000, we provided more than 32,000 pounds of fresh, locally grown produce and over 18,000 nutritious dinner meals to our scholars and their families during extended school closures as a result of COVID-19. Members of the MS Food Corps provided site supervisors at each location for the entire 11- week distribution. Their expertise was instrumental in a smooth operation.
These distributions were offered at Bates Elementary (South Jackson), Galloway Elementary (Central Jackson) and Chastain Middle School (North Jackson) to ensure equitable access to Jackson Public School District families. These distributions were made possible by donations 42 community organizations and/or individuals. Additionally, 111 volunteers and roughly 75 JPS employees assisted with preparing, packing and distributing meals and traffic control, across the three school sites.
In addition to our weekly distribution of dinner meals and produce packages, Atmos Energy donated $9,200 to the MS Food Network for JPS children to receive 1,200 bags of supplemental nutritious and easy-to-prepare foods over the weekends. On Saturday, March 21, the Mississippi Food Network distributed 400 family food boxes with shelf-stable pantry items, and fresh and frozen foods at Peeples Middle School. These boxes provided a family of 4–5 with enough supplemental meals to last for several days. This donation was valued at $7,200.
Donations received to fund these three components of the JPS Food Distribution Plan totaled $134,400.
Community Partners:
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Lambda Chapter
Atmos Energy
Atty. Carlyn Hicks
Capital Area Sunset Rotary Club
Central MS Hub for volunteers and Non-Profits
Century First Federal Credit Union
Christ United Methodist Church
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
DSC Workforce Development Corporation
Eagle Express Federal Credit Union
Eaton Aerospace
First Presbyterian Church
Fondren Presbyterian
Jackson Area Federal Credit Union
Jackson Foodies
Junior League of Jackson
Lanier High School Alumni Association
Lawrence and Stephanie Morrisey
Loraine Bishop
Magnolia Federal Credit Union
Members Exchange Credit Union
Mississippi DHS Federal Credit Union
Mississippi Federal Credit Union
Mount Charity MB Church
Mount Nebo Baptist Church
MS Food Corps
MS Food Network
Operation Shoestring
Phi Beta Sigma, Mu Beta Chapter
Rivertrust Federal Credit Union
Rotary Club of Jackson Mississippi
Steven James Insurance Agency
Systems Company Teams
Trustmark National Bank
United Way of the Capital Area
Word of Life Church
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Alpha Delta Zeta Chapter
Community Partner:
Meridian Community College
Community Partners
Lamar, Ocean Springs, Moss Point, Vicksburg, Jackson Public, Winona, and Meridian School Districts.
]]>Building a bridge between K-12 students and the global workforce is a priority in the Pascagoula-Gautier School District (PGSD). It has become a constant reminder in all 19 of our schools, in the hallways and in all 675 classrooms. Beginning in 2015, the PGSD partnered with the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and three other school districts to hold a series of Business/Education Breakfast Summit meetings to discuss the skillset needed for students to transition successfully into the workforce.
After speaking with CEOs of local business and industry, educators were dismayed to find their students were lacking necessary skills – work ethic, punctuality, dressing well and interpersonal skills, (just to name a few), - traits industry leaders said they were seeking in prospective employees. To bridge that gap, the PGSD began a number of initiatives – Dress for Success Days for elementary and secondary students, Career Fairs, which brought in a number of professionals to speak to children about their chosen field, and The Path That Pays, a collaboration between the local Chamber and all four school districts for 7th-12th grade students and their parents after-hours which provided an opportunity for families to speak with a number of professionals who had found their passion in life. Jackson County became a National ACT WorkKeys Community which revealed if they had the skills necessary for a career path. Because of the PGSD’s formation of Career Pathways for secondary students in helping them find their passion in life at an earlier age, the district wanted solid data to form a rubric that students could follow so they could understand the character traits needed to help them obtain a successful career.
Supt. Wayne Rodolfich put together a small team of people to personally interview 100 business and industry leaders about the qualities they were seeking in prospective employees. The district sought the input from the Superintendent’s 60-member Student Advisory, who read the interviews and compiled the character traits. The interviews were compiled into a booklet in 2020 and given to Jackson County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Paige Roberts, who has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern California. Roberts assessed the interviews, did an item analysis on the skillsets mentioned in each interview, and provided her findings in a rubric, ranking the character traits based on how many times a trait was mentioned in the interviews.
COVID-19 delayed work on the initiative, but in the fall of the 2020-2021 school year, the PGSD interview committee discussed the best way to share the information with all students and designed a huge poster, a silhouette of a professional with the skills listed in both English and Spanish, that hangs in the hallways at all 19 schools in the district. Smaller 11 x 17 posters were also produced in English and Spanish as a way for teachers to have candid conversations with students in each class. As an additional way to reach all students, the PGSD committee did a second set of interviews – with 1990-2013 alumni who graduated from the PGSD.
As the pandemic continued, interviews were done via phone to socially distance. Alumni from all walks of life, from lawyers and doctors to tug boat captains and welders across the nation and beyond, shared advice they would give high school students – advice they wished they would have known before going out into the world. Because of the young age of these alumni, high school students can better relate to the words of wisdom from these alumni. To better help students find their passion in life, the district has also implemented internships with business and industry so high school students can receive hands-on experience in a number of fields including the health industry, shipbuilding, food services and banking. Scholarships, jobs, certifications, college tuition and managerial positions are available to students participating in these internships.
Community Partners
Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, Singing River Health System, Ingalls Shipbuilding, Chevron, Singing River Federal Credit Union, United Way of Jackson and George Counties, McDonalds.
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