Milam Student Council sponsored a Canned Food Drive for the Sanctuary Hospice House, an inpatient hospice facility where care is given to the dying and their families, the week prior to getting out for Thanksgiving November 12- November 16.
Each home room set goals and many of them exceeded their goals. A total of 1,094 cans was collected and were delivered on Tuesday, November 20.
Here’s news from Nancy Loome, executive director of The Parents’ Campaign:
Dear Ginny,
I’m sure you are aware of Mississippi’s college savings program, MPACT, which is overseen by the State Treasurer’s Office. The State Treasury has asked The Parents’ Campaign to let our members know that this year’s deadline to enroll in the MPACT program has been extended to December 31, 2007.
The State of Mississippi offers two ways to save for your child’s college education: the MPACT prepaid tuition plan and the MACS investment plan. You can find additional information on these programs and enroll in the program of your choice at www.CollegeSavingsMississippi.com or by calling 1-800-987-4450.
With college tuition costs on the rise, these plans provide an excellent way to invest in a child’s future. As always, I am grateful to you for many the ways you are working to brighten the futures of Mississippi kids!
Many thanks,
Nancy
Cathy Gault, Public Education Officer for the Tupelo Fire Department, sent these photos from the recent Fire Safety Field Day at Church Street Elementary. You also can read my Daily Journal story about the event here. Thanks for the pictures, Cathy!
The Tupelo Public School District has eight new National Board Certified Teachers. Congratulations to Kim Chambers, Carver Elementary; Amy McCain, Church Street Elementary; Anita Buchanan, Early Childhood Education Center; Melissa Harris, Lawndale Elementary; Laurie Alford, Rankin Elementary; and Dana Boozer, Lindy Graham and Yolanda Randle, Tupelo Middle. Read more about it in tomorrow’s Daily Journal.
Around NeMiss, public school students will enjoy Thanksgiving break the week of Nov. 19-23. During the days leading up to their vacation, children participated in a variety of holiday activities. Dressed as Native Americans and pilgrims, second-graders at Church Street Elementary in Tupelo re-enacted the first Thanksgiving and kindergartners had a powwow. Students at Tupelo’s Early Childhood Education Center invited their parents for a feast, and children at Parkway Elementary presented a program called “A Time to Give Thanks.” In the New Albany School District, 1,500 family members, students and teachers celebrated at a Thanksgiving feast on Thursday. Thanks to Church Street mom Kathy Tucker and Kim Day of New Albany Schools for these photos, which I hope you will enjoy as much as the turkey and dressing on your Thanksgiving plate!
From Nancy Loome, executive director of The Parents’ Campaign:
Dear Ginny,
The Parents’ Campaign members spoke with a resounding voice on Tuesday and changed the landscape of the Mississippi Senate. As you know, the Senate has in recent years been the downfall of adequate education funding. No longer! The 2008 Senate will be much more reflective of the general population’s bipartisan support for consistent, full funding of public schools and real education reform.
Thirteen Senate districts saw incumbents who retired or were defeated. Of those, 10 of the senators who were replaced had consistently voted against fully funding education in non-election years, and in all 13 races the challengers ran on education platforms.
Additionally, Lieutenant Governor-elect Phil Bryant, current House Speaker Billy McCoy, and over 40 legislators have already pledged to support the Mississippi State Board of Education’s Quality Education Act of 2008, a comprehensive, no-holds-barred approach to serious education reform. Of course, passage of this critical legislative package will require our total effort. We will be in touch about this as the session draws closer.
Mississippi parents have spoken out in favor of leaders who demand excellence in our public schools. Your votes made it clear that you have high expectations for our elected officials and that you will hold them accountable for their votes. Legislators have for years called for accountability measures for schools and teachers, and rightly so. Accountability is a good thing. It’s good for schools, and it’s good for legislators!
Mississippi parents on November 6 th held legislators accountable for their votes and sent a clear mandate. Better education means a better Mississippi and better lives for Mississippi children. Anything less is unacceptable. Accountability on all levels - in schools and in the Legislature - will reap benefits for Mississippi children for years to come and will move our state toward a brighter future. You took an important step in that direction on Tuesday. Congratulations!
Many, many thanks,
Nancy
Nancy Loome
Executive Director
The Parents’ Campaign
800 N. President Street, Suite B
Jackson, Mississippi 39202-2560
601.961.4551 office
601.672.0953 mobile
601.961.4552 fax
<http://www.msparentscampaign.org/>
Just got this from teacher Katie Pannell:
Joyner Elementary School recently celebrated Fantastic Fall Festivities. Square dancing, “corny” joke telling and much more were part of the day’s celebration. Along with dancing themselves, kindergarten through third-grade students enjoyed having their family and friends take part in the activities.
An election reminder from Nancy Loome, executive director of The Parents’ Campaign:
Dear Ginny,
Tomorrow is an important day for Mississippi’s school children. The voters of our state will choose the leaders who will determine the direction of our state, and our public schools, for the next four years. Thousands of our children will graduate before we have another opportunity to elect state officials; thousands more will enter school as kindergartners and complete those all-important k-3 years during which the foundation for all other learning is laid.
Our kids can’t wait four more years for us to elect leaders who are committed to providing them an excellent education. Tomorrow is the day, and we have an obligation to our kids to make our votes count for them.
I am encouraged by the hundreds of emails I have received that indicate the seriousness with which members of The Parents’ Campaign are considering their votes in this election. Some, however, have expressed confusion about what to believe when opposing candidates contradict one another on an incumbent’s prior support for education.
The Parents’ Campaign has posted legislators’ votes on education funding on our website at www.msparentscampaign.org. Because most of the confusion has centered on votes in the State Senate in 2004 and 2005, we have included additional information about these votes. By clicking on the “additional information” links on the votes page, you can see, to the dollar, what legislators voted for and what they voted against.
Please also take a moment to check your candidates’ positions on the education reform package being proposed by the Mississippi State Board of Education, the Quality Education Act of 2008. Those are posted at http://www.msparentscampaign.org/mx/hm.asp?id=Legislators.
Most importantly, be sure to vote. It is an important step toward better schools and a brighter future!
Gratefully,
Nancy
Rankin Kindergarten students learn about changes in their environment and pumpkins!!
At the end of September, the kindergarten classes at Rankin Elementary began a unit on Changes. In this unit the children noticed how the weather affects the world around them. Through this unit they also discussed the differences in night and day how and why we should respect our environment and the things we receive from it.
We discussed how pumpkins are grown from the seed to a “ready to pick and eat” stage (sequencing the growth). We believe that providing these children with this opportunity will give them a personal experience that they will be able to tell others about and write about on their own. As the culminating event, students were involved with older students in other classrooms as they worked together to design/decorate their own pumpkin. Also, the students visited the Great Pumpkin Patch in Blue Mountain at the end of October. We knew they would fall in love with learning even more about pumpkins and their own environment.
Sherry Rial, PE teacher at Thomas Street Elementary, was kind enough to invite the Daily Journal to today’s schoolwide barn dance. Traditionally a third-grade soiree, the activity was expanded this year to include “underclassmen” at the K-3 school. Rial and music teacher Brenda Gilbert worked hard to teach boys and girls - depending on grade level - dances like the bunny hop, the hokey pokey, the Virginia reel and even the cha cha slide. I’m hoping to have some pictures posted here soon, but be sure to read all about it in Saturday’s Daily Journal.
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