Just a little over a week ago on July 10, The Natchez Democrat’s editorial board published a column on investing in our public schools. The board stated, “We believe firmly that a strong investment in the quality of our public education system will eventually reap a continuing crop of better, more peacefully minded graduates who will build up the community rather than tear it down. That effort will take the entire community’s involvement.”

This statement foreshadowed my invitation to the community. Every small and big business, civic organization, faith-based entity and individual is invited to the Natchez Convention Center on Monday, Aug. 1, at 6:00 p.m. to hear how you can be a part of a revamped Partners in Education (PIE) program. We thank the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce for agreeing to serve as sponsor of this info session.

PIE never went away; it functioned on a smaller scale. Now, we are making it bigger and better to offer a mutual benefit to our partners and schools. Thank you very much to every partner that served over the years, and we want you back. This year’s Partners in Education program and the years to come will be an opportunity to inspire, innovate and improve our schools and students.

Truly, this is a plea, a call to help for our students who long for a complete support system. A complete support system appears as one that features parents, schools (all employees) and the community working together with students at center as the object of best interest. Placing The Democrat’s column in context, violence and teacher recruitment are of grave concern to our district. Fortunately, our students who might resort to violence are of a very small number among the over 3,500 students enrolled who seek a quality education. Through PIE and other programs, we aim to take that small number to zero and graduate at 100 percent. No matter the circumstances surrounding a student, a need for support is the common denominator.

There are many ways to support a student. Mentors, resources, speakers, tutors, internship opportunities, and the list continue without end. We are at a juncture in NASD. We need you like never before. In light of the recent “D” rating, in light of the violence in Natchez and beyond, in light of the state education underfunding, we need you. I like to ask the question, “Where do you fit?” Find your place in our district. I guarantee that there is a place for you to support our students, which in turn supports our teachers as they work through some challenges beyond their control.

Late activist Cesar Chavez once stated, “We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community … Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.”

If our students progress, our community progresses. Our ambitions for this community are to make it safe and business-friendly with a competitive workforce. Our students aspire to be great professionals and contribute to this community’s future, but they need support to help get them to that point. Let us help them reach their dreams, and then our dream community appears.

Our district believes in our motto, “Great Students, Great Schools, Great Community.” If somehow one cannot find a great student in in our district, a great school in our district, or declare a great community in which we work, live and play, then consider me speaking it into existence with faith. We must believe that “great” is possible, and we must be willing as a community to make “great” happen.

Our students are in need of even more committed guides to progress, individuals determined not to leave our students by the wayside to figure out how to survive and succeed alone. Unfortunately, this is when violence becomes an option. The student loses hope. There is no support.

But there is hope when someone from the community comes in and mixes up a student’s day with a speech or tutoring or the like. This visit offers that student support, a jolt that expands his or her thinking about career and college options and even causes a belief that graduation can happen just because they heard it from someone other than their teacher, principal or parent. Confirmation, one might call it.

We may see the speed of progress differently, but we all want a better community; let us make it happen together. Some students, if not most, move off for school and remain away to contribute their knowledge and skills to other communities. However, having a complete support system in place might give those students pause on remaining away. Students might feel more incline to return and contribute in more ways than one, including building up the community that supported their K-12 matriculation. Recruitment of new teachers even might become a little easier if prospective teachers see a “strong investment” from the community.

With our district working under a “no excuses” approach in the 2016-17 school year, we will offer our students more with a refined curriculum, a refined approach to student instruction, and now, a refined Partners in Education with your support. There are many entities and individuals throughout the Miss-Lou area (and beyond) positioned with optimal human and material resources to help meet the needs of our students. We invite all to the table for a year like none other, and at year’s end, we can look back and see what a big difference the “entire community’s involvement” made for our public schools.

If you are unable to attend the info session but would like to partner, you can stop by my office at 10 Homochitto Street, call me at 601-445-2843 or email me at srichardson@natchez.k12.ms.us.

 

Steven Richardson is the public relations coordinator for the Natchez-Adams School District.