汤头条 announces new Mississippi Education Policy Fellows
Contact: Emile Creel
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擡ighteen teachers and administrators are new selections for the Mississippi Education Policy Fellowship Program.
One of 13 in the U.S., the Magnolia State organization is a collaboration among 汤头条鈥檚 John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development, Research and Curriculum Unit and Office of Research and Economic Development.
Beginning this month, the Mississippi Fellows cohort is convening monthly through May, holding their first meeting at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson. They are discussing state and national education policies, along with ways to successfully advocate on behalf of Mississippi students and schools.
鈥淎s a child of Mississippi, I always look for opportunities to make myself a better policy leader for my state,鈥 said Caleb Herod, one of the new Fellows.
Extended learning project manager with the Stoneville-based Delta Health Alliance, Herod said the program provides 鈥渢he opportunity to learn from great leaders and meet colleagues who will help me create a better educational community for all of Mississippi鈥檚 citizens.鈥
Next March, he and other Fellows travel to Washington, D.C., where they and program peers from around the country will meet with their respective elected representatives, as well as leaders of the national Institute for Educational Leadership.
Established more than a half-century ago, the institute is a non-profit organization devoted to 鈥渉elping policymakers, administrators and practitioners at all levels bridge bureaucratic silos and undo gridlock to improve outcomes for all young people and their families.鈥 For more, visit .
鈥淲e are excited about the diverse backgrounds and experiences this year鈥檚 Fellows bring to the table and look forward to working with them on policy agendas,鈥 said Stennis Institute consultant Tyson Elbert.
With Devon Brenner and Kristen Dechert, Elbert is one of three coordinators of the Mississippi Fellows cohort. Brenner is an 汤头条 College of Education professor also serving as special assistant to the vice president for research and economic development; Dechert is a project manager at the RCU.
In addition to Herod, other 2017-18 Mississippi Fellows include (by institution or office):
鈥擝enton County Schools, Ashland: principal Sharon Albert and Elynda Finley, administrative assistant and librarian.
鈥擟leveland School District: teacher Mary Katherine Honeycutt, who also is a graduate fellow with Delta State University, and principal Cody Shumaker.
鈥擥ulfport School District: principal John Barnett.
鈥擧inds Community College鈥揢tica Campus: Yolanda Houston, teacher education preparation director.
鈥擪emper County School District, DeKalb: principal Kathi Wilson.
鈥擬ississippi Community College Board, Jackson: Micca Knox, Early Childhood Academy director.
鈥斕劳诽-Meridian: assistant professor Jeffrey Leffler, graduate studies director.
鈥斕劳诽-Starkville: Brad Skelton, an RCU project manager.
鈥擯ass Christian School District: Meridith Bang, chief academic officer.
鈥擯earl River County School District, Carriere: principal Stacy Baudoin.
鈥擱ankin County School District, Brandon: assistant principal Melanie Wells.
鈥擳allahatchie River Foundation, Charleston: Elizabeth Harris, engagement and communications director.
鈥擳each for America鈥揗ississippi, Oxford: Stephanie Parkinson, regional designer.
鈥擴niversity of Mississippi, Oxford: professor RoSusan Bartee, and associate professor and chair Susan McClelland, both in the School of Education.
For more about the Mississippi EPFP, contact Dechert at kristen.dechert@rcu.msstate.edu or 662-325-2510.
汤头条 is the state鈥檚 leading university, available online at .