The first of five reading rallies presented by the McComb School District will be 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Burglund community.
The rally is part of the district’s “Ask Me Why ... Education is Important,” which drives home the school system’s message that education is a community affair.
A reading rally was one of several ideas that sprang from meetings school superintendent Therese Palmer-tree had with five local pastors to enlist their help in getting the local community involved in the public school system.
In August, Palmertree met with pastors Gregory Partman of Walker’s Chapel Free Will Baptist Church, Dwight Martin of 24th Street Church of Christ, Robert Vick of Summit Baptist Church, Robert McCall of Society Hill Baptist Church and Hilton Harrell of Pleasant Grove East McComb Baptist Church.
Among the topics were the dropout rate in the school district and the new school configuration that transformed Kennedy Elementary School into to an early childhood center.
Palmertree said the district’s efforts to reach higher levels of academic achievement are paying off, as measured by the Mississippi Accountability Model, which showed marked improvement.
“We are back on track, and the McComb School District is resuming its efforts to engage our community in educating our children,” Palmertree said. “A community’s success is dependent upon the success of the school district. If the school district fails, the community fails.”
And the pastors agreed.
During the meeting, McCall told Palmertree, “I prayed about this meeting. I asked God to let whatever he wanted us to do to be spoken from your mouth as superintendent. We need a common goal as pastors in our community.”
When asked how to empower parents and the community at-large to get involved, Partman said, “We need to rally for education, organize a grassroots effort, which allows all stakeholders to participate.”
Palmertree said one goal of the rallies is to reiterate the fact that reading to children just 20 minutes each day can have a huge impact on their success in school.
The kick-off rally begins Saturday in the 700 block of Summit Street at the blues marker. Its theme is “opportunities to serve,” which is one of the five promises adopted by the school district. The day begins with an “alphabet parade” and includes student presentations, free refreshments and prizes.
Other planned rallies and their themes are Oct. 23 in Algiers, “offering a safe place”; Nov. 6 in Baertown, “caring adults”; Nov. 20 in Summit, “effective education” and Dec. 4 in East McComb, “healthy start.”
McComb schools kicked off the “Why Education?” campaign in 2008, and with the help of community members, agreed that education has a four-fold purpose: to increase economic opportunity, create a culture that values education, encourage personal fulfillment and unite and empower communities.
For information on how to get involved in the reading rallies or help in other ways with the district’s goals, call the central office at 684-4661.
