MAPE unveils winning school partnerships

by Wally Northway

Published: March 23,2010

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — The Mississippi Association of Partners in Education (MAPE) will recognize Mississippi’s top school-community partnerships at the 25^th annual MAPE State Conference April 8 at the Hilton of Jackson.

Governor’s Awards recipients are:

• Jackson — Watkins Elementary School Playground Project, Rowan Middle School “I Too Can Fly” program, Wingfield High School and Entergy Mississippi Inc. and Jackson Public Schools’ Transformation Jackson Shine ’09

• Moss Point — Moss Point School District and Moss Point Visionary Circle Inc.

• Pascagoula — Pascagoula School District‘s Family Interactive Center

The Partnership Excellence Award winners are:

• Jackson — George Elementary School and Fondren Presbyterian Church, Colonial Heights Baptist Church, Hinds County Sheriff’s Department and Battlefield Neighborhood Association, Jackson Public Schools’ Developing Community Partnerships initiative

• Tupelo — Thomas Street Elementary and Mississippi Department of Transportation

“These partnerships focus on specific areas where Mississippi schools need to improve, such as performance in math and science, more parental involvement and programs that emphasize health and physical education,” said Cheryl Comans of Entergy Mississippi, president of MAPE. “Partnership support is even more vital now as schools face serious budget cuts that could strip away many innovative programs. Strong partnerships help schools set and achieve more ambitious goals that benefit students, teachers and communities.”

The Governor’s Award selection committee, comprising representatives from business/industry, nonprofits and education, judged each entry using a uniform set of criteria to measure overall effectiveness of partnership activities.