A group from the Mississippi Board of Education visited the MSMS campus on Aug. 13, including a three-member subcommittee established in the last year to study the school’s needs.
The visitors consisted of Chief Academic Officer Wendy Clemons, State Superintendent of Education Dr. Lance Evans, Associate State Superintendent Bryan Marshall and other members from the state board. This is one of the annual visits conducted by the state board to state schools, including the Mississippi School of the Arts and the Mississippi Schools for the Deaf and Blind.
The committee arrived at 10 a.m. to a meet-and-greet in Hooper Lobby composed of students from a cross section of leadership positions around MSMS. A presentation in Hooper Auditorium briefed the board members about the changes implemented on campus with the investment the state made last session: repainting the residence halls and constructing a patio outside of Hooper, as well as lighting and bathroom projects.
(Rebecca Sun)
“We’re very proud of them,” MSMS Executive Director Ginger Tedder said. “We’ve worked hard to try to make a difference in the student experience, and I think it shows.”
Tedder said the school has implemented many aesthetic changes to make sure facilities appear clean and presentable, but added that this does not negate the reality that there are old mechanical systems, plumbing and electrical infrastructure — all the things involved in buildings this size. Tedder covered these challenges in her presentation, along with curriculum innovations.
A student panel composed of seniors Aanya Banga, Izzy Cecil, Anderson Chaney, Margaret Parker and Althea Wells followed. The panelists were provided mock questions to consider two weeks prior to the visit, though Tedder said MSMS put no guardrails on what could be said.
“We encouraged them to think about their experience at MSMS — what has been positive, areas that we could grow and why they came to MSMS,” Tedder said.
The guests toured the campus for approximately one hour before stopping for lunch at the Hogarth Dining Hall with a group of Emissaries. Emissary Sasha Harvey, who ate with the board members, said the meeting was a helpful endeavor as it’s difficult to make decisions about a population without meeting them or understanding where they’re coming from.
“Having a human-to-human connection where they talk to us and interact with us is good because … they’re not just looking at numbers,” Harvey said. “Hopefully they will account [for] our actions and … what they saw while they were here into whatever decision they come to about the school and its future.”
The visit comes amid deliberations about the future of MSMS, which will either stay on its Mississippi University for Women campus or join the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District on the campus of Mississippi State University.
MSMS Director for Academic Affairs Thomas Easterling said the committee will decide how much their evaluation impacts any potential move.
“The decision that gets made about whether we stay or go is not a decision that gets made in Columbus,” Easterling said.
Editor’s Note: Student Life Editor Mirae Nishikawa and Graphics Editor Rebecca Sun contributed to this article.
