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PPS of Starkville, Mississippi
The second PPS chapter to form, PPS of Starkville, Mississippi, was born out of concern with the continuous flow of families leaving the local public schools. Like many towns in the south, private academies had opened when the public schools integrated in the early seventies. Founding members of the chapter knew that the public schools of Starkville had much more to offer educationally than the other school choices in the area, but the district wasn't publicizing its programs. Also, these founders felt strongly that children of all races, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds needed to grow up knowing each other and working together.
PPS of Starkville launched itself as a public school promotional organization recruiting families to enroll their children in public schools. The group began an effective newspaper advertising campaign featuring testimonials from a diverse selection of local public school families highlighting a variety of reasons they choose the public schools. PPS began offering parent-led school tours to the city’s newcomers, and these were so successful that the district now runs this project using PPS and non-PPS parents.
In 2006, the chapter decided to take a new approach to recruiting young children to their school district. To let parents new to the district know more about what makes the public schools unique to their community, PPS and the Starkville School District sponsored a field trip for rising kindergarteners and their families to a nearby national wildlife refuge where the school district’s state-of-the-art education center is located. PPS also used a PPS National Ad featuring native Mississippian Morgan Freeman to help promote their public schools, running it on local cable television, concentrating on channels popular with children and their families.
District administrators and the school board see PPS as an ally and are open to working with PPS to address major concerns of local parents. PPS conducted a survey that brought to light several academic and safety concerns that were shared with administrators and the school board. Solutions have been implemented. The chapter continues to be instrumental in informing their community with statewide efforts to help combat additional cuts to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program and was a public proponent for a local tax millage increase to help offset the decrease of funds received from the State.
PPS has helped to financially support Starkville High School’s participation in the Scholastic Arts competition, which has gained national recognition for the high school. To further promote the Arts, PPS of Starkville hosted an annual citywide event known as the Celebration of the Arts. The event, held at a local bed and breakfast hotel, featured performances and visual art by public school students and an auction of art by local and regional artists. For 10+ years this event not only raised money for PPS, but also offered an opportunity to showcase the wonderful talent that is nurtured in the public schools of Starkville. The chapter also helped fund a science lab at the 3rd grade school, benefiting students for many years in the future.
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