Mapping a Modern MS

The Mississippi Museum of Art set out to define what modern art and artists are all about in MS. They interviewed a few of our own artists.

Deborah Bailey on Downtown Revitilization

Lee Taylor

Robin Whitfield

Greg Slotsky

The Kinders

Mississippi Children’s Collaborative

We played a major role in the successful passage of the landmark Pre K Collabortative legislation which provided for investemnt of public funds in early childhood education for the first time. Grenada School District is a participant in the Pre K Collaborative along with our local Head Start program. As a result, the great majority of the 4 year olds in Grenada County have high quality preparation to enter school successfully.

Early Learning Advantage Center

We partnered with MSU’s Early Years Network for 5 years to provide a training center for all early childhood care providers as well as a wonderful lending library of books, toys, and games available to all families within the county.e very sad when MSU lost the state wide contract to provide that technical support.

Building Blocks for Employability Program

In 2010, we grew tired of hearing constant complaints from the manufacturing community about the coursework offered by Holmes Community College with regard to manufacturing processes, just when a great many people needed work. At that point, it seemed as simple as a phone call: talk to Holmes, and fix the problem.  It is, however, much more complicated than that.

GCF does not have much money; what we have tried to do is use our ingenuity and persistence to bring groups together to address community issues, and this was clearly one that needed to be considered carefully.  In our own small way, we made progress.  Here is what we did:

• We brought certain manufacturers to Holmes to review the manufacturing employability course curriculum.  It was adjusted to reflect some basic skills that seemed to be chronically lacking among those hired by the manufacturers.  Done? No.

• We then brought WIN Job Center into the collaboration, to screen for employees with the basic math skills required, as the employers felt many employees did not have the necessary 8th grade math skills. Done? No.

• GCF then became a principal in the collaboration, and ran a fundraising campaign to raise funds to provide a $100 stipend to each student in a total of 4 classes who successfully completed the course, to defray the cost of gas and childcare. Done? No.

• GCF monitored the rate at which course graduates were hired and it was very slow.  We asked the manufacturers to examine why this was so. They responded that the screening had not included desire to work in nor aptitude for manufacturing. So back we went to WIN Job Center to ask them to adjust the screening for the next class.  They did so, and had to search long and hard to find enough candidates, but they did and this next group graduated, they were all hired.  Done?  No.