Hometown Rankin - February & March 2016

Puckett
Hometown Hero Gives Hope
Puckett Elementary School fifth and sixth grade students
recently received words of wisdom from Dr. Tom Burnham when
he spoke to them about having goals for being college and career
ready. The idea of getting him to visit the students came from
reading about his recent recognition by Hinds Community
College as Alumni of the Year. It was in the interview that Dr.
Burnham shared about his own initial challenge in college; how
homesick he was when he first went to Hinds because he was
from Puckett, a small, close knit community.
In hearing his story, we knew our students at Puckett needed to
hear from one of their own about his journey through college and
the foundation it gave him for a successful career in education;
one he only had a glint in his eye about when he was their age.
Being a Puckett graduate, Dr. Burnham had an inspiring heart
to heart conversation with the fifth and sixth grade students
about how they can show the rest of the state and nation the
quality of students that are from Puckett and Rankin County
by setting goals and committing to them. He spoke about how
important having goals is and how committing to those goals
is what truly makes someone successful. During his visit, our
students heard about his personal journey, like what made him
stick to it during those years in college when he pumped gas at
nights and attended classes during the day. Our hometown hero
also shared with students that the best preparation for his success
was doing his best each day at everything he did. Dr. Burnham
challenged the students to re-read the Dr. Seuss book titled
Oh, the Places You’ll Go! and relate it to the importance of completing
college and believing in themselves to have the courage to go after
their life goals.
Our hometown hero gave much more than a speech. He gave
hope!
Richland
At Richland High School, we make it a priority to reward
deserving students. Our school has offered two major incentives
for students who have met the PBIS school standards thus far.
After the completion of the first nine weeks, RHS held a Perfect
Attendance Celebration for students who hadn’t missed a day of
school, nor had any sort of tardy or checkout.
El Ranchito, a local Mexican Restaurant and school sponsor,
joined efforts with the school and provided a lunch buffet for 147
students who qualified for the recognition. In addition to a
celebratory meal provided, numerous drawings for gift cards were
awarded to students. The student response was overwhelming,
and there was an outpouring of appreciation from students who
partook in the event. It goes without saying, there are several
students striving to keep their perfect attendance.
The largest reward for our students is Field Day, which is held
once a semester. The first one was held in early November on the
RHS football field and over 600 students were awarded. In
order for students to be eligible to attend, they must meet the
following expectations: Five or less absences, three or less tardies,
no F’s on their report card, and zero major discipline infractions.
While at Field Day, students were able to use their accumulated
PBIS tickets to purchase an array of food items or enter multiple
drawings. At the close of Field Day, the school held numerous
prize drawings for gifts such as, Dr. Dre’ Beats, two mini iPads,
t-shirts, and gift cards.
Submissions provided by local officials from each individual district and not to be considered editorial opinion.
Hometown Rankin • 87