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