Obviously, it would be impossible to answer this question honestly without first saying this: you should not join the Mississippi Teacher Corps if you don’t think you can handle everything that goes along with teaching in a critical-needs school. It feels like a bit of a cop-out not to talk about what this means, but vacation is making me lazy and it's simply too big a question to answer in one blog. If you’re debating whether or not teaching in this kind of environment is right for you, read the blogs; talk to current MTC-ers and alums. It’s all there.
If you do think that this life is the one you want (at least for two years), here are a few things to consider before you commit to join us in Oxford in May.
The strength of this program, as compared to other alternate-route programs, lies in two things: the training and support, and the bonds that form in a small group of people who are going through the same challenging and downright crazy experience. If you’re more interested in doing this by yourself—if you’re a lone wolf, to borrow from The Hangover—the rest of us are going to drive you crazy.
I do have to warn my lovely little lone wolves: this is a really, really hard thing to do by yourself, especially if you are not from the area where you’re teaching. You will need to talk, and more often than not, the only people who will understand are the ones going through the same thing. If I had a dollar for every time I emailed, texted, or called an MTC-er this semester to complain, brag, congratulate, or beg ask for lesson ideas, I would be eating at Walker’s every night.
On the subject of MTC’s superior training and support: this is only helpful if you are the type to accept advice. This program has tremendous resources to offer you support. Please recognize that sometimes this support will come in the form of criticism. The system only works if you can accept that the criticism you receive in summer school, etc is meant to help you, and comes from people who were in your shoes. You will probably be terrible in the beginning. That’s okay. We all were, too. But if you reject help just because it might sting a little, you’re going to make your life even more miserable than it’s already going to be. And you’re better off leaving your spot to someone who will take advantage of what the program has to offer.
One final caution to those of you who are not from Mississippi: this is the South—for most of you, it will be the rural South—and things are different. That culture shock (particularly for those in MTC who are placed in rural areas) can be as difficult as the teaching stuff. You can read more about this here, but in my experience as someone Not From Round Here, the less I compare Mississippi to other places I’ve lived, and the more I make an effort to find things I love about it, the happier I am. Two years is a long time to be in a place you don’t like. At the risk of reducing a very complicated state to a few stereotypes, if you can’t picture yourself shopping at Wal-Mart or watching the latest Cannes Palme d'Or winner on Netflix instead of in a theater, understand that things are going to be just a little bit harder.
In my post on my goals for the year, I wrote that I had had a major wake-up call about my total lack of work-life balance when I missed the season premiere of The Office. At the time, I thought that would be my rock bottom.
The other night, I found some of my classroom tickets in my bed. That was worse. As my kids would say, isn't that, like, a metaphor or something?
In all seriousness, though, I don't have much to say about the teaching. It's still up and down. My room continues to be a jungle. (No A/C, but the heat works like a CHARM. Thanks, JPS.) The pressure is tough. I worry every day that I'm not giving my kids the best preparation for the monster of a test they will take April 29th. Some kids make me smile just thinking about them; some kids, I pray every day that I'll see their names on the suspension list. My classroom is often far messier than it should be, I've seriously slacked on parent phone calls in the last month or so, and I am far too sarcastic with my kids. I could go on, but that would just be depressing. And really, I've written about this before. Failure! It's everywhere. If I've learned anything about myself in the last few months, it's that I can fail every single day and still get up the next morning.
I've also realized that the best way to keep myself happy in the classroom is to do something with my kids that I find fun. Hence the lesson plans on books I'm reading. And sets: I always do a set, and it's usually good. It's my one consistent strength, and I do it because it makes my life a whole lot easier when I'm having fun. And of course, English II Olympics--after a particularly exhausting week of direct instruction, I tricked my kids into working independently for 100 minutes by running into the room with sweatbands on, blasting Eye of the Tiger from my computer, and telling them their pop quiz was cancelled and they would be competing against one another in six events (reading comp, grammar, etc). I chose three "judges" and they did all the grading and scoring for me. All I had to do was walk around and monitor. The kids saw the Slinkies in the prize bag and were more motivated than I've ever seen them. I had kids who never do work actually working after the bell. Best 70 bucks I ever spent.
Teaching stuff aside, what I really want to say is this: HEY! I HAVE (ALMOST) MADE IT TO CHRISTMAS AND I'M NOT DEAD YET! Things that helped me get through the past few months:
First, the small things--and by that, I mean food. In particular, tuna, Saturday morning pancakes, and take-out from Sal and Mookie's. And as my kids tell me, "Ms. Patterson, you be eating chocolate AGAIN?"
Second, planning-period lunches with Ms. Seip, and general fun with my awesome roommate and the Jackson boys (Dan, there is no one with whom I would rather make a left turn on red/clean up boric acid/huddle in front of a space heater).
Third, my fifth block. By far my most intelligent and well-behaved class, this is the group of kids that gets me through every other class. I can always count on them to be fun and just get it. I know it's kind of unfair to say this, but this is the class that serves as a glimpse of what teaching real English might be like.
On a more serious note: everyone tries to warn you how overwhelmed and stressed-out you feel in the first few months of teaching. Now, I can't speak for everyone, but YES. I went through weeks where I could barely sleep. The two things that are slowly helping me to avoid that terrible racing-heart feeling late at night are exercise and reading before bed. I've surprised myself by reading for fun more than I have since high school.
Still, the biggest surprise has not been the kids, the administration, or the fact that it is currently snowing outside. When school first started, I was so freaked out and desperate for comfort that I thought mental salvation lay in escapes to "the North"--whether that was phone calls to friends, the studied avoidance of the word "y'all," or, bizarrely, dinner at Olive Garden. Then one weekend I happened to pick up a few Mississippi-related books in Oxford. I was expecting to avoid them (or hate them) as part of my general desire to deny that this was all really happening to me. To my surprise, what I found as I made my way through them is that they made me feel more at home, both here in this state and in this new life in general. I'm not saying I didn't cry when I came back the first time after leaving (I did), or that I'm never frustrated by the often exaggerated but nevertheless appalling lack of efficiency down here (to Regions Bank: THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN THE NORTH). Still, it's calming to embrace this experience in all its craziness. Mississippi is indeed a sticky place, and I'm finding that I'm far happier here when I'm not spending my time frantically trying to rub off its many eccentricities.
One last thought before the holidays, for my fellow first-years:
I have convinced some of my kids that I killed a bear with my bare hands. And I'm a little proud of myself.
though i think arne duncan's speech on "teacher colleges" was pretty well-crafted, i don't know if i truly still understand the concept of a teacher's college. before i get into explaining why perhaps the most important thing could be to fund these institutions, i think i need to see if i actually believe in what they are aimed at doing.
I have mixed thoughts about Arne Duncan's feelings on schools of education. I agree with him that schools of education need to add rigor (I'm so sick of hearing that word used at work, but it does apply here). There's obviously some truth to the idea that schools of ed are a joke. To that end, I support the general idea of measuring effectiveness of various individual programs and shutting down those that do not produce effective classroom teachers.
I also agree with his point that teacher preparation programs need to include more hands-on practical training with feedback from veteran teachers as mentors. I would go a step further, though--those mentors need to come from a teaching background in the type of community where their apprentice teachers will be teaching. In other words, education professors who have never taught in a critical-needs school should not be evaluating student-teachers working in such a school. If there's anything I've realized in the last few months, it's that my high school bears no relation to the school where I work--it's a completely different environment, with different challenges. So if student-teachers are to get good feedback, it needs to come from a professor who has already gone through the same experiences to the greatest degree possible.
I'm more skeptical of Duncan's argument that content-area knowledge needs to be a prioritiy in schools of education. Now, I know that I was fortunate to receive both a K-12 and a college education that were better than most. But I wasn't an English major in college, and I still don't feel that my problems in the classroom stem from a lack of knowleldge within my subject area. Perhaps if I were teaching English III or IV, where students are reading novels, or another subject area, like history or science, where the focus is on content as much as skills, I would feel differently. But as it is, I would benefit far more from a course on how to teach reading skills than a literature seminar on various American novels.
My main concern with Duncan's argument, though, is that his emphasis on data analysis--which I absolutely agree is a valuable tool--may lead to the kind of focus on standardized tests that is causing me to tear my hair out every day. He's talking about data analysis on two levels. One, within the individual classroom. This I agree with--using data analysis to assess how well the students are grasping particular objectives, for example. But I'm concerned about the other data collection purpose--to compare performance across classrooms. This can only be accomplished through standardized testing. And that's why I have a problem with it. Teaching to a test is dangerous not only because teachers risk teaching concepts in so specialized a way that they have little meaning outside that particular test, but because it's so hard to make it interesting and engaging for students. And it is really, really stressful. Is there no other way to differentiate between good and bad teachers?
Oh, what I wouldn't give right now to be an MTC alum, happily sitting at a table at Bofield's, in this very video.
TWO DAYS.
Anyway.
Like everyone else, I loved Pete's speech. What an accurate summary of everything I feel on a daily basis. I laughed out loud at the line about Things I Would Rather Do/Have Done to Me Than Teach. For the past few weeks, it has been getting harder and harder to get out of bed and go to work. Lately, I feel like I've been having to put in an unusual amount of mental effort to get excited about my lessons. It's always nice to be reminded that that's just part of the deal.
His story of speaking at the funeral of one of his students was very humbling. First, it was so clear how important this student was to Pete, and how devastating her death was. I do care about my kids, but I don't know if I've had the kind of impact on them that Pete must have had to be asked to speak at his student's funerals. An honor you would never wish on anyone.
Laughter and tears aside, the real insight of Pete's speech is something that I know a lot of us have been thinking about lately--how just plain hard teaching is, and how it doesn't necessarily reward hard work. As Pete said, sometimes you work really hard, and it just blows up in your face. I've already had this experience numerous times this semester--I planned a great lesson, I killed myself to get a particular assignment graded quickly, and the kids don't respond or even notice. So many of us MTC-ers are classic overachievers, good at everything we do. And we see success as a function of hard work. But that just doesn't work with teaching. It's hard to have daily failures, and nowhere to hide when you do. So it's nice to be told by someone who has done this for two years that we are doing something, even if it doesn't look like it.
One last thing: as all the inside jokes (and laughter in response) show, this is one hell of a bonding experience. I think my favorite part of the video was just imagining our class in the same place in a year and a half. I'm so happy to be going through this with such a good bunch.
I agree on the whole with most everything Duncan has to say. I remember saying a lot of those things several years ago during my Rotary interview. Teaching as a profession has been too long like working in a fast food joint-- a low-paying job that's easy to get, that too often turns the preparation of wholesome sustenance into a slipshod assembly-line process...and more times than not ends up with too many of the people one would least want handling something important doing exactly that.
the conversation with rita bender was pretty...sweet, to say the least. i talk A LOT, most of the time unnecessarily, during our meetings and classes. but with this, i really didn't want to. i wanted to sit back and take it in.
Finding information about the city of Jackson that is accurate can be difficult. Depending on the topic, the city might hide the information pretty deep in the Jackson website, or it is buried somewhere inside a 50-something page PDF document. Other statistics seem to disagree with each other, depending on the source. There are numerous individuals who would love to provide their own statistics or opinions on specific situations - politics, education, crime rate. Sorting through information to be able to find the most accurate and up-to-date information can be difficult, but there are interesting and useful things gleaned in the process. The following information is an attempt to examine and assess the community of Jackson, Mississippi in the fall of 2009.
1. Defining the Community
The city of Jackson is in an extremely effective location for trade and economic growth. As the capital of Jackson, there are many goods produced and services offered. City-data.com notes that the "diversity of businesses and industry and its position as the state capital help insulate the metropolitan area from the economic downturns experienced by other cities." There are sixteen banks in the city, four of which have their headquarters in Jackson (Consumer National Bank, Trustmark National Bank, First American Bank and First Commercial Bank). In the tri-county area of Hinds, Madison, and Rankin counties (Jackson has land in all three counties), agriculture is a $180 million business. Cattle is the main good, although cotton, grains, poultry, and timber are also vital to the agricultural portion of the city's economy. There are 500 manufacturers present throughout the city. The automobile industry is a promising new sector for growth, as the Nissan Motor Company opened its major plant in neighboring Canton, Mississippi and created over 3,300 new jobs. The community also produces fabricated metals, electrical and electronic equipment, food products, apparel, wood products, furniture, transportation products, portable electric tools, and aircraft parts.
2. Geography
The city of Jackson encompasses approximately 109 square miles, about 2 square miles of those being water and the rest being land. The city of Jackson is located about 294 feet above sea level. It is equidistant (for the most part) from New Orleans (to the south), Memphis (to the north), Atlanta (to the east), and Dallas (to the west). This distance to nearby major cities for trade is aided immensely by the transportation systems available to Jackson. There are two airports, Jackson-Evers International Airport and Hawkins Field. Though closed to passenger traffic, Hawkins Field still handles an impressive amount of air traffic. Two major train lines, Canadian National and Kansas City Southern, run through the city. The railroad system runs through the city and is fully functional and highly used. The closest port is the Port of Vicksburg, located on the Mississippi River on the border between Louisiana and Mississippi, 45 miles west of Jackson. The city is located on the Pearl River and also has access to the Ross Barnett Reservoir. The city itself sits on top of a volcano, the peak of which is located 2,900 feet below the feet of the Mississippi Coliseum.
3. Basic Demographics
Though there are different numbers provided by different sources, a 2006 count puts Jackson at a population of 177,977. Throughout the 1990's, the city experienced a 5% decline in population. In the years of 2000-2005, the city has been believed to have declined in population by 3%. The racial breakdown of the city remains about the same, regardless of any increase or decrease in population. A little over two-thirds of the city is African-American, making up about 71% of the population, and the white population representing with 28%, and the last 1% being the percent of Asian individuals. This is, I believe, always the makeup for the city limits of Jackson, Mississippi. The surrounding "suburbs" - Brandon, Byram, Clinton, Flowood, Ridgeland, Madison, Richland - would not follow this same racial breakdown. According to the 2000 census, there were 67,841 households in Jackson. 39% of those households had at least one child under the age of 18 years. Only 35% of the households represented married couples, whereas over 25% of the households were single-parent households, held together by a female. The city has a median income of a little over $30,000, which is less than half the national average. The city also boasts a fairly high crime rate, with 979 violent crimes per people.
4. Economic Elements
Simply driving through downtown Jackson can give you a picture of the economic situation of the city, but after some research, I'm not so sure if it is an accurate picture. Though the unemployment rate of the city (10.4%) is higher than the national average (6.9%), there are a lot of other factors that lead me to believe the overall picture is not as bad as it might seem. According to job tracking trends in the city, "the number of Jackson, Mississippi jobs has increased by 63% since January 2008 (simplyhired.com)." There are pieces of data that can raise an eyebrow of concern - over 60% of the households in the city earn less than $50,000 a year, though the national average income for a household is $60,000. One should remember, however, that real estate and cost of living in Jackson is among the lowest in the nation. A lowered household income in Jackson compared with the rest of the nation would not necessarily mean a lowered quality of life.
Also, 67% of the population has less than an associate's degree to claim as their highest level of education. Again, though this statistic could seem troubling, it is important to remember the type of job opportunities that Jackson has to offer. The top employers are the State of Mississippi (32,000), The United States Government (5,500), Jackson Public Schools District (4,500), Nissan Motor Company (4,000), and Baptist Health Systems (2,700). Many of these jobs offer opportunities to people of all different educational levels. Also, the average commute is 19 minutes, and, as the city of Jackson is not extremely large and is easily traveled, it stands to speculate that those individuals who occupy jobs that require higher levels of education could (and very likely do) live outside the city limits and reside in the suburbs. There are several publicly-traded companies that are headquartered in Jackson, being: Cal-Maine Foods, Inc.; EastGroup Properties, Inc.; Parkway Properties, Inc., and Trustmark Corporation.
There are also new incentives being offered to attract new companies, and to encourage existing companies to step up and reinvent their organization. For new businesses, the city offers lowered taxes, high quality labor, training programs, and tax credits for companies who create new jobs and provide basic skills for training and/or childcare. For existing companies, The City of Jackson Storefront Improvement Program offers grants for exterior structural improvements in designated areas of the city. There is encouragement for new businesses to locate in designated areas of the city, and there is a push for revitalizing the entire "downtown" section of the city.
5. Physical Infrastructure
The city of Jackson is serviced by two airports - The Jackson-Evers International Airport deals with both commercial and industrial air traffic, whereas Hawkins Field only deals with industrial air traffic. Three major interstates run through the city - 55, 20, and 220. The major U.S. Highways of 49, 51, and 80 also run through Jackson and help to make the city easily traveled. The State Highways of 18 and 25 (Lakeland Drive) make travel to the suburbs quick and easy. Other major veins through the city - State, Capitol, Northside, and Fortification Streets, Terry Road, and Woodrow Wilson/Clinton Boulevard - make travel easy. JATRAN is the form of public transportation, but its usefulness could be questioned. It only runs Monday-Saturday on 13 routes from 5:00am-7:00pm. There is no evening travel for safety reasons, and no travel on Sunday for...well, religious reasons. The fare is $2.00 each way. Being from a major city, I just want to quickly state something. 13 routes in a city the size of Jackson is not enough to be useful. Also, perhaps because it is not used much, the rate is incredibly high for a city the size of Jackson. As much as I've noticed, the public transportation system is not used much. There are taxis, but they are all companies or privately owned, as there is no city taxi system. Jackson is a hub for both Greyhound and Amtrak services. Jackson also has a railroad system for trade which is highly trafficked, mainly by Canadian National and Kansas City Southern Railways.
6. Cultural and Recreational Resources
Though Jackson is a comparatively small city, there are many cultural and recreational opportunities and resources. Ballet Mississippi performs throughout the world, and every Christmas performs The Nutcracker at Thalia Mara Hall. They host the Ballet Competition every fourth year, rotating with Moscow, Helsinki, and various towns in Bulgaria. There is the Celtic Heritage Society of Mississippi, which hosts the Celtic Festival late every summer (early September this year). The campus of Jackson State University has a botanical garden, which is used for academic and recreational purposes. The Jackson Zoo can be considered small when compared with other major zoos, but it is a major hotspot for fundraisers, school functions, and community programs. The Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum is the home for many local proms, business meetings, and tours. There is a recreation of an old village in the Delta, and the amount of history contained in the museum and on the lands is a great source of information for the culture of Mississippi. The Mississippi Museum of Art has a great standard collection of photographs telling the story of Mississippi, including award-winning photographs from Eudora Welty. The MMA also is home to different traveling installations, including a recent collection of work from world-renowned artist Raoul Duffy. The MMA is free of charge and is a center of culture of students, citizens, and visitors alike. The Mynelle Gardens, located in south Jackson are a center for weddings, anniversary parties, and church functions. New Stage Theatre is home to productions - both independent and "traditional" - and is well-visited throughout the year. The Russell C. Davis Planetarium is a staple of school students and is becoming a popular location for the young adult population of the city. There are numerous community organizations, functions, and fundraisers throughout the city which keep citizens involved.
7. The Power Structure
Jackson uses the Mayor-Council government style with the Mayor being elected at large and then seven Council members being elected from the seven Wards of Jackson. The city is headed by the mayor, currently Harvey Johnson, Jr. There is also a Central Administrative Officer, who serves as a link between the Mayor's office and all other offices and departments; a City Attorney, who is in charge of city litigations; a City Clerk; a seven-member Council; Civil Service Commission; Historic Preservation Commission; Jackson Housing Authority, and dozens of other organizations, commissions, and committees. In regards to who holds real power and who makes things happen, I think it depends on where you are. For the area of my school, it's all in the hands of Councilman Stokes and the Police Department. Also, the School Board controls most of what concerns me, as my daily life pretty much is confined to the school building. Each members seem to focus on a specific issue - whether it's the Library System Administration Board scraping funds together for 13 months to renovate the Eudora Welty Library after a damaging fire, the Jackson Zoological Park petitioning for money for another outdoor habitat for the orangoutangs, or the Jackson Redevelopment Authority Board of Commissioners listening to bids for the Hotel King Edward, each committee has power in its own right. Behind this report, there is a nifty flowchart, provided by the Mayor's Office for the City of Jackson, to help better understand the roles of individuals in the city.
8. Role of Governmental Agencies
As mentioned above, each governmental agency is given a lot of autonomy for their specific area. The School Board handles most of the issues regarding JPS, the Police and Fire Departments handle their issues, the Housing Authority and Redevelopment Committee deal with specific issues. All of these committees and agencies report, at the end of the day, and through a round-about pattern, back to the Mayor's Office. Funds that are needed, events that will be held, permits that need approval all must go through the Mayor's Office. This is also where the CAO comes in hand. A lot of the work that needs to go to the Mayor is handled and organized by the CAO, making the job of the Mayor a task that one can handle. In the city, I really do feel that citizens are encouraged to show up, speak out, and act on issues that concern them. I think a lot of issues might not be solved overnight in this manner, but they're definitely dealt with and not just pushed under a rug.
9. History
Jackson has a history that is similar to that of most Southern cities, moments of glory and moments of...well, shame. To be as brief as possible, the city was originally part of the Choctaw Nation and in 1830, the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek removed the Native Americans from most of the land, and the city became the permanent seat of government for the state of Mississippi. The city was first referred to as LeFleur's Bluff because it had been founded by Louis LeFleur, and it was founded along Natchez Trace. In a report to the Mississippi General Assembly in 1821, surveyors had reported that Jackson had "beautiful and healthy surroundings, good water, abundant timber, navigable waters, and proximity to the trading route Natchez Trace." Rail systems developed the city after the Civil War. During World War II, Hawkins Airfield was used as a training base for all the Dutch military crews (after 1941).
When the Civil Rights Movement began to gather steam, Jackson saw a lot of action. On June 12, 1963, Medgar Evers was murdered by Byron de la Beckwith, which increased the already intense activity in the city. Massive, public movements for Civil Rights and voter registration followed the murder and became extremely effective in putting Jackson on the map of Civi Rights. Civil Rights issues ensued until June of 1966 when James Meredith organized a march from Memphis to Jackson and (after being hit by a sniper's bullet during the march) delivered a speech to a crowd of 15,000 regarding the implementation of Civil Rights legislation. May 15, 1970, police killed two and wounded twelve during a protest regarding the Vietnam War. The incident made national news.
In 1997, Harvey Johnson, Jr. became the city's first African-American mayor. He was followed in 2005 by Frank Melton. The somewhat comical years of Melton's reign witnessed martial law, wearing arms on school and church property, a marked increase in both unemployment and violent crime, questionable antics, and (my personal favorite), stopping a school bus to give children hugs. In 2009, Melton passed away after election results, and Harvey Johnson, Jr. was re-elected to the position of mayor.
10. Community Barriers
In summary of most of the information gathered so far, the serious problems that face the community are poverty, unemployment, crime, and level of education of the population. Many of the individuals in the community do not finish high school, do not finish on time, and if they do finish, they do not go on to college. In my specific school, the graduating class last year started out their freshman year with a little over 250 students. They graduated only around 150, and those were pretty good odds, considering the area and the odds they are facing. A 10.4% unemployment rate that seems to be increasing, a population that is continuously decreasing, and a median income that is half of the national average are not good things to have on your side. The crime rate will likely take a nosedive with the new administration, but even then, it is nowhere close to the national average, and would still be considered a dangerous city.
11. Values
Values of Jackson would include Christianity, education, and progression. Everywhere you go, there are churches, church groups, church festivals, church reunions, and preachers. Christianity, regardless of the depth of belief or practice, seems to be a binding force and a bonding place for most citizens in Jackson. Jackson Public Schools and Jackson State University create a foothold for education to take a prominent place in everyone's life. Someone has a friend, neighbor, neice, nephew, grandchild, or child in JPS, and most individuals become involved in the JPS family. A lot of JSU alumni tend to stay in the area and stay involved in the educational field, giving weight to the education in Jackson. A new value that seems to have taken hold is that of progression. Whether it's rejuvenating downtown or renovating an old museum, there seems to be an air of recognition that Jackson has fallen behind the times and must catch up. There is a willingness to go forward, as long as there is still an appreciation for the way things were, since people tend to view the way "things were" as the way they "should be."
12. Uniqueness
There are many unique things about the city of Jackson, but there is one thing that always catches my attention: the crime rate. As of 2007, Jackson had more than double the national average for the United States. After looking at car theft, arson, rape, robbery, and other violent crimes, Jackson's crime rate was calculated at 703.5, whereas the national average is 320.9. In 2007, Jackson was ranked as the 23rd most dangerous city, but in the closing months of Frank Melton's tenure, the city saw a spike in crime, and (unofficially) rose to the 14th most dangerous city in the United States. Malcolm McMillian was, at one time, holding the offices as both the Sheriff and the Police Chief of Jackson. However, in summer 2009, Tyrone Lewis stepped in as Chief of Police for JPD and McMillian retained his position. There has been a concerted effort on all parts to reduce crime in Jackson, so one could that effort to show in new statistics.
Also, two other interesting facts about Jackson: the city is ranked 10th in the nation in concentration of African-American same-sex couples, and it is located on top of a volcano, making it the only capital or major city in the United States to boast that physical feature.
13. Schools, Colleges, and/or Universities
If not saturated with anything else, Jackson is definitely soaked to the brim with education. Given the largest public education system in the state, an equally impressive selection of private school opportunities, and an awesome array of higher-education choices, Jackson can hold its own in the education realm. Jackson Public Schools is comprised of 38 elementary schools, 10 middle, and 8 high schools. There are also alternative schools, career placement and development programs and schools, adult education, and environmental education locations.
In regards to private school opportunities, Jackson 32 different schools, ranging from Pre-K to 12th grade, affiliated with religions ranging from Roman Catholic to Church of God in Christ, co-ed and single-sex school. There are many different private schools in the city, and they offer a quality alternative to the public school system. The Mississippi School for the Blind and The Mississippi School for the Deaf are also located in Jackson.
Comparing the two school systems is very interesting. According to the Mississippi Department of Education for the 2006-2007 school year, the public school system is made up of the following racial groups: African-American (94.8%), White (4.4%), and Asian (0.2%). Interestingly enough, private schools are made up of basically the same racial groups, just in a completely different ratio. African-American students make up only 25.5% of the private school population, Whites bring in a whopping 73.2% of the population, American Indians 0.6% of the private school population, Asian 0.4% of the private school population, and Hispanic students make up 0.3% of the private school population.
Also interesting is the number of children in Pre-K programs in public and private schools. In Jackson Public Schools, there are about 520 children in Pre-K, but around 2,750 children in the kindergarten classrooms. Private schools in Jackson, however, see around 950 children in the Pre-K programs, and then about 700 children in the kindergartens. Finally, perhaps most interesting (or most upsetting), are the comparison of high school students. Public schools had (according to the 2006-2007 Mississippi Department of Education information) 2,900 students in grade 9, but only about 1,500 (half) of the students travel through to the 12th grade. In the private schools, however, there are about 360 that enter the 9th grade, and almost all of those (and some additional ones, as well, as the number was somewhere around 380) will graduate the 12th grade.
Once a student makes it through the gauntlet of a Jackson education, they have plenty of opportunities presented to them to stay in Jackson for their higher education. Jackson State University was founded in 1877 and is a public, Historically Black College or University (HBCU). Most graduates are focused in education or business studies. Reformed Theological Seminary was founded in 1963 and has different campuses throughout the South, with the Jackson campus being smaller (about 450 students) and focused more on Master's programs. Millsaps College was founded in 1892, is a private and religiously-affiliated institution (Methodist). Belhaven College was founded in 1883, and is a Presbyterian-affiliated college, preparing students for different leadership roles in their adult lives. The University of Mississippi Medical Center was founded in 1955, and is the stepping ground for medical students.
hazing has always been an issue in my life. in high school, every athletic team that i can think of got in trouble at least once during my four years for hazing issues. the marching band got in trouble for hazing. the dance team got in trouble for hazing. different school organizations were faced with disciplinary actions when it was discovered that they were engaging in "questionable" activities aimed at new members.
