MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Kelly Riley
It is October 9 as I sit down to write this message to our members. The air is cooler, and fall is just around the corner. Saturdays are filled with football and our favorite teams. Vanderbilt’s upset of Alabama last weekend is a perfect example that anything
can happen on any given Saturday. The same is true with your classroom. You never know when that one lesson, project, or strategy is going to be the game changer for your students. While some have touted our state’s recent educational accomplishments or “wins” as the “Mississippi Miracle,” we know this success is not a miracle, but the result of hard work on the part of students, educators, and parents. Keep up the great work! A highlight of each fall here in our office is the kick-off of our regional trainings. This year’s training topics include classroom management, artificial intelligence (AI), effective conferencing with parents/stakeholders, and social and emotional learning. AI is the hot topic, as those sessions fill up quickly. Our trainings offer CEUs and SEMIs. We continue to provide these trainings free-of-charge for our members, as well as members of the Mississippi NBCT Network which MPE sponsors. Non-members may attend for $25, and this includes CEUs or SEMIs. See page 20 for our spring training dates and locations. Looking forward to the new year, the 2025 Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature will begin Tuesday, Janu - ary 7, 2025. See page 17 for important legislative deadlines and phone numbers for members of the legislative leadership. As the session draws near and the debate over school choice heats up, it is critical that educators and other Mississippians understand the potential consequences of choice. It is even more important that MPE mem - bers and educators throughout our state share their thoughts on school choice with their senators and represen - tatives. While supporters have marketed the issue as giving parents more choice for their children’s education which sounds attractive, expanding choice could easily create a myriad of problems for communities and schools. See page 12 for more information on this issue. In our recent member survey, 81% of respondents indicated they would not support school choice legislation that would allow families to send their children to private schools at taxpayer expense via school vouchers. 51% of respondents indicated they would not support school choice leg - islation that would allow students to transfer from one public school district to another district of their choosing regardless of their residency (i.e., open enrollment). MPE offers more than $135,000 in scholarships and grants to our members each year. We will accept applications for three scholarship opportunities in the coming months. Applications for our Linda Anglin Teacher Preparation Scholarship will be due from each educator preparation program by January 17. Graduate scholarship applications will be due February 14, while the deadline for our high school senior scholarships will be March 19. Guidelines and applications for these are available at www.mpe.org/grants_scholarships. Save April 5 on your calendar and plan to attend MPE’s 2025 Best Practices Symposium featuring Dwayne Reed, America’s favorite rapping teacher, who will highlight relationship-building, humanity, and joy! Dr. Lindsay Brett and her alter ego Gladys of the Lee County School District will close out our day at the Sheraton Flowood’s Refuge Conference Center. Priority registration for MPE members will open in February. I hope you will plan to join us! Best wishes to you and your family for the most joyous of holidays, as well as blessings of peace and good health in 2025!
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