Meridian Rotary Club President Carra Purvis, left, presents a check for the Lauderdale County School District Foundation on behalf of the Rotary Club to Foundation Executive Director Marie Roberts. Photo by Thomas Howard

Preparing students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed is no easy feat, and the Lauderdale County School District Foundation is working to make sure opportunities are open for everyone, students and teachers alike.

 

Speaking to Meridian Rotary Club at its weekly meeting Wednesday, LCSD Foundation Volunteer Executive Director Marie Roberts said education is foundational for today’s youth, and their experiences, good and bad, will help shape who they become.

 

“I think we can all agree that at some point in your life, education changes who you are,” she said. “You may bring a positive experience about education, or you might also have a negative experience about education. But at the end of the day, education shapes who you are today at some level.”

 

The Lauderdale County School District Foundation was started in 2022 as the Lauderdale County Foundation for Excellence and Education, Roberts said. Since then, it has evolved and grown to meet the unique needs of the county school district and include representation from all of the county schools.

 

Community engagement is the key to strong public schools, Roberts said, and that is what the foundation tries to promote. By working with the district and the community, the organization hopes to foster cooperation between the schools and the community, which in turn will benefit both.

 

“We know that a quality school creates a quality community, and so that is what we try to do with the foundation is we work to connect private and community resources and dollars and put them back into our public schools for success,” she said.

 

The foundation carries out its work in three distinct ways, Roberts said. It provides direct support to teachers, direct support to students and supports district advancement.

 

Direct support to teachers most commonly comes as mini-grants, Roberts said. Whether a teacher needs to purchase classroom supplies, a piece of equipment or a specific training item, mini-grants can help fill the gap between the funds the state provides for classroom purchases and what is actually needed.

 

Direct support to students is also a big part of the foundation’s work. Roberts said the foundation has helped cover expenses for leadership programs such as Leadership Lauderdale and The Mississippi Governor’s School, helped students take advantage of scholastic opportunities and more.

 

Another area of focus in student wellbeing, Roberts said. Not every family can afford back-to-school shopping every year, and with the start of a new school year rapidly approaching, not every student will be able to come to class with everything they need to succeed. She said the foundation also works to help with that.

 

“If you call the school counselor, if you call the school nurse, there will be children who do not have what they need,” she said.

 

The Lauderdale County School District Foundation also works to support the overall health of the district, and one way it does that is through its support of teachers. Teacher recruitment, retention and appreciation are all efforts undertaken by the foundation to both show district educators they are valued and reduce turnover among the district’s 11 schools.

 

Lastly, Roberts said, the foundation is involved in community engagement. Getting local businesses and industries involved, building connections between the workforce and classroom and creating those relationships helps widen students’ options, expose them to more career fields and provide additional opportunities.

 

In the last six months, the foundation has received a grant from Harbor Freight for CTE teachers to purchase tools needed for their classrooms, as well as partnered with the ALDI Foundation to meet students’ needs, Roberts said.

 

“The ALDI Foundation has granted us the ability to empower school nurses across all of our 11 campuses to provide hygiene products and other essential shelf-stable food items for students who are at risk and in need,” she said.

 

As it continues to grow and support Lauderdale County’s schools, teachers and students, Roberts said the foundation wants the community to be involved. Whether it’s an individual making a monetary donation, a business providing in-kind supplies or an industry looking to explore potential internship opportunities, the foundation welcomes everyone to join in the effort to help students gain the skills they need to thrive.