J. Keith Carter, Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics of the University of Mississippi (Athletic Director) spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s May 26, 2020 meeting. The meeting was a Zoom one accommodating the considerations of the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Carter said that he has been associated with the university for 25 years since he was recruited to play basketball. He is a native of Perryville, Arkansas, northwest of Little Rock. Being an Arkansas native, he was a committed Razorback fan growing up. His fondest desire was to play basketball for the University of Arkansas, but he was not recruited by the program. In fact, he only had one SEC basketball offer and that was from the University of Mississippi. When he reported to the campus in Oxford, he knew little about the university.  Following his collegiate days, during which he was an All American, Carter played basketball in Italy for 6 years. 

Following his Italian basketball career, Carter returned to Ole Miss and joined the Athletic Department where he focused on fundraising. He has worked in the Rebels' athletics department since 2009. He was the executive director of the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation since 2012 and took over as the deputy AD for resource and development acquisition in 2018.  In his time atop the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation, Carter saw monetary commitments and donations nearly triple from $62 million to $182 million toward the Forward Together campaign. In 2016, the National Association of Athletic Development Directors named Carter the Fundraiser of the Year.

Carter was named interim Athletic Director in May 2019 when his predecessor, Ross Bjork resigned to take the same position at Texas A&M. He was elevated to AD on November 22, 2019.

In his talk to the club, Carter focused on reopening the intercollegiate athletic programs and taking care of the student-athletes. He said that fall sport athletes may begin voluntary practices on campus on June 8. There is still uncertainty as to when and in what manner fall sports will resume; i.e, whether there will be fans or not, and if so, how many. A lot remains to be seen.

We sincerely appreciate Carter’s presentation to the club. He is shown in the following photo during his presentation via Zoom.

John Gibson, Director of Television for Mississippi Public Broadcasting spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club’s May 19, 2020, meeting. Mr. Gibson is a native Mississippian. He did his undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt University and graduate work at the University of Texas.

Gibson said that Mississippi Public Broadcasting was formed on February 1, 1970, and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The MPB radio network joined the MPB television network in 1984 to create the MPB we know today. MPB’s mission is to tell Mississippi’s story to the world. MPB reaches al of Mississippi’s 82 counties and it reaches a global audience via the internet.

For a network from a mostly rural state, MPB creates an impressive number of original programs, including, for example, “Mississippi Roads” with Walt Grayson, “Conversations” with Marshall Ramsey, Fit-to -Eat”, “Farm Week”, and “Mississippi  Outdoors.” MPB has also created documentaries such as “Meet Carl Jackson” which premiered earlier this year.  

The Educational Department participated in “Between the Lions” and “Aha Island” which are programs targeted to pre-K children and originated by WGBH in Boston, MA. MPB TV also devotes its morning and early afternoon programming to education. The Rotary Club of North Jackson has participated in both Between the Lions and Aha Island at Walton elementary school in Jackson.

During the Covid-19 crisis, MPB has been the originating station of the video coverage of Governor Reeves’ daily press briefings. Its feed is carried by other local stations.

For all of its activities and offerings, MPB  operates on a relatively small budget of about $10 million. Six million is provided by the State of Mississippi, Approximately $1.3 million is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The balance of about #3million comes from Members, grants, and other sources.

We thank Gibson for his service to the citizens of Mississippi and for his presentation to our club. He is shown during his presentation in the following photo.

LaKeysha Greer Isaac, Junior League of Jackson (JLJ), 2019-2020 president spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club’s May 12, 2020 meeting. She discussed the projects and accomplishments of the 2400 women strong organization. The JLJ is the largest women's organization in Mississippi and it is the 6th largest Junior League in the world.

Each year the JLJ welcomes approximately 160 new members, termed Provisionals. Members generally stay active in the League for 5-8 years. Isaac noted that she is completing her 10th year. Members who remain in the league after their active membership are termed, Sustainers. The predecessor organization to the JLJ was the Junior Auxiliary of Jackson which was organized in 1927. The JLJ itself was formed in 1941.

The purpose of the JLJ is to improve lives in our community by working with community partners to deliver services and assistance to those in need. It utilizes a Community Based Impact Model to select projects. All of its projects focus on at least one of the following three impact areas: early literacy, children’s health, and the social development of children and youth. All JLJ projects are staffed with JLJ volunteers. Provisionals are required to complete an intensive first year of volunteer service. Key service projects for JLG are the Batson Children’s Hospital, the Mississippi Children’s Museum, and improving High school graduation rates. Over 800,000 dollars are raised annually from JLJ events such as Junior League Jumble, the ultimate rummage sale, Touch a Truck Jackson, and Mistletoe Marketplace. JLJ just fulfilled a $1,000,000 pledge to the Mississippi Childres's Museum and made a $1,000,000 pledge to Batson Children's Hospital

We thank Ms. Isaac for her presentation to our club and for her extensive service to our community. She is shown in the following photo:

At its May 5, 2020, meeting the Rotary Club honored the Star Students from four North Jackson high schools: Jackson Academy, Jackson Preparatory School, Madison Ridgeland Academy, and St. Andrew’s Episcopal School and their Star Teachers. Those honored were as follow:

• Jackson Academy, Carter Elliott, and his Star Teacher Richard West-Griffin. Mr. Elliott will be attending the University of North Texas where he will be studying Jazz Piano.

• Jackson Academy - Miles Johnson and his Star Teacher Sarah Shaw. Mr. Johnson will be attending the University of Alabama in the fall to study Aerospace Engineering

• Jackson Academy - Anna Kathleen Ray and her Star Teacher Judy Mckeigney. Ms. Ray will be attending Dartmouth College in the fall

• Jackson Prep - Hannah Grace Biggs and her Star Teacher Lauri Byrd. Ms. Biggs will attend the University of Mississippi in the fall

• Jackson Prep - Olivia Clapp and her Star Teacher Beth Watts. Ms. Clapp will be attending Mississippi State University in the fall to study in the Early Entry Veterinary Medicine Program

• Jackson Prep - David Crews and his Star Teacher Corinne Ciacco . Mr. Crews will be attending the University of Mississippi in the fall to study Computer Science

• Jackson Prep - Nicholas Dean and his Star Teacher Kimberly Van Uden. Mr. Dean will be attending the University of Mississippi in the fall to study Pharmacy

• Jackson Prep - Leigh Hardin and her Star Teacher Marsha Hobbs. Ms. Hardin will be attending the Honors College at the University of Mississippi in the fall to study engineering with the objective of attending medical school.

• Jackson Prep - Olivia Moore and her Star Teacher Beth Watts. Ms. Moore will be attending the University of Mississippi in the fall to study English.

• Jackson Prep - James Underwood and his Star Teacher Hunter Upchurch. Mr. Underwood will be attending Harvard in the fall to study sciences with the objective of attending medical school.

• Madison Ridgeland Academy - Holly Hendry and her Star Teacher Matt Bramuchi. Ms. Hendry will be attending the University of Alabama in the fall to study biology with the objective of attending medical school to become a pediatrician.

• Madison Ridgeland Academy- Arnob Iftekhar and his Star Teacher Matt Bramuchi. Mr. Itfekhar will be attending the University of Alabama at Birmingham to study pre-med with the ultimate goal of becoming a neurologist.

• St. Andrew’s Episcopal School - John Kees and his Star Teacher Thomas Riesenberger. Mr. Kees will be attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fall to study Music.

• St. Andrew’s Episcopal School - Vinson Lu and his Star Teacher David Maier. Mr. Lu will be attending Rice University in the fall to study engineering.

• St. Andrew’s Episcopal School - Wake Monroe and his Star Teacher Ruth Holmes. Mr. Monroe will be attending the University of Mississipi in the fall to study biochemistry with the ultimate objective of attending medical school.

• St. Andrew’s Episcopal School - Toni Oluwatde and her Star Teacher Wesley Saylor. Ms. Ouwatade will be attending Yale University in the fall to study French.

• St. Andrew’s Episcopal School - Victoria Wang and her Star Teacher Dr. Krissy Rehm. Ms. Wang will attend the University of Mississippi in the fall with the objective of attending medical school.

The STAR Student program is a program of the Mississippi Economics Council and it seeks to recognize students for academic and ACT test achievement. Students are awarded a certificate and medallion as recognition upon becoming a STAR student.

The STAR student program does not directly award scholarships - any scholarship a student is granted is given through the Kelly Gene Cook, Sr. Charitable Foundation, Inc. or other outside organizations.

To be eligible for the STAR Student honor, a student may be a regularly enrolled senior or an approved dually enrolled student in an accredited public or private high school and or an accredited post-secondary institution. The student must be completing his or her last year of work and must be eligible to receive a diploma in the current school year. The student must have an overall ACT composite score of at least 25 and an overall average of 93 or above in selected subjects in the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and first-semester twelfth grades.

The STAR Student is asked to designate his or her STAR Teacher. The STAR teacher should be one of his or her elementary or secondary classroom teachers (active, former, or retired). The teacher selected is, in the STAR Student’s opinion, the person who has made the greatest contribution to the student’s scholastic achievement.

The Rotary Club of North Jackson congratulates these students and teachers. They are shown as a composite group in the following photo with Club President Greg Campbell who is second from the left in the top row.