Greenwood, Miss. (Greenwood Commonwealth)-
It’s been a big summer for kids at the Greenwood Mentoring Group.
Last week, students from the after-school tutoring program’s summer session went to the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County and made a stop at the beach in Biloxi before heading back to Greenwood.
Wednesday, a smaller group will visit the historic Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson at the invitation of Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, who will personally lead them on a tour.
“Mr. Hosemann sent us a letter last year commending our work,” Greenwood Mentoring Group Director Bill Clay said. “We invited him to come to our prayer breakfast this year, but he was unable to come and instead sent a video, thanking us for our work.”
Terrence Course of Greenwood, who works for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Jackson, is a supporter of the mentoring center’s work. He saw Hosemann recently at a Jackson restaurant and engaged in a conversation with him.
“I thanked him for his support,” Course said. “We talked, and Mr. Hosemann was passionate about the work going on here in Greenwood and said he’d like to spend some personal time with the kids, so I helped arrange a visit.”
On Wednesday, 10 to 12 students, likely older kids from the 10- to 13-year-old range, will travel with Clay to Jackson for a special tour of the Capitol conducted by Hosemann.
“He’ll be explaining the function of his office, how state government works, and what goes on there,” Clay said.
The kids will come back and write reports about what they learned, as they always do following such trips as these.
Last week, younger and older kids alike reported on their outings to the Stennis Center, a rocket testing site of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and their trip to the beach at Biloxi–which, for many, was a first.
“We talked about the sound of the ocean, what lives in the sand, what lives in the ocean. It’s a great opportunity for our kids to make trips like these,” Clay said.
Hosemann first learned of the work of the Greenwood Mentoring Group through an article in the Delta Business Journal.
“We’ve had an ongoing conversation with him since then,” Clay said.