Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley and representatives of Entergy Mississippi and CenterPoint Energy were in Charleston recently to announce the awarding of funds to help sponsor a career coach for students at Charleston High School.
“Both the electric and gas providers for Charleston and a good portion of Tallahatchie County ... stepped up to the plate to provide $20,000 each for workforce development,” noted Presley, during the Oct. 25 event. “We’re here to celebrate their commitment.”
The career coaching program is funded by AccelerateMS through the South Delta Planning and Development District with the goal of connecting and preparing high school students with Mississippi’s most in-demand careers, according to a statement from the Charleston-based Ed & Becky Meek Foundation.
Shaquita Prince began her work as CHS career coach on Oct. 31.
Meg Sinervo, executive director of the Meek Foundation, credited Presley with assisting in connecting the foundation with “such dedicated and supportive donors.”
“We want to extend a huge thank you to Entergy and CenterPoint Energy for their support and encouragement in this project,” Sinervo said. “We look forward to working with East Tallahatchie School District, AccelerateMS, South Delta Planning and Development, as well as ... CenterPoint and Entergy, on this project. Shaquita Prince will be a great asset to Charleston High School and we look forward to seeing this program grow.”
The career coaching program is expanding under the Comprehensive Career and Technical Education Reform Act of 2022, passed by the Mississippi Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Tate Reeves.
The act states, in part, “Through strong partnerships with economic and business leaders, paired with viable relationships with school districts ... career coaches shall target the alignment of students’ strengths with intentional academic and work-based learning in pursuit of meaningful professional employment.”
In late August, AccelerateMS announced an $8 million investment to support expansion of the career coaching program in public high schools. Y’all Politics reported that the number of career coaches would grow by 500%, from 25 coaches to about 150 coaches in 125 schools, covering 75 school districts and 51 counties.
