A group of future teachers recently gathered at the armory building in Charleston to paint wooden planter boxes now being used to display flowers around the city.
Some three-dozen Ole Miss and Mississippi State students and their coordinators, all from the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program, spent the afternoon hours of Saturday, Aug. 3, engaged in the service project for the Charleston Main Street Association.
Working in the rear shop area of the former National Guard outpost now owned by the city, students painted in a variety of colors and added designs, such as magnolia flowers, and an outline of the state of Mississippi complete with a blue heart marking Charleston’s location.
Norma Platt, director of Main Street, said she recommended some of those features for painting project, but the students were free to use artistic license to interpret her vision.
Platt said the planters, built by city employees following a prototype constructed by Charleston Mayor Sedrick Smith, will “further drive our plan to beautify downtown Charleston.”
Greenwood native Blake Adams, METP coordinator at Ole Miss, said participating in this and other service projects is designed to “get the students out of their bubbles to see what the real Mississippi is like” and “to learn the value of serving.”
MSU student Tucker Cooper applauded the “service opportunity” in Charleston, which Adams said was the last stop for the METP troupe after a two-week swing through numerous communities in the state. Earlier in the day on Aug. 3, the group visited Marks.
IN THE PHOTO: Charleston Main Street Association director Norma Platt (left) is pictured with education students and coordinators from Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi. During an Aug. 3 service day at the armory building in Charleston, the students painted planters for display around the city. (Photo by Clay McFerrin)
