Mississippi Scholars will implement someinnovations this spring as its volunteers go into classrooms acrossthe community to promote the program to Lincoln County andBrookhaven students.

    There will be about 10 or 15 new classrooms presenters out of 50 to75 this year, said Kenny Goza, Mississippi Scholars chairman, andthat’s only about half of the approximately 150 volunteers thathelp run the program in Lincoln County.

    “You’re making a footprint for the future,” Goza told a roomful ofpresenters Tuesday during a noon training session at the Chamber ofCommerce.

    Presenters will speak to classrooms at county and city schools inLincoln County about the Mississippi Scholars program, whichencourages students to take a more rigorous course load thanrequired.

    In return, students are eligible to receive scholarships forcollege. The program awarded more than $107,000 to students lastyear.

    This year classroom presenters will be equipped with all-newsoftware through a partnership with Copiah-Lincoln CommunityCollege. PowerPoint slides are out in favor of a Flash-basedpresentation that seamlessly rotates images and informationthroughout the presentation.

    “We hadn’t updated the presentation in seven years,” Goza said,explaining the need to try something different.

    The new presentation has impressed those involved in MississippiScholars throughout the state. Celeste Williamson, a workforceeducation training specialist at Co-Lin, developed the presentationin about 12 days over the summer.

    Co-Lin Dean of Career/Technical and Workforce Education Dr. GailBaldwin and Goza worked together to discover ways Co-Lin could aidMississippi Scholars.

    Williamson said a relationship between the two benefits both.

    “We are receiving students that go through Mississippi Scholars,”Williamson said. “And for those that may not have finished asMississippi Scholars or not immediately gone to college, Co-Lin isthere to help them get on the path.”