Mud & Magnolias August 2019

Mud&Magnolias August 2019

BACK TO SCHOOL Party in the Art Room Theatre Journey Teacher & Administrator Profiles Mississippi State Idea Shop Toccopola Sam Advice to High School Seniors

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CONTENTS

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ALSO:

RECIPES

As summer ends, the agenda leaves little time in the kitchen to make healthy meals. These quick and easy recipes will save you when there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

THEATRE JOURNEY

Pulling from her highschool theater roots, Journey McAlister created a space for children to hone their acting skills.

MSU IDEA SHOP

Mississippi State University brings ideas to life in this location which doubles as a workshop and store to buy locally made goods.

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TOCCOPOLA SAM

Houston, Mississippi, may seem like an unlikely place to create an art district, but Samantha Baldwin thought differently and painted murals to prove it.

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PARTY IN THE ART ROOM Using any and all craft materials in sight and allowing children to express themselves by creating art, this class is always a party.

ON THE COVER It’s the time of year when children load the bus to embark on the journey of a new school year.

HEART HOME

Making this house a home was easy for this family as the previous owners built it with family in mind.

check out this month’s video for a fun and functional DIY project at mudandmag.com.

SENIOR ADVICE

10 THINGS TO KNOW

SCHOOL FASHION

TEACHER & ADMIN PROFILES

DIY PENCIL CASE

25 & 52

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EDITOR’S FAREWELL NOTE

Mud

I

have rewritten this letter too many times to count, but as always, there is a deadline to meet and I’m not going to miss it. The truth is, there is no way to adequately say goodbye to a brand I introduced to the world 7 years ago - one I have watched grow into something far past my wildest expectations. Because of Mud & Magnolias I have met some of my best friends, I have seen the beauty of North Mississippi and its people be brought to life and I have experienced a pride like no other as I reflect on our start, where we are now and the road ahead.

I remember sitting with my college roomates weeks from graduation as I thought up the name Mud & Magnolias. I remember walking into businesses pitching an idea for another lifestyle magazine I swore would be different. I can remember calling people and saying I was with Mud & Magnolias and them not having a clue what I was talking about. And perhaps most importantly, I remember August 25, 2012 - the day the first issue hit the stands. I cringe looking at it now, but I can remember feeling so happy I could burst when I held the physical product in my hands for the first time.

We’ve come a long way since then and I can’t take the credit. I remember the first assignment Lauren Wood worked on for the magazine and knowing right then and there she was a key piece to the puzzle of elevating our brand. I didn’t realize at the time how critical she would be to this magazine’s growth or how she would become one of my very best friends. We’ve had multiple dream teams over the years with Carmen Cristo and Emma Kent writing, and various others contributing in everything from editing to sales. There isn’t enough space for me to mention everyone who made Mud & Magnolias what it is, but if you have been a part of my journey with this magazine - whether as a contributor, advertiser or reader - please know I am forever grateful for you. I would be remiss not to mention the Journal and how I’m still in shock they allowed a 21-year-old with very little experience to take a shot at her dream. Finally, I have to thank this North Mississippi community and its willingness to let us tell your stories and promote your businesses. You’re truly one of a kind.

I could continue reminiscing about the past and everything leading to this point, but I feel like this space is better served ending with the future. Even though this is an end for the Mud & Magnolias staff as you know it (see Lauren and Emma’s farewell letters on the next page), it isn’t the end of Mud & Magnolias. We have worked diligently to prepare the new team to carry on without us. I never thought I’d feel confident handing off what often feels like my baby to anyone, but after watching the charisma, attention to detail and passion of our replacements, I’m coming around. If I’m being honest, I think some fresh faces will take this product even further than I could envision.

I’m sure you are wondering who these lovely ladies are and I can’t wait for you to meet them, so be on the lookout in the coming issues. I dont’ know if it counts for anything, but they are Ellie-approved.

It’s been an absolute dream to lead the magazine this far and I’m looking forward to my next role as a reader - seeing things for the first time when the finished product arrives on my doorstep.

& Magnolias

1242 S Green St. Tupelo, MS 38804 662.842.2611

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ellie Turner

ASSOCIATE EDITORS Lauren Wood Emma Kent Leslie Criss Lindsay Daffron Sarah Brooke Bishop

FEATURED SALES CONSULTANTS Leigh Knox June Phillips Darla Webb Angie Quarles Amber Lancaster Teresa McDonald Krystal Anderson

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kristina Domitrovich Cristina Carreon

If you have any thoughts about this issue, please email me at editor@mudandmag.com.

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Thomas Wells

GET SOCIAL WITH US

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@mudandmagnolias

@mudandmag

@mudandmagnolias

@mudandmagnolias

subscriptions@mudandmag.com advertising@mudandmag.com info@mudandmag.com mudandmag.com This magazine is a monthly publication of Journal, Inc.

ASSOCIATE EDITORS’ FAREWELL NOTES

W

hen I was 13, my ‘dream job’ was to work for a magazine.

Little did I know, when I took a photography job with the Daily Journal in January of 2013, it would eventually lead to just that.

Yes, it was in Mississippi instead of New York City as the younger me had pictured, but I haven’t minded one bit. My role at the Journal grew and changed, and I ended up becoming the creative director, photographer and designer of Mud and Magnolias under the direction of editor Ellie Turner. That’s the beauty of working for an organization like the Journal, you can be part of a project from the initial brainstorming session to the final, printed product. I cannot thank Ellie enough for trusting me, teaching me and guiding me pretty much every step of the way to put together issues of the magazine she literally created. This is her baby, and I really hope I did it justice these past few years. I can’t write a letter like this without mentioning the two very talented writers I had the pleasure of working with, who both amazed me with their ability to take conversations we had with subjects and turn them into beautifully crafted stories. Thank you, Carmen Cristo and Emma Kent, for being my other halves at work. I still can’t believe I’ve been able to do so much with my time here, all the wonderful people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and all the stories I’ve been able to help tell. I’ve grown so much professionally and personally, and I can’t thank everyone enough who helped along the way.

Thank you Northeast Mississippi for letting me tell your stories with a camera in my hand. I’m truly grateful that I’ve been able to live out a dream of mine. I’m also excited to be handing over the photography reins to the talented Lindsay Daffron. Be on the lookout for her work in this issue and in the future!

- Lauren Wood

F

or a year and a half, I’ve been lucky enough to work at Mud & Magnolias as multimedia editor, writing stories, interacting with readers on social media and keeping our website up-to-date with fresh, engaging content. It’s been a blast, and I especially enjoyed working alongside Creative Director Lauren Wood and our Editor, Ellie Turner. With Ellie’s vision and Lauren’s hard work and creativity, I feel like we’ve produced so many issues of the magazine to be proud of. In January, we redesigned the magazine, which is another project I’m proud to have been part of. I will miss working with these two amazing women who embody so much of what Mud & Magnolias is all about: Lifting up local women who are making a difference in their communities and putting their gifts to work.

I’ll also miss meeting the people out there in Northeast Mississippi who are doing things worth writing about. It was an honor to share stories from artists, makers, entrepreneurs and movers and shakers from across the region through the pages of this magazine. Each story I wrote inspired me in some way, and I learned all kinds of new things from the people we met and interviewed. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. I’ll carry all of my experiences with the magazine and all of those things I learned along the way into my next adventure: law school. Which brings me to passing the baton — a new Mud & Magnolias team will soon take the reigns. I’m confident they will continue the magazine’s tradition of sharing inspiring local stories and bringing you other quality content like recipes, fashion shoots and travel guides. I hope you’ll keep reading and join me in cheering them on.

- Emma Kent

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RECIPES

Healthy Snack Healthy Homemade Chai Granola recipe on pg. 18

Granola often comes to mind when thinking of healthy breakfast and snack options. Unfortunately, the stuff found on the shelves of a grocery store is often full of added sugars and other ingredients. The good news is we have an easy homemade granola to add to your meal prep list.

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RECIPES

Freezer Meal Make-Ahead Chicken Broccoli Pockets recipe on pg. 18

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When class is back in session, the calendar fills up and time is sparse. This meal is easy to make ahead of time and freeze until you need it.

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RECIPES

Leftovers Made Right Busy moms and dads need a few tricks up their sleeves when it comes to easy meals kids will actually enjoy.

Leftover Pasta Frittata recipe on pg. 18

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RECIPES

Chicken Avocado Ranch Burritos recipe on pg. 18

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RECIPES

Spinach Salad with Leftover Bacon and Green Goddess Dressing recipe on pg. 18

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RECIPES HEALTHY HOMEMADE CHAI GRANOLA Ingredients: 2 cups oats 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon ginger 1 teaspoon cardamom 1 teaspoon allspice 1/4 cup coconut oil 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup 1 teaspoon vanilla Directions: Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave coconut oil until melted. Add honey and vanilla to the coconut oil and stir until well combined. Pour coconut oil mixture over dry ingredients and stir until the two come together and oats are lightly coated. Spread mixture into a thin, even layer on the baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow granola to cool for 20-30 minutes after removing it from the oven.

Once cooled, break granola up, leaving some small clusters. Serve with milk or yogurt.

MAKE-AHEAD CHICKEN BROCCOLI POCKETS Ingredients: 12 ounces rotisserie chicken, torn into small pieces 1 bunch broccoli, cut into small florets 1 bell pepper, diced 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons olive oil Kosher salt and black pepper 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded 1 1/2 pounds pizza dough, room temperature All-purpose flour Ranch dressing, for serving Directions: Heat oven to 425 degrees. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the broccoli, bell pepper and garlic with the oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.

Roast, tossing once, until the broccoli is tender, about 25 to 30 minutes; let cool.

Transfer to a medium bowl, add the mozzarella, and toss to combine. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll and stretch each piece into a 7-inch circle. Dividing evenly, spoon the broccoli mixture onto one side of each round (about 1/2 cup each), leaving a 1/2-inch border. Dot the border with water, fold the dough over to form a semicircle, and press firmly to

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seal. Place the pockets on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cut several slits in each.

Bake pockets until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve with ranch dressing.

If you’re making them ahead: Unbaked pockets can be frozen for up to 3 months.

First freeze them on the baking sheet until firm, then transfer to freezer bags. To cook, bake the pockets from frozen on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 425 degrees until golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes.

LEFTOVER PASTA FRITTATA Ingredients: 6 eggs 1/4 cup half-and-half 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 2 tablespoons olive oil 8 ounces leftover cooked pasta, any noodle shape 1/2 cup marinara sauce 1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes 1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese or combination of mozzarella and Parmesan Directions: Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk together the eggs, half-and-half and salt and set aside. Warm olive oil in a 10-inch oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the pasta and quickly reheat, tossing to keep the pasta from browning and coating the noodles with the oil. Add the pasta sauce and toss to coat.

Pour the egg mixture into the pan and shake the pan to settle the egg around the pasta.

Continue to cook — placing the tomatoes on top and sprinkling with cheese — until the egg is beginning to set around the edge of the pan, about 5 minutes. Transfer the frittata to the oven and bake until the egg is set and the cheese is melted, 18 to 20 minutes.

CHICKEN AVOCADO RANCH BURRITOS Ingredients: 1 pound leftover rotisserie chicken, cut into small chunks 1 package taco seasoning 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 burrito-size flour tortillas 2 avocados, diced 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup sour cream 1/4 cup Ranch dressing 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions: Heat tortillas according to package instructions. Working one at a time, place chicken, avocado, cheese, sour cream, ranch and cilantro in the center of each tortilla. Sprinkle with taco seasoning.

Bring the bottom edge of the tortilla tightly over the filling, folding in the sides. Continue rolling until the top of the tortilla is reached. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Add burritos and cook, pressing gently with a spatula, about 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown and the cheese has melted.

Serve immediately.

SPINACH SALAD WITH LEFTOVER BACON AND GREEN GODDESS DRESSING Ingredients: 2 cups baby spinach, packed 3-4 strips cooked bacon, crumbled or torn into small pieces 1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 1/4 cup red onion, diced 1 avocado, halved and sliced Half of a bell pepper, diced For the dressing: 2 green onions 1/2 green jalapeno pepper, seeded and roughly chopped 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro 2 tablespoons lime juice 1/3 cup olive oil 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon honey Directions: To make the dressing, Place the green onions and jalapeno pepper in the bottom of a blender or food processor. Add the Greek yogurt, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, kosher salt and honey. Blend to combine.

Place spinach in salad bowl. Top with red onions, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, bacon and avocado slices. Dressing will keep in an airtight container, refrigerated, for one week. M

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Theatre Journey This Corinth theater camp gives children stage practice at an early age.

by EMMA KENT photos by LAUREN WOOD & LINDSAY DAFFRON

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hen she graduated from Blue Mountain College in 2017, Journey McCalister wasn’t sure what she was going to do next.

McCalister, who has been singing and acting since high school, did know that she loves working with children and she loves theater. So, seeing the need for a children’s theater camp in Corinth, McCalister decided to start her own, now known as “Theatre Journey.”

This is the second summer she has hosted the camp, and since the first summer, she’s also started offering acting classes and lessons throughout the school year.

Theatre Journey meets at her brother’s shop, Taylor Wick and Co., in Corinth’s SoCo district. They decided to split the building, with Theatre Journey occupying the back half and Taylor Wick occupying the front.

The Theatre Journey space is essentially a mini theater complete with a stage, lights and two rows of seating for a small audience. Right off the theater space is a lounge area full of colorful props and a costume closet stocked with clothes.

“They love to dress up and do scenes,” McCalister said of the kids she teaches.

In the summer, McCalister puts on a weeklong Theatre Journey camp for local kids. During the camp, she starts with the basics and works up to having

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“I like to think that them

being on stage makes them more comfortable being themselves.” journey mcalister

the children write and perform their own monologues and scenes.

“The more they do it, the more they enjoy it,” McCalister said.

At the beginning of camp, McCalister has the kids play games and do acting exercises to get everyone warmed up and comfortable expressing themselves. Some kids jump right in, while others need more time to get used to performing.

“That can help them come out of their shell,” she said.

She might have them act out a specific situation, emulate an emotion or react to something she says. Sometimes, she uses pop culture references to get the kids into it.

In one scenario they practiced this summer, she’s pop-star Ariana Grande, and the kids are all attending a party at her house. They take turns greeting her in character as various celebrities — and they really get into it.

“Let me see your personalities,” McCalister tells them, always encouraging them to let loose, get loud and embrace their characters.

Her students can sometimes get a little crazy, but that’s why McCalister loves what she does. She works with kids as young as six and

through the high school grades.

“The kids are definitely the best part for me,” she said. “They’re hilarious and they all have their own personalities.”

At the end of the week, parents are invited to come and watch them perform their creations. For some of her campers, the end-of-week performances can be the most nerve-wracking part of the whole week. But McCalister says that’s exactly why she wants them to do them. For her, teaching theater to kids is all about boosting their self-confidence.

“I like to think that them being on stage makes them more comfortable being themselves,” she said. “Last year, they all nailed it. Nobody freaked out, and that’s hard to do, especially in front of all of those people.”

McCalister also offers private individual and group lessons. These are tailored to the kids’ age ranges and levels of acting experience. They meet on week nights during the school year.

In December and May, her students from her classes get together to perform an original play for their parents and friends. McCalister writes all of the plays herself.

“That puts a personal touch on all of them, so that’s fun,” she said.

Opposite page: students watch others perform character skits. This page, from left: Journey’s foyer features letters from students, props, costumes and artwork; Journey McAlister smiles for a portrait.

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This page, from left: One student shows off his orchestrating skills; Journey reads through an assignment with an student; details in her studio.

McCalister fell in love with acting and singing during high school when she joined her school’s theater program. For her, that was when she found her niche, a place where she fit in.

She hopes Theatre Journey will help the kids she works with find their own sense of belonging, whether that’s in a theater program at school or in her program.

“I think that’s been the highlight, for me, is watching them grow into themselves,” she said. “I just hope this is a place where they can come and release everything and just be themselves.” M

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SENIOR ADVICE

TIPS FROM A RECENT GRAD W

ith summer quickly passing by, take a moment to reflect on what it means to be a member of the class of 2020 and how to make the most of your senior year of high school. Most seniors plan on continuing their studies in college the following year, so my first piece of advice is to start applying to colleges early. The Common Application opens every year on August 1st with all the information required for every college. This process will be easier on students who start before their schedules become busy with homework, sports, and other school related activities. Furthermore, a head-start on your essay(s) will grant more time to edit and get feedback from trusted advisers. These written responses are often the only personal stamps on applications that colleges can use to gauge a student’s true characteristics, so ensure that you feel confident in your work when the time comes to submit them. Likewise, it is also important to begin applying for scholarships and asking teachers for letters of recommendation as early as possible. There are countless scholarships available for high school seniors who look for them, and these opportunities are more likely to be lost the longer students wait to begin working on them. Submit as many scholarship applications feasible because you cannot save yourself or your family too much money. Teachers have more time to plan and write letters for the students who ask early in the school year; as a student, you do not want to be worried about the part of your application that is in someone else’s control at the last minute.

There are also several actions I would encourage you to perform throughout the school year. First, make time to show friends and family how appreciative you are to have them in your life, especially if you hope to go to a school that is far away. These people have positively affected you in some way, and your relationship with them could be altered after this final year of high school. Additionally,

take classes that spark your interest. This is the last year to take advantage of what high school has to offer, and you might come across a subject that you wish to continue studying later in life. Similarly, seize opportunities to attend various school events because you just might have fun, learn something new, or discover a passion within your life. You never know how a new experience will alter your future until you try it, and you no longer have next year to depend on. The time will fly by as your high school career comes to an end, so avoid taking things for granted. Create memories with the people who are important to you and appreciate the moments that bring you happiness. Try not to look too far ahead and stay focused on the work cut-out in front of you presently. Work hard in and outside of the classroom in order to finish this part of your life strong and prepare yourself for whatever comes next. You can either make your senior year exciting and filled with valuable experiences, or you can walk away from graduation with several regrets. We only regret the chances we do not take, so take as many as you can and make this year the best one yet.

ERIC HUEY WAS THE CLASS OF 2019 VALEDICTORIAN AT TUPELO HIGH SCHOOL AND IS STARTING HIS FRESHMAN YEAR AT DUKE UNIVERSITY IN THE FALL.

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MSU Idea Shop If you’ve walked down East Main Street in Starkville lately, you may have noticed a new addition to the college town’s collections of downtown stores.

by EMMA KENT photos by LINDSAY DAFFRON

T

he Idea Shop, a project of Mississippi State University, appears to be a bright and modern retail space nestled between CURiO and Moe’s Original BBQ, but in fact, it’s a lot more than just that.

The Idea Shop is a split-use space with retail in the front and a workshop, known as the Turner A. Wingo Maker Studio, in the back. It officially opened in March, but it’s been in the works for several years.

It began as just the Maker Studio, a student organization founded by an MSU graduate student as a facility that gave students access to space and equipment to work on projects.

Michael Lane, now program coordinator for the Idea Shop, joined as a member during his first semester at MSU. “We started off in a 250-square-foot room with not much more than hand tools,” Lane said.

In the summer of 2018, they had the opportunity to expand and move into their current 2,000-square-foot space and become the MSU Idea Shop.

The Idea Shop was made possible both through private support and the USDA Rural Business Development Program. It is part of the MSU Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach and operated by the university’s College of Business and School of Human Sciences.

The Idea Shop operates like a gym, where you pay a membership fee to use the space and the equipment. The space and workshop are open to MSU students, faculty and staff as well as the general public.

In the Maker Studio, equipment is available for making prototypes and small custom orders of all kinds of items.

The studio is equipped to help members do custom laser engraving, injection molding, 3D modeling, woodworking

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Previous page: the shop’s foyer features goods from local artists. Left: A workshop volunteer, right, helps a student measure and cut wood for her project.

and metalworking. It also includes a 3D printer and computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing equipment. Some of these are advanced tools not typically easily accessible by the general public, so the Maker Studio helps bridge that gap.

The studio is not designed to manufacture products in bulk, Lane said, but rather, it’s equipped for learning and prototyping. It offers members the chance to learn how to use the equipment involved in manufacturing certain products and how to create products efficiently.

“When you’re learning how to design, it’s good to know the capabilities of the equipment you’re working with,” Lane said.

For students, the Maker Studio provides a place they can work and access equipment they may need for projects at any time.

“This gives them the chance to come down here and use labs that aren’t affiliated with specific classes,” Lane said.

The retail part of the space, named the MSU Retail Product Accelerator, was designed to give local and student start-ups and fashion retail students experience with sales and display. The Idea Shop’s prime downtown location also gets more eyes on their products.

“This is a fully functional retail shop,” Lane said.

The retail space features Mississippi-made goods like earrings from Jackson-based Ponderosa Drive and men’s personal care products from Columbus-based company Munson and Brothers.

There are also ceramics from Brumley Studio Ceramics and bags of

locally roasted coffee from Jitterbean’s Coffee.

You’ll also find handmade wooden items like bowls and cutting boards along with T-shirts, original art and custom cowbells.

The products being sold in the retail space are Mississippi-made, and that’s important to the Idea Shop’s mission.

“Our goal is to support Mississippi entrepreneurs,” Lane said.

Right now, Lane said, Idea Shop membership is made up pretty equally of both students and community members. Once college students return, he hopes to see membership grow.

“We’ll do a big student push in August,” Lane said.

Community Collaboration Much like the physical space, the Idea Shop is meant to be a collaboration between the university and the community.

Brooke Lammert, coordinator of the center for entrepreneurship and outreach, helps with bringing those entities together.

“We’re still reaching out and trying to get to know the community better,” Lammert said. “We’re trying to build that relationship and make that connection seamless. Since the opening, a lot of our energy has been geared toward the retail side, but now that we’ve gotten that up and going we’re focusing more on the workshops and outreach.”

One way the Idea Shop has begun involving the community is through workshops. The Idea Shop can host community workshops for kids and

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Clockwise from left: tools in the workshop; a window display seen from the inside; merchandise from local artists; two girls discuss their project.

other community members to attend. In June, they hosted a workshop that allowed attendees to use the Idea Shop equipment to make Father’s Day gifts.

“The goal for our workshops is to get people familiar with the equipment so they know what they can do,” Lane said.

Most of the Idea Shop’s workshops will have an age requirement that participants be at least 10 years old for safety reasons.

People in the community can work on products and ideas for their own businesses, work on projects or just get some hands-on experience using the tools and technology available at the Idea Shop.

That’s one reason why the Idea Shop’s membership fees are kept low.

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Affordability is a priority, and the Idea Shop also offers a day-use rate that allows members of the community or students to pay to use the space and equipment per day for short-term projects.

“We don’t want to lock anyone out of this,” Lammert said. “It just covers general wear and tear of the tools.”

As the new school year gets started, Lammert hopes to connect with local schools and afterschool programs to arrange visits and workshops for students.

“I think it’s exciting for kids and adults who haven’t had access to those tools to have that,” she said. “It’s something that they’ll leave with some skills and knowledge that they didn’t have before.” M

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10 things to know about the 2019-2020 school year What’s going on at school districts around the area.

by CRISTINA CARREON

1. Lee County School District has hired eight individuals to serve on the district security team this year and a new safety coordinator to oversee that new team, which means every school in the district will now have a security officer on campus.

Tupelo Public School District also hired three new school resource officers this year, increasing its security team to nine officers.

2. Tupelo Public School District

will launch a pilot program introducing biomedical science and computer science concepts in third- through fifth-grade gifted classes at Lawhon, Lawndale, Pierce Street and Rankin elementary schools in August. Also in the northeast, Pontotoc City Schools will offer coding to kindergarteners through the program and computer science to fourthgraders at Pontotoc and D.T. Cox elementary schools.

3. The Mississippi Department

of Education received grants in May to create or enhance STEM programs in schools through tech upgrades or educator training for grades kindergarten through eighth. Eleven of the 15 schools or districts are located in the northeast region.

4. Because the GED program

has been dropped from the accountability model, Tupelo Public School District will no longer offer a GED program at the high school. The district recommends students interested in pursuing a GED to reach out

to The Family Resource Center or Itawamba College.

5. Two new career pathway programs have been implemented and a new internship has been created with Century Construction through Lee County School District’s Career and Technical program. The next goal of the school board is to begin looking into opening a Career and Technical Center.

6. Lee County School District

will offer volleyball as a new sport in every high school within the district, to include Mooreville, Saltillo and Shannon high schools.

7. Northeast Mississippi

Community College will begin offering a news writing and

reporting course in the fall that will focus on news and feature writing, opinions and AP style.

The class will incorporate iPads into lectures and field work and students will learn how to do field videos, utilize social media and create blogs. NEMCC will become the fourth community college in the state to offer it — Holmes, Hinds and Northwest have offered it before.

8. The new University of

Mississippi South Campus Recreation Facility and Transportation Hub, located off of Whirlpool Trails, is set to open Aug. 28 and will feature 121,000 square feet of space that will be dedicated to health and wellness and will house the William Magee Center for Wellness Education.

9. Mississippi State University’s

New Maroon Camp has become increasingly popular in recent years and is a way for students to learn about MSU history and traditions, meet other students, learn about the campus and learn how to get involved. This year’s camp runs from Aug. 11 – 17.

10. Through grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Mississippi will develop the first ever state-run teacher residency program in the United States, which will work to recruit and retain African-American male teachers and also help teachers pursue national board certification. Thirty-five teaching residents will be trained in the 2019-20 school year. M

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TOCCOPOLA SAM TO TOCCOPOLA ARTIST SAMANTHA BALDWIN, PAINTING IS TENTATIVE. OR, AT LEAST ITS ESSENCE IS. WHETHER SHE MUST CATCH A FLEETING IDEA OR GAIN LEGAL PERMISSION TO PAINT PUBLIC PROPERTY, HER CRAFT IS INDEFINITE, PROVISIONAL.

by LINDSAY DAFFRON photos by LAUREN WOOD

Top Left: Samantha Baldwin stands with her work of art in Houston, Mississippi.

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T

hat’s why good art relies on prompt action.

“Creation, and inspiration and artistic things, they’re almost like a breeze. If you don’t stop and appreciate it right then, it’s going to leave you. It’s going to be gone. So you’ve got to stop everything that you’re doing and get it down,” Baldwin said.

And so she did — for 40 hours, across three-and-a-half days — with nine gallons of exterior paint. The Toccopola native painted Houston, Mississippi’s first public mural collection atop an ashen storm shelter.

Alderwoman Kelly Atkinson recruited Baldwin to paint the four-sided building in December of last year. Officials wanted to implement Houston’s first art district, a tool to potentially decrease crime and generate positive attention to the area. Once Baldwin agreed to paint, the community granted her control.

“Houston was the first community who told me, ‘You have artistic freedom. We want you to do your thing. Just try to incorporate Houston in a way that’s interactive,’” Baldwin said. “They were thinking of other interactive murals, like Nashville with the wings.”

She liked their vision, but she wished to create something novel. Little did she know, Houston natives — who brought water, doughnuts, Gatorade, or invitations to eat at their restaurants — would shape her artistic method. Her work does not simply incorporate their kindness, generosity and good, Southern hospitality. It is made of it.

“I really got encouraged as people would come. I wanted them to paint a brushstroke on the walls as well, so they could come back and say, ‘Hey, I did this,’” she said. “It’s been a community event for the people here.”

Baldwin’s work consists of four separate pieces: the poignant face of a Native American woman; a whimsical spray can spewing out the cosmos (which she affectionately calls her “imagination” piece, designed especially for children); a wall of larger-than-life flowers; and two hands, different in race, uniting as one heart.

“The hands were the first thing that came into my mind and the first thing I wanted to get out,” she said. “I knew above anything

else that I had to get those right, because it was the most powerful statement that I have on these walls.”

Perhaps just as striking is the Native American woman, left purposefully ambiguous. Fittingly, the mural faces the Chickasaw County Heritage Museum, a resource which inspired Baldwin to paint the woman and pay homage to local history.

“She’s not necessarily anybody in particular, which I like. People imagine that she is their family, that she is their grandmother, that she is part of their lineage,” Baldwin said.

She explained photography’s expense and accessibility precluded many families of the past from taking photographs. This proves disappointing for present families who recognize Native Americans as an important part of their genealogy. Touched by the mural, one woman even told Baldwin she envisioned the painting as her grandmother — a compliment, considering the artist prioritized celebrating Houston’s history and nuance.

“I think part of art is being able to make it something other people can put themselves in. That’s part of how you know you might be doing it right,” she said.

People have responded to her art with tremendous positivity, driving by on their lunch breaks, posting her work on social media or traveling from other communities to see it. Their warmth has mattered to the artist.

“It was just a beautiful and refreshing reminder that people are kind. And they’re kind because they’re kind,” Baldwin said. “They’re kind because they’re breathing. And that in itself has been just a really nice reminder that this world, this place, this moment is not so bad.”

At the last brushstroke, she cried — for gratitude, for relief and for her renewed faith in others. She had finally fulfilled a lifelong dream of painting public art, and with it came a chance to know others, to be known and to spread her light.

“It was really a special and precious moment,” Baldwin said. “I finally got this out of my heart and on to a storm shelter, of all places.” M

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BACK TO

School Fashion

August brings new beginnings, fresh ideas and lots of creativity. As students return from vacations and gather school supplies, outfit inspiration is a must. We spoke with a few students about the year ahead and to see what they’ll be wearing once they’re back.

RILEY TURNER 11TH GRADE AT MOOREVILLE HIGH SCHOOL

What are you most looking forward to about this school year?

Trying to keep my grades higher and studying more.

Do you do any after-school activities?

I work at Black Sheep Boutique, but when I’m not working I play tennis after school with my friends.

What is your favorite subject?

I love English — it’s the subject I’m best at!

Who has been one of your favorite teachers and what do they teach?

Mrs. Martin. She teaches English. She is really sweet, very helpful and patient.

Riley is wearing an outfit from Black Sheep Boutique in Pontotoc. Shirt by She + Sky $30, and pants by Cello $42 40

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Left to right: Vanessa Jackson tending to her garden last fall; a butterfly lands on a flower.

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KNOX WATERER 8TH GRADE AT TUPELO CHRISTIAN PREPARATORY SCHOOL

What are you most looking forward to about this school year?

Basketball and basketball practice Do you do any after-school activities?

Basketball and tennis What is your favorite subject?

Math Who has been one of your favorite teachers and what do they teach?

It’s very organized. I like that it’s organized and planned well.

Knox is wearing an outfit by MLM Clothiers in Tupelo. Prices available upon request.

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SYDNEY CALHOUN 7TH GRADE AT HATLEY JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

What are you most looking forward to about this school year?

Seeing my friends again.

What event do you most look forward to at school?

I look forward to pep rallies.

Do you do any after-school activities?

I do cheer and basketball. In the summer, I love doing crunches.

What is your favorite subject?

History or language because I like reading and knowing about the time before us. I really like learning about the Great Depression.

Sydney is clothed by Sydney’s Boutique in Tupelo. Shirt by Vintage Havana $48, Skirt

by DL 1961 $55, shoes by Steve Madden $48, jewelry by Pura Vida $6-15.

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GRAM RICHEY KINDERGARTEN AT JOYNER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

What are you most looking forward to about this school year?

I’m excited to see my friends.

What is your favorite after school snack?

Pringles What do you want to learn about at school?

I’m excited to make stuff.

Are you going to eat lunch at school or pack your lunch?

I’m going to eat at the school.

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LIZZY HAMBLIN 2ND GRADE AT PONTOTOC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

What is your favorite after-school snack?

Cheez-Its What do you usually have for lunch?

I bring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with strawberries.

What is your favorite school celebration?

I love black and gold day.

Do you do any after school activities?

I do gymnastics three times a week.

Lizzy is dressed by The Carousel in Pontotoc.

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PA R E N T A D V I C E

SUCCESS STARTS AT HOME S

tarting school can be nerve-racking for kids, especially starting a new school or entering school for the first time. The good news is, there are intentional things parents can do to help make the transition a positive experience. Canopy Children’s Solutions’ Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners Hart Wylie and Leah Rigney discuss ways to start the year off right.

“Some kids are excited about school and have no hesitation, while others are very nervous,” said Wylie. “One thing parents often do is try to rush a child past those negative feelings with an ‘oh, you’re fine.’ Instead, I encourage parents to allow their child to feel anxious and afraid. Talk to them about when you have felt that way and help them understand it is a normal reaction to change.

This also opens the door for parents to discuss empathy and compassion so he or she can help another child who may feel anxious on the first day of school.”

While helping your child move past fearful feelings, Rigney suggested talking to your child’s school about a tour and asking about activities hosted by the PTO or community where children may have the opportunity to meet other peers. Even engaging in role play to help a child practice making new friends and other school activities can help them feel more confident about their first day. Remind your child of all the good things they have to offer and encourage them to look for those same positive things in others to help create

by LAURA WALKER a connection. This will help a child actively seek to find things in common with children of diverse abilities, races, ethnicities, background and socioeconomic statuses. Hopefully, with good practice, it becomes second nature that your child will seek out and include others.

“Talk to your child ahead of time about moments when they may feel alone or unsure of what to do and encourage them to look up,” said Rigney. “Is there a child playing by herself who may let you join? Is there a child sitting by himself who may want to play? Simply asking a child at lunch ‘will you sit with me?’ can have a profound impact on a child who feels insecure, lonesome or excluded.”

Inclusion is not something children learn once they start school, but should be modeled in their home life from a very early age.

Children watch how parents/adults engage with one another. They often model more of what you do than what you say.

Creating a culture of inclusion extends far beyond the halls of kindergarten. “Will you sit with me?” can be a tool parents can use to connect with older adolescents and teens as well. Having parents encourage kids to sit and talk openly with them is a great way to stay connected and gain an understanding of what is happening in your child’s world. If this habit is started at a young age, it will be much easier to carry into the teen years; however, there are also some creative ways to break down the communication barrier.

“Teens are often the hardest group to get to open up if that isn’t something they are used to,” said Wylie. “Instead of stopping their world to have a heart-to-heart conversation,

even about important things, try easing into it by joining them in whatever activity they are doing. Be present in their moment—play videogames, watch a movie, help them with a chore.”

The final piece of advice from our clinicians is for parents to take a hard look at their personal values when talking to their kids about school. Is it important to you that your child is popular or are you more concerned with whether he is kind? Do you value most that she make all A’s on her report card or that she tries her best? Children will internalize their parents’ values and aim to gain approval and acceptance. Knowing that he or she has unconditional acceptance and support to keep pushing forward is the biggest key to their success and can help kids and teens not feel overwhelmed trying to meet lofty expectations.

“Parents can play a huge role in a child’s long-term success,” said Rigney. “It isn’t just about making good grades, making the cheer squad or being part of a particular crowd.

Starting kids off on the right foot at any school is also about learning how to treat others and how to cope with failure — those are things they learn first from home.” M Laura is a staff writer for Canopy Children’s Solutions.

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^^^

SENIOR ADVICE

ATTENTION SENIORS M

y senior year felt like a month. I blinked and I was in my cap and gown. I wish that someone had told me the things I know now the summer before senior year.

Try to get out of your comfort zone and make new friends.

Expand your circle and go to the events that you normally wouldn’t go to. Not everyone is out to judge you. I met my best friend my senior year and she is like my sister now.

Be yourself. The worst thing to do is change yourself to fit someone else’s standards. You are unique and don’t let anyone make you think otherwise.

Spend time with your friends and family because soon you won’t see them very much. Cherish those small moments with them. Also, do not overthink everything. It will cause major, unneeded stress in your life that you don’t need during this time.

Now on the scholarly part. Don’t take those “filler” classes for granted because you will find yourself with a ‘C’ before you can even say “graduation.”

If you haven’t applied to colleges, you need to do that right away. Start working on your resume because colleges like extracurriculars and community service.

Apply for scholarships ASAP because the deadlines will sneak up on you.

Now, don’t think everything is about academics because this is your year to have fun. This is it. Go out with a bang.

You only regret the chances you didn’t take, so take as many as you can. Take this school year on with a smile and a little dance; it’s going to be the best one yet. M

KARCI WATSON IS STARTING HER FRESHMAN YEAR AT MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY IN THE FALL MAJORING IN BIOCHEMISTRY FORENSIC SCIENCES.

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Teacher & Administrator Profiles We talked to some teachers and administrators from schools across the area to get their thoughts about shaping young minds, what they love about teaching and how they are getting ready for the upcoming school year.

by CRISTINA CARREON & LINDSAY DAFFRON photos by LAUREN WOOD

Coke Magee Assistant Superintendent•Lee County Schools Coke Magee is currently serving as assistant superintendent of education for the district. He will assume the role of superintendent of Lee County School District on November 1, 2019, after his predecessor Jimmy Weeks leaves the district.

Magee earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1993 and earned his Master of Arts degree in education from the University of North Alabama in 2004. Magee has 24 years of experience in the education field, working in capacities such as teacher, coach and principal.

He started his education career in Tishomingo County where he worked for 12 years as a teacher and coach before moving to Lee County. Magee has worked in Lee County for 12 years, serving the past seven years as assistant superintendent of education for the district.

He has been both a baseball and football coach while teaching seventhand eighth-grade history.

“I do miss the daily contact with the kids; that’s why teachers become teachers,” Magee said.

As a former teacher himself, Magee said he understands the challenges teachers face and hopes to provide sufficient support to educators under his leadership.

“I’m nervous, but I am excited,” Magee said.

Magee and his wife Stephanie reside in Guntown with their two sons, Tripp and Kyle.

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For most of her life, Tupelo resident Sarah Barrett thought her purpose was to create art. Now, she teaches it.

A maker at heart, Barrett studied fine arts, worked as a graphic designer, and lead calligraphy workshops. Teaching in school never occurred to her, though, because she believed instructors possessed a “special gift” of patience. To Barrett, people like her grandfather and mother, who together amassed 67 years of teaching, had this gift -- not her.

It was during her search for a new job that she reconsidered working with children full time. Along with observing her mother and grandfather, she studied the value of art integration and curriculum for a senior project. And, after all, she adored teaching children’s church on Sundays. It seemed clear: She should become a teacher.

“To my surprise, getting certified was way easier than I thought it would be,” she said. “But I thought, ‘is this too good to be true?’”

Once she passed the Praxis exam, she was offered a Behavior Academic Interventionist position from Lawhon Elementary School, which, coincidentally, is part of Whole Schools Initiative, an arts integration program. The position allowed the principal to observe her work ethic while she assisted students and teachers. It wasn’t art, but it did prove how much she loved the classroom.

“I worked with English language learners,” Barrett said. “I supported those who came to the country, who wanted a better life, but had a language barrier. And that was one of the most rewarding experiences ever.”

Her rapport with staff and students was so excellent she was offered a temporary art teacher position the following semester.

“I stepped out of the office and cried, as one does when you’ve worked so hard for something and you really love it,” Barret said. “It was a very emotional experience for me. I cried when I passed the Praxis, I cried when I got the licensure and I cried when I got the position as temporary art teacher.”

Her position will be permanent in the fall. Classes of second through fifth graders will see her once a week during “specials,” a time designated to learn skills outside of general, state-monitored curriculum. There, students will think, create and grow unreservedly.

“There’s so much more freedom [in art class],” she said. “There’s no right or wrong way to do art, because it’s subjective.”

What Barett loves most is the confidence children have around her.

Those who may struggle with standardized work feel self-assured in her class, and anxious students can play and relax by making something beautiful.

“They know that as long as they’re well-behaved and trying their best, they’re going to excel,” Barett said. “Seeing them so excited to come to specials classes and so excited to see me -- it’s the best feeling ever.”

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Sarah Barrett Art Teacher•Lawhon Elementary School in Tupelo

Bre Anna Heard Principal•Blue Mountain Schools

Union County-native Bre Anna Heard was recently appointed the new principal at Blue Mountain High School, officially starting in the fall.

The experienced educator and fashionista has been a go-getter in other areas of life as well.

Heard most recently served as assistant principal at Ripley High School in Tippah County for two years and spent the eight years before that working in Union County. She has worked in education as a teacher, an athletics coach and a testing coordinator for the past 11 years.

Heard said her first passion was sports and she grew up an athlete.

She played sports in high school and played basketball at Blue Mountain College, but said academics is her passion.

“I love kids, I loved education for myself, and I wanted to share that love with children,” Heard said.

But late in life, Heard faced challenges to her active lifestyle. Heard was diagnosed with a serious case of Crohn’s disease during her third year of teaching and she has had multiple surgeries, even going septic at one point. Although the educator and athlete has spent a lot of time in hospitals, she has not let her health issues stop her from doing what she loves: working with kids.

“It has been very challenging but also very rewarding because you learn what you are made of, you learn what you can do,” Heard said.

Today, Heard enjoys dressing up for work and starts her new job in Blue Mountain during summer. She also recently became engaged.

“You learn you can overcome anything that comes your way because I was not supposed to make it; not every day is a good day, but we get up and we come to school because we want to love on these kids and be there for them,” Heard said.

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Tommy Ozbirn Principal•Myrtle Attendance Center “All of us are better than any one of us.”

Myrtle Attendance Center Principal Tommy Ozbirn guides others by this mantra. He believes in the power of community, of big-hearted teachers and of inclusivity. His approach to leadership is certainly relationship-oriented.

“I have never had any desire to be someone’s boss. That is absolutely not what school administration is about,” Ozbirn said. “I believe administrators are to work with teachers as a team to develop solutions that help us best serve our students.”

Under his administration, part of team work means solving problems.

Teachers have distinct insight about student affairs he may not have as principal. Ozbirn’s job is to pair their first-hand wisdom with his unique vision for the school.

“It’s fun and a challenge to put the puzzle pieces together,” he said. “A key is to include teachers in the decisions.”

When you understand teachers, including them proves easy. Prior to serving as principal, Ozbirn taught history for seven years, once manning a high school history department single-handedly. He also drove school buses each morning and coached a championship-winning, fast-pitch softball team.

Incorporate his understanding with his passion for hard data, and see

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improved test scores, better lessons, and higher accountability models.

According to Ozbirn, data is a foundation for Myrtle’s education.

“Teachers now understand how each one of their students count for us, and they have done a phenomenal job” Ozbirn stated. “My first year [as principal], our accountability model score went up to 710 points and we were the highest performing school in the district and third highest scoring attendance center in the state.”

Beyond great data and great teamwork, though, stands a certain kind of empathy for others. In Myrtle, Mississippi, this is not a rarity, but a pillar of life.

“We have the best group of teachers I have ever been around. They worry about them, cry over them, and then do whatever it takes for them,” Ozbirn said. “Our teachers spend a lot of their own money buying food or clothes for our students that have needs. When we have hearts like that for kids, big things are going to happen.”

Monica Baldwin 6th-Grade Gifted Teacher•Pontotoc Middle School

One look around Monica Baldwin’s sixth-grade gifted classroom is all it takes to recognize chaos. From a “tinker table” with disassembled electronics to a sewing machine station, her space is a vibrant blend of kinetic energy and creativity. Baldwin’s presence, however, is quiet and serene.

When she first began teaching at Pontotoc Middle School four years ago, she wasn’t always this calm. She wanted order, precision. That is, until she had her daughter.

“I kid you not. The day I learned my daughter could hear my voice in the womb, my teaching style went from wanting authority to being a mother,” Baldwin said.

Now her maternal instinct drives her teaching methods. She leads classes as a family, encouraging her near 50 students, distributed across five class periods, to debate, discuss and play together peacefully. She uses a paper mache globe dubbed the “orb of discussion” to regulate conversation and behavior. Whoever holds the orb may speak; whoever doesn’t must listen.

By the school year’s end, every student will have listened to each other, and they will know Baldwin as a confidante -- a safespace. Since she only sees them once a day for 60 minutes, she prioritizes individual attention. She uses Google Classroom to send students articles or fiction pieces they might be interested in. The trick, though, is that she sends a different article to every student, making each of them feel important.

“I like making them feel special,” Baldwin said. “I held onto any little thing that was said to me when I was young, and I remember it now. I want them to feel that, too.”

She also cherishes students by placing “affirmations” — sticky notes filled with inspiration or compliments — on their binders when they aren’t looking, and by simply listening to them. Unsurprisingly, students are willing to talk.

“Some situations are not an easy fix, and I don’t try to fix them,” she said. “But I can always listen.”

She believes every student brings something different to her class, so whether she listens, sends interesting articles or writes affirmations, she models compassion and lifelong learning with enthusiasm.

“Getting to know the child and help them be a better them has been the best part of everything I’ve ever done,” Baldwin said.

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Leah Patterson grew up in an artistic household alongside her father, a woodworker, who often enlisted her to help creating lettering designs. After having her son, she realized she wanted to be a teacher and went back to school. Patterson has been teaching art to children ever since.

Patterson has been teaching for 15 years and teaches art to kindergarten through fourth-grade students at Anderson Elementary School in Booneville. She also works with other teachers to create programs that bring music to the students.

“We try to mix all of the arts, so we have music and movement in a program for each grade per year,” Patterson said. These programs often feature social themes taken from fairytales, such as those often found in Disney films. Themes might be ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ as told through “Beauty & The Beast,” or ‘we are all united in the grand scheme of things’ as told through "The Lion King.”

Patterson said the children’s artwork beautifies the walls of the school. The students also help create murals, such as a large piece recently created that features ocean life alongside a quote that reads ‘in diversity, there is beauty and there is strength,’ which is a quote from Maya Angelou.

“We make it a point to display their artwork because then they begin to value it too,” Patterson said.

The school recently received a grant from a local Lowe’s home improvement store to upgrade a small courtyard for students to enjoy during special occasions. The students are creating a garden environment with winding walks and wildflowers painted on the wall with inspirational quotes.

Patterson said arts integration – whether that means learning how to play an instrument, draw, sing or perform in a drama – helps students at all academic levels. She said arts integration is about breaking the mold of sitting at a desk and reading.

“Real arts integration and real teaching to me, is having kinesthetic, tactile and real hands on learning, and art naturally does that,” Patterson said.

“As long as they are learning, understanding and internalizing the information, that is real learning.”

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Leah Patterson Art Teacher•Anderson Elementary School in Booneville

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Save the date for the live event: October 15, 2019

Party in the Art Room Former public school teacher Amanda Koonlaba has transformed her upstairs corner of the Link Centre in Tupelo into a colorful space designed to help kids embrace their creativity.

by EMMA KENT photos by LAUREN WOOD & LINDSAY DAFFRON

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rt adorns the walls, colorful floor cushions create a cozy space for kids to gather and, from down the hall, children’s voices can be heard discussing paint colors and projects.

The space is the physical manifestation of a passion project Koonlaba has been working on for several years now called Party in the Art Room.

She started Party in the Art Room first as a blog on which she shared art lessons as a resource for other educators. Eventually, she realized it had the potential to be more than just a blog.

“I liked being able to share it with other teachers,” Koonlaba said. “The blog helped me connect with teachers all over the country.”

After that, she began getting opportunities to do consulting, speak at conventions and write for other outlets about art education. As those opportunities became more and more, Koonlaba also began hosting small art camps at her home in Tupelo.

She loved the work she was doing sharing her own strategies and curriculum for teaching art, and she stepped away from teaching in a

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traditional classroom.

“I never thought I would do anything but teach art at school because I loved it so much,” she said. “It was a very hard decision to make.”

That’s when Koonlaba decided to take the idea behind Party in the Art Room and make it into something more tangible.

“I decided to make it a real-life space,” she said.

Although she says she’s still trying to get the space set up and organized in the way that she wants it, it’s come a long way in a year’s time.

Last summer Koonlaba had 10 kids attend Party in the Art Room summer camps, but this summer she’ll teach six camps with more than 40 kids total.

Each summer camp session is three days long and has a unique theme that guides the art projects and activities kids will participate in.

Koonlaba has also put on several “art nights,” which are designed to give kids and families a single art experience.

On the other hand, Koonlaba also offers after-school and homeschool art classes that span an eight-month period. They meet once a

week for three weeks out of the month.

These lessons take place throughout the school year and are designed to be a process for kids to learn the building blocks of the creative process. Koonlaba has developed an original curriculum unique to Party in the Art Room that teaches kids basic art techniques while also encouraging them to flex their creative muscles. Koonlaba allows students to use artist-quality materials in the classes.

“You’re not going to get a lesson pulled from Pinterest or someone else’s teaching,” she said.

Koonlaba likes to focus on buildable skills with all of her camps and classes.

“We don’t have them copy us. We teach art skills and techniques,” she said. “I expect the kids to be the ones doing the creative thinking.”

For example, at one of this summer’s camps, children were taught how to use a nib pen and ink before later using those basic skills to draw and decorate their own pair of shoes.

Koonlaba has a master’s in curriculum, her education specialist degree, and on top of all of that, she has seven years of classroom

“To be able to connect tangible standards and get the kids to be creative and do something that’s uniquely theirs is something I’ve spent my career fine-tuning.” amanda koonlaba

teaching experience at Lawhon Elementary School and several years of experience teaching first grade before that. She gets kids, and she gets how they learn.

“To be able to connect tangible standards and get the kids to be creative and do something that’s uniquely theirs is something I’ve spent my career fine-tuning,” Koonlaba said. “That background alone helps me understand what a child’s creative process is like.”

Party in the Art Room is about laying the foundation, giving kids the parameters and then letting them take their ideas and run with them.

“We’re growing and that’s exciting,” she said.

Growth means Koonlaba is continuing to work toward her goal, which she says has always been to get art into the hands of as many people as possible.

Some students she works with just want to spend more time being creative. For them, her classes are a supplement to their art classes at school. For others, Party in the Art Room may be their only exposure to art classes as many rural schools don’t offer art or offer art as often as students would like to be in an art classroom.

Koonlaba said she works with many homeschooled kids whose parents want them to have that creative learning time and exposure to art.

In both the camps and classes, Koonlaba likes to bring guest artists in to teach because she wants the kids to meet practicing artists.

“I think that’s super important to model for the children,” Koonlaba said.

Whether they go on to become practicing artists or not, Koonlaba feels strongly that exposure to art teaches children valuable life skills like independent thinking, creative problem solving and self-efficacy.

“We need people on the planet who can think creatively and problem solve and think for themselves — that’s huge,” she said. “If they can think for themselves, then they can know themselves and become lifelong reflective thinkers.”

Art can also break up the mindset many students must adopt when they’re at school. Instead of looking for a right or wrong answer, they can learn to see more than one outcome.

“Art teaches them to be OK with ambiguity,” Koonlaba said.

Besides all of that, art is fun. And that’s important too.

“They have fun,” Koonlaba said. “It gives them something productive to do.” M

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T HE ON LINE VOICE OF B U S I NE S S

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SUPPLIES

SCHOOL ESSENTIALS

by KRISTINA DOMITROVICH

W

ith school just around the corner, it’s time to make a mad dash to the store for those back-to-school supplies. The right supplies can kick-start the academic year into instant success. Whether you’re buying for a classroom or trying to brighten your little one’s upcoming year, we have the 2019 trends mapped out.

For the creatives

No more lunch-time blues

What student doesn’t love arts and crafts? These colorful paint palettes, markers and crayons are sure to get your student’s creativity flowing. Melissa & Doug markers, $2.99, watercolor palette, $5.99, and triangular crayons, $5.99, from Reed’s in Tupelo.

Stay pretty in pink with this spacious lunch bag perfect for all your foodie’s needs. This insulated bag is sure to keep your student cool, and their food, too. Stay hydrated with a matching reusable bottle. Swig bottle, $30, and Scout lunch tote, $24, from The Red Door in Pontotoc.

For the organizer

For the girly girls

Bookbags & Backpacks

Keep up with homework and school projects using these colorful planners. Students can keep track of upcoming assignments and even take notes, all while toting these stylish organizers. Planners, $34, from SWIRLZ in Tupelo.

Everyone uses paper clips, so why not spruce up this otherwise boring supply with some colorful pompoms? Paperclips can be an easy way to reflect your student’s style and personality with these colorful additions. Pompom paper clips, $5.99, from L.A. Green in Tupelo.

Backpacks are crucial for students to transport their items to and from school, but also how a student feels about their whole outlook on the school year. Make sure your student is excited to head to class by finding the perfect backpack that combines their style with functionality.

Patagonia, $89, and Fjallraven Kanken, $90, backpacks from Core Cycle in Tupelo.

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HEART HOUSE

by LESLIE CRISS photos by LAUREN WOOD & LINDSAY DAFFRON

When Robin and Ben Bolton built their former home in 2005, they built it with family in mind.

This page: Interior designer Jennifer Russell designed this bed for the Laney’s eldest daughter, Lucy.

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W

ith three children between the ages of 6 and 12 at the time, the Boltons made sure there was a room upstairs large enough to accommodate all. The room functioned at times as a playroom and for a short season as a school room for homeschooling.

Some years later, when the Boltons were giving thought to selling their house – which they called their “heart house” – it was listed for two years, on and off.

Meanwhile, Adair and Cal Laney, Ole Miss graduates both, were living in Lexington, Kentucky, where Cal was completing a cardiology fellowship. The couple – he from Jackson, she from Clarksdale – had married in 2006, lived in Jackson while he attended medical school at UMC, spent time in Birmingham, Alabama, while Cal completed his residency in internal medicine, before moving to Lexington.

While in Kentucky, the Laneys became parents to twins Jack and Lucy, and later to Reid – a miraculous feat in light of news the couple had been given earlier in their marriage.

“We were told there was less than a one percent chance of our having babies,” Adair said with a large smile.

When the time came to leave Kentucky, the Laneys ultimately decided to head back to Oxford.

“We’d gone to Ole Miss, we married in Oxford, we had friends and family there,” Adair said. “It just seemed like moving home.”

Truth is, Adair had fallen in love online with a house in Oxford, but it was not, at the moment, on the market.

“I’d been stalking this house,” she said, laughing. “It was my dream house. I even sent my mom, who lives in Oxford, over to the house to take pictures of the outside for me.”

Adair’s mother, Niecey Reid, was Facetiming her daughter from the front yard of the Boltons’ home when the Bolton children saw her and reported to their mother that a stranger was in their front yard.

Reid and Robin Bolton met. The two women talked and Robin

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From left: A model plane on Reid’s desk; the entryway; their children’s playspace and former homeschool room.

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learned about the Laney family – complete with a trio of children and Ava, the Yorkshire terrier.

In the weeks and months ahead, things would happened to convince the Boltons the Laneys were the perfect fit for the house.

“It amazed us that our heart house was built for three children and we were selling to a family with three children – and a heart doctor,” Robin said.

The Laneys moved in to the Cumberland Place home in 2013.

“We lived in as it was at first,” Adair said. “But later, we started making a few changes.”

Of course, there were things the Boltons did to the house that the Laneys left alone – like the cypress doors the Boltons chose from The Bank in New Orleans and the floors of heart pine harvested from an old textile mill in North Carolina.

The first major change was to accommodate Cal Laney’s penchant for duck hunting.

“He had a Ranger and said we needed some sort of covering for it,” Adair said.

“That’s how we ended up with a three-vehicle garage, with a finished area upstairs for guests, with a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. But it’s kind of Cal’s man cave really.”

Another nod to Cal Laney’s passion is the house’s entrance hall, which boasts cork wall covering. But the focal point is a painting by Hayden Hall of Clarksdale titled “The Benediction.”

The Laneys spend time each year at a hunting came, Fighting Bayou, near Ruleville.

The evening before the hunt, the member families gather by the water, drink wine and watch the sun set, while the children wade in the water.

“It’s a fun time of day,” Adair said. “It’s called The Benediction. That’s what I had Hayden paint as a gift to Cal.” Three years ago, Adair consulted Jennifer Russell, whom she’d known socially, to come in and do some things in the house.

Russell is the owner of Jennifer Russell Interior Design on North Lamar Street in Oxford.

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This spread clockwise from left: Mary Lyles’s nursery; The kitchen, which features an island and granite countertops; the entryway features a clean neutral palette.

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Russell is responsible for adding two cabinet beds in the sleeping area over the garage. Made in Canada, the beds look like cabinets when not in use as beds.

Inside the house, Russell changed out all the lighting.

“That’s so important – the lighting,” she said. “The lighting is the jewelry of your home.”

Upstairs belongs to the children.

Most recently, Russell was asked to turn one of the four upstairs bedrooms into a nursery. The Laney’s three-child family became four with the birth of Mary Lyles six months ago.

“Adair told me her own vision for the nursery,” Russell said. “From there, we worked with swatches of fabrics and colors. A rose-colored painting of four butterflies – representing each child – became the focal point of the nursery.”

Russell said she’s pretty well tweaked every room in the Laney home in some way.

“I believe in making a house beautiful, but also livable,” she said. “In a house with children, we chose fabrics that would clean easily.”

In her business, Russell does everything from large jobs with new construction to just coming in to help choose throw pillows and paintings.

In the Laney home, Russell worked on the kids’ rooms and the playroom from start to finish.

The playroom, also referred to as the art room, was once carpeted, but with Russell’s help, the room has become extremely kid-friendly.

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“We added laminate hardwood floors and the walls are covered with glossy paint that can be wiped off,” Adair said. “We wanted a place they could go and be messy.”

Daughter Lucy has a soft spot for slime – she has a slime lab at her desk in the playroom, and her mother doesn’t have to worry about a permanent mess.

There’s also a game station and plenty of room to work on art projects.

“They can shut doors, play games, do art and not be at the kitchen island,” Adair said.

While the playroom may be the heart of the home for the Laney kids, the family dining room is a special spot for their parents.

“Although the children are involved in so many activities, we try to have a family dinner at the very least, three times a week,” Adair said.

“That’s when we really get to talk as a family, hear about each other’s day.”

For an only child, Adair appears to have excelled at being Mom to a quartet. A kindergarten teacher for a time, she is a stay-at-home mom these days.

“I used to do a lot of volunteering,” she said. “This is my mission field now.” M Top: The living room with leather chairs and plenty of teal, gold and white accents.

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ANTIQUES, VINTAGE, HANDCRAFTED, REPURPOSED, COLLECTIBLES Karma Brown, Owner | 388 Mobile Street Saltillo, MS | 662-869-5383

DIY pencil case Have some plastic bottles lying around? Create these upcycled pencil cases with your recyclables, some glue and zippers to send your kid to school with a unique case for their pencils, markers and crayons.

Get the full DIY video at mudandmag.com.

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1

550 Russell St., Starkville 2-3BD 2-3BA • 1450 SF • $425,000-$520,000

5

279 Old Payne Place, Saltillo 4BD 2.5BA • 2800 SF • MLS# 19-1384 • $369,900

2

144 Mulberry Lane, Oxford 3BD 2BA • 2352 SF • MLS# 143569 • $379,000

6

2304 Country Club Rd., Tupelo 6BD 5BA • 9500 SF • MLS# 19-1715 • $1,100,000

3

132 CR 410, Iuka - Pickwick Lake 6BD 6.5BA • 5000 SF • MLS# 19-1835 • $1,200,000

7

101 Ike Dr., Fulton 3BD 4BA • 3800 SF • MLS# 19-1777 • $879,900 • Agent owned

4

2708 Honeysuckle Lane, Tupelo 5BD 3BA • 2797 SF • MLS# 19-1909 • $319,900

8

311 Dogwood Estates, Booneville 5BD 7BA • 7511 SF • MLS# 19-1841 • $985,000

Tommy Morgan, Inc., Realtors® TUPELO | OXFORD | STARKVILLE

210 East Main St. Tupelo, 662.842.3844

2092 Old Taylor Rd. Oxford, 662.234.5344

550 Russell at The Mill Starkville, 662.765.3733

tmhomes.com