Mississippi parents, teachers, community organizations and local stakeholders participated in a panel discussion and documentary screening on Saturday, March 7 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Russell C. Davis Planetarium in Jackson, Mississippi. Can a community really change the fortunes of a generation by doubling down on their neighborhood schools?
Hosted by Mississippi Public Broadcasting and local partners, the event created awareness and a search for solutions to the challenges local students living in poverty deal with just to get to school. The goal was to effect change in the dropout rates in Mississippi schools.
A recent Southern Education Foundation report has uncovered that, for the first time in 50 years, the majority of students attending public schools in the U.S. live in poverty.
The new documentary “180 Days: Hartsville” takes a fresh look at the nation’s poverty and education challenges faced by a rural South Carolina town triumphing in the face of extraordinary challenges. The two-hour film airs on MPB TV Tuesday, March 17 at 7 p.m.
180 Days: Hartsville was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) as part of American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen, a public media initiative to stem the dropout crisis by supporting community-based solutions.
