Vol. 1, Issue 3 MARCH 2019 KEEPING YOU UP-TO-DATE MONTHLY WITH THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN SHELBY COUNTY, TN LETTER FROM THE EDITOR By Yvonne D. Nelson, Ph.D. There were so many things to do and see MITCHELL HIGH SCHOOL’S 9TH GRADE ACADEMY 2019 COLLEGE TOUR in February! As usual we’ve captured a few memorial events to share with you…. A couple of nights before ending a trip to Franklin, TN, a suburb of Nashville, I coincided and connected with a wellbehaved, yet rambunctious group of Black youth, who just happened to live in Shelby County, who were on a college campus tour trip. It was a great thing to see and I really enjoyed listening to what some of the children had learned half way through their trip, but I wonder why I kept being asked if the children were part of a sports group? Is there some unannounced and mistaken misnomer that Black children are only good at or interested in sports these days? Is this how our children are now silently projecting our worth to our communities and the world? Interesting... As always, I encourage you to submit your pictures and stories for print consideration. The success of this publication depends on you. Your readership, your ability and willingness to share our online links to featured stories about you to create new viewers like yourself, your willingness to submit calendar events that are scheduled to happen as well as pictures and stories about things which have recently taken place, and your desire to support us through advertisements featuring local businesses and activities. This newsletter is for you and about you and the things you know about that are happening in your communities. I am depending on you to make sure I have accurate meeting dates and fresh content for each monthly NEWSCENE edition. Call me at 901-300-0250, write me at I Love Shelby County, Attn: Senior Publicist, P.O. Box 9146, Memphis, TN 38190-0146, or email Memphis.Meetings@gmail.com. I definitely want to hear from you soon! Thanks! Dr. Y Select ninth-graders from Mitchell High School, pictured at the Drury Inn Hotel in Franklin, TN, were honored to travel to four Historically Black Colleges and Universities for their 2019 College Tour held February 21st through the 23rd. NEWSCENE SPECIAL FEATURE By Brenda Wells English Educator, Mitchell High School Memphis, TN 38109 “Believing is seeing, and seeing is believing,” espouses the actor, Tom Hanks. This mantra emphasizes how some people visualize a better future and have faith that they will accomplish great things. Whereas, others may need to be convinced in a tangible way. Many educators argue which grade is more impactful. The Memphis Freshman Success Initiative agrees with Chicago Public Schools that if students do well in ninth grade, then their odds for graduating high school increases. Thirteen Shelby County high schools are participating in the new network that Stand for Children partners. The achievement teams focus on what matters: grade point average, attendance, and behavior. Mitchell High School rewarded the freshmen who were on track with an incentive college trip. On February 21-22, 2019, a third of the Mitchell High School ninth-graders toured The University of Tennessee at Martin, Fisk University, Lipscomb University, and Tennessee State University. The giddy teens boarded the bus at five am Friday morning with an overnight bag, blanket and pillow in hand. They stopped and ate breakfast at McDonald’s in Jackson, Tennessee. The first campus that they visited was a public college that teaches over 6,ooo undergraduates. The boys and girls traversed some of the acres of the rural college. They were impressed by the various options of housing ranging from traditional dorm rooms with community showers to apartment housing that feature a living room, kitchen, and private bedrooms. Of course, they grabbed a snack out of the food court before the bus headed to Nashville for the Fisk University tour. There was a stark difference in the culture between Fisk and UT Martin. The students ascertained the difference between a HBCU (historically-black colleges and universities) and a PWI (predominantly white institution). In the
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