Community volunteers working with The Rensselaerville Institute (TRI) recently improved the lives of 137 children in Clarksdale, Mississippi. They joined TRI as Community Sparkplugs, and led five projects to enrich young people’s learning in the Delta.
Students learned virtual-reality technology at the Carnegie library.
They gained job skills, roasting beans and serving customers through a mobile coffee cart. Other students attended a positive rap academy where they discovered rap’s African storytelling roots and gained music production skills.
Two more projects emphasized academics: new tutoring programs at George H. Oliver Elementary School, and coaching for area high-school students to apply to college.
Thank you to the Sparkplugs and to our partner—the Stennis Institute of Mississippi State University—for making these projects a reality!