According to the 2009 Arts Education Awards banquet program, "Under the director of Patti Corley, a Winona native who came home, the WES Arts Smart program is putting this school on the map in a new and different way. Though housed in a portable classroom with few starting funds and little initial interest, this program has transformed the setting into a veritable arts education laboratory and is flourishing. And, making students and teachers proud."
This program is also making the community proud. Every performance at the Winona Elementary School, capacity crowds pile into the school's library to see the show. Businesses in the community are now sponsors of the Arts Smarts program - providing goods and services at no cost to the school, and school districts from across the state are instituting similar programs in their schools.
Last week, at a Business and Professional Women's meeting in Winona, Corley was the speaker, and she informed the club about the many larger school districts across the state interested in establishing an Arts Smart program at their schools.
"I was amazed," she said. "These big school districts like Meridian and Jackson are looking to start something we are doing here in Winona. It makes me so proud."
I've always said, give it time, and the entire world will discover our little secret of the good life here in Carroll and Montgomery counties. Of course, those living here have known its worth for some time.
Recently, I visited with Sue Stidham, director of the Montgomery County Economic Development Partnership, and she said something very interesting.
"Mississippi has never truly given value to itself, and that has to change," she said.
She is absolutely correct. For years, Mississippi has been the subject of ridicule and jokes and stereotypes. National statistics rank our education, birth rate, obesity rate, teenage pregnancy rate, and so on. When these statistics are released and Mississippi is ranked near the bottom, the state's spirit is deflated just a bit.
However, the people of Mississippi are not statistics. They are hard-working, God-fearing, lend-a-hand, charitable people. And, in Winona, they are obviously talented people.
Congratulations to the teachers of Winona Elementary School and every school in Carroll and Montgomery counties for giving our children a well-rounded education. If the children are our future, I am enthusiastically waiting to see what is to come for our community.
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