NEWS RELEASE

Release Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2009

Contact: Pete Smith, Public Relations Director, 601-359-1336 or
Thelma Brittain, Parent Relations, 601-359- 3764

Mississippi Parent of the Year named

Jackson, MS- Vicksburg resident Rev. Troy D. Truly, Sr. was recently named Parent of the Year by the Mississippi Department of Education. Finalists include: Michael and Pam Brown of New Albany, Congressional District I; Haley Guest, of Brandon, Congressional District III; Paula J. Walters of Laurel, Congressional District IV. All recipients will be recognized by the Mississippi Board of Education at their June 19th meeting.

Rev. Troy D. Truly, Sr.

Troy Truly has been actively involved in the Vicksburg-Warren County Public Schools since 1991, when his two children began attending South Park Elementary. He retired from the U.S. Army and has been participating in programs and activities building a positive school culture among the students and teachers.

As the Chief Operating Officer of the Champions Within Crisis-Intervention Program, Truly has facilitated crisis intervention workshops at several Warren County public schools. Most notably, he has facilitated workshops for male students in grades 4-5 and has demonstrated a strong commitment to improving the literacy skills of all students. He works with teachers and staff to provide an enriching and positive school experience for the students.

Truly recently introduced the idea of establishing a Father-Son and Father Daughter lunch at Vicksburg Intermediate School. Troy's goal is to build the parent-child relationship in hopes of strengthening the family unit and helping fathers understand the importance of being actively involved in their children's school.

He has received numerous awards for his "hands-on" efforts for creating positive change in the Warren County community and in the districts schools from local organizations; including; Omicron Rho Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, Warren County Youth Court, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Vicksburg Family Development Services Inc., Girl Scouts of America and Warren-Yazoo Mental Health.

"Rev. Truly is passionate about excellence as he does his part to promote that passion through his involvement with his children as well as with the children of this community," Principal, Grove Street Non-Traditional School Charlie J. Tolliver said.
Troy and Joan Truly have two adult children. Troy Jr. is an Army Veteran attending Hinds Community College and Maria, a graduate of East Mississippi Community College, is currently attending Jackson State University. The Truly's also have three court-appointed boys who attend Grove Street and Vicksburg-Intermediate Schools.

Michael and Pam Brown

The Browns moved to New Albany in June of 2000 and quickly became involved in community service. Michael is the Branch President of Renasant Bank and Pam is the local State Farm agent. They serve on the Main Street Association Economic Board and are active in the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs. Michael is a past president of the New Albany Rotary Club, a former UNITE Board member and currently serves on the Union County Development Association Board. Pam is Chair of the New Albany Beautification Committee and is a corporate board member for The Boys and Girls Club. Pam recently competed in the local celebrity "Dance Like the Stars" fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club, helping raise more than $15,000 for the New Albany Chapter.

The Browns have two children Shelby a senior at New Albany High School and Wesley, a junior at Delta State University. They have been supporters of New Albany athletics, through the park Commission and New Albany High School. In 2007, Michael orchestrated the donation of a four seat golf cart to New Albany High School through Renasant Bank. The Renasant Bank Shuttle helps shuttle elderly and disabled persons from parking lots to school events.

Their service does not stop at New Albany High School. The Browns are more committed to making the children of New Albany Middle School better students and citizens. In 2002, the Browns created the successful "Paw Prints" program at New Albany Middle School to reward excellent behavior or service by students in the 6-8 grades. This program empowers teachers and administrators to recognize students' efforts in developing good attitudes, citizenship skills and improved grades. This program creates excitement among students and is a great tool that teachers use to motivate students in many areas outside of academics.

Dr. Charles Garrett, Superintendent of New Albany Public School District wrote in a support letter, "The Browns are dedicated parents who work with our schools to ensure that children get the most of their educational experience."

Haley Guest

Haley Guest has been involved in the Parent Teacher Organization at Rouse Elementary for the past three years in various leadership capacities. First, she served as chairman of the Teacher Appreciation Committee that provided special monthly events for teachers. In 2007, she served as Vice President, assisting the president with projects including: an open house, fundraising activities, teacher appreciation, the book fair and the playground renovation project.

Haley currently serves as PTO president. Goals that have been accomplished under her leadership are: raising more than $10,000 in T-shirt sales, hosting over 1,500 grandparents and students at Grandparents Reception during the school's book fair where they raised an additional $3,000 through the sale of paw prints. The money was used to purchase new playground equipment for the Pre-K program.

Her talents for fundraising continued as she led Rouse's "Write a Check" campaign. This campaign was extremely appealing to the parents because 100 percent of the proceeds remained at the school and it eliminated the need for door-to-door catalog sales. This year's campaign successfully raised $27, 000. A portion of the "Write a Check" campaign has provided a physical education teacher for the past two years. A graduate of Brandon High, she truly loves volunteering for the Rankin County School District.

"She has peddled t-shirts, paw prints and magnets all with a smile on her face for she knows everything she does is for the students and their teachers. She is without a doubt loved by all," Kelli Adcock, Principal, Rouse Elementary School.

Haley and her husband Michael, District Attorney for Madison and Rankin Counties, have two children, Kennedy and Patton. Kennedy is in the second grade at Rouse Elementary and Patton will enter kindergarten at Rouse in August.

Paula J. Walters

Paula Walters' contributions to the Jones County School District range from working with the PTO to fundraising to training school personnel on care techniques and guidelines for Type I diabetic students. In addition to her many talents, Walters developed a plan for a successful transition from two separate elementary schools to the new North Jones Elementary School. She met with parents of Sharon Elementary and Shady Grove Elementary to provide assurance of the mutual benefits of consolidating both schools.

She worked with PTO officers and principals to develop a list of workable fundraisers targeted to raising money for new playground equipment and landscaping for North Jones Elementary. She researched and selected the playground equipment to purchase for the new school. One of Walters' biggest accomplishments was developing a plan that involved merging two communities together under one school. The first-ever North Jones Elementary Fall Festival kicked off a new school community that involved teachers, parents and students.

This event was extremely successful in unifying two former school communities to support the new consolidated school. It provided teachers the opportunity to interact with parents, students and each other and the festival provided a fun and safe event that brought families to the new campus and raised funds for the new playground equipment.

"Through her leadership of our PTO and fundraising knowledge, we have secured new playground equipment and landscaping for our new school," wrote Wade Clark, principal at North Jones Elementary. "Paula is a wonderful asset to this school and community and we are extremely fortunate to have her as a parent."

Paula and her husband Mike are the proud parents of two children, Laura Lee and Ashley. Laura Lee is a first grader at North Jones Elementary and Ashley is an eighth grader at West Jones Middle School.