At the Mendenhall Mayor and Board of Aldermen meeting on March 7, Deidra Clark-Allen was present to discuss the Excel By 5 program and get a letter of support from the City of Mendenhall.
Excel By 5 is a community-based certification designed to improve a child’s overall well-being by age five. The first-of-its-kind in the United States, this program emphasizes the important roles communities play in educating their children during their most formative years–birth to age 5.
Initially funded with a grant from Chevron, Excel By 5 is currently working with 38 communities throughout the state of Mississippi. The program sets forth a variety of standards involving parent training, community participation, child care and health to help communities focus on supporting young children and their families.
The certification process also identifies available resources and existing best practices to help Excel By 5 – Early Childhood Communities reach the goal that all of their children will be ready to learn when they start school at age 5.
Allen shared data showing that 90 percent of a child’s brain development occurs before age 5, and she stressed the importance of seizing that window of opportunity for making brain connections that otherwise will be closed by the age of 5. She said support of this program would help every child in Simpson County be “happy, healthy, and ready to succeed by the time they start kindergarten.”
Allen presented the board with a map of the current communities that participate in the program, which featured heavy participation near the Coast and in northern Mississippi. She stressed that the central area of the state is being underserved and believes Simpson County will greatly benefit from participation.
The board unanimously voted to support the program and presented Allen with a letter of support.
The board approved City Clerk Kathy Brien to attend the 2023 MML Conference in Biloxi. They also approved sponsoring a table at the Mendenhall Area Chamber of Commerce Banquet.
Discussion moved to the purchase of new cellular water meters which would allow meters to be checked from City Hall. Several have been purchased and plans are for the remaining meters to be purchased in next year’s budget.
Personnel changes within the Mendenhall Police Department were approved, which included Katie McAfee moving from part-time to full-time dispatch and accepting the written resignation of Devon Thurman.
A written report was submitted to the board detailing citations written for every officer. Mayor Todd Booth explained that tickets have been down, but the issue has been addressed.
Allen Sanders was hired as part-time help with the Mendenhall Sportsplex. Booth explained that this year the city’s baseball program had 100 more children sign up than last year. The program is thriving and additional help was needed to keep up with maintenance on the fields.
A letter of support was approved for Premier Broadband to apply for a grant to install fiber internet to every house in the city. Booth explained that a lot of grant money is available to companies looking to extend internet access to rural areas. He explained that if Premier Broadband is successful with getting the grant, then they would lay the fiber optic lines throughout the city to provide high speed internet. The project would not cost the city any money.
Booth also informed the board of the new Mayor’s Youth Council that has been started with students from Simpson Academy. Booth explained that the group was initiated by Braden Overby at Simpson Academy, and that a similar group was already active in Magee. Booth said the group was important to give students who live in Mendenhall the same opportunity to serve the community and be involved with their city. Booth said the plan is to reach out to Mendenhall High School and invite students to join the Mayor’s Youth Council as well. Booth said the group is already engaged in a food drive for families of cancer patients and are looking for other ways to be active in the community.
The board entered executive session to discuss personnel before recessing the meeting until March 17, to open bids for the water line project connecting the water tank on Highway 43 to the city’s system.
