The Lamar County Education Foundation received its largest donation in its seven-year history when The First, A National Banking Association donated $250,000 to the Lamar County Early Learning Collaborative at the recent School Board meeting.
The money will be used to expand the Pre-K program in the school district from its current 12 classes with 240 students to its largest attendance in history.
Presenting the donation at the School Board meeting were The First representatives Karen Fletcher and Chase Blankenship. Fletcher is regional retail specialist, and Blankenship is the bank’s market president.
Blankenship said the donation is designed for the Early Learning Collaborative, which concentrates on Pre-K students.
“We have to first understand how important it is for early childhood education,” he said. “We think it's very important that children learn how to read, (that they) learn early how to learn. I'm sure a lot of children learn to read, but in second grade they need to read to learn. And that's one of the biggest things we believe in and say in a local bank.”
Blankenship said he and Fletcher represent the bank and the school system.
“You’ve got two local Lamar County products here,” he said. “Both graduated from the Lamar County School System; I know many of you in this room, and it's just an honor for us at First. When we say, ‘Bank local,’ we mean it, and we give it back when we get back.”
Assistant Superintendent Teresa Jenny said the donation for the Early Learning Collaborative includes a tax credit option that hasn’t been used fully.
“We've been in this collaborative since 2013,” she said, “and this tax credit option has always been there. It's just very difficult to get the word out to people that basically it’s dollar for dollar. Whatever you pay in taxes to the State of Mississippi can be given to a collaborative of your choice.”
Jenny said information about funding for the collaborative is starting to take hold.
“I think that people are taking a look at our at our quality Pre-K program that we have in place,” she said. “We are using our money wisely. We started out with four Pre-K classrooms back in 2013, and we've expanded to the 12 we have. So, what we're going to do with our additional donated funds is that we are going to expand our Pre-K and add more classes.”
Jenny said the donation by The First was historic.
“We are very excited about the generous donation because that's the largest single donation that we've received from somebody,” she said. “We got about that much last year in total from a variety of contributors. So, we feel very good about going ahead and pulling the trigger and adding more Pre-K classrooms because you just never know if that money is going to come in year after year.”
Jenny said each classroom is committed to a teacher and an assistant with the 20 students. However, she believes The First may have challenged other local institutions to follow suit.
“What The First told us is they're hoping that this will spark a little competition with some others once other people see The First just gave,” she said. “In fact, we've already had two banks call us that said, ‘What's this about? The First gave $250,000 and talk to me more about this tax credit.’ So, they want to get their name out there for contributing as well. Of anybody that knows how this whole process works, it's the accountants and the bankers.”
Jenny said the donation will pay off in the long run by beginning with the youngest students.
“The more kids that can be exposed to a quality Pre-K program, the better that they're just going to have a more successful educational career,” she said. “They get off to a good start. … We're excited about being able to provide a program for kids so that all children of 4 years old in Lamar County start off on an equal playing field. That's such a big step.”
For more information on how to receive tax benefits from contributions to the school district, please contact Jenny at 601-794-1030.