Participants listen intently as Lee and Dr. Herts introduce the workshop. To get participants oriented, Dr. Herts lays out the week's busy schedule. He delves into topics such as intersectionality to give teachers insight into how students may come to identify with different historical figures and narratives. Lee sheds light on the Delta's diverse cultural heritage.
Senator Willie Simmons has long been a valued Cleveland community member. Since opening The Senator's Place in 2003, Senator Simmons has forged an even deeper connection with the people he loves and serves. In the upcoming elections, Senator Simmons will be running for Transportation Commissioner of Mississippi's Central District. Senator Simmons' daughter, Sarita Simmons, will be running for Senator of District 13, the office that her father has held since 1993.
After lunch, participants watch the Academy Award-nominated documentary "LaLee's Kin". The film highlights a family in rural Mississippi stuck in a cycle of perpetual poverty due in part to a lack of educational resources and web of complex social and historical factors.
Reggie Barns, depicted in the documentary, was the West Tallahatchie School Superintendent hired to get the school district off of probation by increasing standardized test scores. He speaks passionately to participants about educational disparities in the Delta and discussed how systemically disadvantaged community and family settings can gravely influence rates of educational attainment among children.
The final activity before dinner is a visit to the Mississippi River, where participants witness the river in all its power from atop a levee. The bus ride to the riverside is accompanied by a short documentary about the history of the Flood of 1927. Thunder grumbles in the distance as rain trickles down the bus windows.
Luckily, the skies begin to clear as soon as the participants exited the bus. The River, a mile across from where participants stand, moves with a force that exhilarates, yet terrifies.