The Public Education Forum of Mississippi recently received a $5,000 Nissan North America, Inc. grant to support the Mississippi Scholars and Mississippi Scholars Tech Master programs. The unique aspect of Mississippi Scholars is that it positively impacts those students who are in the middle 50 percent academically with a Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) curriculum focus. The Mississippi Scholars program has recognized more than 35,000 graduates with the Scholars designation since 2004. The Mississippi Scholars Tech Master program is the companion program to Mississippi Scholars and encourages students to take a tech prep course of study and recognize those students who meet performance benchmarks for career-readiness. The Tech Master Program completed its first full year in 2015 and since inception has recognized more than 1,200 Tech Master graduates. Nissan employees are very engaged and active in classroom presentations in the Canton School District. Employees encourage students to take a rigorous course of study in high school and explore career opportunities. The goal is to help students understand how their current educational and personal choices will affect their future choices for a career. Both program recognize graduates with a medallion, certificate and seals for the high school diploma and transcript.
