This Mississippi Faith-Based School Trains Up Young Men Ready to Work and Succeed

Josh Shepherd : Nov 27, 2017
Stream.org

To bring new opportunity to the Mississippi Delta, a father and educator started a school for young men. Leaders nationwide are taking notes on his success story.

(Mississippi)—[Stream.org] This past week, high school principal T. Mac Howard and his wife Heather traveled to Washington, DC to receive an award on behalf of their school. The readers of WORLD Magazine had chosen Delta Streets Academy of Greenwood, Mississippi as winner of the 12th Annual Hope Award for Effective Compassion. (Photo: T. Mac Howard poses with a group of his students from Delta Streets Academy in Greenwood, Miss. Since 2012, the Christian high school has helped young men build character and practical job skills/via Stream.org)

The recognition comes five years after Howard took a leap of faith. Since 2008, he and his family have been on a mission. They had moved to the Mississippi Delta, a region facing America's highest poverty rate. Howard had a steady job at Greenwood High School. With education outcomes among the lowest nationwide, he saw the need for Greenwood's students to achieve higher—particularly young men.

Frustrated by the public school system, Howard gathered supporters to launch Delta Streets Academy in 2012. The all-male school has expanded to now serve 55 black and Hispanic high school students.

Several of their graduates have recently won college scholarships. Yet, echoing ideas often voiced by author and TV host Mike Rowe, the school also provides means for students to succeed apart from...

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