Mississippi Today (https://mississippitoday.org/author/aallyah/)
Aallyah Wright is a native of Clarksdale and a Mississippi Delta reporter covering education and local government. She is also a guest radio host for WROX Radio (97.5 FM) and was a playwright/reporter for "Beautiful Agitators," a 2017 project by StoryWorks/Reveal Labs from the Center for Investigative Reporting in partnership with Mississippi Today. Aallyah has a bachelor’s in journalism with a minor in communications and theatre from Delta State University. Prior to joining Mississippi Today January 2017, she interned as a reporter for the Bolivar Commercial and was the project producer and community journalist for The Cleveland Yearbook, a project by The Center for Investigative Reporting and Delta Arts Alliance. In 2018, Aallyah earned a fellowship with Hechinger Report to report on Mississippi’s teacher shortage and its effects. Her reporting with the Mississippi Today Education Team for "Behind the Headlines:Cleveland Central" received third-place at the 68th Annual Green Eyeshade Awards. Her work has appeared in The Hechinger Report, The Daily Journal and Delta Magazine. She is a Community Advisory Board Member for Aspen Youth Leaders Fellowship Delta and a board member for Lower Mississippi River Foundation.
After several bills filed during the legislative session to pave the way for a city election died in committee, leaders are planning a scaled back increase to address sidewalk, lighting and flood issues
A freshman student at Coahoma Community College charged with possession of a controlled substance and firearm on a school’s campus.
A report from the National Council on Teacher Quality highlights why aspiring elementary teachers who are black or Hispanic have high failure rates on licensing exams. The group also provides solutions to adequately prepare graduates to teach.
She will replace Dr. Beverly Wade Hogan, and is second woman to lead the 150-year-old historically black college
Travelers Hotel brings in artists to run the operations while giving a chance to become part owner. Newest attraction geared toward the arts and community development.
Facing “unique” Delta challenges in 2007, school chief welcomed the opportunity. Now the district, classified as low performing, faces crucial test in finding its next leader.
In several districts in Mississippi, a fifth of teachers are uncertified. One reason is that teacher candidates struggle to meet certification requirements. After years in which little action has been taken to address the teacher shortage crisis, the state recently took steps to help more candidates qualify to become teachers.
An increasing number of school districts in Mississippi have turned to online education programs as they face a critical shortage of certified teachers. Students say the lack of an in-person expert teacher, who can answer questions and spend time with students who are struggling, takes a toll on their education.
Grants will help organizations in Clarksdale, Greenville, and Yazoo City train and educate high school dropouts
In the past 20 years, the number of uncertified teachers in Mississippi’s schools has increased. But in the state’s poorest schools, many of them in the Delta, the numbers far exceed the state average.
Mississippi Today Delta reporters Kelsey Davis and Aallyah Wright were awarded the Hechinger Report’s 2018 Educating Children in Mississippi and New Orleans Fellowship to report on what a critical teacher shortage actually looks like and what it means for students and communities.
City officials passed two resolutions for voters to weigh in on: a proposed property tax increase and a measure to abolish the Clarksdale Public Utilities Commission
“Go to the Mississippi Delta and it’s always a shack or some shoeless kid sitting in the dirt and that’s just not the entire story,” said filmmaker of documentary on Clarksdale art and jobs program set to debut on MPB.
As national chain grocers move out of rural communities, the addition could be a boon for an area with one of the highest food insecurity rates in the state
Although the film was mostly shot in Atlanta, additional scenes were filmed by eight students in Sunflower County who participated in a filmmaking workshop while learning about civil rights hero, Fannie Lou Hamer.