Mississippi Today (https://mississippitoday.org/author/aallyah/)
Aallyah Wright is a Clarksdale native and a graduate of Delta State University, where she earned a degree in journalism and minors in communications and theater. After being hired for Mississippi Today in 2017 as a Delta-based reporter, Wright helped launched a multimedia project called “Behind The Headlines: Cleveland Central,” which received an award at the 68th Annual Green Eyeshade Awards. Wright was awarded a fellowship from The Hechinger Report to report on the teacher shortage and its effects in critical needs districts of the Mississippi Delta. Wright has worked with Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Delta Arts Alliance. She currently covers education and local government throughout the Mississippi Delta.
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.
“In places like Itta Bena … We’ve seen bank branches closing in record numbers … challenges with health care, and in each of those cases, they need financial tools to change those conditions,” said (William) Bill Bynum, CEO of the HOPE Enterprise Corporation.
Two Mississippi Delta-based organizations at the forefront of efforts to harness the power of education to help youth and adults in region
Silicon Valley firm promises up to 200 jobs at facility that will also honor memory of Emmett Till
This was a “really important lesson” for the students, said English teacher Kaitlyn Barton, and it “should not be so complicated for these students to vote.”
Clarksdale officials acknowledge crime issues and allow community members to give feedback on possible solutions.
Citizens express their issues with high utility bills and Clarksdale Public Utilities with Brandon Presley, Mississippi Public Service Commissioner.
After Curae Health, Inc. filed for bankruptcy, hospitals in Clarksdale, Batesville, and Amory are faced with the same dilemma – find someone to take over their hospitals or face the consequences that arise from closure.