PICAYUNE —
Pearl River County high school and junior high young women have much to offer their community with abilities, service and enthusiasm. A group of them have decided to use these assets and reinitiate the Picayune Service Club, the junior club of the Civic Woman’s Club of Picayune.
The group is based on the same core concepts as the CWC and has the same committee structure with the major differences being the membership age and focus of initiatives.
The group’s first project was to write and perform a drug prevention skit for the Picayune Police Summer Camp on last Friday. The skit demonstrated one scenario ending two different ways after a “yes” answer to try the drugs and a “no” answer, The group worked closely with their advisor and also collaborated with the former director of the YMCA, Dawn Bechtel.
Not all members of the Picayune Service League were able to work on this project but the ones who did gave up end of school parties and other functions to be part of the effort.
Skit writers were: Summer King, Malarie Torres, Gerline and Gelsey Guerra, Taletha Odom, Taylor Stuart, Kimi Herring, Jordan Thomas, Alexis Hawkins and Alyssa Hill. Member Paige Jackson was unable to attend the writing sessions but was there in spirit. Performers were Kimi Herring, Taletha Odom, Alexis Hawkins, Malarie Torres and Taylor Stuart.
The group felt strongly about presenting the message of making good choices and immediately following their performance, they had a camper volunteer be the center of a web (of black yarn) which was woven by making one bad choice at a time. With each uninformed decision and bad choice, the group showed how the camper became entangled and soon felt the weight of the yarn he was entwined in.
At the end of the demonstration, the group spoke about peer pressure and the perception of being cool. They encouraged the campers to shine through their abilities and to define their own version of cool, instead of letting others dictate to them how they should be.
At the end of the presentation, 60 campers pledged to stay away from drugs, consider where their choices could lead and to be their own kind of cool, instead of someone else’s version.
Future projects the group will be addressing are: Bullying, domestic violence, child safety, immunizations, Veteran care programs and others.
CWC Past State President Carolyn Huey, said of the group, “I am thrilled that our junior service club has started back up again, because I am very aware that they are the future of not only our club, but our nation. Community activism and leadership is to be commended and to grasp it at such a young age is of great importance.”
Features
Related Photos
-
Above: Police Summer Campers pledged to be cool through their own abilities rather than conforming to actions dictated by others. They also pledged not to take drugs. Right: Picayune Service Club members use black yarn to demonstrate the web that can engulf individuals through a series of uninformed and bad choices with the help of a camper. photos submitted
EVERYDAY HEROES: Picayune Service Club makes an impression
- Features
-
-
City and PRC school work together for flower power
The City of Picayune began a partnership with Pearl River Central High School this past year in a pilot program to supply its own flowers and greenery for flower beds throughout the city. The program, which has been in the works for two years, became a reality as plants were put in the ground in the median area by Exit 6 on Mississippi Highway 43.
-
Miller partners with sponsor for Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month
In a press release, MasterChef Season One winner and cookbook author Whitney Miller announced she is partnering in her Myasthenia Gravis (MG) fundraising campaign with a national sponsor for the month of June.
- Vocability Words can set a tone for a situation, alter someone’s perception of an individual or group — in short, there is power in them. The Bible cautions, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue...” — Proverbs in 18:21, ASB. With that in mind, I will be focusing on words, some recently used and some obscure, to test the readers and build on what you already know. There will be theme weeks, for instance next week will focus on words involving wine — for no particular reason! So try your vocabulary skills with the following and see how you score. I’m always open to suggestions for material.
-
Precautions for pet evacuation during natural disasters: Part 1
June is the official start of Hurricane Season. Many people have more than human family members to consider as they make their preparations, they have pet family members also. Maria Diamond of the Picayune Animal Shelter which rescues cats and dogs along with RedRover.org Communications Manager Leili Khalessi have recommendations for pet owners of all types.
-
Beginning: Delayed by deployment
Family and loved ones greeted their soldiers at the National Guard Armory in Picayune on Friday as the guardsmen returned from a year-long deployment to Afghanistan. Among those in the crowd were three women holding babies whose husbands had not yet held them because they were deployed.
-
Phares to fill Tufaro’s position
Carol Phares has been selected as the new head librarian for the Pearl River County Library System by the board of Margaret Read Crosby Memorial Library. She also will be head librarian of the Crosby Memorial Library in Picayune. These two libraries make up the Pearl River County System
-
southern gardening
Every spring the home gardener is bombarded with new and improved petunias for the garden and landscape, making it hard to decide which to bring home from the garden center. In my opinion, you simply can’t go wrong selecting any of the Supertunias.
-
arboretum paths
Spring is now in full swing at the Crosby Arboretum, and the show is well on its way toward a crescendo. The blooms of native purple Iris can be seen along the edge of the Piney Woods pond, pink “honeysuckle” azalea is flowering near the Pinecote Pavilion, and the yellow blooms of the pitcher plants — called “buttercups” by local residents — are beginning to carpet the south Savanna Exhibit.
-
USM set to host Children’s Book Festival
One of the most anticipated events celebrating children’s literature, the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival at The University of Southern Mississippi, will be held April 10-12 at the Thad Cochran Center on the Hattiesburg campus.
-
Amber Bounds breaks six-year-old state swimming record
The Southern MS Aquatic Club (Mantarays) participated in the Santa’s Best Swim Invitational in Biloxi Nov. 30-Dec. 2. The Mantarays finished 6th out of 22 teams competing from LA, AL, FL, and MS.
- More Features Headlines
-
Ohio Woman Accuses 3 of Holding Her Captive
Hunt for Ex-Teamster Boss Hoffa's Remains Ends
Aug. Trial Set for Ohio Man in Triple Kidnapping
Car Crash in NYC's East Village Injures 8
Obama Renews Call for Nuclear Reductions
Raw: Car Jumps Curb in NYC, Injures 8
Unusual Heat Wave Bakes Alaska
Raw: German President Welcomes President Obama
Raw: Arizona Wildfire Scorches 8 Square Miles
Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park
Kid Couture: Spending Big Bucks on Babies
