by Simeon Gates, Mississippi Today
June 20, 2025

MAYHEW, Miss. – A summer camp for girls in northeast Mississippi is designed to help produce the next generation of skilled construction workers.

FORGE’s Girls Construction Camp brought together 12- to 15-year-old girls last week for mentorship, interactive workshops and hands-on experience in the traditionally male-dominated field of construction. 

This is the program’s second year, and  24 campers participated, double last year’s number. The camp took place at East Mississippi Community College’s Golden Triangle campus.

FORGE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing awareness of skilled trades among young people.

“We start out young, work with them as they grow, hoping to get more and more interested in construction and the skilled trades,” said Melinda Lowe, FORGE’s executive director.

Demand for workers in construction and other skilled trades is growing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the U.S. will have an average of 663,500 job openings per year in construction and extraction until 2033. This field has a median annual wage of $58,360.

Christee Roberson is owner and founder of West Point-based Graham Roofing. She is also a founding member of FORGE and a trade partner for the camp. She and her team taught the girls about roofing. 

Roberson said it’s important to introduce construction and other trades to young people, especially girls.

“I think, being a female in the industry and never knew that this was something I could do, it’s important for sure to show other females that they can be in the trades, too,” she said. 

Aveline Webb, 12, of Starkville was a first-time camper. 

“We have been building our boxes,” Webb said. “We put up drywall. We’ve done roofing, electrical, plumbing, all the stuff that you would need to build a building.”

In addition to the lessons, the campers heard from guest speakers and worked in groups on a central project – building and decorating food pantry boxes. 

Jada Brown, 15 from Lowndes County, attended the camp last year and came back as student mentor.

“What I hope they take away is knowing how to build and wanting to want to do it in the future, and see themselves doing it,” she said. 

Lowe said the camp provides useful information even for those who don’t enter construction.

“We already have one young lady who has been helping her family replace some shingles that were damaged in a recent storm,” Lowe said. “We’ve had others who have fixed the stoppers in their sink, because they learned here how to fix that.”

The food pantry boxes will be placed in and around Lowndes County in the coming weeks.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Girls learn construction skills at summer camp appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article provides straightforward reporting on a summer camp teaching construction skills to young girls, focusing on education, empowerment, and workforce development. It highlights the camp’s positive impact without promoting any partisan or ideological agenda. The language is neutral and fact-based, emphasizing the growing demand for skilled trades and the importance of encouraging female participation. There is no evident political framing or bias, as the piece centers on community, education, and economic opportunity rather than controversial or ideological issues.

by Taylor Vance, Mississippi Today
June 20, 2025

Gov. Tate Reeves on Thursday signed the vast majority of the state’s budget bills into law but vetoed a handful of the measures, which finalizes the state’s $7.1 billion budget for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. 

The governor wrote on social media that the budget is fiscally conservative and “essentially halts the growth of government.”

“In short, the $7.135 billion budget will help us get the job done on your behalf, and it will help us break new ground all across our state,” Reeves said. 

The budget for the next fiscal year is typically completed in the spring, but the Legislature adjourned its 2025 session earlier this year without agreeing on a budget due to Republican political infighting. The governor called lawmakers into a special session in May to pass a budget. 

The measures the governor vetoed were portions of the Department of Finance and Administration’s budget, parts of the Mississippi Development Authority’s budget, a portion of the State Health Department’s budget and a bill that attempted to give the Attorney General’s Office $2.5 million to combat human trafficking. 

The only bill the governor completely vetoed was a House bill that sought to allocate $2.5 million in excess revenues for the Attorney General’s Office to help victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation  

The state constitution gives the governor the power to set the parameters for what legislators can consider during a special session, not legislators. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and several senators argued that the legislation was outside of the governor’s special session parameters, but they passed it anyway. 

“All state action, including legislative power, must be exercised within the strict boundaries established by the Constitution,” Reeves wrote in his veto message. “Failure to recognize such limitations on power threatened to undermine the legitimacy of the rule of law — the very foundation of our Constitutional Republic.” 

The Mississippi Constitution also gives the governor the power to issue partial vetoes, or line-item vetoes, of appropriation bills, which the governor did for three other measures. 

One of those measures was a provision in the Mississippi State Department of Health’s budget that directed the state agency to send around $1.9 million to the Methodist Rehabilitation Center. 

After House members passed the bill, legislative staffers realized that the money could be a violation of federal law and regulations, placing Mississippi’s multi-billion-dollar Medicaid funding at risk. 

When the bill arrived in the Senate for consideration, senators were faced with the option of forcing the House back to the Capitol or sending a flawed bill to the governor for him to veto. They chose the latter. 

In the Department of Finance and Administration’s budget, the governor vetoed money for a project at the Mississippi Children’s Museum and LeFleur’s Bluff State Park. In the Mississippi Development Authority’s budget, Reeves vetoed $6.9 million for the Mississippi Main Street Revitalization Grant Program.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post Belated budget: Gov. Reeves signs most spending bills into law appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

This article reports on Gov. Tate Reeves’ signing of most state budget bills and his vetoes, presenting his fiscal conservatism and constitutional arguments largely through his own statements and official actions. The tone is factual but highlights the governor’s emphasis on limited government growth and constitutional authority, reflecting a conservative viewpoint aligned with Reeves’ position. The coverage remains primarily descriptive without overt editorializing, but the framing of the vetoes—especially around fiscal conservatism and constitutional limits—leans subtly toward a center-right perspective by emphasizing government restraint and legal boundaries consistent with conservative principles.

by Maya Miller, Mississippi Today
June 19, 2025

Laughter erupts from the kitchen of Stewpot’s Teen Center as rising sixth grader Jamila Jeffries cuts a raw potato into thin slices. It’s lunch time, and she’s surrounded by other campers who are busy digging into french fries and stuffed-crust pizza. 

Jeffries is taking part in the recreational summer camp, and though it’s her first day, she said she’s already making friends.

“ I like how we get to cook and stuff. We get to learn about each other. We get to do new things every day,” Jeffries said. 

Stewpot Community Services is one of Jackson’s main meal kitchens and provider of shelters for people experiencing homelessness. Jeffries is one of about 150 children who are here for the summer camp, and she said spending time at Stewpot allows her the chance to do something other than being at home. 

“ It gives me time to breathe,” she said. “I get to relax and I don’t have to worry about anything happening here. I get to cook stuff. I get to enjoy myself.”

Yolanda Kirkland, Stewpot’s director of teen services, said that’s the point. She hopes to cultivate a welcoming environment where her campers can be comfortable.

“ It’s very important that people have places of rest,” Kirkland said. “I think when they’re in a place where they are loved, they can rest.”

Stewpot has held summer camps for children in west Jackson for more than 30 years. The seven week program is designed for students who are in kindergarten through 10th grade. Here, children from underprivileged communities can go on excursions with peers and take part in educational opportunities, such as weeklong camps at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science and biology lessons in the garden behind the Teen Center. 

On this day, volunteers from Brilla Soccer Ministry are teaching a group of middle schoolers the basics of soccer, while others are headed to the Two Mississippi Museums. The next day, the teenagers will be headed to Spinners roller rink in nearby Florence for skating or the Margaret Walker Alexander Library. There’s a well-rounded calendar of activities which keeps them social while also opening their worldview.

“ I want the kids to know they do have a rich community in Mississippi,” Kirkland said. “Some of our students stay in one location. They stay around their neighborhoods. I try to expose them to what’s in Mississippi. I want them to know what they have in their state that’s unique.”

That includes trips all across the state, such as the Grammy Museum in Cleveland or the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum in Vicksburg. 

“We go everywhere if I can get there in our little mini-bus,” Kirkland said. “If I can get there and get back for 3:00, we’re gone.”

Verse Norris, a rising eighth grader, said he finds the summer camp fun because she’s introduced to something new every day.

“It is adventurous. You never know what could happen,” Norris said. “They take you somewhere fun and there’s a lot of other things to do, like cooking and gardening. You just do more stuff than you can at your normal summer camp.”

But Stewpot’s summer camp isn’t just about having fun. Nearby, in a building adjacent to the Teen Center, LaQuita White helps a young camper attach yarn to a craft project. Today, they’re learning about summer fruits. 

“Some of our kids don’t usually have things to do in the summer, and our camp keeps them engaged and thriving because we also do learning,” said White, director of children’s services at Stewpot.  “We do summer reading. We do STEM activities. We do a little math because we have JPS tutors who come weekly and do different educational activities with them.”

Studies have shown that children are at risk of losing vital reading and math skills during the summer months when they aren’t in school. Children who come from lower-income households, like many of the children that Stewpot serves, may find themselves at a greater disadvantage. 

“We are here for them, because some of our parents can’t afford to send them to a seven week summer camp, and so if we were not here, they’d probably more than likely just be sitting at home or at grandma’s house with nothing to do. No learning going on, no reading,” White said. 

White said that she wants her campers to thrive and grow, even as they age out of her program and into the teen group and beyond.

“Our big thing here is graduation. That’s the name of the game,” White said. “Educate, motivate, graduate. That’s our motto.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post West Jackson youth find respite and gain skills at Stewpot summer camp appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article presents a factual and positive report on the Stewpot summer camp in West Jackson, focusing on community support and educational enrichment for underprivileged youth. The tone is neutral and descriptive, highlighting the benefits of the program without inserting ideological perspectives or partisan framing. It emphasizes social welfare and education in a straightforward manner without endorsing a political viewpoint. Overall, the piece serves as a community interest story and does not exhibit political bias, adhering to balanced, human-centered reporting that focuses on local impact rather than political ideology.