During Monday’s Pearl River County School Board of Trustees meeting, the Board discussed a donation of three vehicles to the Pearl River Community College, accepted a grant for the Middle School Science Club and approved multiple field trips for Pearl River Central High School students.
The Board approved the donation of three 2006 Crown Victoria cruisers to the Pearl River Community College. Several years ago, TJ Burleson, PRC School District business administrator, said the vehicles were purchased from a salvage yard in Virginia for around $5,000 each. The vehicles had more than 100,000 miles on them, he said.
“They were in rough condition when we got them. Now we figured we should send them to a place where people could really benefit from them,” Burleson said.
All three vehicles will be used in the auto mechanics program the community college offers as part of a special project.
Instead of fixing all three of the vehicles, the students will learn how to take them apart and use the serviceable parts from each vehicle to build one solid, functional car, Burleson said.
In a separate matter, the Science Club at PRC Middle School received an Aerojet Rocketdyne Foundation grant worth $500 for the 2016-17 school year.
The Board also approved the PRCHS Navy Junior ROTC to participate in the Hurricane Hunter C-130 orientation flight. Superintendent Alan Lumpkin said this is the second year the NJROTC members have participated in this flight.
“This is an outstanding opportunity for these kids. It opens up so many windows in a lot of different directions for their futures,” Lumpkin said.
Last year, the participants took a tour of the Hurricane Hunter C-130 plane and also boarded a flight that soared over the school’s campus, Lumpkin said.
The opportunity introduces the students to career options such as meteorology and piloting. Lumpkin hopes that this opportunity inspires the participants to pursue a profession in the variety of career avenues involved.
In other news, the Board:
• Approved the PRCHS Science Club to attend the Hurricane Bowl competition in Biloxi from Feb. 16-17.
• Approved the PRCHS Blue Maskers to attend the Southeastern Theater conference from Feb. 28 to March 6 in Lexington, Ky.
• Approved the resignation of Kimberly Russell, PRCHS science teacher.
• Approved Jessica Walker as PRCMS special education teacher assistant for the remainder of the school year, replacing Tammy Hawthorne.
• Approved Robyn Lombardo as a PRC Upper Elementary teacher for the remainder of the school year, replacing Ms. Richard and Ms. Lindseth.
• Approved Tim Anderson as a substitute school bus driver for the remainder of the school year.
• Approved Burleson to attend the SASBO trip from April 1-6 in Orlando, Fl.
The next PRC School Board meeting will be Feb. 6 at 5:30 p.m.