Within Pearl River County there is an ongoing trend where a number of young people move away from their hometown to find a career.

This is especially true for students who leave the area in search of a higher education. Once those young people experience other cities within the United States, they may want to continue see other places.

Many times we hear stories of a native of this area who left to seek a career in their chosen field, only to return later in life because they consider Pearl River County as their home.

But the Poplarville School District would like to entice young people to at least get their start in the education field by working at one of the three school districts within Pearl River County.

While the details of the program are still

being worked out, it may include scholarships, grants and other benefits that would convince our young people to at least get a start in the education field by teaching at a school they may have attended.

Within all job fields, turnover is a challenge. And filling positions is not always an easy

task, meaning some classrooms may be short staffed for a time until a qualified candidate is found. This program aims to alleviate that challenge.

With so many of our elected officials talking about the need for economic development, one of the areas not previously mentioned was the education field.

We have three growing school districts, and as more and more families move here, more and more students are enrolled within those schools, therefore requiring more teachers.

It’s essential that the districts are able to recruit qualified applicants to teach our children. The formation of such a program to entice local young people to seek a career in the education field, which begins here at home, is a step in the right direction.