Peasant, Keenum tour Partnership school
Education leaders and media gathered at the newly completed Partnership Middle School Friday to tour the 6-7th grade facility prior to its grand opening next week.
The 128,000 square foot, built as a joint project between Mississippi State University and the Starkville-oktibbeha Consolidated School District, will be an instructional facility for 6-7th grade students and university students pursuing teaching degrees.
MSU president Mark Keenum said he was impressed by the modernization of the building and excited by the opportunities the facility would provide
to both Starkville and MSU students.
“I go to schools all across Mississippi to visit with students, and I have never seen a school nicer than this,” Keenum said. “This is the most modern school, I think, in the entire state of Mississippi, and it’s right here in Starkville serving the needs of students in this community. I’m proud that our students from MSU will be able to study at this facility. We want this to be a showcase for teachers all across the state.”
SOCSD superintendent Eddie Peasant called the school a “game changer,” for local students. Sixth and seventh grade students at Partnership Middle School will have the opportunity to interact with University professors and see how the lessons they are learning get applied to real-life situations.
“I just think that this is an opportunity for our students and the students and the university that’s a game changer in the opportunities they’ll see,” he said.
For instance, Peasant said, students studying weather in science classes could visit the MSU meteorology program to see how weather prediction is done every day.
University students will also benefit from the partnership, Peasant said, by bridging the gap between theory and practice many first-year teachers struggle to overcome.
“There’s only so much that these students can learn in their classroom from their teachers about theory and pedagogy,” he said. “So to be able to have the opportunity throughout their time as education majors to learn and see, see teachers in action and students in action, will be a major opportunity for them. I tell people all the time, as a teacher myself and many, over the years, many first year teachers, that I’ve encountered, one of the the things that is a common phrase is, ‘They didn’t teach me this in school.’ This is an opportunity to reduce that or eliminate that as a challenge for beginning teachers.”
Peasant said Partnership Middle School will be open with the rest of the district this fall for both Starkville and MSU students to attend class.