Jackson Free Press

Teenagers will take center stage at Jackson's first Youth Mayoral Forum on Monday, April 17, in the Provine High School auditorium.

Ten candidates have confirmed for the two-hour forum, including Mayor Tony Yarber, Sen. John Horhn, attorney Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Ronnie Crudup Jr. and Hinds County Supervisor Robert Graham.

Jackson Council PTA and the Mississippi Youth Media Project are hosting the forum with a 15-year-old Jim Hill High School student, Maisie Brown, as the moderator, and a four-student YMP panel asking questions.

Those students are Shakira Porter and Dartavius Archie of Wingfield High School; Kenytta Brown of Lanier High School; and Maggie Jefferis of Murrah High School.

The Wingfield students joined the Youth Media Project this semester as part of Wingfield's FAME program; Brown and Jefferis attended last summer's Youth Media Project in downtown Jackson. All students have work published at jxnpulse.com, where the forum will also stream live.

A group of JPS student ambassadors developed the topics and suggested questions to the YMP media panel, which finalized them in a brainstorm session on Good Friday. The candidates are not seeing the questions in advance. YMP students will also cover the event and run the video feed. No candidate attire or materials will be allowed inside the auditorium.

The PTA is recruiting and transporting JPS students from around the capital city to the mayoral forum. The candidates will be provided a list of all questions after the forum, as well as those attendees provide and viewers post on jxnpulse.com. YMP will post additional answers posted on jxnpulse.com as answers come in.

YMP students and JPS ambassadors are available to comment to media before and immediately after the forum. Provine will host a short reception in the library at 4 p.m. for students and candidates. The forum begins at 4:30 p.m. sharp.

The Jackson Free Press is a co-sponsor of the event alongside the Mississippi Youth Media Project and the Jackson Council PTA.