Jackson Free Press

The Mississippi Museum of Art recently announced that it will expand the hours for its sixth-annual Food Truck Festival on May 16 to include lunch service. Local food trucks will now be at the museum from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. for the event.

MMA launched the Food Truck Festival in 2014 as part of the May edition of Museum After Hours, which takes place on the third Thursday of each month from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

This year's Food Truck Festival will feature around 25 food trucks. The event will also include a pop-up exhibition with art and music from the Mississippi Arts Commission's 2019 apprentices, as well as outdoor Art Lab activities, a Museum Store Sidewalk Sale and a screening of Disney's "Moana" in the Art Garden as part of "Screen on the Green." The event is free and open to the public.

The museum is accepting applications for food truck vendors for the event. The museum will accept them on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information, call Shelley Yates at 601-965-9928 or email [email protected]. Download a vendor application here.

Visit Jackson Hosting Miss Jackson Hospitality Scholarship Competition

Visit Jackson is accepting applications for the Miss Jackson Hospitality Scholarship Competition, which is part of the statewide Miss Hospitality Mississippi pageant.

Former Mississippi Gov. Fielding Wright and the state Legislature established Miss Hospitality Mississippi in 1949. The current presenters of the pageant include VisitHBURG, the City of Hattiesburg, the Mississippi Development Authority, Forrest General Hospital, the University of Southern Mississippi and the Saenger Theater in New Orleans.

The winner of the Miss Jackson competition will receive a $1,250 scholarship and a $250 clothing allowance for the state competition, which will take place in Hattiesburg from July 21-27. The winner of the state competition will work with Visit Mississippi and the Mississippi Development Authority to promote tourism in the state until the 2020 competition.

Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 24, a resident of Jackson, and attending or planning to attend a college or university within the Jackson metro area. Participants must also submit an academic transcript showing a 2.5 scholastic average for their last school semester.

The deadline for applications for the Miss Jackson pageant is April 3. Visit Jackson will determine the date and location of the event based on the number of applicants after April 3, and will notify participants of its decision.

For more information or to request an application form, call 601-960-1891 or email [email protected] or [email protected].

Regions and EVERFI Host Financial Debates at Richland High School

In honor of Financial Literacy Month in April, Regions Bank is partnering with financial education software company EVERFI to host a series of financial-based debates at Richland High School on Wednesday, April 3.

Regions sponsors EVERFI at Richland and other Jackson metro schools such as Callway High School, Jim Hill High School, Murrah High School and Lanier High School as part of its Next Step financial education program. The company provides online programs for teachers to use in their classrooms to allow students to learn about financial management topics like savings and checking accounts.

Twenty 11th- and 12th-grade students will take part in the debates on April 3, which are also part of the Distributive Education Club of America program at Richland High School. DECA is a nonprofit organization that teaches high-school and college students about marketing, finances, management and more.

The debate will cover four topics the students have learned through the programs, which include renting versus purchasing a home; student-loan repayment strategies; selecting a college major and career; and saving versus investing.

For more information, call 662-528-3774 or email [email protected].