Jackson Free Press

Five Jackson State University students traveled to Detroit from Friday, March 29, through Saturday, March 31, to take part in an entrepreneurial program called "Moguls in the Making."

Detroit-based banking company Ally Financial Inc. organized the event together with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Detroit-native hip-hop artist and entrepreneur Sean "Big Sean" Anderson. The program helps students from historically black colleges and universities join the business community and become entrepreneurs.

TMCF chose 50 students from 10 HBCUs to participate in the event. The schools included Alabama A&M, Elizabeth City State, Florida A&M, Howard, Jackson State, Morgan State, Norfolk State, Virginia State, Tennessee State and North Carolina A&T State universities.

Students at the competition worked in teams of five to develop business plans for solutions to economic issues industries in Detroit face. They also participated in mentoring sessions, heard speeches from local business leaders and attended financial education classes.

The five students that represented JSU at the event are Lasonya Walton, a junior entrepreneurship major; Damian Murray, a senior finance major; Jasmine King, a senior political-science major; Shanice Hopson, a senior computer-science major; and Zacchaeus Simmons, a senior industrial-technology major.

For more information, visit ally.com, tmcf.org or seanandersonfoundation.org.

USM Online Master of Arts in Teaching Program

Within the last year, the University of Southern Mississippi began offering a fully online Master of Arts in Teaching program geared toward helping students who did not major in teaching-related fields as undergraduates to obtain certification.

The MAT program consists of 11 classes that are each three hours long. Courses include subjects such as technology in education, adolescent literacy, secondary-education methods and more. Graduates of the program will receive a master's degree in teaching and AA class level certification, which is the master's degree-level teaching license.

Admission for the MAT program occurs three times a year with deadlines in May, August and January. In order to receive their initial teaching license, students must complete three specific courses that are only available during summer. The summer courses include management of diverse classrooms, secondary-school curriculum and assessing student outcomes.

"After students complete the summer course and earn their teaching license, they can take a position in a grade 7-12 school and begin teaching while working toward completing the rest of the program," Jay Howell, assistant professor of secondary education at USM and coordinator of the MAT program, told the Jackson Free Press. "University faculty will observe them in the classroom and provide feedback. We'll also meet with mentor teachers assigned to the students at the school as well as the principal. Our goal is to provide a support network for these new teachers in their first year."

For more information on the MAT program, visit online.usm.edu.

Belhaven 2019 Spring Dance Concert

Belhaven University will host its 2019 Spring Dance Concert starting Friday, April 5. The concert includes performances of Laura Morten and Rachel Jaeger's "Into the Light," a 40-minute ballet based on C.S. Lewis' book "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," as well as three modern dance works that guest artists Randall Flinn and Steve Rooks choreographed with Belhaven assistant dance professor Clara Grace Watts. The modern dance pieces include "Mojave," "And Again and and Again" and "Rescue to Restore."

All performances will take place in the Bitsy Irby Visual Arts and Dance Center Studio at 7 p.m. Dates are Friday, April 5; Saturday, April 6; Friday, April 12; and Saturday, April 13. Belhaven will also hold a children's matinee performance of "Into the Light" on Saturday, April 13, at 11 a.m. Children will be able to meet and take pictures with the performers after the show.

General admission is $10, and $5 for seniors and students. Admission is free for Belhaven faculty, staff, students and their immediate families.

For more information, call 601-965-1400 or visit belhaven.edu/dance.