Browsing: Education

Read about Mississippi’s educators and student achievements in the state.

When you think of slingshots, you might think of the David and Goliath story or Dennis the Menace. Slingshots often got a bad wrap for causing mischief in the original Dennis the Menace comic strip and its adaptations. Once seen only as a childhood toy, slingshots are experiencing a global popularity resurgence, driven by innovations in materials, a passionate online community, and a wide variety of practical and recreational uses. Beyond a toy, people are using modern slingshots for target shooting, small game hunting, and in Mississippi, as a new competitive sport.

Press Forward Mississippi, in partnership with the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), will host the 2025 Mississippi Community Journalism Workshop on Oct. 30 at the university’s Hattiesburg campus. The workshop is free and open to anyone working to support local news in the state; registration is required.

A short film by Shrijal Thapa, a student in The University of Southern Mississippi’s Theatre program, housed in the School of Performing and Visual Arts (SPVA), has been selected for three major festivals in Los Angeles—Independent Shorts Awards, Hollywood Discovery Awards and Indie Short Fest—earning him multiple awards and nominations, including a Gold Award for Best Original Score.

Recent graduates in the Interior Design program at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) were challenged to bring their designs to life as part of a class competition tied to a real residential construction project. Their assignment: develop a cohesive interior and exterior design package for a home already under construction in Hattiesburg’s Shadow Ridge neighborhood.

Shakiya Ingram and Vandell McGill, undergraduate students in The University of Southern Mississippi’s School of Ocean Science and Engineering (SOSE) Oceanography and Ocean Mapping program, recently returned from a life-changing ocean-mapping research cruise aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s vessel, Nancy Foster, in Charleston, S.C.

The Mississippi Tourism Association recognized the impact and accomplishments of the state’s tourism industry at its annual Tourism Awards Program, held during the Governor’s Conference on Tourism at the Vicksburg Convention Center in Vicksburg, Oct. 1-3. The annual educational and professional development event brought together approximately 250 tourism industry professionals from across the state, as well as tourism partners from the surrounding region.