Imagine the Possibilities Summit Friday morning at the Orchard
Sep. 29—TUPELO — Several hundred educators, business leaders and community members from across the region will gather at The Orchard Friday morning for the Imagine the Possibilities Summit.
Sponsored by the Toyota Wellspring Education Fund and CREATE Foundation, the event's purpose is to expose, prepare and connect all stakeholders in the 17 counties the CREATE Foundation serves to the many opportunities, resources and partnerships in the region.
The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Stewart McMillan, Toyota Wellspring and CREATE project manager, said the summit is, at its core, designed to better connect the schools and the communities in the region.
"Our target audience that we've invited includes five members from every school district in the 17 counties; legislators from the area; business leaders; the CREATE Board; the Commission (on the Future of Northeast Mississippi) members; and when we had the in-person expos, the lead pathfinders of businesses that participated, we invited all of them," she said.
The Expo has 18 career pathways for students from the 10th grade explore.
"The Toyota Wellspring Education Fund really wants to expose, prepare and connect students, and our main goal from this summit is that every person who comes to the summit leaves with a way they can better support students," she said.
Bill Renick of Accelerate Mississippi will be the moderator. Facilitator and CREATE President Mike Clayborne also will help open and close the summit.
Courtney Taylor, Accelerate Mississippi's deputy director of post-secondary strategy, will open and frame the conversation. Two panels, including one with students, will discuss several points with the audience. The other panel, led by Renick and CDF's Shane Homan, will include Kevin Burgess of Toyota Mississippi; Brandon Quinn, superintendent of Alcorn School District; Kenneth Wheeler of Lee County, a former Tupelo Public Schools board member; and Dr. Cherie Labat, former superintendent of Columbus School District and Courtney Taylor.
"We're looking forward to having some very intentional conversations," McMillan said.
The Imagine the Possibilities Expo was held virtually in 2019 and 2021 (2020 was canceled by the start of the pandemic) and will continue to be virtual.
"We officially launch Oct. 1, and this summit launched that moving forward," she said. "The virtual career expo will always exist. The decision will be made in the spring if there will be an in-person expo next."
McMillan said they will also launch what she called the Career Connections platform, which will allow businesses to set up tours for students.
"(They'll) learn about the company and about opportunities in the company and talk to people in those roles to learn about their education, skill sets, etc," McMillan said. "That's an in-person component that all 17 counties and their school districts can utilize."
