Area News

The Steve Azar St. Cecilia Foundation has awarded a $25,000 grant to Delta State University to support scholarships and program-related expenses at the Delta Music Institute. The award continues the foundation’s longstanding support of DMI and its students. The foundation previously awarded the program a $20,000 grant in 2021 and a $25,000 grant in 2024.…

Mississippi Flavor: At the Crossroads of the American Story puts a spotlight on the ways the state’s folk traditions have influenced the nation Jackson, MS, September 1, 2026 —The wide-ranging program for the 83rd National Folk Festival’s Mississippi Folklife Area & Stage was announced today at a press conference inside the House Chamber at the Old…

by Jacob Venuti There is something about September in Leland, Mississippi, that feels different. It is not quite fall, but summer is beginning to loosen its grip. The days may still be warm, the humidity may still hang in the air and the sun may still beat down on the Mississippi Delta, but there is…

This past month, Delta Center Stage produced Disney’s High School Musical. A successful production drew crowds from surrounding towns. Sara Kelly directed the musical; Kelly also works at Washington School in Greenville, where she also directs the school plays. The actors and actresses in the musical were from all surrounding schools, and students interacted a…

It is official: summer has come to an end. The leaves on the trees are beginning to turn colors, and the familiar smiling faces are returning to the classrooms. Students are practicing their favorite sports, some are meeting new friends, while others are experiencing school for the very first time in their lives. As this…

Recently, Washington School welcomed special visitors from the Leland-Deer Creek Garden Club, who brought monarch butterflies in the caterpillar stage to our school. Patti Livingston and Gwin Cumbaa read the Dr. Seuss book “My, Oh My—A Butterfly! All About Butterflies” and taught students in grades 1, 2, and 3 about the life cycle of a…

There’s always something I am always asked over and over again, “Jacob, how do you make time to do the things that you do?” or “Jacob, aren’t you a little too young to be involved as much as you are in things?” The truth is, I don’t know how to properly answer those questions. I…

Rachael Hester of Leland has announced the release of The Stories of Home, a collection of writings, calendars, keepsakes, and memory books. Included in the collection are several books, an educational book about Mississippi, and even some books that can be filled in with information about loved ones as their stories relate to Mississippi. Many…

By J. D. Yates Have you ever noticed how much of the world seems designed for right-handed people? From school desks to scissors, from tools to table manners, the left-handed person often has to adjust to a world that was not built with them in mind. They learn early how to reach across, shift their…