Contact: Kenneth Billings
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians are working together to help improve the education of youth now under supervision of the tribal juvenile justice system.
Supported by a four-year, $700,000 U.S. Justice Department grant, the project titled "Getting Healing from That Little Garden" is designed to help the young people learn more about traditionally harvested plants and foods.
The university's Environmental Collaborative Office is working with the Neshoba County-based tribe's Youth Justice Center to provide education and training opportunities by building greenhouse gardens and developing an ethno-botanical landscaping component.
The collaboration's goal is the successful reintegration of the youths into the tribal community by:
--Increasing their knowledge of sustainable agriculture and "green" building,
--Enhancing their employment opportunities; and
--Helping develop a deeper appreciation of a long and proud culture that, according to historians, made 18th and 19th century Choctaws the preeminent agriculturists of all Southern Native American groups.
"We are excited about the possibilities," said ECO director Jeremiah Dumas. "Working with the Justice Department and the tribe on this project is the perfect example of Mississippi State's land-grant mission of learning, research and service in action, and making a difference."
For more information on the project, contact Dumas at 662-325-0216 or jdumas@finadmin.msstate.edu.
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Detailed information on the MSU ECO is available at www.eco.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.