House Concurrent Resolution 40

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND COMMENDING MRS. JOSEPHINE PRADIA RHYMES FOR HER OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY SERVICE AND CONTRIBUTIONS.

WHEREAS, Mrs. Josephine Pradia Rhymes, a Lake Charles, Louisiana native, is the immediate former Executive Director of Tri-County Workforce Alliance, and served since its implementation in 1997, until her retirement in 2022; and

WHEREAS, Tri-County's mission is to promote long-term economic and community development, by building a healthy and competitive workforce through education and job training to a three-county region (Bolivar, Coahoma, and Quitman counties) of the Mississippi Delta, and a year ago, Tallahatchie and Sunflower counties were added to the service area; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Rhymes is an advocate for children and education, and was a member of the Board of Directors of Youth Leadership Clarksdale, a program she helped to conceive over 30 years ago, and led the charge that successfully passed the bond issue to build the new Clarksdale High School; and

WHEREAS, in an educational career that spanned 32 years, Mrs. Rhymes taught French, English, German, and journalism at W.A. Higgins High School and Clarksdale High School, and French, English, oral communication, and journalism at Coahoma Community College; and

WHEREAS, for her outstanding service and advocacy, Mrs. Rhymes has won numerous awards such as: she was selected "Star Teacher" four times at Clarksdale High, and was selected for Who's Who Among American Teachers in 1990, and she also received the NAACP's Education Heritage Award in 1992; and

WHEREAS, additionally, Mrs. Rhymes was named "Woman of the Year" by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. in 1990; "Citizen of the Year" for Clarksdale/Coahoma County in 1999; and "Board Member of the Year" by the Aaron E. Henry Community Health Center in 2002; and she received the Top Parole Board Member Award (Fund Raising Award) for the local drive of the American Heart Association in 2004; the Delta Leadership Award from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. in 2005; and the Merit Award for Community Service by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. in 2008; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Rhymes received an award from Clarksdale High School for the "Guiding Kids to Graduation Initiative" in 2014; and the English Honor Society at Clarksdale High School was named in her honor in 2014, renamed the "Josephine Pradia Rhymes English Honor Society"; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Rhymes received the GIVE Award from the State of Mississippi from the Governor's Commission for Volunteer Service in April 2015; the Outstanding Community Service Award from Epsilon Xi Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and a Certificate of Excellence Award from the Clarksdale Mass Choir for dedication and outstanding service to the community and citizens of Clarksdale, both in January 2016; and also in 2016, she was inducted into Coahoma Community College's Sports Hall of Fame as a Community Leader Inductee; and

WHEREAS, in March 2017, Mrs. Rhymes was featured in a documentary by Blue Magnolia Films and Barefoot Workshops by Nickalus Jones, a senior at Clarksdale High School, for her work to improve the lives of youth in Clarksdale, and depicting her role in helping youth to be all that they can be, and as a part of the project, two life-size pictures are on the doors of the old Paramount Theater on Yazoo Avenue to help with revitalization of downtown Clarksdale; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Rhymes's extensive community involvement includes the following: service on the District Workforce Council; member of the Superintendent's Roundtable of the Clarksdale Municipal School District; Mississippi State and Regional Advisory Committee (Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama) for the Southern Rural Black Women's Initiative; National Network of Sector Partners Advisory Committee (Oakland, California); State of Mississippi's Sector Strategy Team; Clarksdale/Coahoma County Chamber of Commerce (Past President); Board of Directors for Coahoma County Industrial Foundation; Board of Directors for Aaron E. Henry Community Health Center (Secretary) and Northwest Mississippi Medical Center; Board of Directors for the Jonestown Family Center, (more than 15 years) and Carnegie Public Library, (more than 20 years); Board of Directors for Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi (Past President); Executive Committee for Foundation for the Mid-South's Sector Initiative; Board of Directors for the Coahoma Community College Foundation; Board of Directors for the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, Oakland, California; Advisory Committee for the McLean Institute at the University of Mississippi; and the Advisory Council for Clarksdale/Coahoma County Higher Education Center; and

WHEREAS, dedicated to academic excellence, Mrs. Rhymes received her bachelor of arts degree from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and her master of education degree from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) in Oxford, Mississippi, and she recently completed the requirements for the CITI Program at the University of Mississippi in Oxford; and

WHEREAS, outside of her exceptional career and remarkable service, Mrs. Rhymes was married to the late Mr. Robert A. Rhymes, Sr., and is the mother of one daughter, Tarra Katrice Rhymes-Slack, and one son, Robert A. Rhymes, Jr., and the grandmother of one granddaughter, Pradia Nicole Slack, and one grandson, Tyler Rhymes-Christian Slack; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Rhymes is a founding member of The Clarksdale-Marks Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., (serving as president for 13 years); co-founder of the Coahoma Community College Booster Club, where she serves as president; and co-founder of the Clarksdale Affiliate of Advocates for Public Schools, where she serves as secretary; and

WHEREAS, devoted to her faith, Mrs. Rhymes is a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, where she serves as a lector, financial secretary, and President of the Parish Council, and she was recently honored by the Diocese of Jackson with the Bishop Joseph Chanche Award for exemplary service to her parish community; and

WHEREAS, additionally, during the summer of 2011, Mrs. Rhymes wrote a grant and received money for summer employment for 15 youths and two adults, and beautified the entrances of Clarksdale through the Mayor's office, and that same year, she also helped to create a very short-lived youth council as an advisory group to the mayor of Clarksdale, and in the winter of 2022, she spearheaded a community-wide, month-long festival of lights entitled, "I'll Be Home For Christmas", which brought lights, food, crafts, music, prizes, and a festive spirit to Clarksdale; and

WHEREAS, the Tri-County Workforce Alliance had two programs that Mrs. Rhymes directed, Academy for Science, Reading, and Mathematics for Potential Health Care Professionals (grades 6 through 8), and a High School Mentorship Program for Health Care Professionals (grades 9 through 12) and up to community college, and her work has gained Tri-County Workforce Alliance the title of "Non-Profit of the Year 2017"; "A Community Star" by Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi; a Proclamation from the Mississippi House of Representatives (House Resolution No. 6), spearheaded by Representative Orlando Paden; and was honored by The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi, with records of the organization's accomplishments recorded in the Congressional Record (March 26, 2014), and an individual recognition recorded in the Congressional Record (August 16, 2022); and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Rhymes's work with this distinguished organization and others was published in a book entitled Engaging the Community in Decision Making: Case Studies Tracking Participation, Voice and Influence by Roz Diane Lasker and John A. Guidry, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers (2007), and under her leadership, the organization has brought over $3.5 million into the area to help promote community and economic development by building a healthy competitive workforce through education and job training, and the work has also been cited in the magazine Rural Society (2014) entitled "Collective Action to Improve Rural Community Wellbeing: Opportunities and Constraints in the Mississippi Delta"; and

WHEREAS, in addition, Mrs. Rhymes has done numerous workshops for children, young adults, and adults on etiquette, dress for success, goal setting, effective communication, and work ethic, and she has also served on numerous panels, most recently, when she served as a panelist for the Delta Regional Forum on Population, Development and Entrepreneurial Problem Solving, and she also served as a mentor for Coahoma Agricultural High's Mentorship Program, and for Higgins Magnet School for Performing Arts Girls Rock Mentorship Program; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Rhymes was featured on the front cover of Delta Business Journal in June 2016, followed by a feature story in the magazine about her work in the five counties that Tri-County Workforce Alliance serves (Coahoma, Bolivar, Quitman, Sunflower and Tallahatchie); and

WHEREAS, in January 2017, Mrs. Rhymes was asked to chair a committee by the Clarksdale Municipal School District's Superintendent's Round Table to pass a Special Bond Issue to build a new stadium, track field, tennis courts for Clarksdale High School, new classrooms, a library, a new gym floor and science lab for W.A. Higgins, new lighting for George H. Oliver's auditorium, new gym floor for Kirkpatrick, roofs for school buildings and other safety features for the schools, and the bond was for $8.5 million, and it passed with 81% of the vote; and

WHEREAS, as a citizen who has made significant contributions in the field of education, Mrs. Rhymes has a flag in her honor in the Arts and Culture District in downtown Clarksdale, and in February 2018, she received the Red Rose Award from The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Zeta State - Iota Chapter, for promoting educational opportunities for children of Coahoma County and surrounding areas, and having a great impact on high school students and developing positive life skills in young adults; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Rhymes is the co-author of two Abstracts presented at the American Public Health Association's Annual Meetings (APHA), entitled "Building New Pathways to a Healthier Mississippi: A Youth Driven Rural Health Collective Impact Initiative" (2016) and "Mississippi's Movement to Better Health: Participatory Problem Solving to Address Long-term Health Disparities" (2014), and on April 10, 2019, she received a Certificate of Special Recognition for outstanding contributions in community engagement as part of empowering individuals to reduce lead exposure from drinking water through Community-Based Research given at the University of Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, after 25 years of dedicated service, Mrs. Rhymes officially retired from Tri-County Workforce Alliance on May 31, 2022, and in her retirement, she is working with Aaron E. Henry Community Health Center to enhance the local Sasse Street Park that will benefit the healthfulness of the citizens of Clarksdale and Coahoma County, as well as boost community and economic development; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to recognize and commend extraordinary community leaders, especially those such as Mrs. Rhymes, whose noteworthy achievements and phenomenal service to her community brings honor to the State of Mississippi:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize and commend Mrs. Josephine Pradia Rhymes for her outstanding community service and contributions, and express our most sincere wishes for continued success in all her future endeavors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Mrs. Josephine Pradia Rhymes and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.