Category: Press Release

ELLISVILLE – While Jones College may have laid a foundation for Mary Ann Hess’ professional success as the Laurel City Clerk, her abilities since graduating in 1985 have distinguished her uniquely amongst her peers. She is the only Mississippian to receive two honors, The Quill Award and the Athenian Award, through the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC), in addition to being elected President of the IIMC. No other Mississippian has achieved any one of these accomplishments or leadership positions in the city or state’s history.

“It is a huge honor to represent Laurel and Mississippi, as well as the United States on a world-wide stage. Whenever, I mention the show ‘Hometown,’ it becomes a good icebreaker because so many people have heard and seen the show. The Laurel City Council and Mayor are very generous to let me go and represent the city.”

Although Hess’s duties are finance related, her first love is education. She gets to enjoy that passion through her work with the IIMC. This professional organization is dedicated to promoting the work of municipal clerks with over 15,000 members worldwide in 15 countries. From 2014 to 2017, Hess served as the IIMC’s Region IV Director, representing Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. In 2020, Hess was awarded the organization’s highest honor, the Quill Award.

“Only three clerks can be chosen each year for the award. However, if the panel does not believe any of the applicants are deserving, no one will receive it,” Hess explained. “Hess and one other person were awarded this top honor for their contributions to the profession and their work as a municipal clerk and their efforts to improve their communities.”

With her mother, Reba Hess who is also a JCJC graduate and her brother, Michael, beside her in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mary Ann was officially sworn in as President of the IIMC at the 77^th Annual Conference last May. Before becoming president, she had to get elected Vice President.

She began her international campaign via zoom and email, in the fall of 2020 through the spring of 2021, during COVID.  Hess was elected in April 2021, beating out a clerk from Texas, and Illinois. She was sworn in as President-Elect at the 2022, IIMC Annual Conference in Little Rock. Being selected to run an organization of this magnitude is a challenge Hess enjoys. However, she also has very noble reasons why she is devoted to supporting her peers.

“The reason I ran for President was to help municipal clerks all over the world to obtain the education that they need to do their jobs. This year I will preside over a Board of Directors that does both – set education policy and provide educational opportunities, both in-person and online learning.”

So far, Hess has attended two state conferences and one provincial (Ontario) conference since May with plans to attend an Officer’s Forum in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has also been to Wisconsin in August, and in October, she will be in Murfreesboro, Tennessee speaking to Clerks. Hess will also be visiting the IIMC Headquarters located in Rancho Cucamonga, California for Executive Committee meetings in September and then, preside over the Mid-Year Board meeting in Orlando in November, in preparation for the IIMC Annual Conference held in Calgary, Alberta, May 2024.

“After I attend a conference, I write my article for our News Digest and for my blog on the website. In my articles, I include things that I thought were good or interesting, so that we can all learn from each other.”

Her parents, Larry and Reba Hess who worked at Jones College for years, may have been instrumental in their daughter’s love of learning. Mr. Hess was a physics instructor for 33 years before retiring in 2000, and her mother Reba, worked in the Registrar’s Office for 20 years. Mary Ann’s grandmother, Amy Grice was a women’s dorm mother in the early 1970s. She literally grew up on campus!

“As a little girl I could be found either in the back of the physics lab, the Registrar’s Office or playing in the dormitory,” explained Mary Ann.

As a JC student, she served in leadership roles for the International Honor Society, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society as the Reporter and attended the National Convention in Washington, D.C., the Honors Institute in Biloxi, and the Regional Convention in Meridian. As a member of Phi Beta Lambda, Business Honor Society, Hess served the JC student organization and the State PBL as Parliamentarian. She topped off her time at Jones by being selected to the Hall of Fame.

Her relationship with Jones College may have also pre-destined her to become an Athenian Fellow, which she compares to as a “book club” to train leaders. To be a Fellow, you go through 10 classes, which means reading 10 books, get recognized, and then do more training to be a Facilitator. With only one Facilitator in the state, Hess said she has her eyes on that designation next.

“I know of a few clerks who only have six or seven classes,” she explained. “To train and get leadership on an international level with skills that are specific to each state is difficult. We take a book on leadership then do a report. We report back in small groups to discuss the points of the book and the Facilitator teaches the eight-hour leadership skill-based class on the books we’ve read. It’s a really good way to learn.”

Her priorities as a leader in the international municipal clerk community are to enhance educational resources for her colleagues around the world. Hess shared, “I want to make courses easily accessible and affordable. It breaks my heart to see clerks, especially in small towns and villages without the education or resources to do a good job.”

Mary Ann encourages and ensures her coworkers in the Laurel City Clerk’s Office also have opportunities to work with the IIMC to obtain specialized credentialing that will help them in their careers. Ultimately, excellent service is allowed to flourish in the City of Laurel with this training. 

“The city has always stressed education and this mayor really promotes education,” Hess explained.

Hess has worked in city government for more than 28 years, with her first job being the performance auditor in the Department of Finance and Administration for the State of Tennessee. In 2000, she began working at City Hall, obtaining her Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC) designation in 2001, and in 2012, she became the first City of Laurel staff member to earn her Master Municipal Clerk (MMC) designation.

Other organizations Hess has served in a leadership role include being the Past State President of the Mississippi Municipal Clerks and Collectors Association, Mississippi City/County Management Association, and the Mississippi Association of Parliamentarians. For 13 years, she has also served on the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Municipal League. Her community activities include serving as a State Officer for nine years in the Mississippi State Society Daughters of the American Revolution and as a Past Chapter Regent of the Nahoula Chapter in Laurel.  

City Clerks are responsible for working with county officials and election commissions to ensure that city elections are held in compliance with local, state, and federal laws. Her office also oversees the administration of privilege licenses. In addition, Hess also leads the city’s finance department where she prepares and oversees the city of Laurel’s nearly $73 million-dollar annual budget. She is responsible for all city accounting except for payroll.

ELLISVILLE – For the first time in more than 30 years, the Sertoma Club of Laurel held its monthly meeting at Jones College in Ellisville to get an update on the college and to give the Jones College Foundation a $15,000 check to increase the clubs’ endowed scholarship, for a total of $25,000. The Sertoma Club established the scholarship in 2015, after establishing an annual $500 scholarship in 2013. Scholarships are one method of ensuring the clubs’ mission of helping children with speech and hearing issues find resources and assistance.

“We’ve been blessed to have good sponsorships for our golf tournaments and T-Ball programs,” said Vice President of the Sertoma Club, Wayne Myrick. “The Sertoma Club of Laurel has assisted anyone needing help in obtaining hearing aids to cochlear implants. The newest project the Club has been involved with includes installing assistive listening technology in theater auditoriums that can broadcast directly to a wide range of hearing aids to help the hearing impaired enjoy performances.”

The additional scholarship money provided by the Sertoma Club will provide more scholarships and possibly bigger scholarships for Jones College students majoring in speech and hearing related majors. Freshman MaKayla Blakeney of Raleigh was awarded this year’s scholarship during the meeting and shared why she is majoring in audiology or speech pathology.

“I have a family member that is deaf, and growing up around him, I’ve always been very interested in it, and I wanted a job in the health field because I love helping people. Being an audiologist or speech pathologist is a combination of all the things I’m interested in,” said Blakeney, who is also a member of the Lady Bobcat Softball Team. “Receiving my education is very important to me; my parents have always pushed and supported me. This opportunity arose and it’s been amazing! I am very blessed and grateful.”

Head Softball Coach, Tori Dew shared when she was a student at Jones College, she also received a Foundation Scholarship like Blakeney. “Scholarships are one way to get an education and move your life forward for the next 20 to 30 years. My JC Foundation Scholarship helped me further my education and I’m honored to be a part of MaKayla’s life to watch and see how she does in the future.”

The impact of scholarships goes beyond the student recipient. Jones College’s Vice President of External Funding, Sabrina Young explained that the Sertoma Club has established a legacy that is sustaining and far reaching.

“Not only does the student benefit through education, but the community needing these services is also impacted. The Sertoma Club helping the education community brings it all full circle because scholarships impact hundreds of lives as students become professionals providing life-changing services to even more communities.”  

During the Sertoma Club’s meeting, Jones College President, Dr. Jesse Smith also shared some of the college’s priorities and current projects that impact services and education. Currently, Jones College provides workforce training for about 9,000 noncredit students in addition to the annual average of 4,600 traditional college aged, university parallel students on campus in Ellisville and at the four County Centers in Bay Springs, Leakesville, Stonewall and Waynesboro. The Jasper County Center in Bay Springs is currently pursuing an expansion to support local industry and current market demands.  Additionally, Jones College is embracing the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence and how to safely incorporate it into education to benefit the community.  One example includes a new, STEM Center currently being designed to provide interactive, technology laden labs for science, math and technology majors in addition to students majoring in medical related fields.

Students traveling to campus will enjoy the renovations to the Student Union in the back part of the A.B. Howard Gymnasium which will include a Starbucks and a place for students to “hang out.” 

Smith ended his update on Jones College by emphasizing, that while you can get a good start at Jones College, it doesn’t mean you have to stop there. “We have people competing at the highest level in most industries because they got a great start and they have aspired to continue to improve. How they make it to the top is all about the journey,” explained Smith.

ELLISVILLE – Jones College’s annual Fall Blood Drive will be held Monday through Wednesday, September 18, 19 and 20, at Jones College. On Monday, the Mobile Unit will be parked outside of the Industrial Services Building from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. and on Tuesday and Wednesday, Vitalant will be collecting donations in the D.O. Thoms P.E. Building’s Gym from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. The public, as well as the JC community is invited to participate by making an appointment on the Vitalant website, https://donors.vitalant.org/

“This is the time of year in which the need for blood products increases as the upcoming holiday season approaches. Both the community and more importantly, our Jones College students, faculty and staff have an opportunity to give back to our community. About 60 of our students assist with the blood drive to get community service hours but we’ve also discovered they are impacted by the drive itself,” said JC Blood Drive Coordinator, JCJC Emergency Technology-Paramedic Program Director and Healthcare Simulation Center Director, Benji Sessums, Ph.D. NR-P.

Last spring, Jones College sophomore, Alexis Kittrell of Mize volunteered and shared, “Jones College can really come together. So many people came to give blood that there were not enough bags! Something as simple as donating a little bit of your blood can be used in such a big way to help someone else.”                                                

The overall goal for the three-days is 105 units of blood stated Sessums. To encourage donations, T-shirts will be given to all donors and Door Prizes will be available all three days for donors during random drawings.

ELLISVILLE – The artwork of Bethanie Wilson of Hattiesburg is now on display in the Eula Bass Lewis Art Gallery at Jones College through September 15, 2023. She will be sharing more about her work at an “Art Talk” on Wednesday, September 13, at 1:30 p.m. in the art gallery on the Ellisville campus.

Wilson’s large, oil paintings depict portions of her life being raised in rural Forrest County, near Hattiesburg, where she developed an intimate love for drawing the landscapes and life around her, with some of those pieces on display at the free showing at Jones College. Her work is also on display at the Mainstreet Gallery in Hattiesburg, and she is working as an adjunct art instructor at William Carey University.

She began her formal painting career her freshman year of college at William Carey University, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and master’s in education degree in Art. Passionately exploring the infinite painting world, Wilson is heavily influenced by artists such as Mark Rothko, Claude Monet, and Joan Mitchell. The energetic color abstractions she creates are sincere spiritual and emotional expressions.

“As an artist, I bring out the life within me, through strokes of paint, I can’t express in words. In my work, it interests me to evoke an intellectual emotion; each element of a piece is thoughtfully composed by strategic theory of color and composition partnered with an embodiment of human experience. Object matter is taken away, but the memories and senses shared remain. I am enlightened through my faith that unapologetically tells a personal journey between creation and Creator. What I veil upon the canvas is evidence of things not seen, literally. When I paint, I am engaged in a visual conversation,” explained Wilson.

The young artist has received art awards including Best in Painting Award at the 2020 Mississippi Collegiate Art competition, winning the 2021 Art Student Exhibition at the Sarah Gillespie Museum of Art, the Best in Show Award at the 2022 South Mississippi Art Association Juried Exhibition. She has been featured in shows held in the Odd Fellows Gallery, Sarah Gillespie Museum of Art, the Hattiesburg Cultural Center, Lucile Parker Gallery and at the University Baptist Church gallery space.

For more information about the JC art show or to arrange a visit to the gallery call 601-477-8401. The Eula Bass Lewis Art Gallery is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m., and by appointment only on Wednesdays. The gallery is closed during the holidays. If you want to know more about the Jones College Art Department, https://www.jcjc.edu/programs/finearts/ or the JC Art Department’s social media: Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/JCJCFineArts/ and on Instagram @artatjonescollege.

ELLISVILLE – Leading the Maroon Typhoon Marching Band at Jones College are four students: two returning sophomores and two new freshmen. Both newcomers are Jones County residents with a long history of musicianship. Northeast Jones High School graduate, Hannah Latham has been playing clarinet since sixth grade and continued until her junior year in high school to become a drum major.

“Being drum major is such a thrilling feeling unlike anything else,” said Latham. “I can’t wait for this season and I’m ready for the experiences and impact that Jones will have on my life. I am currently a vocal major, and I hope to share my love for music with as many people as I possibly can.”

She describes this year’s Maroon Typhoon Marching Band’s half time show as being “super exciting” because there is a lot of popular music that will be recognizable for many.

“This show is a perfect example of how hard we have worked, and I cannot wait for people to be blown away by it. I’m also looking forward to all the friendships I’ll make along with becoming a better leader. I can’t wait to gain more experience with what I love doing!” said Latham.

Joining Latham is freshman Braden Yarber, a South Jones High School graduate. His band experience began in eighth grade playing mallets as a percussionist and continuing through his freshman year of high school. Yarber was named a drum major his sophomore year and continued through his senior year. The Medical Laboratory Science major is pursuing a career in medical studies and research but is enjoying his musical experiences at Jones College. 

“Although I have only been a member of the Maroon Typhoon for a short time, I have already enjoyed the new memories and friends I have made. I am looking forward to watching the band grow and improve as performers and as a family throughout this season,” said Yarber.

Returning sophomores to the drum major podium are music education major, Jessica Manning from Quitman who also plays alto saxophone, and Melania Sanders from Columbia. Manning served as drum major for three years at Quitman High School. The alto saxophonist has plans to make music her career and is thrilled to return to the drum major podium this season. Manning’s family is also rooted at Jones. Her parents, Douglas and Carla Manning are JC alumni with their daughter Hannah, being a 2021 member of the Maroon Typhoon as a trumpet player. Jessica said she will also be sharing her vocal talents singing in the Concert Choir at Jones.

Melania Sanders’ family tree also includes several JC Bobcats. Her sister, Kimberly played trumpet in the JC band and convinced Melania to pick up the horn too. Her mother and her cousin came to JC and Sanders said a lot of her friends have made Jones College their choice too. However, her rodeo skills and the agricultural opportunities at Jones are what sold Sanders on being a part of the Bobcat family.

While her career goal is to be a veterinarian, Sanders has been playing trumpet since sixth grade. She was the drum major for her last two years at Columbia High School and is also ready to take the field as a Maroon Typhoon Drum Major for her last season at Jones College. For more information about the JC Band and the Fine Arts program click https://www.jcjc.edu/programs/finearts/ or email Dr. Burge at ben.burge@jcjc.edu