HATTIESBURG, Miss. --- A Hattiesburg family is showing its dedication to the future of Mississippi’s best and brightest by dedicating up to a quarter million dollars to the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science. Chad and Catherine Edmonson have pledged to give up to $250,000 to the school - named one of the top ten high schools in America - over the next three years.
“MSMS changed my life, and it continues to change the lives of over 200 Mississippi students each year. I believe it is the best economic development program in our state – MSMS’s Opportunity for Excellence has launched the careers of countless entrepreneurs, scientists, doctors, attorneys, and other professionals that work every day to make Mississippi better. Our family challenges the entire MSMS community – alumni, parents of alumni, proud Mississippians, and especially our Legislature – to return the school to its historic capacity of approximately 300 students. If we cannot support a Mississippi school of this caliber, then what are we willing to support?” said Chad Edmonson. A 1999 graduate of MSMS, Edmonson is the majority owner of Lee-Way Financial Services, a Hattiesburg-based investment management firm.
The funds will be donated as part of a series of challenge grants. The first challenge grant, dubbed “MSMS Connections”, is to encourage members of the MSMS community to donate their email addresses to facilitate reunions, share news updates, and collect critical data. Additional challenge grants will be announced over the coming months.
MSMS is Mississippi’s only public, residential high school dedicated to providing the state’s most academically gifted students the highest quality education possible. Located in Columbus, Mississippi, on the campus of the Mississippi University for Women, MSMS has served students from all corners of the Magnolia State since 1988.
The education ranking site niche.com recently named MSMS the #1 high school in Mississippi and the #6 high school in America. It was also named the home of the #1 faculty in America (out of nearly 20,000 schools surveyed). MSMS serves high school juniors and seniors. Students interested in MSMS must apply their sophomore year of high school. For more information about MSMS, please visit www.themsms.org. To learn how you can help support MSMS, please visit msmsfoundation.com.