Markita Smith has a lot of responsibilities as Leflore Legacy Academy’s scholar support coordinator.
These include recruiting students and faculty and marketing the charter school in addition to working with students who are having problems with their classwork.
“I let the kids know, ‘I’m here for you. If you need to talk, come to me,’” said Smith, who joined the school in July 2021.
Smith, 37, was born and raised in Greenwood, graduated from Greenwood High School in 2003 and earned an associate’s degree from Mississippi Delta Community College.
She dreamed of being a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and actually spent about a year in Texas before returning to her hometown. She entered the Certified Nursing Assistant program at Mississippi Delta Community College, earning her certification, and spent three years at Greenwood Leflore Hospital as a CNA.
“I actually loved working at the hospital,” she said. “I loved the people I worked with. A lot of people I worked with still work there.”
She said she found her calling after returning to school to study social work, earning a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi Valley State University in 2016 and adding a master’s degree in 2019.
“Once I went into social work and I started studying social work, I loved everything about it,” she said. “That was for me.”
After completing the master’s degree, she went to work for Life Help, first as a children’s case manager and then as a clubhouse supervisor for adults.
Her duties included working with children, many of whom had behavioral issues, and helping them set goals. For adults, she made sure paperwork and notes were done and appointments were met.
After the coronavirus pandemic hit, she left Life Help to spend more time with her family, while also staying busy volunteering at the Greenwood Community Center.
At Leflore Legacy, she said, her job involves “making sure the scholars have everything they need mentally and physically to stay on task with their academic needs.”
She said the pandemic has taken a toll on students academically and emotionally, especially when they are separated from their classmates.
“If they’re at home, not only are they not being met socially, they’re mentally not prepared to continue their social growth,” she said. “And plus they need that one-on-one in front of the teacher.”
She said a lot of the students at Leflore Legacy have fallen behind, as have students in the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District. Sometimes, in the course of walking the halls, observing students in class or doing lunch duty, she will identify someone who needs help; other times students are referred to her by others.
“I do have teachers that will let me know, ‘This child has gotten to the point where she’s fallen behind in school, she’s becoming disruptive,’” Smith said. “Just any out-of-the-norm behaviors that they observe, they bring to me.”
Then she can talk to them individually and refer them to someone else if needed.
“I definitely like more of a one-on-one ‘Let’s sit down and talk’ session,” she said. “It’s been kind of hard to do, with them having to be out sometimes or me having to be out to do recruitment.”
She also gives students journals to help them record their thoughts if she can’t see them for a while.
Smith said Leflore Legacy has controlled COVID-19 well and has not had to close this year. Parents have been supportive and helpful in notifying the school if their children don’t feel well, she said.
“It has been challenging,” she said. “It’s hard as a parent and as someone who works in the school district.”
Smith has three sons in the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District: Antonio, 17; MJ, 9; and Malachi, 4.
She was diagnosed with the virus herself right after Christmas vacation started. She had been vaccinated — “I thought I was untouchable for a while” — so her symptoms never became severe. Besides, she was already at home, and she had done her Christmas shopping.
“I quarantined and stayed in my room, and my oldest son was the biggest help ever around that time,” she said. “He made sure the younger siblings were taken care of.”
Smith has been busy promoting the college preparatory curriculum at Leflore Legacy, which includes sixth and seventh grades and will add the eighth grade next year.
“I’m finding a lot of people don’t know we exist, and we’ve been here almost two years,” she said.
She has coordinated and helped schedule television and radio commercials in addition to appearing at public events.
“Anything locally going on, we are there to spread the word to the community and give information about the school,” she said.
- Contact David Monroe at 581-7236 or dmonroe@gwcommonwealth.com.
