According to Dr. Ayanna Gill, coordinator of the College of Education and Human Development’s lab school initiative, the Department “partnered with Blackburn Laboratory Middle School and made it possible for them to attend the next home game.”
Blackburn Jaguars Coach Samantha Aghimien “will take all 10 of her girls over for the game with the ladies of JSU tipping off at 5:30 p.m. and the gentlemen around 7:30 p.m.,” Gill said.
“Our Blackburn girls are excited to see some live college play and are appreciative to the JSU Athletics Department for making it possible,” Gill said.
Aghimien said she sees the event as a reward and an incentive for the team. “It’s the end of the season,” she said. It’s to show the student athletes that they can achieve the goal of playing for the JSU team, “if they are serious about basketball,” as well as achieve other goals in life.
Developing and maintaining a positive presence for Blackburn Middle School is a top priority, says the College’s dean, Daniel Watkins.
In 2013, JSU and the Jackson Public School District collaborated to form the first laboratory school in this area with the Blackburn initiative.
As a high-performing community school, the lab school is meant as a conduit to developing and merging effective instructional norms of practice and 21st century skills in both the College of Education and middle school classrooms.
For more information about the Lady Tigers, see: https://www.jsutigers.com/
For more information about the Blackburn Middle School collaboration see: https://www.jsums.edu/education/blackburn-laboratory-school/