Ole Miss students who thought they left big yellow school buses behind may be surprised to see one parked in front of the Student Union in the near future in order to promote a university-wide school supplies drive.
Mr. Ole Miss, Rob Pyron, and Miss Ole Miss, Kay Kay DeRossette, recently settled on a service project that they are calling PACK the Bus, which stands for Promoting Access to College for Kids.
“There were a lot of options for us, but we wanted to make it something that was new and something that hasn’t been done before just to get people excited about it,” DeRossette said.
Pyron and DeRossette plan on having a school bus parked on the Union Plaza and encouraging students to fill the bus with school supplies to be donated to students at underperforming public schools in Mississippi.
Pyron and DeRossette have not yet decided to which Mississippi school they would like to donate the supplies, but they have begun the process of identifying schools that would benefit from the support.
“That’s going to be our next step,” DeRossette said.
Several options were discussed, but PACK the Bus stood out to both as the most achievable and rewarding service project.
“Kay Kay and I are both very passionate about education in the state of Mississippi and want to help the students in this state succeed,” Pyron said.
Bradley Baker, director of the Student Union who also serves as an adviser to the Student Activities Association and the Big Event, said the university would be happy to help with the endeavor.
“We’re very open and accommodating for those different types of events,” Baker said. “I think it’s a worthwhile cause and even faculty, staff, students and community members would probably jump on board with this as well.”
Students like the idea of being able to help in such a simple way.
“I’m glad that they picked something practical that the whole school can be involved in,” sophomore Katie Wright said. “It’s something that doesn’t take up a lot of people’s time, which is great because that’s a big reason that people don’t get involved sometimes.”
Pyron and DeRossette are hoping to schedule PACK the Bus for March 17-21, the week after spring break.
“Each student at Ole Miss has had the opportunity and supplies to come to college and some kids don’t have that access that we have,” Pyron said. “We are blessed beyond measure, and it is our responsibility that we give back to those who have not had as much as we do.”
