HOWARD THOMPSON<\/strong><\/p>\nHoward Thompson was born in Hernando, Mississippi. He is a graduate of Hernando High School, Northwest Mississippi Community College, where he served as Vice President of the Student Council, Delta State University and has two graduate degrees in Administration and Supervision from the University of Mississippi. Howard has served as an administrator since he was 28 years old. His professional career includes serving as a principal in the formerly Memphis City Schools, now Shelby County Schools, Briarcrest Christian Schools, and administrator of Kirby Pines Retirement Estates. He and his wife of 56 years, Jamie, founded the Independence Arts Conservatory\u00a0 in October, 2009 to provide Performing Arts and Leadership opportunities for young men and women in grades four through twelve from four counties of Northwest Mississippi – Tate, Desoto, Marshall and Panola. Howard is a member of Mt.Zion Baptist Church in Independence where he has also served as a deacon since 1964.<\/p>\n
MATTHEW RICKS<\/strong><\/p>\nNative Mississippi resident, Matthew Ricks is no stranger to the IACCC.\u00a0 He has been a proud parent supporter as his oldest children, now young adults, were among the first students to attend when the IACCC originally opened.\u00a0\u00a0 Matthew is the son of Charlotte and the late Charlie Ricks of Independence.\u00a0 He graduated from Independence High School, attended Northwest Mississippi Community College, and Memphis Electrical Training Program.\u00a0 He received certification by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers as an electrician in 2001.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0His occupational accomplishments include earning his 20-year pin and serving on the Executive Board for Local 474.\u00a0 Although his trade has caused him to live and work in various places across the United States, his home and heart has always been in Independence.\u00a0 He currently resides in the community of Alphaba with his loving wife of ten years!\u00a0 Together, they are a blended family who have been blessed with 5 children!\u00a0 Matthew and his family are active members of Mt. Zion Baptist Church serving on various committees and leadership positions.\u00a0 He is honored to be chosen to serve on the IACCC board, and looks forward to seeing how God uses the IACCC to grow student\u2019s talents to use for His glory.<\/p>\n
LYNDA SCRUGGS BLOUNT<\/strong><\/p>\nLynda Scruggs Blount, born in Independence, Mississippi, graduated from Independence High School and attended Northwest Mississippi Junior College.\u00a0 Married to Ellis Blount for 58 years, they were the proud parents of 2 sons, Michael Ellis and Cameron Kyle, who are now in Heaven waiting for them.\u00a0 They have three adult grandsons, Kyle Avery and his wife, Lauren, , Michael Cayman and Kenzee Steven and their daughter-in-law, Kenda. \u00a0Cayman and Kenzee spent a good part of their young lives enjoying the many activities offered at IACCC.\u00a0 Except for a short time of approximately 1-1\/2 years, Lynda has lived her entire life in Independence.\u00a0 Many varied, interesting and challenging secretarial careers have been enjoyed.\u00a0 They have included working at Chromcraft, Inc as Personnel Secretary for seven (7) years; \u00a0School Secretary at Hillcrest Academy for eight (8) years; Tate County Superintendent of Education receptionist for three (3) years; She is currently employed at Trunkline Gas Company in Independence, as Senior Field Coordinator and has been with them for the past 37 years. Lynda and Ellis are active members of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Independence.<\/p>\n
CRAIG B. SHIDELER<\/strong><\/p>\nCraig Shideler lives in Senatobia, Mississippi. He is presently the President\/Chief Executive Officer of Mississippi Land Bank which is comprised of 6 branch and 3 satellite offices in North Mississippi. MSLB is a Farm Credit cooperative lending money to farmers and non-farmers for operating needs, equipment improvement and land purchases. MSLB is over $700 million in assets with 42 employees. Craig has been employed with MSLB since 1978 holding various positions throughout his career. He has a B.S. degree from Mississippi State University in Agriculture Economics and a Banking degree from LSU.\u00a0 He is a certified General Appraiser. Craig is age 64 and married his wife, Calvert, in 1978.They have three children and five grandchildren. In the past, he has served as president of the following organizations, the Rotary Club, Hope Ministries, Emmaus Board, Senatobia Chamber of Commerce, He now serves as Kappa Sigma House Corp. Board President, Church Board President, Montgomery Island Board Member, Defined Benefits and Retirement Board Member for farm Credit Bank of Texas in Austin and Ag First Bank in Columbia, SC. Craig has been selected a Tate County Citizen of the Year and has served as lay leader and speaker for Walk to Emmaus . He has worked on several Chrysalis and Chrysalis Crossroads which are the teenage versions of Walk to Emmaus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GEORGE COSSAR, III George Cossar, III lives in Senatobia, Mississippi. He is employed by Entergy Mississippi and serves as the local Customer Service Representative. George serves on a number of non-profit boards. He is past chairman of the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi which serves eleven northwest Mississippi counties. George is past president of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"spay_email":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.independencearts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.independencearts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.independencearts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.independencearts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.independencearts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.independencearts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.independencearts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}