the other half of education...
The Mississippi High School Activities Association is a nonprofit, nondiscriminatory association, run by the secondary schools in the state of Mississippi. The Association is responsible for both academic and athletic competitions. The academic competitions include debate, drama, speech, writing--prose, poetry, short stories, essays--and music--band and choral. The athletic competitions include the following sixteen sports listed in order of season: football, swimming, slowpitch softball, volleyball, cross country, soccer, basketball, boys powerlifting, girls powerlifting, tennis, boys golf, girls golf, track, baseball, fastpitch softball, wrestling, bowling, and archery. The Association is also responsible for approximately 4,000 officials, who are registered and certified through MHSAA clinics.
The welfare and relationships of the 530,000 students who make up the public and parochial schools in Mississippi are promoted through the Association. This is done by (1) developing a higher standard of scholarship and encouraging scholastic achievement; (2) planning, directing and controlling contests, games, and other interscholastic activities; (3) defining and fixing responsibility; (4) elevating the standards of sportsmanship by seeking to strengthen the moral fiber of all concerned; (5) encouraging the formation and promotion of noncompetitive activities which contribute to the moral and spiritual values in character development as part of a well rounded extracurricular program.
The public and private schools that make up the MHSAA account for 94% of the total school population and because of this our Association realizes the tremendous responsibility that we have to the people of Mississippi. The Mississippi High School Activities Association and the activities it sponsors are often called “the other half of education,” when, in fact, we are much more than that. Surveys have shown that students who participate in extracurricular activities stay in school and achieve to a higher degree academically than those who do not participate. Surveys also show that these same students develop high moral fiber and that their values are molded in such a way that they are truly the good citizens that make this country great. Because of this proven importance of activities to a student’s education, our Association cannot be just “the other half.” Activities are instead an integral part of any quality educational program.
MHSAA is proud of the part it plays in accomplishing these tasks and invites others to be a part. After all, we have the greatest product in the world to sell—and that is the children of Mississippi.