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RAYMOND – Six ������ students are the first to enter a John Deere Construction and Forestry Technology training partnership, the only one of its kind between Waco, Texas, and Raleigh, N.C.

UTICA – ������ English Instructor Dan Fuller of Raymond is making a journey to Nigeria to learn from their institutions of higher learning and from Nigerian literary authors. He has been chosen out of a pool of outstanding applicants to the Moody Institute Trust Fund as a 2023 Moody Institute Fellow.

He will receive funding for a research program, travel to Nigeria and develop opportunities for enrichment not only for himself, but for the faculty and student body of the Utica Campus, an HBCU (Historically Black College and University), where he teaches.

“Ideally, I hope to develop relationships with Nigerian faculty, create virtual sessions via Zoom for our students and schedule virtual sessions for enrichment in the future, as well,” Fuller wrote in his application to the Moody Institute.

The Moody Institute Trust Fund (MITF) was established in 1990 in honor of Dr. George V. Moody, the first Executive Director of the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges (SBCJC). The purpose of the Moody Institute is to provide funds for enrichment experiences for faculty members employed in Mississippi’s public community and junior colleges. The Moody Fund and program is administered by the Mississippi Community College Foundation.

Fuller will visit two colleges that were founded on the Tuskegee model similar to Hinds’ Utica Campus, as it was directed under founder, William H. Holtzclaw in 1903. He said this trip to Nigeria is about gaining a greater insight into his profession as an instructor at a Historically Black College.

“As a world literature instructor, I incorporate African novels each semester through classroom book clubs,” he said. “Through school visits, I hope to learn from my Nigerian colleagues’ new approaches to African literature. Participating in an informal teacher exchange program via Zoom will allow students in my classroom the opportunity to collaborate with a Nigerian classroom on a joint project that will broaden our horizons.”