The MI-BEST Program Is Changing Lives

MAYHEW, Miss. (WCBI) – Changing lives and providing better futures.

That’s the goal of a program at East Mississippi Community College.

It’s called Mississippi Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training or MI-BEST.

The program helps students get their High School Equivalency diploma, while learning workforce skills.

It’s completely free and is set up so students can do dual enrollment.

So far, it’s benefited roughly 100 students.

“Just my environment and just where I’m from and everything. People barely make it, so I wanted to be the ones who make it.”

That’s why 20-year old Thomas Brown enrolled in the MI-BEST program.

He’s specializing in Automotive Technology.

Brown was a senior when he dropped out of high school.

Now, two years later, he’s on a different path.

“I wanted a better career path. I wanted to get my life on track. I got my GED this year, so yeah, I just wanted a better life and better opportunities and a better job.”

MI-BEST Career Navigator Jeremy Tate says students from 17-years old up to 59-years old have reached those goals because of this program.

“The students are actually going to work on their high school equivalent and they can do Career Tech programs, which they can get a one year certificate, or they can get an Associate’s degree, or they can go through our Workforce programming and do anywhere from five week courses, like Commercial Truck Driving, or eight week courses, like Manufacturing Skills.”

Karl Mast is another student who just completed his GED.

The Brooksville native says without MI-BEST, he’d be working on the family farm, instead of chasing his dream job in the cyber security field.

“So far, it’s vastly improved my information of computers and what they can and can’t do and how to secure them and improve them.”

Improving futures is why MI-BEST came along a few years ago.

It’s an initiative through the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Tate says he believes it’s something that will continue grow.

“They’re big into community colleges and they saw a need within our state to fill the middle wage gap, so we have the integrated program that works on putting those workers in those middle skilled jobs for that middle wage.”