Jackson State Opens Closet for Education Students
Graduating education students at Jackson State can now pick out free classroom supplies while Mississippi still offers no paid student teaching.
Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Financial Aid
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Jackson State University opened Mississippi's first Aspiring Educators Resource Closet on Monday, November 9, 2026, stocking supplies that graduating education students can pick out for their classrooms. The closet is a partnership with the Mississippi Association of Educators-Retired, and Jackson State received the first closet the group opened statewide.
Why it matters
Mississippi does not offer paid student teaching, so education students often work unpaid while also bearing classroom costs. The closet is meant to fill that gap until the state changes its policy, and it reflects retired teachers' understanding of how hard it is to make a classroom welcoming without money to do it.
Twelve states offer paid student teaching or some type of stipend, while Mississippi does not offer paid student teaching. Each college's student members set the criteria for who qualifies, which may include attending a set number of organization events or logging community service hours.
The players
Jackson State University
A historically Black public university in Jackson, Mississippi, hosting the College of Education and Human Development that houses the new closet.
Mississippi Association of Educators-Retired
A retired-educators group that voted to open resource closets across Mississippi and chose Jackson State for the first one.
The details
The closet sits inside the College of Education and Human Development at Jackson State and is run in partnership with the Mississippi Association of Educators-Retired. Its shelves hold calculators, rulers, staplers, markers, crayons, glue, Play-Doh, sanitizer, and wipes, along with clipboards, headphones, and coffee. Graduating education students can pick out supplies, and each college's student members set the criteria for eligibility.
Timeline
Monday, November 9, 2026: Jackson State opens the Aspiring Educators Resource Closet.
May 2027: Teanna Howard is expected to graduate from Jackson State.
August 31: Newly hired teachers await their first paycheck.
Summer 2027: The association holds a meeting to decide which university receives the next closet.
Education Landscape
Mississippi is one of the states that does not pay student teachers, while twelve states offer paid student teaching or stipends. The closet arrives as a local response to that gap rather than a change in state policy.
If you are an education student at Jackson State, ask the College of Education and Human Development how to qualify for the closet and what criteria your student organization sets. Education students nearing graduation should also plan for the gap between finishing and receiving a first paycheck, since newly hired teachers may wait until August 31 for their first pay.
The takeaway
Mississippi's lack of paid student teaching leaves education students to cover classroom costs on their own, and the new closet is one local answer to that. If you are an education student at a Mississippi college, ask your education college's financial-aid or advising office what support exists before you start student teaching.
What happens next
The Mississippi Association of Educators-Retired will hold a meeting in summer 2027 to choose which university receives the next closet.
Further reading
For more on how teachers and education students cover costs, browse Financial Aid guides.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Wlbt.
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