Main Content Section
MDCC Welcomes Familiar Face to Music Department
Jan. 30, 2021
Mississippi Delta Community College (MDCC) is adding a new choral director to its
music department. While Harvey Jackson may be a new member of the MDCC family, he’s
well-known around the Delta.
“I’m a native of Cleveland, Miss. I graduated from East Side High School in 2007 and
received my bachelor’s from Miss. Valley State University in 2013,” explained Jackson.
Jackson went on to receive a master’s degree in music from William Carey University
and an educational specialist degree in leadership and supervision.
Jackson has been a part of the Sunflower County School District since 2013, when he
began his career at Robert L. Merritt Junior High School. Within two years, Jackson
was promoted to choral director at Gentry High School where he saw great success.
“We’ve done some marvelous work at Gentry. In terms of choir competitions, we’ve performed
in Miami, Fla., all the way to Dallas, Texas to Atlanta, Ga. We’ve performed in Los
Angeles, Cali,” said Jackson proudly. “We’ve received invitations to sing at Carnegie
Hall. This is on top of winning many local competitions and awards.”
Jackson, who became interested in music at an early age watching his godmother direct
church choir, believes the key to their success is helping students connect with music
in a real and emotional way.
“My method is to just basically draw the students in and make real-world connections.
Make the music relevant to them and expose their talent. To allow them to express
themselves musically and to help them deal with what they’re going through musically,”
explained Jackson.
Jackson plans on growing the MDCC music program by starting with the area he knows
best, the Miss. Delta. Jackson said that he intends to first assess the talent at
MDCC before hopefully bringing in former students of his next fall. Jackson believes
that this will benefit the program because his former students already know his expectations
and vision.
From there, he said they’ll work on expanding out to the rest of the schools that
MDCC serves and expects by then, there will be a buzz about MDCC’s music program.
To capitalize on that expected buzz, Jackson then plans on recruiting further into
north and south Miss. as well as out of state.
“There are many exciting things happening at Miss. Delta, from the way the new administration
is leading, to great things happening in the music department that I’ve been watching
over the past year or two, so when I saw the posting for director of choral music,
I knew I wanted to join a family headed in the direction of excellence,” concluded
Jackson.