“Does Mississippi have a state fruit?”
Lisa Parenteau’s 4th-grade students asked that. Her classes in Mississippi were reading about Kansas. Kids there had made a plum the state fruit. Parenteau’s students got curious about their own state.
“I was sure there was a state fruit,” Parenteau said. “But I couldn’t think of anything.” The teacher and students looked it up. Mississippi didn’t have a state fruit. The students agreed: this needed to change!
Parenteau decided to help her students . But she wanted to do it right. The classes did research. One fruit stood out. In Mississippi, “the blueberry is the most grown fruit,” Parenteau said.
Project Blueberry was born! The kids made posters. Parenteau emailed a leader. Representative Jill Ford visited. She explained how laws are made. Two state groups have to vote. They are the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The 4th graders wrote letters to the lawmakers. They explained why the blueberry would be a good pick. Ford shared the blueberry with the Mississippi House of Representatives. In February, the lawmakers voted. Blueberries won! The vote was 110–1.
Next, the bill went to the Senate. In March, the group voted. All 52 voters said “yes.”
Parenteau’s classes were thrilled. The teacher said her favorite part “was watching my students jump up and down.” The 4th graders visited the Mississippi capitol building. That’s where the leaders work. The lawmakers stood and clapped!
There was one last step. The law needed to be signed by Mississippi’s governor. Some students watched this at the capitol. Governor Tate Reeves signed the law!
The classes celebrated with a berry blue party. They ate blue food and used blue decorations. They learned a lot from this experience. And Parenteau wants to share that.
“A lot of times, kids don’t think they have a voice in government. They think that nobody cares,” the teacher said. “But my kids learned that people do care,” Parenteau added. “They can do anything. Never think too small.”
Updated August 17, 2023, 5:01 P.M. (ET)
By Hannah Marcum
