The all-volunteer Association for Excellence in Education on Thursday offered Tupelo its annual civics lesson in community support for public schools - the private sector speaking up and raising the bar for expectations and achievement in the Tupelo district.

AEE, with almost 360 individual and corporate members, has raised $2.6 million since 1983. On Thursday, it made 28 grants worth about $100,000.

Pierce Street Elementary's gym became a radiant and sometimes audible display of the projects funded with the 2009 grants, ranging from architectural design to Lego robotics.

The Thursday program also powerfully reminded AEE members, teachers and students that Tupelo's enthusiasm for education support rises from long-term leadership. Two awards are presented for xceptional service.

The J.C. Whitehead Award for corporate leadership was presented to Lane Furniture, a longtime AEE supporter.

Whitehead, the late CEO and Chairman of BancorpSouth, was an examplar of business involvement and commitment to public education. Lane President Greg Roy, a graduate of Pierce Street and Tupelo High, and who has three children in the Tupelo schools, accepted the award, stressing the priority that business must place on supporting public education.

The Jack Reed Sr. Award for individual achievement was presented to Mary Ann Plasencia, an ardent volunteer in school-specific parents' activities, a member of the search committee that recruited Superintendent Randy Shaver, and a member of the special Blue Ribbon Committee studying the district for the long term.

Plasencia this year was hired by the school district and is a grant writer and communications liaison. She has two children in the public schools and a son who is a 2009 Tupelo High School graduate.

Reed, for whom the award is named, is a former Mississippi Board of Education chairman, and was described by Shaver as one of the founders of the Mississippi public school system in the modern era.

The spirit of the day was enunciated by Plasencia, who noted the optimism in the faces of supporters who listened to student presentations and watched their projects on a large video screen.

Plasencia said AEE's determination provides hope that the idea of excellence and effectiveness in the Tupelo schools is achievable, even in difficult times and transitions.

The diverse AEE audience clearly provides an effective image of why community support is important - and why it has been sustained in Tupelo. AEE's work, in a time of budgetary austerity, becomes a value-enhanced service. It can't be allowed to dwindle in impact. In fact, increasing its annual support level would be a logical priority.