Dad's hometown is now home for Niya Smith

Although she was born and raised in Littleton, Colo., Niya Smith moved to her dad's hometown in Starkville because she wanted to make a difference.

“I wanted to open up a school for youth at risk,” said Smith. “When we would come down here in the summer, I would see a lot of kids who weren't in school. So I wanted to come down here and try to rebuild the community [where my parents were born and raised.]”

That is what she believes she is doing for Mrs. Smith's Educational Services at the Needmore Community Center on Gillespie Street, where they provide homeschooling and any type of education needed for anyone three years of age and up, along with an after school program.

“On a day-to-day basis, we have a pre-k program that we work with. They are starting at three years old up until time for them to go to kindergarten,” said Smith. “We also have homeschool students. So during the day, we have approximately anywhere between 20 to 30 children, and the reason why there is that gap is because if there are times kids aren't feeling well but they're not sick, their parents can bring them here. We even have college students who come in who need work with resumes or schoolwork. We also have GED and ACT students who drop in for help. After that, we go pick up over 100 kids, bring them in, and do after school tutoring.”

Outside of what she does at the Needmore Center, Smith finds herself occupied by either reading, writing poetry, or just getting wellneeded rest.

She started poetry when she was younger. While she has a math brain, she also likes to be creative, plus it also helped her write her essays when she was in school. Now that she doesn't have to worry about writing essays, she continues her poetry writing simply because it is one of the things she enjoys doing in her free time.

Her undergraduate degree is in math and secondary education, but her master's degree is in special education, so Smith enjoys reading about autism.

“I love reading about different disabilities, as well as how to help prevent children who are youth at risk, and keeping myself guided through the scriptures,” Smith said.

She also added that her favorite TV show is Law and Order, and her favorite movie is War Room.

With her parents David and Elaine originally being from Starkville, Smith says her transition from Colorado to Mississippi to be at a place where she wants to make a