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Iyana Reeves
Staff Writer
During the most recent round of the Retool Your School Competition in April of 2023, Jackson State University won 2nd place, winning a whopping $100,000.
The announcement was made in April of 2023, that the university would receive the prize.
Beginning in 2009, Home Depot has annually hosted the Retool Your School Campus Improvement Grant Program, an opportunity for Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to compete for funds and grants that will go toward funding projects that will improve their school.
The competition gives HBCUs the chance to win funding starting from $40,000 to as high as $150,000.
Since the launch of the program, Home Depot has successfully awarded 273 grants to HBCUs and donated more than $9.25 million in funding.
The winners are selected based on the results of an online voting system through the Retool Your School website or even using the hashtag #RYSJackson. The more votes a school collects, the higher their chances of placing in the top ten and receiving a higher amount of funding.
“We truly enjoy this grant because it is something Home Depot invests in yearly. With this being our sixth year winning, we would like to thank our amazing students and alumni base for always showing up and voting out,” said Heather Denne’, Ph.D., JSU director of community engagement.
In last year’s competition, Jackson State was awarded $80,000 that went towards building a brand-new outside study/entertainment sitting area next to the Student Center and Alexander East Residence Hall.
With the money given this year, JSU decided to upgrade the study rooms in Dixon Hall (one of the male dormitories) in preparation for the upcoming finals.
The build day was held on Nov. 17, with many students and staff volunteering for work starting as at 10 a.m. and ending at 1 p.m.
The team focused on building brand new chairs, furniture, desks, and other scholarly furnishings to be put in the study rooms on each floor.
Home Depot provided numerous boxes, kits, and manuals on how to build each individual item step by step. They also provided more resources and tools, like helmets, tools, aprons, gloves, and handkerchiefs to use, in hopes of providing aid and assistance in the build of these items.
Zaria Miller, a senior journalism and media studies major, was elated with the turn out from fellow students.
“I just love how our school came together to build up our study rooms in Dixon Hall. I am sure every student that lives in this dorm will greatly appreciate the hard work we put in for them,” stated Miller.
Trell Sonder, a senior marketing major who lives in Dixon Hall, was more than excited that JSU was giving the opportunity to do this for his fellow dorm.
“I really appreciate all that Home Depot has provided for our study rooms. At my old school, we never experienced anything like this from any company, so that is legit for JSU. Even having the students that are here today helping make a change is really nice shows how much we love and show up for our school,” Sonder said.
Towards the end of the project build day, Executive Director of Housing and Residence Life Christal T. Henry, gave closing remarks thanking everyone who participated and Home Depot for their generosity.
“I am so excited about the Retool Your School project and especially what we have been able to do in our study rooms and residents hall. We understand that this is not only where students live but they are studying and gathering together. This project allowed for us to redo those spaces and hopefully build a strong community for our male residents in Dixon Hall,” said Henry.
Students were rewarded volunteer hours for their help. In celebration of completing the project build day, Jackson State provided a delicious nacho bar for all the volunteers and workers.
With the success of this project and past projects, students hope to encourage students to vote in the next round of #RYS so Jackson State can take home yet again another $100,000.
