{"id":146581,"date":"2025-01-22T16:39:52","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T22:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=146581"},"modified":"2025-01-22T16:40:02","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T22:40:02","slug":"oxford-middle-school-hosts-princess-leilani-elyse-allen-of-the-mississippi-band-of-choctaw-indians-for-an-inspiring-educational-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/oxford-middle-school-hosts-princess-leilani-elyse-allen-of-the-mississippi-band-of-choctaw-indians-for-an-inspiring-educational-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Oxford Middle School Hosts Princess Leilani Elyse Allen of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians for an Inspiring Educational Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Oxford Middle School<\/strong> (<strong>OMS<\/strong>) recently had the privilege of hosting <strong>Princess Leilani Elyse Allen<\/strong> of the <strong>Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During her visit, Princess Leilani brought to life the vibrant culture, traditions, and values of the Choctaw Indians for students in two <strong>Mississippi Studies<\/strong> classes and one English 7 class.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Princess Leilani captivated the audience with a live demonstration of one of her favorite games\u2014<strong>Choctaw Stickball<\/strong>. Additionally, she presented a collection of traditional clothing, intricately woven baskets, handcrafted drums, and more. Princess Leilani even described the symbolism behind her own attire, including her crown, dress, and jewelry.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPeople often think they have to travel far away to experience a different culture, but that\u2019s not true! Celebrating Native American culture in your own community helps you learn about the history and contributions of the first people who lived on this land. It teaches respect and understanding while helping everyone feel more connected,\u201d said Oxford Middle School teacher Mrs. <strong>Lacey Stribling<\/strong>. \u201cBy learning about Native American traditions, stories, and perspectives right here in Mississippi, we can appreciate our shared community and grow stronger together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond sharing her cultural traditions, Princess Leilani offered valuable insight into her journey as a college student and emphasized the importance of overcoming challenges both inside and out of the classroom.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI hope in addition to learning about Choctaw culture, students left knowing they can accomplish anything they set their minds to with hard work and determination,\u201d said Oxford Middle School teacher Ms. <strong>Gabby Vogt<\/strong>. \u201cPrincess Leilani was so inspiring, sharing how she was so introverted that she opted for online school, but since taking on the role of Choctaw Indian Princess, she has grown so much and come out of her shell and has gained the confidence to attend Mississippi State University in person. I know many of our students can relate to having to overcome personal challenges. I hope they felt so inspired.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"25\" height=\"16\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg?resize=25%2C16\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14544\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oxford Middle School (OMS) recently had the privilege of hosting Princess Leilani Elyse Allen of the Mississippi Band<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":146582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27812],"tags":[31118,25989,5312],"class_list":["post-146581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-schools","tag-lacey-stribling","tag-mississippi-band-of-choctaw-indians","tag-oxford-middle-school"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Leilani-Allen.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146581"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146583,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146581\/revisions\/146583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}