By John Howell Sr.

Cordella Smith takes the helm as Center Director of the Batesville Job Corps Center (BJCC) today, Minact, Inc. vice president of operations Tom Deuschle announced.

Smith, a 29-year career specialist in social and human development, replaces Center Director Dean Kindle, who has taken a job with the Hubert Humphrey Job Corps Center in St. Paul, MN.

Smith is the sixth center director in BJCC’s history and the first native Panolian to serve in the position. “I was there when the first students came through the doors, and I’ve been there ever since,” Smith said.

She is a 1975 graduate of South Panola High School who received her bachelor’s degree from Livingstone College and master’s degrees in educational psychology and special education from The University of Mississippi. Smith also earned a doctor of Christian educational psychology from the Carolina University of Theology in Manassas, Virginia.

The new center director began as a resident advisor where she worked with students in the dormitory. Following promotions to guidance counselor, manager of counseling and vocational counselor, Smith, in 2003, was named manager of career development/transition, and in 2007 promoted to deputy center director.

The daughter of Reba Shegog, the new center director is married to Jesse Smith who serves as BJCC chief of safety and security.

Their son, Jordon, is a senior at SPHS.

The new center director has a history of support for service, professional and volunteer organizations including the Boys and Girls Club of Batesville, The University of Mississippi Alumni Association, Panola County Foster Care Review Board, the March of Dimes, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and the American Psychological Association. She is an active member of Pope Chapel Zion AME Church.

“I am very proud of Cordella Smith’s commitment to student-centered learning and advancement of the Job Corps program,” Minact, Inc. CEO Booker T. Jones said.

Minact, Inc. has operated BJCC through a contract with the Department of Labor since its inception in 1980. The Mississippi-based corporation was recently successful in its bid to operate the Hubert Humphrey Job Corps Center in St. Paul, making Minnesota the eighth state to host a Minact-operated Job Corps center.

Kindle, a Wisconsin native, who this week announced his move at the Batesville Rotary Club and the Batesville Exchange Club meetings, said that the move will place him within a four-hour drive of his parents and his wife’s parents.

The public is invited to a reception today at 2:30 p.m. honoring Kindle.