For Robert Luckett, education and encouraging young people was the passion of a lifetime.
“Education was always it for him,” his wife, Jeanne, recalled. “He always knew he was going to teach.”
The eighth of ten children in a Kentucky farming family, he was the first to graduate from college. A basketball scholarship to St. Leo College in Florida helped him get the first two years of college he needed before being recruited to transfer to Millsaps College.
Much of his tenure was spent as a principal – from Jim Hill High School to St. Joseph High School and for many years, Richland High School – where he touched the lives of countless students. Throughout his career, Robert was always focused on those that did not have much.
“He was all about inclusion, particularly those that had the least, helping them have opportunities,” Jeanne said. “He had a break and opportunities when he had nothing. That is what the scholarship is all about.”
In 2000, Robert was diagnosed with cancer, passing away two years later at the age of 57. Over the course of his illness, donations came in to support the family. What to do with the heartfelt gifts from his community? Jeanne and her son, Robby, decided to create a scholarship fund at the Community Foundation for Mississippi to honor his lifelong dedication to education and children.
“Robby and I decided the best thing would be to take that money and establish a scholarship fund. We started out with just one scholarship and then the money at the Foundation grew so wonderfully.”
Why create a fund at CFM? “I loved what the Community Foundation stood for. We felt like we wanted the money to be close and local,” Jeanne said. “We didn’t want it to be with a bank. We wanted it to be someplace where the money would generate some good as well.”
When looking at the impact Luckett had on the Richland community, there’s never more than one degree of separation. Richland High School counselor Michelle Cresap, who facilitates the scholarship selection process, had Robert as her principal.
“He was an incredible person,” she said on stage before announcing the award recipients. “We all remember him.”
Thinking back to recipients over the years, Jeanne says she is so impressed by those receiving the award. “They have sent the nicest thank you notes. You cannot imagine,” she said. “I keep in touch.”
For Jeanne, the fund and award are a full circle moment each year, seeing the impact her late husband had on the community.
“He loved kids and wanted to encourage them to further their education and pursue college. Through this fund, we help them do just that.”
In 2013 an English teacher at Murrah High School in Jackson discovered a stack of literary magazines that the school first published during the year of its founding in 1954. Called the Pleiades, it continued to be published yearly for many years then disappeared and was almost forgotten. With the help of enthusiastic students, the teacher reached out to Murrah alumni for help in funding a magazine of student writing and art, and a new issue of the Pleiades was published.
