NATCHEZ — Morgantown College Prep Academy student Leslie Lewis says she is one of the most outspoken people around friends and family, but in class, it’s a completely different story.

Lewis is hopeful her participation in a new program at the Natchez-Adams School District may help overcome her public shyness.

Lewis, 12, said her reserved nature publicly is a bit of a challenge she has to overcome because when she grows up, she wants to teach English in college. So when her teacher told her that her grades were good enough to join the new Natchez-Adams Street Team, which has a public speaking component, Lewis said she was excited.

“Being able to go places and show that I am able to speak in front of large crowds is important,” she said. “I can show people that I’m not just that quiet little girl.”

The street team program in the Natchez-Adams School District aims to teach students life skills and teamwork through media practices, public speaking, news reporting, graphic design and photography.

Steven Richardson, the school system’s coordinator of public relations, said the program comes from his desire to mentor, but he said the program could become far more than that.

“The goal of the team is to reach beyond the district lines and to tell our story about the great things that are going on in the classrooms and buildings,” he said. “If we can show that we do have students who are learning, writing well and speaking well, then people will think that this is a district where I want to send my child.”

Richardson said one of the big projects for the young club so far has been aboard the American Queen steamboat. The class was invited to interview and present to the guests.

Robert Lewis Magnet School student Tabius Woods, 14, said projects such as going aboard the American Queen have been his favorite aspect of the club so far.

“I loved it, because I got to meet some new people, and we talked about things I did not know before,” he said. “I was learning some behind-the-scenes stuff.”

Woods, who was one of the news reporters on the American Queen project, said right now he wants to be a nuclear technician, but he’s still open to suggestions. One guest he spoke to in particular stood out.

“I interviewed this one guy who has been all around the world looking at bones, trying to discover new species,” he said. “I thought that was very interesting.”

Morgan Baskin, a 16-year-old at Natchez Early College Academy, said being invited to the club was a big confidence booster. History teacher Kiwanis Barnes nominated Baskin after she’d given a presentation on King Louis XVI.

“I don’t speak much socially,” she said. “But when I’m on stage, it’s like I’m a different person. I like to show that I can do that.”

Baskin said the teamwork aspect of working with the different students is an important part of the project because she wants to be an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy one day, and then perhaps join the CIA.

“I like putting stuff together,” she said. “I like to have a bunch of information, make it make sense and see the big picture.”

Kayne Rawlings, 10, of Susie B. West Elementary School, was one of the youngest news reporters on the steamboat project. Speaking to one passenger, he ended up getting a history lesson on a Western state.

“I was interviewing one lady. She said she was from Colorado, and I asked her if Indians used to live there, like the Wild West,” he said. “Getting to learn about people and their history, I found that interesting.”

Total membership in the Street Team is 40, and Richardson said meetings right now are averaging a solid 20 each Wednesday.

“They are all well behaved because it’s one strike and you are out of the club,” he said. “But they love it, they all look forward to catching the bus and arriving each week.”