Natchez &8212; It takes a village.

Local schools, public or private, can&8217;t do their job without the help of a community around them. It&8217;s a message Natchez-Adams School District Superintendent Anthony Morris has preached before.

It&8217;s echoed by principals in nearly every school in the Miss-Lou.

Parent involvement is most important. Community comes next.

Chuck Caldwell and other members of the Natchez Rotary Club have experienced what kind words and a small gift can mean to young children, and it&8217;s well worth any trouble, he said. Rotary Club members deliver free dictionaries to every Natchez third-grader each year.

&8220;It&8217;s just a wonderful experience to interact with kids that age,&8221; he said. &8220;You forget what it&8217;s like to be a kid. Everybody that&8217;s done it has enjoyed it.&8221;

Caldwell has a pile of thank you notes from students on his desk that remind him year round why his presence was important.

&8220;This one says, &8216;You are a really good man. We will not rip (the dictionaries) up,&8217;&8221; Caldwell read.

But more than the dictionary, it was probably the presence of an outside adult that made an impression on the children, principals say.

&8220;It does make a difference to them to know other people genuinely care,&8221; Ferriday Junior High School Principal Dorothy Parker said. &8220;They usually think those people are interesting.&8221;

FJHS and most area schools host events like career day to bring in community members. Natchez schools have long lists of Partners in Education that make monetary donations and visit the schools.

West Primary Principal Cindy Idom said the school&8217;s 21 partners are assigned a special project and volunteer at the school on a rotating basis, so no one gets burned out.

&8220;We don&8217;t ask them to do something every month,&8221; she said.

Robert Lewis Middle School is in their second year of a mentoring ministers program, where area ministers visit the school just to make friends, talk and be a good influence.

Any resident interested in volunteering a local school can contact the school&8217;s principal.