Community Driven
Dr. Engel—A Community Leader
Fellowship
An active member of St. James' Episcopal Church, Dr. Engel has served on the Vestry, as Stewardship Chairman, as the Episcopal Young Church leader, and as a Sunday school teacher for 12 years. As past president and officer of the Washington School PTO, Dr. Engel raises funds annually for the school.
Community Service
As a board member of the philanthropic King's Daughters and Sons Circle #2, Dr. Engel assisted in the development of the Circle's grant criteria and overall grant evaluation. He is a member of the E. E. Bass Steering Committee, the Greenville Rotary Club, and is a Paul Harris Fellow and past president of the Greenville Symphony Association.
Delta Children’s Museum
Dr. Engel's main community service platform is the Delta Children's Museum. Under Dr. Engel's leadership, the museum presents approximately six projects per year for Mississippi Delta area youth. Ever mindful of the need for the arts in our local public and private schools, Dr. Engel and board members, have brought countless programs, exhibits, and hands-on-learning events to our youth. The vast majority of all projects were free or at a reduced cost to our Delta children.
Early on, Dr. Engel recognized that local art dollars were limited and developed a talent for grant writing. The Delta Children's Museum began receiving grants from the Mississippi Arts Commission, the Southern Arts Federation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Dr. Engel also wrote grants for the Greenville Symphony, which provided over half of their budget revenue for many years!
The Delta Children's Museum continued to expand its scope bringing innovative projects to the Delta. The museum received the Greenville Arts Council Special Achievement Award for "Color Play," the hands-on traveling museum about color housed in the E. E. Bass gym and visited by over 12,000 young people from across the Delta.
Under Dr. Engel's guidance, the Delta Children's Museum took on its most ambitious project to date—the restoration of the 1901 Armitage Hershell Carousel. After the museum acquired ownership of the carousel, Dr. Engel began a large fundraising effort to restore the 105-year-old Greenville treasure. It now resides in the Delta Children's Museum Pavilion inside E. E. Bass Cultural Arts Center. Thanks to this tireless community effort, the carousel is now open to the public!
Honors and Celebrations
Dr. Engel has received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service from the Greenville Arts Council. His grant writing achievements and the gift of his time and energy have made a dramatic impact on the accessibility to the arts for all people in the Mississippi Delta.
Dr. Engel was honored as King of the Junior Auxiliary Ball of Greenville in 2004 for his service to the community and the arts. Dr. Engel’s most recent honor in thanks for his community service was being crowned King of the Delta Hot Tamale Festival of 2022!
Dr. Alexa—Community Service
Outside the workplace, Dr. Alexa is passionate about education and believes it is the key for all young people to thrive. From her engineering scholarships to her top DAT and Advanced DAT Scores, she knows the value of education. During college, Dr. Alexa worked as an ACT tutor for Specialty Tutors of Dallas and developed a commitment to helping young people. This is something that Dr. Alexa continues even today—helping our youth through education. She also is a committed Rotarian and enjoys being an active volunteer in the community.
Dr. Alexa has always enjoyed the performing arts and has been active in regional theater since a young age. She has had multiple roles including Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden, Annie in Annie, Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Ariel in The Little Mermaid. When she’s not placing brackets and bending wires, you can find her on stage in musicals and educational programs for the city’s youth.
