Karrie Leggett-Brown

Moselle

Anchor at WDAM-TV (Moselle, MS)

Award Winning Journalist | Evening Anchor/WDAM| RTs do not = endorsements

Articles

Women are at the center of Alzheimer’s disease

1 week ago | wdam.com | Karrie Leggett-Brown

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - Women are at the center of a health crisis. As of March 2024, the Alzheimer’s Association reported 60 percent of individuals with the disease are women, and women also are more likely to be caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s disease. For nearly six years, Kristen White has witnessed Alzheimer’s disease change women’s lives. “Two-thirds of those caregivers are women,” White said. She said she also sees firsthand the change in family dynamics.
Oak Grove Elementary teacher wins Golden Apple Award

1 week ago | wdam.com | Karrie Leggett-Brown

LAMAR COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) - The last Golden Apple Award Winner for the 2024-2025 school year, third-grade English Language Arts teacher Jessica Stuart was nominated by her sister-in-law. “She was called to be in education,” Katelyn Stuart said. “She is called to be a teacher. She has 16 years of experience in the third grade. Teaching these kids and being present, being consistent.
Richton Head Start teacher wins Golden Apple Award

1 month ago | wdam.com | Karrie Leggett-Brown

RICHTON, Miss. (WDAM) - For 46 years, Richton Head Start teacher Everia Jordon never has lost her enthusiasm for teaching the youngest minds in Richton. “No better person, I think, is more deserving than Ms. Jordon, having been here for four decades of having the positive influence and just loving on children here in this area,” Richton Head Start Center administrator Jasmine Smith said.
Volunteer firefighter, minister charged with child sex crimes in Columbia

Jun 26, 2024 | wlox.com | Renaldo Hopkins |Karrie Leggett-Brown

COLUMBIA, Miss. (WDAM) - A man who holds multiple positions of trust in Columbia has been arrested after previously being charged with a sex crime against a child. According to the Columbia Police Department, 20-year-old Kameron Antonio Evans Virgil was arrested on May 17 and charged with statutory rape, after it was discovered he engaged in sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 14. On Monday, Virgil was arrested by CPD once again after they found out about a second victim.
Seminary Elementary principal wins Golden Apple Award

May 22, 2024 | wdam.com | Karrie Leggett-Brown

SEMINARY, Miss. (WDAM) - Next week will mark the end of a more than 30-year career in education for Seminary Elementary School Principal Angie Palmer, and the school couldn’t let her go without showing her how much she has meant to everyone. Teachers filled the gym with their students to give Palmer a big sendoff and congratulate her on winning the Golden Apple Award.
Hub city mental health professionals talk about children’s mental health struggles

May 9, 2024 | wdam.com | Karrie Leggett-Brown

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - A pediatric doctor and a licensed professional counselor have seen the state of children’s mental health reach a crisis point for more than a decade. Hattiesburg Clinic’s Connections Pediatrician and Medical Director, Dr. Jonathan Shook, explained some statistics. “The number of kids in America with ADHD has been around nine to ten percent, anxiety is about nine percent; depression is more like four to five percent,” said Shook.
Tuition free school in Laurel needs community's help to grow

Apr 1, 2024 | wdam.com | Karrie Leggett-Brown

LAUREL, Miss. (WDAM) - Laurel native and educator Amanda Cooley noticed a pattern that worried her. “The shocking part was the fourth and fifth grade children that we had that could not read,” Cooley said. Cooley owns Greater Expectation Children Learning Center in Laurel. In 2020, Cooley and her mother, a retired Jones County teacher, started to find more and more of the children struggling to read in the center’s after school program.
Wayne Academy teacher wins Golden Apple Award

Mar 27, 2024 | wdam.com | Karrie Leggett-Brown

WAYNE COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) - Wayne Academy put on a roaring celebration for TEC and WDAM 7′s Golden Apple Award Winner, Diana Byrd. The academy pulled out all the stops to honor the educator of 55 years. Byrd received roses, an escort and a parade-style walk through the school to celebrate her winning the TEC Golden Apple Award. Signs, music and students and teachers chatting and screaming greeted Byrd, who said she didn’t know what was going on at first.
Lamar County family says ear infection led to 8-year-old’s cancer diagnosis

Mar 20, 2024 | wdam.com | Karrie Leggett-Brown

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - In a Lamar County family’s darkest hour, a simple gesture made all the difference. While sitting next to her granddaughter, Cealey Courtney, Pam Cook took the little eight-year-old’s hand. Cook said holding Courtney’s hand reminded her of holding her hand while she received chemotherapy treatments six years ago. She said those moments meant everything to her. It all started on April 30, 2018. A day Cook said is etched in her brain forever.
East Jones Elementary math teacher wins Golden Apple Award

Feb 29, 2024 | wdam.com | Karrie Leggett-Brown

JONES COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) - There was one surprise after another last week at East Jones Elementary. The first happened when faculty and staff at the school burst into the classroom of third grade math teacher Sarah Sumrall’s classroom to give her the Golden Apple Award. Sumrall accepted the honor and listened to the kind words written about her by nominator, fellow teacher Stephanie McMullan.