The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen will start taking time during meetings to recognize city youth who distinguish themselves, Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said Monday.

“It’s time for us to reward the good student; we’ve got to be more positive now when it comes to our children,” he said. “I think when they (children) see others succeed they will learn to succeed and follow through. Let kids be mentors of themselves.”

Flaggs’ comments came after the board’s Monday meeting, where it recognized Kameron V. Jones, 20, whom Flaggs said became Vicksburg’s first professional minor league umpire at 19.

“We’re going to start recognizing some of our young people; we can’t keep punishing the good kids,” Flaggs said after introducing Jones. “We’ve got to start punishing those that are bad and those that won’t obey the law but at the same time, we’ve go to honor those that have paid the dues.”

Flaggs called Jones, a former member of the Vicksburg High School Baseball team and a 2020 Vicksburg High School graduate, a “pioneer.”

According to the resolution honoring Jones, he is a former Vicksburg Parks and Recreation Little League Umpire, a 2022 Top 10 Harry Wendelsedt Professional Umpire School graduate and a 2022 Major League Baseball Development Umpire graduate who signed his second professional umpiring contract in 2023 and is the youngest umpire from Mississippi to sign a minor league baseball umpire contract. He leaves for minor league spring training in Arizona Friday.