Entries for September 2023

The Arboretum on Wheels (a mobile environmental education lab) from Boone County Arboretum visited the Viking Zone Community Learning Center at Ninth District Elementary School this week. Students learned the basic components of the food chain; reviewed terms like ecosystem, producers, herbivores, and decomposers; learned the basics of tree parts and their purpose; and discussed the connection of trees, humans, and other creatures. Students enjoyed seeing and feeling animal skins and furs on the mobile lab. They also ...

On Wednesday, October 4, 2023, Executive Director Stacie Strotman will lead a virtual discussion referencing Dr. Ruby K. Payne's A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Mentors often work with youth who are experiencing poverty, either directly or indirectly. This session will help volunteer mentors learn to assist student mentees with implementing cognitive strategies and actions to be successful in life. A Framework for Understanding Poverty teaches the hidden rules of economic class and spreads the message that, des...

Holly Simkonis, CLC coordinator at HHS, is bringing a bevy of new programming this school year to Holmes High School’s 21st Century Community Learning Center through a one-year infusion of federal money earmarked for out-of-school time programming. The funding supports addressing learning loss that occurred during closures and remote learning during the pandemic through the implementation of evidence-based interventions, such as summer programming, extended days, and comprehensive out-of-school time programming. ...

Did you know that one in five Kentucky women and girls between the ages of 18 and 44 live below the federal poverty line (United Health Foundation)? Yet, this age range is responsible for purchasing the most period products. By themselves, period products are expensive. Some US states have decided to make period products (like tampons and pads) tax-free; however, that is not yet the case in Kentucky. Currently, Kentucky is one of 26 states that still tax period supplies.  Knowing the extreme cost of period pr...