Education in Wayne County to Top Agenda at Countywide Meeting
The Wayne County Learning Corporation (Learning Corporation) is holding a special meeting to discuss education and learning challenges in Wayne County. The meeting is open to the public and will be held May 22, 2007 from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM at the Fountain City Wesleyan Church.
“Education has recently become a hot topic in our community,” said Steve Slonaker, President of the Wayne County Learning Corporation. “When Richmond’s graduation rates made headlines, it surprised many people and got them talking. People also tend to get fired up when the ISTEP scores are announced. But what we really need to do is talk about education 365 days a year ¬- around the water cooler, over the back fence and especially at the dinner table.”
That countywide conversation will start on Tuesday, May 22nd when the Learning Corporation talks about where the county currently stands, what is being done to improve and expand our learning opportunities and how everyone can lend a hand. “This meeting will not be the usual debate or discussion on education,” Steve promised. “It will be straight talk, focused on the solutions not on redefining the problems, and it will give everyone there some specific things they can do right now to start making things better for their family, friends and community.”
That is one of the main reasons the Learning Corporation was formed. It is the board’s responsibility to focus on all aspects of learning and education in Wayne County. The board includes a college chancellor, a superintendent, at-home Moms, an oral surgeon, members from commerce and economic fields, real estate agents and retirees.
The Wayne County Learning Corporation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to increasing the understanding that learning is important and makes a difference in people’s lives. It provides support and encouragement for current education providers to work together and meet the needs in Wayne County. For more information on the Wayne County Learning Corporation or the countywide education meeting, contact Jennifer Ahaus, at 765-962-1511 or by email at JALearningCorp@AOL.com.
Hello everyone!
We are the Hagerstown Youth Empowered to Serve (YES) 2007 Team as well as the HJSHS Student Government Association and we have developed a super great community service project entitled "A Night on the Town."
We are sending you this e-mail as an invitation to the upcoming big event that will happen in Hagerstown on May 5th, 2007. Please feel free to forward this on to everyone you have ever met or want to meet so that the word can get out quickly and easily to lots of people. We don't exactly have a big advertisement budget so you can all help us if you would simply send this on as a foward to your entire address book. Thank you in advance for your valuable help in this matter!
We will host "A Night on the Town" for the adults in our community. This event will be taking place in the high school gymnasium and will feature the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra, catered pastries/ deserts, and all your friends and family. We are offering this opportunity to everyone in our surrounding area as a type of thank you gift from the students to the adults who support us in all that we do. So often, we ask and beg people in our community to donate, serve, work, or otherwise give up their own lives to better serve us and our own growth and development. This time, adults are expected to sit back, relax, dance if they want, and let us host a great evening for you!
This event is not a fund raiser and if any ticket proceeds are left over when all is said and done, it will be promptly donated to the Nettle Creek Senior Center.
Tickets can be purchased at all Perfect Circle Credit Union branches in Wayne and Henry counties or from the Hagerstown High School office. Ticket price is $15.00 per person and needs to be this high simply to help us with our enormous expenses involved with hosting 500 people in a nicely decorated area with nicely decorated food as well as the payment for one of the best jazz orchestras in the country.
Our greatest hope is that everyone who receives this e-mail will mark their calendars, tell their friends and family, purchase tickets in advance from PCCU or the high school office, and come to the high school on May 5th. We guarantee that you will be happy that you came. See you all there!!!!
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please let us know and we will do our best to help answer them.
Contact information:
Diana Bowman (teacher/ advisor for the Youth Empowered to Serve team and Student Government Association)
dbowman@nettlecreek.k12.in.us
school phone: 765-489-4511 ext 328
Book Signing: “Driving the National Road in Indiana”
by Author Mary Beth Temple
Richmond, IN - - The Old National Road Welcome Center will be hosting a book signing for Mary Beth Temple, author of Driving the National Road in Indiana on Monday, April 23, 2007, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
From east to west you’ll find glimpses of yesteryear. The guide book takes travelers on an incredible journey across one of the nation’s most fascinating historic highways by highlighting some of Indiana’s most famous figures, roadside attractions and curiosities from yesteryear — like the 1954 Plainfield Diner; marker commemorating fourteen pioneer travelers who died of food poisoning on their trek westward; Little Orphant Annie’s final resting spot; 1830s mile markers (only two remain) –- this handy guide book provides cover-to cover entertainment for both armchair and on-the-road travelers. You will find something in the pages of this book that you never knew before.
Driving the National Road in Indiana will be available for purchase at the Old National Road Welcome Center for $12.95
Web site for the book: http://www.drivingthenationalroadinindiana.com/
Old National Road Welcome Center, 5701 National Road East, Richmond, Indiana.
For more information, please call 765-935-8687 * 800-828-8414.
Free Seminar Being Offered by Wayne County Foundation
The Wayne County Foundation is offering a seminar designed for women entitled Why Women Need a Will on Tuesday, May 1 at Forest Hills Country Club.
Mr. Charles Harris, Vice-president of Development for Ivy Tech Foundation, will present a comprehensive, easy to understand workshop focusing on the following topics:
What happens to your estate if you die without a will?
~ What can a power of attorney do for you?
~ When is a living will applicable?
~ Do you need to appoint a health care representative?
~ What steps can you take to reduce inheritance and estate taxes?
~ Are there effective ways to incorporate charitable giving into your estate plan?
Hors d’oeuvres and wine will be served beginning at 5:30. The workshop will begin promptly at 6:00.
Reservations are required and may be made by calling 765-962-1638 or emailing rachel@waynecountyfoundation.org.
This two-hour workshop is sponsored by the Wayne County Foundation as a service to the community. There is no charge to attend.
City of Richmond Plans Public Hearings for Indiana Finance Authority Non-Petroleum Remediation Grant
Richmond, IN – The City of Richmond is holding public hearings on the City’s application to the Indiana Finance Authority for funding a Non-Petroleum Remediation Grant for a contaminated site, specifically the Indiana Gas Building located at 16 East Main Street, in Richmond. The hearings are scheduled for:
Monday, April 9, 2007, at 12:00 Noon and
Thursday, April 19, 2007, at 2:00 pm.
Richmond Municipal Building
2nd Floor Community Room
50 North 5th Street
Richmond, Indiana
The city is requesting up to $300,000 from the Indiana Finance Authority. The purpose of the public hearing is to provide a forum for public comment before the grant proposal is submitted.
Information related to the grant application is available for public review, prior to the hearing, in the City of Richmond Department of Metropolitan Development located on the third floor of the Richmond Municipal Building.
For more information, please contact Tony Foster, Director of Metropolitan Development for the City of Richmond, at 765-983-7211.
(Message edited by admin on April 04, 2007)
Documentary Film Examines Downtown Explosion Story
RICHMOND,IN- On Friday, April 6, 2007 at 1:00 p.m. in the Vivian Auditorium at Indiana University East, a press conference will be held announcing the making of a documentary project, 1:47, covering a 1968 explosion in downtown Richmond, Indiana. The conference will be held by Executive Producer, Rob Quigg and the team of 1:47. The production staff will be on hand to explain the vision and purpose, introduce a three minute trailer, and present a web site that will feature information leading up to the premiere in April 2008.
Through interviews, still photography, artifacts, archival film footage, and eyewitness accounts, “1:47” tells the story of ordinary people who came out to help fight the fires and rescue the wounded; viewers will learn about the conditions and specific chain of events which led up to the explosion; finally, the film will unravel the aftermath of the explosion and what it meant to individual people, the city of Richmond then, and now, in the 21st century.
The project has peaked interest from many members of the community and people throughout the country. We look forward to explaining details and answering questions.
Contact:
Jean Harper, Writer and Director
765-973-8571
jeharper@indiana.edu
(Message edited by admin on April 02, 2007)
NATIVE HOOSIER WRITER TO VISIT RICHMOND
RICHMOND - The Division of Humanities and Fine Arts at Indiana University East and Earlham School of Religion is pleased to announce that writer Dan Wakefield, an Indiana native, will be in Richmond on Thursday, March 29th and Friday, March 30th He will offer a series of writing workshops, and give a reading from his work. Friday, March 30th, from 1:30 to 4:00 in Whitewater 132 on the I.U. East campus, Wakefield will screen New York in the Fifties, a film based on his memoir of the same name, and lead a question and answer period following the film. Friday, March 30th at 7 p.m. in Vivian Auditorium on the I.U. East campus, Wakefield will read from his book Returning: A Spiritual Journey. All events are free and open to the public.
"We are thrilled to have Dan Wakefield come to the I. U. East campus," said T. J. Rivard, Chair of the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts at I.U. East. "His visit here will give students the opportunity to work with a highly respected and well-established writer, and to learn from his experiences in writing, publishing, and editing. We are also looking forward to his reading - Wakefield is a very engaging reader and never fails to connect with his audience."
Wakefield's visit to the I. U. East campus is supported in part by funds from an Addison Locke Roache grant and as part of the campus's Mindful Explorations series. The Mindful Explorations series offers a series of public events including films, guest speakers, and visiting artists. I. U. East has partnered with the Ministry in Writing program at the Earlham School of Religion to make Wakefield's visit possible.
"Mindful Explorations provides students and the public with a wide range of cultural activities, all on the I. U. East campus," said Mary Blakefield, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at I.U. East. "It's great that Dan Wakefield, an Indiana native, can come to campus and share his insights and experiences on writing."
"Wakefield's memoir and novels are not only gripping stories but capture the spiritual suffering of much of contemporary America," said Susan Yanos, Director of the Mullen Ministry of Writing Program at ESR. "He is a powerful writer who knows the power of writing to change the effect of the past upon us, to build community, and to allow us to see our lives holistically. We are excited to have him in Richmond."
Wakefield is a novelist, journalist, and screenwriter whose best-selling novels "Going All the Way" and "Starting Over" were produced as feature films; he also created the NBC prime time TV series, "James at 15." A documentary film has also been produced based on his memoir New York in the Fifties. Wakefield's nonfiction books on spirituality include, Returning: A Spiritual Journey, Creating from the Spirit, The Story of Your Life: Writing a Spiritual Autobiography, Expect a Miracle, and How Do We Know When It's God?: A Spiritual Memoir.
Wakefield has been the recipient of a Neiman Fellowship in Journalism, the Bernard DeVoto Fellowship to the Breadloaf Conference, a Rockefeller Grant for Creative Writing, and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has taught in the writing programs at Boston University, the University of Massachusetts at Boston, Emerson College, The Iowa Writers Workshop, and is presently Writer in Residence at Florida International University in Miami.
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Wakefield began his writing career as a columnist of his high school newspaper, the Shortridge Daily Echo, also serving as sports correspondent for the Indianapolis Star. After graduating from Columbia College in New York City in 1955, he wrote for many national magazines, including the New York Times Magazine, Harpers, and The Atlantic Monthly. He has been a staff writer for the Nation Magazine, a Contributing Editor of The Atlantic Monthly, a Contributing Writer for GQ, a Contributing Editor of The Yoga Journal, and is on the advisory board of Image: A Journal of The Arts and Religion.
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For further information, contact: Jean Harper 765-973-8571 or Susan Yanos at 765-983-1420.