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Two local administrators among new KASA board members

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The Kentucky Association of School Administrators elected seven new board members this month, with two coming from local school districts.

The KASA says the new board members serve in a variety of leadership roles across the state and have demonstrated “a commitment to growing leaders, transforming public education, and shaping students’ futures.” The organization says the new board members bring fresh perspectives and new expertise to the KASA’s mission of improving the quality of education in Kentucky.

Among the new board members are Hardin County Schools Chief Academic Officer Greg Sutton, who was elected to represent the Heartland Central region, and Custer Elementary School Principal Renee Wright, who was elected to represent elementary principals.

The KASA is Kentucky’s largest school administrator organization, and the board of directors consists of school leaders from districts of all sizes from all regions of the state. The 27-member board includes four officers, a representative from each of the KASA’s 11 regions, a representative from eight role groups, and a representative from three other education organizations.

The current president of the board is Bullitt County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jesse Bacon. Meade County Schools Assistant Superintendent Marc Adams is the board’s vice president, and Breckinridge County Schools Superintendent Dr. Nick Carter serves as past-president. Central Hardin Principal Tim Isaacs represents high school principals on the board.

Learn more about the organization’s mission at www.kasa.org.

Grayson County skatepark group motivated after weekend concert event

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Twin Lakes Skatepark Project Chair Casey Keown said about 400 people came out to the Logsdon Valley Park Amphitheatre Saturday for their Rock the Park concert event.

“The turnout wasn’t quite what we expected, however, I think everybody that attended was impressed, and I think everybody had a good time,” Keown said. “I know I did.”

The Twin Lakes Skatepark Project is looking to raise $750,000 for the construction of a fully poured-in-place concrete skatepark in Grayson County. While Saturday’s turnout wasn’t as high as the group wanted, Keown said they got high praise from event participants, and the group is as motivated as ever to hit their goal and connect the community.

“A lot of people have doubted us, and maybe that’s a stigma around us being skateboarders, and I hope to kind of change people’s minds that there’s not always a negative connotation with people that are different or don’t think like everybody else,” Keown said.

The concert gave the group a big boost as they pursue their first project goal of $75,000 for design work on the skatepark.

“That includes hiring the skate park specialty construction company, all the schematics, blueprints, 3D renderings, and everything needed for the beginning of construction,” Keown said. “Looking at the numbers this morning, it looks like we did a little over $21,000.”

Visit the Twin Lakes Skatepark Project Facebook page or website to contribute to the project goal or learn more about getting involved.

Area adults encouraged to take advantage of health department’s vaccine program

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The Lincoln Trail District Health Department is reminding area adults to take advantage of the health department’s adult vaccination program.

“You may have heard our advertisements for Take Your Shot, and that’s exactly what we want folks to do,” said Health Department Public Information Officer Melissa Phillips. “As long as you’re 19 or older, you can do this adult vaccination program. We can bill pretty much any kind of insurance: Medicaid, Medicare, most private insurers.”

The health department has about 15 vaccines available for adults, including the main culprits of respiratory virus season.

“Flu, COVID, pneumonia, RSV, but even things like shingles, which some folks have a hard time finding that vaccine,” Phillips said. “Tdap, which has that whooping cough in it, that pertussis, if you’re around babies this time of year.”

Appointments to the health department can be made by phone call only.

“We want you to talk to an adult, especially our senior adults that sometimes have a hard time making those appointments online, and maybe you need more than one service, so we want you to talk to a live person, so you’ll just call the health department in the county that you’re closest to,” Phillips said. “You don’t have to live in that county to receive services from us, but we do cover Hardin, LaRue, Marion, Meade, Nelson, and Washington.”

Contact the health department or your doctor for more information on vaccinations.

Check smoke detectors as part of Fire Prevention Month

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October is Fire Prevention Month, the theme for which in 2024 is “Smoke Alarms: make them work for you!”

“Roughly three out of five fire deaths that we’ve had in the past few years, they happen in the homes where there’s no smoke alarms or ones that are not working, so we’ve gone into fires where there’s a smoke alarm but the crew that goes in said ‘I didn’t hear any smoke alarms going off,’” said Radcliff Deputy Fire Marshal Tommy Crane. 

Crane says people often take a dying battery out and fail to replace it, but when a smoke alarm sounds you typically only have two minutes to get to safety, so take the time to make sure the smoke detector is in working order. In addition to checking the batteries, check on the smoke alarm itself.

“Change them out every 10 years, so every 10 years change those smoke alarms out,” Crane said. “The effectiveness goes down through the years. The other thing is there’s new technology. A smoke alarm that was manufactured 20 years ago has a different sound than the newer smoke alarms, so the newer smoke alarms have a standard they have to meet.”

Make sure you have enough smoke alarms to cover the entire home.

“Install smoke alarms in every bedroom,” Crane said. “Install them outside of each sleeping area, and also install them on every level, including areas like your basement, even if it’s an area that’s not occupied. A lot of people, their basement has their furnace, maybe their washer, their dryer, their water heater. Those are things to consider because those things have the potential for fire.”

Visit the National Fire Prevention Association on the web to learn more about Fire Prevention Month.

Soup dinner benefiting Breckinridge County man Friday night

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Angel Carman says she has known Breckinridge County’s Braxton Criss’s grandparents Ruth and Gary Brown for years, and she says Braxton is the most cheerful and humble 18-year-old she has ever met.

“I go to the grocery store once or twice a week and there was not a time that I would go in there  when he was working that we didn’t carry on a conversation,” Carman said. “He would ask me how I was and it’s always ‘ma’am.’ He’s so polite, and he always asks about my grandson. Braxton’s just a wonderful, wonderful young man. He’s so strong in his faith and you just don’t see that nowadays. Not many 18-year-old boys are like Braxton.”

Criss was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer, and to help Criss and his family cover medical and daily expenses Carman helped organize a soup dinner fundraiser which will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Hardinsburg Elementary School cafeteria.

“We’re going to have a chili and soup supper benefit fundraiser for Braxton,” Carman said. “We’ll offer vegetable soup, and we’ll not have any meat in it because there’s so many people who have Alpha Gal now. We’ll also have chili. We’ll have a choice of hot dog, grilled cheese, and peanut butter sandwiches. Coke or water. Adults are $8. Children are going to be $5. We’re also having a silent cake auction. As of right now, I think I’ve got about 18 cakes donated.”

All proceeds benefit Criss. All are welcome to attend.

“Dine in, carry out, and we’re also going to do deliveries within like five or six miles,” Carman said. “The number for deliveries is 270-668-79060, and I think we’re going to start delivering maybe after 5. We are going to be able to take debit credit cards or cash.”

Hardinsburg Elementary School is located at 1340 East U.S. 60 in Hardinsburg.