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Breaking Barriers: Sports for Change exhibit, presented by ESPN® and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, opens to the public at the Ali Center on May 25th. The exhibit invites visitors to walk among giants like Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, and Billie Jean King. Breaking Barriers: Sports for Change is included in the “I Am Ali” festival, the six-week, community-wide festival celebrating the life and legacy of Muhammad Ali, taking place from June 3-July 15, 2017.
Said Jeanie Kahnke, Sr. Director of Public Relations and External Affairs, “The Ali Center is honored to offer this exhibit, for it demonstrates ways in which athletes—including Muhammad Ali—have utilized sport as a platform to transform social issues and to raise awareness of how sport can be used to unite people and open doors.”
This traveling exhibit tells the story of how athletes have used their celebrity to fight for social change. It includes interactive displays that show how some of history’s super athletes like Muhammad Ali, Martina Navratilova, Jesse Owens and Terry Fox scaled to the heights of sports by defying expectations and restrictions levied by governments, advertisers, and spectators alike. In doing so, they became potent symbols that helped drive movements that changed sports and society.
Derreck Kayongo, CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights said, “Similar to Ali’s legacy, the exhibit shares how athletes have empowered people to stand up and protect human rights. Their courageous struggles in America and around the globe gave people everywhere the strength to persevere and make change happen in their communities.”
To learn more about Breaking Barriers: Sports for Change visit sports4change.net.
Six Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) District schools rank among the top public high schools in Kentucky and earned national recognition in the 2017 U.S. News and World Reports high school rankings.
“This is another example of the personalized deeper learning experience that JCPS provides to each student, and an affirmation of the positive impact that our strategic plan, Vision 2020, is having across the district,” said Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens.
DuPont Manual High School is ranked the top public high school in the state, and earned a gold medal ranking from the publication. That’s followed by the J. Graham Brown School at No. 7; Louisville Male High School at No. 12; Atherton High School at No. 15; Waggener High School at No. 43; and Butler Traditional High School at No. 59.
Brown, Male and Atherton also earned silver medal recognition as high-performing schools based on college readiness, and Waggener and Butler earned bronze medal status as high-performing schools based on state exam performance.
For a full list of the Kentucky rankings, click here.
The Work Ready Skills Initiative Advisory Committee has selected recipients for its second round of funding. Approximately $33.1 million in bond money was dispersed to 15 projects aimed at developing a highly trained workforce to meet the needs of employers and to promote sustainable incomes for Kentuckians.
“The response to the Work Ready Skills Initiative has been truly astounding,” said Gov. Matt Bevin. “This important initiative is a key component in our pursuit to make Kentucky the epicenter for engineering and manufacturing excellence in America. This historic investment in training our workforce will truly be transformative for the Commonwealth.”
The 10-member committee met Wednesday in Frankfort, to review the results of applicant interviews conducted last week. Proposals came from several state workforce areas and addressed a wide array of key industry sectors including advanced manufacturing, healthcare, technology, transportation and construction trades. Earlier this year the committee awarded more than $65.5 million to 25 projects. The $65.5 million in first-round awards leveraged $84.5 million in matching funds, including approximately $64.1 million in cash and $20.4 million in-kind.
Second round recipients include:
- Gateway Community & Technical College, $95,000
- Logan County Schools, $932,000
- Russell County Board of Education, $5,700,000Garrard County Schools, $1,346,000
- Freestore Foodbank, $267,000
- Estill County Board of Education, $5,700,000
- Home Builders Association of Northern Kentucky, $2,690,000
- Kenton County Schools, $400,000
- Breckinridge County Area Technology Center, $3,325,000
- Taylor County School District, $2,375,000
- Adair County Board of Education, $238,000
- Green River/Hart County and Caverna Schools, $3,325,000
- Christian County Public Schools, $4,275,000
- Washington County Schools, $763,000
- Johnson County Schools, $1,710,000
In the second round, the $33.1 million in awards leverage $27,220,502 in matching funds, including approximately $17,365,041 in cash and $10,716,392 in-kind.
“Seeing the excitement build across Kentucky about improving our workforce has been an unforgettable experience. Since this process began in 2016, the committee has reviewed the requests of more than 150 applicants, covering the majority of our counties,” said Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Secretary Hal Heiner. “This program will bear fruit long after it ends, giving students the means to find jobs in a world exploding with technology.”
Forty-one applicants applied for the funding in April, totaling more than $165 million. Projects included requests for construction and equipping new facilities for the purpose of providing workforce training and education in top five industry sectors; renovation/upgrade of an existing facility; or purchase of new or upgraded equipment, software and furnishings. Applicants were required to be public-private partnerships that include private sector employers and high schools, secondary technical schools or postsecondary institutions.
For more information about the Kentucky Work Ready Skills Initiative, please visit www.KentuckyWorkReady.com.
As a way to help Metro Police and keep homes and families safe, Councilman Brandon Coan (D-8) and Councilman Bill Hollander (D-9) are partnering with officers of the LMPD Fifth Division to sponsor a Neighborhood Watch Workshop and Drug Toss on Wednesday, May 24th.
This workshop is a focused effort to increase the number of Neighborhood Watch Programs in both districts.
“We are offering citizens the tools and training to help the police keep District 8 safe. My goal is for fifty percent of all the blocks in District 8 to have registered, effective block watches by the end of 2020, and we will host these workshops quarterly until we get there,” says Councilman Coan.
The workshop will be held at the Douglass Community Center Gymnasium beginning at 6:00pm.
“Fighting crime takes everyone – police officers but also engaged residents. Getting involved in a Neighborhood Watch program is a great way to get to know your neighbors, make everyone aware of their surroundings and help our officers prevent and solve crimes,” say Councilman Hollander.
The event will teach individuals how to organize effective block watches and mobilize neighborhoods to work with police to keep everyone safe. Residents and business owners will get a chance to meet some of the officers who patrol their area while they train on how to form a good neighborhood watch program.
The workshop will also provide an opportunity for citizens to drop off old and unneeded prescription drugs to LMPD at the event for safe disposal.
For more information about the Neighborhood Block Watch and Drug Toss, contact Councilman Coan’s office at 574-1108 or Councilman Hollander’s officer at 574-1109.
The Jefferson County Board of Education (JCBE) announced the selection of Dr. Martin “Marty” Pollio to serve as acting superintendent of the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) District. Dr. Pollio will officially assume the post on July 2.
“Dr. Pollio is the right person at the right time to steer this district—providing stability and direction while giving the board time to name a superintendent,” said Board Chair Chris Brady. “Dr. Pollio has a proven track record of turning around struggling schools, increasing student achievement and helping create and implement career pathways. He’s a proven leader who is respected by his peers and has the skills needed to continue moving our district forward.”
Dr. Pollio began his career with JCPS in 1997 as a social studies teacher at Shawnee High School. He went on to serve as a teacher and assistant principal at Waggener High School before taking the helm as principal of Jeffersontown High School from 2007–2015. Dr. Pollio is currently the principal of Doss High School and is taking a leave of absence from that position while he serves the district as acting superintendent.
“For 20 years, I’ve dedicated my career to serving the students of JCPS,” Dr. Pollio said. “It is an honor to serve as the acting superintendent, and I appreciate the work of the district’s 15,000 employees who make learning possible every day. I will work to build a positive culture and climate by creating healthy learning environments in each school that empower teachers to keep our focus on the most important people we serve—our students.”
Dr. Pollio received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University and his master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University. He earned his doctorate from the University of Louisville in 2012.
The board will continue its search for a permanent superintendent. The process is expected to take at least six months.
More than a dozen students from the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) District recently earned top honors at the SkillsUSA state championships in Louisville. Students from nine JCPS high schools competed in the annual competition, which gives students from across Kentucky the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and expertise in a variety of in-demand career areas. SkillsUSA Kentucky is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives working together to ensure the state has a skilled workforce.
JCPS students brought home a total of 17 awards in categories that included Heavy Equipment Training, Automotive Refinishing Technology, Computer Programming and Technical Drafting. The students are enrolled in career-theme schools in JCPS, where they invest time developing marketable skills in high-demand fields.
Winners from JCPS include:
- Skylar Sample, Fairdale, Heavy Equipment (First)
- Curtis Simmons, Fairdale, Heavy Equipment (Second)
- William Propes, Fairdale, Heavy Equipment (Third)
- Kaylyn Wade, Pleasure Ridge Park, Photo Art Display (First)
- Abigail Stewart, Pleasure Ridge Park, Advertising Design (First)
- Rawan Saleh, Fern Creek, Advertising Design (Second)
- Sean Riggle, Southern, Automotive Refinishing Technology (First)
- Aaron Araujo, Southern, Collision Repair Technology (First)
- Iosef Casas, Fern Creek, Computer Programming (First)
- Breagan Craig, Fern Creek, Computer Programming (Second)
- Kaylyn Wade, Pleasure Ridge Park, Photography (First)
- Patrick Cleary, Pleasure Ridge Park, Photography (Third)
- Justin Schneider, Jeffersontown, Technical Drafting (Second)
- Daniel Berry, Jeffersontown, Technical Drafting (Third)
- Collin Bradley, Roderick Coleman and Tyler Zickel, Southern, Community Service (First)
- Skylar Sample, Fairdale, Extemporaneous Speaking (First)
- Jameir Kirkpatrick, Iroquois, Prepared Speech (Second)
First-place winners will have the opportunity to compete in the national SkillsUSA championship in June, which is being at the Kentucky Expo Center. More than 16,000 people — including students, teachers and business partners — are expected to participate in the weeklong event.
Photo: JCPS
Ballard High School junior Nicholas Wright will spend most of his summer break learning about and creating awareness for global issues. Wright, the son of Marcus and Portia Wright, has been awarded an internship at the United Nations (UN) in its Temple of Understanding Program.
As part of the program, high school and college students from across the United States, as well as the world, will spend five weeks learning about the UN and what it’s like to be an intern for a non-governmental organization (NGO). Wright was one of only 20 applicants selected to participate in the highly competitive program.
“Nicholas desires to be a global citizen,” his mother, Portia, said. “He began his love of learning about other countries and cultures while attending Meyzeek Middle School. He joined the Kentucky United Nations Assembly (KUNA) and got completely wrapped up in the economic, educational and social problem solving for disparaging countries. This is a perfect example of the possible impact the activities and experiences of school clubs and effective classroom instruction can have on a student. Nicholas has gone from the model UN to the actual UN!”
During his internship, Wright will complete a research project addressing the topic of the human right to water. For more information about the program, click here.
