Life briefs: SWCD awards, Clear Fork Homecoming, Discovery worm farm, teen board and more

Soil and water district announces award winners

William Flanagan Jr. was awarded the Richland Soil and Water Conservation District (Richland SWCD) Cooperator of the Year at the joint annual celebration held with Richland County Farm Bureau on Sept. 7 at the Kehoe Center in Shelby.

Flanagan was awarded for his work at the Nature Park at the Richland County Fairgrounds. Over a 10-year period, the lifelong master gardener has transformed and maintained the landscaping into a beautiful green area adorned with native plants. He has coordinated the work at the Nature Park with help from other volunteers.

Flanagan also invites groups to the Nature Park to learn more about native plants and conducts an annual program during the Richland County Fair.

Richland SWCD also announced that Leonard Fox is its 2023 Volunteer of the Year. Fox began volunteering in 2016. He serves the district as a precipitation monitor and reports daily rain and snow amounts in real-time on the Richland SWCD website.

Fox has planted butterfly-friendly plants and milkweed plots to help monarch butterflies and other pollinators. Each fall he collects the milkweed pods and donates them to Richland SWCD for distribution. He is semi-retired from Schumacher Farms Inc. where he is part owner.

In 2014, Fox received the Richland SWCD Forestry Award. Between 2012 and 2014 he developed a forestry management plan to help meet his goals for his woodland. He improved 40 acres of woodlands with grapevine removal and culling of mediocre trees.

Each Volunteer of the Year picks a public location for a tree planting. Fox chose Seltzer Park in Shelby, near the gazebo and playscape, because his grandchildren enjoy playing on the playscape. A black gum tree was planted in his honor in August.

Clear Fork announces 2023 Homecoming Court

BELLVILLE — Clear Fork High School will hold homecoming festivities Friday when the Colts host Marion Harding. This year's Homecoming Court includes: Seniors - Cooper George, Luke Schlosser, Kasey Swank, Kylie Belcher, Christina Carroll, and Emma McCoy; Juniors - Segno Ault and Bailey McKee; Sophomores - Tristan Cromer and Ashtyn Wine; Freshmen - Davis Hoeflich and Asia Bechtel.

The court will be honored before Friday's football game. The king and queen will be crowned at that time.

2nd graders studying worm farm at Discovery School

The second grade students in Mrs. Lindsey’s class at Discovery School kicked off their year studying how living things share the environment by making a worm farm. Students saved materials from their lunches to try composting by feeding the worms fruit and vegetable scraps.

Students hope to keep their farm alive through the year and see how the worms grow.

Local students serving on statewide Teen Advisory Board

COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost this past week welcomed members of his 2023-24 Teen Ambassador Board with a meet-and-greet session, presentations from key members of his staff, and a front-row seat at an afternoon press conference.

The 152 board members — all high-school juniors and seniors — represent 43 Ohio counties and 97 public, private, charter or online schools throughout the state; some are home-schooled. Members include Daygen Terry, Brooklyn Petersen and Grayson Herzberger of Mansfield and Grace Garrett and Cadence Fairchild of Shelby.

During their one-year tenure, the students will get an up-close view of the state’s legal and government operations through discussions with government officials, interactive learning sessions, and many other activities. The board also will advise Yost’s office on teen-related challenges and collaborate to develop solutions to vital issues facing the state.

'READY FOR HIRE' summer and after-school programs continue in 2023

In June 2022, the Ohio Department of Education selected and awarded $89 million in Summer Learning and Afterschool Opportunities Grants to 161 community-based partners out of more than 700 applications from across the state. Locally, $1.9 million was awarded in two grants to SPARC (Succeed, Prosper, Ashland, Richland, Crawford) Council, one to create summer programming in summer 2022, 2023 and 2024 and one to create after-school programming, with fiscal oversight from Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center.

The 2023 "READY FOR HIRE" Summer Program took place in Crawford, Richland and Morrow counties, with each county partnering with local businesses and organizations to provide students with a variety of evidence-based career readiness activities and opportunities including paid summer internships.

Bucyrus Public Library, Abraxas and FIRST schools in Richland County, and Selover Public Library in Morrow County will continue the READY FOR HIRE program into the school year. In addition, students will have opportunities at Crestview High School in Richland County and the Tomorrow Center in Morrow County.

GOAL Digital Academy establishes a literacy grant team

GOAL Digital Academy has received a literacy grant from the Ohio Department of Education to improve literacy instruction in its blended learning environment.

During the 2022-2023 school year, GOAL's team of educators attended monthly training facilitated by national experts as well as monthly team meetings. During the first quarter this year, GOAL is looking for fidelity and impact data and organizing it so the team has the necessary data to draw conclusions. The second semester willfocus on expansion as they finalize best practices and train the entire staff for Tier 1 literacy instruction across the curriculum.

GOAL notes there is no state or national model currently for high-quality online literacy instruction.

Catholic Charities Ashland County is throwing a baby shower

ASHLAND — Catholic Charities Ashland County will host a Community Baby Shower from 9 a.m. until noon on Oct. 26 at the Wellness & Community Center at Brethren Care Village, 2130 Center St., Ashland.

This event is designed to bring together local healthcare providers, community and civic officials to counsel families about resources available during pregnancy and after childbirth. Catholic Charities also will collect supplies for expectant parents.

Catholic Charities is seeking sponsors and donations for the Community Baby Shower. Go to cdocle.org/babyshower for more information or contact Kimberlee Sheller at 419-289-1903 or kdsheller@ccdocle.org.

Loudonville museum invites public to explore Panama

LOUDONVILLE — The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum in Loudonville has announced a tour to the Central American isthmus of Panama in January. The tour includes numerous historic and cultural landmarks ranging from indigenous villages, Spanish forts, the Panama Canal and even American historical sites.

The trip is designed for a small group. Guests have the option to extend their stay beyond the tour, which is scheduled for January 14-20, 2024. The travel package includes six nights’ accommodation in Panama City, in-country transportation with English speaking drivers and tour guides, entrance and admission fees, breakfasts and some other meals. Packages start at $1,699 per person for double occupancy rooms. Airfare is not included but currently starts around $400 round-trip from Ohio.

For more information, visit crfmuseum.com/travel, call 419- 994-4050 or email info@crfmuseum.com.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland SWCD awards, Clear Fork homecoming, Discovery School farm