Education

By: Sheryl Swingley— Muncie, IN—A representative of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education will be the guest speaker for the next American Association of University Women, Muncie Branch, from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 26, at Motivate Our Minds, 2023 E. Highland Ave. The topic of the discussion will be “The State of Public Education in Indiana.” The meeting is open to the public. The ICPE speaker is Tim Skinner, a former three-term member of the Indiana Senate from Terre Haute, who also served as a Vigo County Council member from 1999 to 2004. In addition, Skinner was a…

By: Marc Ransford— With the potential of a major winter storm ready to slam into the Midwest, Marc Ransford writes about a Ball State geography professor’s study concerning why many people are scared of storms.  Muncie, IN—One in 10 Americans may suffer from severe weather phobia that causes them to lose sleep or have feelings of helplessness, says a researcher at Ball State University. “Severe weather phobia is very real,” says Jill Coleman, a Ball State geography professor and lead author on the study. “Some people will get physically ill or lose sleep while others will start watching weather forecasts…

By: Mike Rhodes— You are appreciated! That was the message the Muncie Community Schools Board of Trustees and the newly created Community Engagement Council hoped to communicate to teachers during the first-ever MCS appreciation luncheon held at the Horizon Convention Center in downtown Muncie. By all accounts, they succeeded in marvelous fashion. 550 teachers, principals, board members, staff and featured speakers attended the event emceed by WLBC’s Steve Lindell. Featured speakers for the event included remarks by Ball State President Geoffrey Mearns, City of Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler, MCS Board President James Williams and MCS Interim Superintendent Steve Edwards. Throughout…

By: Emily Anderson, Court Administrator— Muncie, Indiana—The Eighth Grade teachers at Muncie Southside Middle School wanted to give the class a real-life courtroom experience, but transporting all 120 students to the Delaware County Justice Center, along with the necessary staff, proved an impossible task. Judge John Feick in the Delaware Circuit Court No. 4 responded, “Why don’t we hold a Mock Trial at the School?”  Court Administrator Emily Anderson passed the idea along, and on December 11, 2018, the Courts, the Sheriff, and the Prosecuting Attorney partnered with the Middle School to give the students a trial experience as close…

By: Kallie Sullanke— Muncie, Indiana—The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, Inc. has selected the recipients of the 2019 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship, a four-year award that grants full tuition to any accredited public or private non-profit college or university in Indiana. The Lilly Scholarship also covers fees and provides an annual stipend for required books and equipment. The recipients of the 2019 Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship are Jackson Adamowicz of Burris Laboratory School and Cody Brelage of Delta High School. They were chosen out of an applicant pool of 97 impressive candidates from high schools across Delaware County….

By: Christine Rhine— Muncie, Indiana—Muncie Central High School senior Chandler Clevenger’s goal of graduating with a technical honors diploma was at risk for reasons beyond his control. To earn the diploma, he needed to pass a class this fall through Project Lead The Way (PLTW), an Indianapolis-based, nonprofit K-12 program to encourage and prepare young people across the U.S. with an interest in STEM fields such as computer science, engineering, and biomedicine. For a while, however, Central did not have a faculty member with the technical training and time to continue PLTW at the school. Principal Chris Walker, ’03, worried…

By: Michelle Kinsey— Muncie, Indiana and Washington, D.C.—The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and PBS today announced that public media station WIPB-TV, on the campus of Ball State University, has been awarded $175,000 to work with community partners to provide science and literacy resources for young learners in underserved areas. WIPB is one of 14 public media stations nationwide to receive a Community Collaboratives for Early Learning and Media (CC-ELM) grant this year, joining 16 other public media stations doing similar work through a community engagement model to help the youngest learners in their communities. This effort is part of…