BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT B1
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Volume 14, Issue 12 © 2010 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Your Community Recorder newspaper serving Elsmere and Erlanger kynews@communitypress.com T h u r s d a y, J u n e 1 7 , 2 0 1 0
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Local salon lends help to oil spill cleanup By Jason Brubaker jbrubaker@nky.com
Hoop it up
The school year is over, but students are still learning in the Erlanger-Elsmere School District. The learning just happens to involve a basketball, hoop and some basic drills. Read about the district’s attempt to keep children occupied and engaged in the warm weather of summer. SCHOOLS, A6
Share your news
Have a great photo from your kid’s latest field trip? Trying to drum up publicity for your group’s event? Visit NKY.com/Share to submit your photos, news and events. It’s a one-stop-shop for submitting information to The Community Recorder, The Kentucky Enquirer, NKY.com and our other publications and websites.
Good eats
With summer here and the grills primed, days of smoked, grilled and seared food lay ahead. Find out what the favorite recipes of a few readers are in our Life section this week. From rubs to asparagus, a full meal of mouth-watering food fun is to be found. LIFE, B1
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Tiffany Jerry sweeps up some hair clippings at Stylz Salon in Erlanger on June 10. Stylz has been working with a nonprofit organization to send all of their hair clippings to help with oil spill cleanup efforts along the Gulf Coast.
To the untrained eye, it may just look like a large can of hair clippings, wedged neatly in the corner and tucked just out of view of the front door. But to the employees of Stylz Salon in Erlanger, it represents much more than that. “We always encourage our employees to get involved and give back to the community, and this is a form of that,” said manager Kim Breedlove. “We’re just trying to do our part.” “Their part,” at least for the last month, has been collecting all of their hair clippings and shipping them south, where they are being used to help with the oil spill cleanup efforts along the Gulf Coast. Breedlove said they’ve been working with Matters of Trust, a non-profit organization, on the project. She said each week, she receives an e-mail from Matters of Trust officials, who provide her with a new shipping address to send the clippings. Once they reach their destination, the clippings are then stuffed into old nylon stockings by volunteers to create improvised booms that can soak up the oil. It is estimated that 1 pound of hair can absorb up to 8 gallons of oil. So far, she said she’s been instructed to send packages of
The clippings are stuffed into old nylon stockings by volunteers to create improvised booms that can soak up the oil. It is estimated that 1 pound of hair can absorb up to 8 gallons of oil. clippings to Louisiana, Florida and Alabama, as officials try to stay ahead of the growing oil slick. She didn’t weigh the packages before they were sent, but said each one was about the size of two shoeboxes, stuffed full of clippings. “It’s a pretty neat program, and it’s a way for us to help out from here,” she said. “We always kept the clippings separate from the regular trash anyway, so this is a way to put them to good use.” She said she’s even been contacted by other local salon owners who are interested in participating, and she’s encouraged them to drop off their clippings to add to their weekly shipments. “The more people we get involved, the better,” she said. “We’re going to be doing this for the foreseeable future, so we’ll take all the help we can get.” For more information about Stylz, visit stylz-salon.com. For more information about Matter of Trust or their program, visit www.matteroftrust.org.
Board revises school calendar for 2010-11 By Jason Brubaker jbrubaker@nky.com
The Erlanger/Elsmere Board of Education has revised the 201011 school year calendar to reflect requirements in the new state budget. Among the biggest revisions to the calendar include the elimination of Early Release Days, as well as the total number of days the students will be in school. “We think this will end up working out a lot better for our teachers, students and parents,” said Bryan Sweasy, the school district’s chief information officer. “There’s definitely some adjustments from what we thought we were going to have, but this should turn out to be a benefit.” Sweasy said that the new state budget, which was passed in late may by the General Assembly, requires school years to include the
equivalent of 177 six-hour days, or a minimum of 1,062 hours of total instruction. Furthermore, any school calendars with fewer than 170 six-hour instructional days would have to have approval from the Commission of Education for an “Innovative, Alternative School Calendar,” something Sweasy said he wasn’t confident the district could get. In the 2009-10 school year, the district had 165 instructional days of 6.5 hours, and 12 instructional days of 4.5 hours (known as Early Release Days), which allowed them to meet the 177 days and the hours requirement. However, since the original 2010-11 calendar had similar numbers – meaning they would again fall short of the required 170 six-hour instructional days – Sweasy said there was a chance the commissioner might not approve their calendar. “Necessity is the mother of
invention, so we went back to the drawing board,” he explained. “We wanted to make sure we had all our bases covered, and we’re confident this is the way to go.” Under the new calendar, the students will attend 170 days of 6.5 hours each, giving them 1,105 total hours of instruction, or 43 hours above the state minimum. Additionally, the 12 Early Release Days will be replaced by five full professional development days, with no classes for students on those days. “We know the Early Release has been a problem for some parents with finding transportation and child care, so this new calendar addresses those concerns,” said Sweasy. Miles Elementary Principal Bryant Gillis said the full-day professional development will also be a benefit to teachers, who could sometimes struggle to complete all
of their necessary work in the twohour window provided by Early Release Days. “We used those to the best of our ability, but it’s gotten to the point where we just need more time,” he said. “I’m excited about this calendar, because I think it maximizes the time our kids are learning, and it gives our teachers the time they need for development.” Lloyd Memorial High School Principal John Riehemann agreed. “This will give us a chance to take what we’ve been working on to the next level,” he said. “I think we’re all in favor of how this is set up.” The first day of classes for students under the new calendar will be Aug. 17, and the last scheduled day of classes will be May 23. For more information, or for a complete calendar, visit www. erlanger.k12.ky.us.
Reading could keep kids rolling through summer By Jason Brubaker jbrubaker@nky.com
For kids this summer, turning the pages could turn into quite an adventure. Montgomery Cyclery will again be sponsoring its Books for Bikes Summer Reading Program this year, allowing kids the chance to win bikes, bicycle equipment and gift cards as rewards for reading. This will be the eighth year for the program.
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“It’s just a great way to keep kids reading during the summer,” said Ken Toppin, manager of the Erlanger store. “We usually have a ton of kids participate, and we expect that to be the case again this year.” Toppin said the program is simple to get involved in. Kids simply can pick up an entry form at any of the Montgomery Cyclery locations in the Greater Cincinnati area, fill it out, and drop it back off to take part in their weekly draw-
ings, which will start in July. The entry forms will ask children to fill out the title and author of the book, as well as a short summary. “We’re not looking for book reports or anything, but just a sentence or two to show they actually read it,” said Toppin. “Last year, we had families bringing in stacks and stack of forms, because their kids read so much. That’s what we want to see.”
Toppin also said that having weekly drawings encourages the kids to be diligent all summer about their reading, rather than just trying to load up for a single prize. “If you don’t win one week, there’s always the next,” he said. “That’s the best part – it keeps going all summer.” Entry forms can be picked up or dropped off at any location, or they can be found online at www.montgomerycyclery.com.
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