LINK Kenton Reader SUPER ISSUE - Volume 3, Edition 42 - September 19, 2025

April Draine moved to Northern Kentucky with her husband and three kids in April 2022. It was the second big move her kids had been through in a few years, so Draine was dedicated to being a bridge between her kids and their new schools.

Right away, Draine felt welcomed into the Ryle community, where her oldest went to high school.

She discovered the School Based Decision Making Council, which works to boost student achievement while bringing together parents, teachers and administrators. Draine applied to be the minority representative on the board.

“Within a week, I got an email that says thanks for your interest and you’ve been nominated to be the minority parent to be represented on this board,” she said.

Continues on page 4

PRESIDENT & CEO Lacy Starling

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Meghan Goth

SPORTS EDITOR Evan Dennison

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Make a statement: Commit to your local newsroom

By Lacy Starling

Since we started LINK in 2021, I’ve been thinking about community ownership. The example I always come back to is the Green Bay Packers.

By every measure, Green Bay shouldn’t have an NFL team. It’s too small a market, the economics don’t make sense, and yet it’s one of the most successful franchises in professional sports with the most loyal fans. How? Because the people of Green Bay literally own the team. They bought shares, they took pride in it, and they made sure the Packers would always belong to them.

Northern Kentucky isn’t trying to field a football team, but we face a similar challenge. We don’t have the size, the corporate money or the deep philanthropic pockets that makes sustaining local journalism easy. By the usual rules, a region like ours wouldn’t be expected to have a thriving, independent newsroom. But I believe – just like Green Bay proved – that, when a community takes ownership, the impossible becomes possible.

That’s the heart of LINK nky’s new Community Ownership program. For the first time, you can literally own a piece of your local newsroom. Not in the abstract sense of being a supporter or donor, but in the concrete way of being a shareholder. For a one-time purchase of $250, you join a group of neighbors, business owners and community leaders who believe Northern Kentucky deserves independent, trusted journalism – and are willing to put their names on it.

It’s simple to participate. You purchase your share at linknky.com/ownthenews, and you’ll receive official documentation recognizing your ownership. From that point, you’re not just a reader, you’re an owner. There are no annual fees, no complicated rules, no hidden obligations. Just

a one-time investment that secures your place in LINK nky’s story.

I want to be clear about what that owner ship means. It doesn’t mean you’ll get a vote on how LINK nky is managed – that responsibility still belongs to our man aging board and leadership team. It also doesn’t mean you’ll share in profits, be cause, if we ever do turn a profit, it will be reinvested directly back into the newsroom to strengthen our reporting and expand our reach.

What it does mean is that you’ll be part of the fabric of LINK nky in a meaningful way. Shareholders will receive quarterly up dates so you can see exactly how your in vestment is making an impact. You’ll also be invited to attend an annual shareholder meeting, at which we’ll share more about our progress, our challenges and our plans for the year ahead.

Every share strengthens our ability to re port with transparency, to stay accountable to the community and to keep coverage free and accessible for all. When you buy a share, you’re helping ensure that a parent in Boone County can read about what’s happening in their child’s school district. You’re making it possible for a small business owner in Campbell County to understand how a new policy might affect their livelihood. You’re giving a voice to neighborhoods that might otherwise be overlooked. And, maybe most importantly, you’re helping secure the future of local news for generations to come.

So I’m inviting you to join us. Buy your share. Put your name among the people who believe Northern Kentucky deserves strong, independent news coverage. Help us keep telling the stories that matter most. Because when you own the news, you’re not just reading about your community. You’re shaping its future.

Lacy Starling is president and CEO of LINK nky.

I’ve worked in and around local news long enough to know how rare this is. Most places don’t get the chance to own their local newsroom. They watch it disappear, or morph into something unrecognizable and wonder what happened. Here, we have the chance to do something different. To lock arms as a community and say, “We’re keeping this.” Personally, I find that exciting. I love the idea that, when someone asks who owns LINK nky, I can point to hundreds

Involvement with the board, Draine said, helped her quickly connect with Principal Matt Schafer and other school leaders.

“Matt Schafer was really welcoming,” she said. “That gave me a lot of ease.”

The school was proactive in its interactions with parents, Draine said, which helped her kids much more quickly assimilate. It also helped her bridge the gaps when they weren’t sure where to go or what to do.

“I’ve tried to find ways to stand in the middle of the bridge” between her kids and their school, Draine said. It can be a challenge even for someone as involved as Draine.

“I’m trying to be bilingual even though we’re both speaking English,” she said.

That’s much easier for all parties when the administration is welcoming and actively works to participate with parents and families. The alternative, which Draine said she has experienced, is when schools are more reactive and parents have to work harder to find out what’s going on.

At her daughter’s school, she said, “they were open for conversations, but I didn’t have as much of an opportunity to work with the school or engage with the principals.”

As LINK worked out how to approach the topic of education for this Super Issue, we knew parents and kids needed to be at the center of those stories.

Northern Kentucky has 13 public school districts, and, while there will always be debate about whether that’s too many, families and leaders alike are tirelessly working to keep public education’s focus where it should be: with the students.

Maybe there are too many schools, or maybe they aren’t the right kind of schools, or maybe some leaders are better than others, but what we’re talking about in this issue is how important it is for parents and schools to create a community, and how that’s happening here in Northern Kentucky.

How schools and parents go about creating that community varies, but Northern Kentucky has lots of examples of how individuals, districts and organizations are helping bridge the gap between parents and school administrators.

One strategy, said EducateNKY President

Cheye Calvo, is to think of the relationship as a partnership and for schools to meet parents where they are. “That means shifting from doing to families to doing with them,” Calvo said, “and that begins by recognizing and addressing the power dynamics at play.”

Learn more about the strategies that are helping bring schools and families together on Page 5.

In this Super Issue, we are also talking about how families should navigate the way schools are measuring students’ success, and whether it gives an accurate picture of those students’ abilities.

Draine struggles to see her son, who is in the ninth grade this year, get frustrated because he knows the material he is learning in class, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to high test scores.

“He said, ‘I feel like they don’t get to see the full me because it dwindles down to, How did you do on that test,’” Draine said.

Starting on Page 8, learn about how districts across Northern Kentucky measure the success of their students over time, and whether that should change.

We’d be remiss to talk about education without addressing teacher retention.

At the end of the 2022-23 school year, 10.9% of teachers across Kentucky left the profession, 16.7% did not return to teach in the same district and 20% did not return to the same school, according to a statewide staffing shortage report published by the Legislative Research Commission.

Flip to Page 11 to find out what is leading to the exodus, the effect it’s having on students, and what districts are doing to keep their teachers from looking elsewhere.

Finally, we are diving into early childhood education. Much of the brain’s development happens within the first three years of a child’s life, according to leading neuroscientists, and more than 90% of the brain’s architecture is in place by the time a child is 5. That means a child’s education, local and national experts say, should begin much earlier than when formal education starts, around age 5 in the United States.

Northern Kentucky’s dedication to early childhood education can be seen in programs like Success by Six, a United Way of Greater Cincinnati effort to prepare kids for formal education.

“This region really zeroed in on early learning and early childhood as a focus point over 20 years ago with the emergence of Success by Six, at first in Boone County and then across the region,” Calvo said. “A lot of

work was done. This region, in partnership with NKU and United Way, was central to Kentucky having a universal kindergarten readiness screen.”

On Page 14, you can read about more ways educators, parents and nonprofit leaders are finding to try to combat a general lack of kindergarten readiness in our region.

Draine told LINK nky she is grateful her kids landed where they did. While every school is short on resources, she said, it’s the way that leaders react to those shortages that matters.

“And the kids can feel it,” Draine said. “They can tell if you really care or not.”

A perfect example of the kind of leadership Draine is talking about is from 2023, when Boone County was short bus drivers. For four weeks, principal Matt Shafer sat behind the wheel of bus No. 54, taking students to and from school.

“I’m using that to say there could be a lack of resources in a number of ways, but he saw an area that was lacking, he saw how he could fill it, and he did what he could,” Draine said.

And that is what this Super Issue is all about.

A map of Kentucky’s school districts broken down by region. Provided | Kentucky School Boards Association

Schools help students by helping families succeed

By Annie Hammock

Schools across Northern Kentucky are listening, building relationships and acknowledging parents’ or guardians’ importance in their strategies to help children succeed.

“If we want true partnerships between families and schools, we have to redesign systems that invite families in on their own terms,” said Cheye Calvo, president of EducateNKY. “That means shifting from doing to families to doing with them – and that begins by recognizing and addressing the power dynamics at play.”

EducateNKY is a two-year-old nonprofit created to bring together a broad range of organizations, schools and families to learn more about how children in the region are performing – and how to increase their chances of success.

One of those organizations is the Pritchard Committee for Academic Excellence, an education advocacy agency that runs the Family Friendly Schools program, certifying schools that go “above and beyond” in partnership with families in a “strong and authentic way.”

Brooke Gill, director of family engagement at Pritchard, said Educate NKY is connecting the dots to make sure pressing issues are discussed – that someone is “tasked with making us all talk.”

“It’s just being intentional about having a person designation to help this group, talk to that group, find out what this group has, what that group needs,” Gill said. “You hit a couple of magic moments in these conversations, and the momentum just goes from there.”

The momentum at Lincoln Elementary in Dayton is going strong.

‘Keep them on track’

Jordan Furnish’s kids, Aria, 10, and Oliver, 8, attend Lincoln Elementary, and Furnish said he particularly likes the quarterly meetings between his family and the children’s teachers. The 30-minute meetings started during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they proved so popular that they continued after in-person classes resumed, taking the place of traditional open houses.

The individualized meetings allow Jordan Furnish and his wife, Alesha, to talk about their children’s goals, achievements and challenges, and the teachers’ plan for their education.

“It’s a chance to connect with them and kind of learn what my kids are going to learn throughout the school year,” Jordan Furnish said. “Kind of keep them on track and see what we can do at home to help better their education as well.”

The meetings have made such a difference,

said Lincoln Elementary Principal Heather Dragan, that the entire district now uses them. Every school now dedicates two days right before the academic year starts for family engagement.

During the pandemic, students had to be assigned certain entrances to the school so staff could take their temperature. Lincoln kept that up, as well, just without the temperature checks: They now station 15 administrators and staff members at the entrances to welcome students into school each day.

Dragan said the school also has a well-oiled car line, giving parents a chance to interact with staff as they drive through.

Another way Lincoln Elementary staff connects with its students and their families is through summer Parties in the Park, which started a few years ago. Staff grill out, offer popsicles and play games with the kids and families.

“It was a chance for us to get to know the families better and for the kids and families to get to know each other better,” Dragan said. “I feel like they’ve very much appreciated us coming to them.”

The outreach is proving so effective that Lincoln Elementary has notched a 100% attendance rate at parent-teacher conferences, a key metric of family engagement.

Educators and advocates are quick to point out, though, that not every child’s parent or guardian can show up to such events. Many are working, and some hold two or even three jobs.

There is a concerted effort to give those parents opportunities to get involved by “meeting them where they’re at.” And the effort can begin well before the children reach school age.

Access and opportunity

The Brighton Center has a program called Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, which sends mentors into homes to teach activities for children that can help their language and cognitive skills grow. The center also participates in Every Child Succeeds, which starts working with women on educational strategies while they are still pregnant until the child is 2.

Melissa Hall Sommer, Brighton Center’s

senior vice president, said parents and other caregivers want their children to be happy, healthy, kind and ready for school. She said the center works under the premise that “everyone has inherent worth and dignity, that people are the experts in their own lives, that families know their situations best.”

“When we start not just thinking about what makes a child successful, but also understanding that, in order for a child to be successful, families have to have success, and they have hopes and dreams for their kids, we have to ask ‘How are we responding to those hopes and dreams?’” Sommer said.

Learning Grove CEO Shannon Starkey Taylor said it’s important to recognize parents are a child’s first and most influential teachers, but many face barriers such as food insecurity, lack of reliable transportation, unsafe neighborhoods or schedules that don’t align with school activities.

Learning Grove’s senior director, Kathy Burkhardt, said it’s all about “access and opportunity.”

“Every single parent wants what’s best for [his or her children],” Burkhardt said. “They may or may not have the resources to do what they need to do, or there may be other barriers in their lives, but it needs to start with a conversation. So creating a nonthreatening environment where you’re listening to families and offering them, not suggestions, but asking ‘What do you want?’”

Marshelle Blackwell stands in front of a “feelings chart” to help children describe their moods in greater detail. Photo by Annie Hammock | LINK nky contributor

Alesha Furnish and her children, Aria, 10 and Oliver, 8, enjoy a Lincoln Elementary School Party in the Park. Provided | Jordan Furnish

Starkey said it’s about allowing families to be co-creators in the solutions and honoring the knowledge they have.

One of the key players in these conversations is the schools’ Family Resource and Youth Service Centers. Marshelle Blackwell is the group’s coordinator at Newport Intermediate School, where about 90% of the families are living at or below the poverty line.

She believes building trust and making families feel welcome and included goes a long way toward overcoming educational barriers. Blackwell regularly surveys families to get their thoughts on everything from whether they prefer contact via text message or phone call to how the school is handling diversity issues.

“My last survey was on family togetherness. I just really wanted to know ‘What does that look like to you?’ because that may look different from family to family,” she said.

Earlier this year, Blackwell hosted a family game night. Children and their parents played education-themed versions of “Wheel of Fortune” and “The Price is Right”. There was even a human slot machine.

She also instituted a practice called Notes of Encouragement. Parents and guardians send letters to be read to their child in class or at lunchtime. Blackwell said many of the letters leave her in tears and leave the students feeling good about themselves.

“Encouraging your child is something that is a universal theme that I think every parent wants to do,” she said, “and I was so happy with the participation.”

‘You gotta come’

Holmes High School parent Shia Englemon said that school has sponsored game nights and other activities to bring parents into the educational mix. “I’ve been invited to a little bit of everything Holmes has,” Englemon said. “It’s just about coming. You gotta come.”

She said her involvement has helped her sons Shawn Clifford, a senior, and Ryce Clifford, a junior, succeed.

“Someone’s always going to be in the stands clapping, or, if the office calls or if a teacher calls, someone is going to answer and be receptive,” Englemon said. “They’re comfortable knowing someone’s going to hear each side out. Like, I trust my children, but I trust the staff, too.”

As for engaging parents, she said the school needs to keep its “foot on the gas.”

“Let’s believe that someone is at home and wants to show up for this child,” Englemon said. “It may not be mom or dad, it may be a sister or brother or grandparent, but that’s who’s in charge. Overall, community- and institution-wise, we just have to believe that there’s good people at home for our kids, too, and they want success as much as someone like me or you does.”

Family engagement efforts extend across the state.

In Hopkinsville, about 70 miles east of Paducah near the Tennessee border, parents at Freedom Elementary have formed a working group to bring more people to the table and to keep a collective eye on how their children are doing. Ben Watkins says

it’s making a difference for his son Eric, 9.

“I feel he’s engaged more because we’re engaged more of what he’s doing,” Watkins said. “You know, if you’re showing interest in his work, and he’s able to talk to you and explain. I think that helps him do better in school.”

He believes involved parents are among the best ambassadors for family engagement, spreading the word to other parents.

“I think the excitement in somebody’s voice and seeing the expression on their face, and you know, how they’re in tune with it, will make other parents in the community join in,” Watkins said.

EducateNKY’s Calvo calls it a “virtuous cycle.”

“When families are genuinely at the table, they show up more, speak more freely and begin to see the school as theirs,” Calvo said. “Over time, that shifts the culture –schools feel more welcoming, families feel more interested and the outcomes start to change. It’s not easy, but, when it takes root, it’s transformative.”

Calvo said he is optimistic all the effort will pay off.

“Something I love about Northern Kentucky is the openness to truth and the willingness to act,” Calvo said. “When we put hard facts on the table, people don’t get defensive. They ask ‘What do we do about it?’ There’s a real spirit here, a drive to do better for kids and families, and that gives me tremendous hope.”

Shia Englemon stands with her children, Shawn Clifford, who just graduated, and Ryce Clifford, a rising senior, at Holmes High School. Provided | Shia Englemon

Parents and children play a human slot machine at Family Game Night at Newport Intermediate School. Provided | Marshelle Blackwell

By Nathan Granger

KSA. ACT. SAT. NEAP.

Local measures balance learning, testing

The list of standardized tests students may take through their lives goes on and on.

Although they’re often a source of anxiety for students, standardized tests have their benefits. Ideally, they offer a predictable, fair way to measure academic performance, regardless of differences in students’ lives. Yet many districts and even the Kentucky Department of Education itself are beginning to question if schools rely too heavily on standardized measures, fearing both the particularities of local communities and the joys of genuine intellectual engagement could become subsumed by the endless drive for more data.

“I need to see something to understand it,” said Mia Day, who will be a senior in Boone County Schools during the 2025-26 school year, when asked what makes a good teaching style.

At least when it came to her own teaching preferences, Day said it was better for the learning to be “more hands-on.… Show me something, and then make, like, a relation towards it. That helps me personally a lot better than just someone telling me something.”

“We are boring kids to death, and we are not making it real for them,” said Brian Creasman, superintendent of Fleming County Schools, about 25 miles south of Maysville. “They want to be able to make the connections” with what they’re learning.

Creasman and others are proponents of what is coming to be known as local accountability for school districts. Although they’re not always called that exactly, local accountability indicators are meant to counterbalance the “cookie-cutter,” as Creasman put it, state and federal indicators in a way that grants districts greater freedom in how they teach their curricula at the local level.

Multiple districts, including at least two in Northern Kentucky, have already begun to experiment with creating local and community-based accountability frameworks, and legislation for a statewide framework is set to go before the General Assembly in 2026.

Latitude and longitude

Kentucky’s testing and accountability requirements have changed several times over the years. The most recent occurred in the 2023-24 school year with the implementation of district Overall Performance Ratings, themselves split into two subcategories: “status,” a combined indicator

of performances measures for a current year, and “change,” which compares performance with the previous academic year.

Kentucky Summative Assessments, or KSAs, which students begin taking in third grade, serve as the state’s standard measure for tracking academic progress. They provide a snapshot of student performance in a particular grade at a particular time. Most standardized tests function this way: The third grade assessment results of 2023-24 measure the performance of a different set of students than the third grade results from 2022-23 and so on.

Statistical researchers refer to this kind of measurement, in which each measure examines a discrete cohort at a set time interval, as a latitudinal measure. The problem is that latitudinal measures are considered inferior for measuring change over time compared to what’s called a longitudinal measure, which makes comparisons across time for a single cohort.

A longitudinal measure would take a single set of (ideally representative) students from a district and measure their progress at set intervals. That way, the measure can correct for any confounding variables that might affect scoring, which is harder to do when examining multiple groups of people.

As the authors of a 2007 study on measuring student performance put it in the Electronic Journal of Statistics: Differences between sets of students can be so great that measures can become skewed and unhelpful. By restricting analysis to one set of students over time, researchers can predictably account for variables that might weigh the data, making it easier for them to measure how students actually are improving or deteriorating. Educational circles often refer to longitudinal analysis of this kind as a growth measure.

Some states, most notably Tennessee, have instituted statewide growth assessments in hopes of burnishing their data analysis. Growth analysis also makes it easier to see if teaching or curriculum changes are effective, because researchers can observe changes in student performance before and after a policy change takes place (again, in a way that cuts out confounding variables). Districts frequently rely on internal testing measures – over and above state-mandated assessments – to measure student growth.

Teaching to the test

Still, there are limitations to this form of analysis, at least how it’s implemented in Kentucky. Districts can choose among varying testing platforms to measure internal progress, some of which don’t even have growth measures built-in. Wellknown companies that provide these tools include Pearson, Iready, NWEA MAP, Star and Renaissance. Some districts use multiple platforms.

The problem: Each test is unique, and so, even if a platform has internal growth measures, comparisons among districts become problematic. This is especially true if students have a high rate of transience; it’s hard to effectively track the progress of a student who’s constantly moving around and constantly changing testing platforms.

Further, even with longitudinal measures, there’s still a risk that an overemphasis on testing could overtake other aspects of education and even make it difficult to track student progress. One 2002 academic critique of Tennessee’s system describes this educational quandary.

“The use of ‘scoring high’ materials closely tailored to particular standardized tests is designed to raise scores,” the study’s authors write. Higher test scores, though, don’t mean students are performing better – except on the test. The result is that it’s impossible to determine if students are simply being taught to the test or actually learning broader skills and knowledge.

Using real-life scenarios

Fleming County began implementing local accountability programs in 2021 with an eye on identifying how student performance in the district could be better assessed.

Kenton County Schools began implementing similar changes, which would become the district Community Based Accountability System, around the same time.

Superintendent Creasman told LINK nky that his district began this process by interviewing about 300 students in different grade levels through the district to see what they thought mattered the most in school. Student responses, said Michelle Hunt, the district’s chief academic officer, “ranged

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A Community Beyond the Classroom

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Although Creasman said that, though he and the district aren’t against testing as such, he worried that federal and state requirements were sometimes “arbitrary” and “cookie cutter.” He also worried that teaching for the test could lead to a situation where engagement with the material becomes shallow and irrelevant outside of an assessment scenario, “like trying to teach kids to play the piano by just showing them sheet music,” he said, without ever asking them actually to play the instrument.

To that end, the state has pitched what it’s describing as vibrant learning experiences, essentially scenarios in which students are asked to employ what they’ve learned in a classroom in a real-life situation. Creasman gave several examples from his district.

The first was a sixth grade math teacher who partnered with a local supermarket. Students were given a set of problems that could be solved using skills they’d learned in the classroom and information they had to seek out in the supermarket. The students had to find data within the market to solve a set of problems, exposing them to real-world scenarios where they’d need to use math.

Another example involved several high school teachers across various subjects taking students on a field trip to an archaeological dig, where the students heard talks from historians on artifacts and were then tasked with performing carbon dating on objects discovered at the dig. Fold in a requirement to write a brief scientific report on the work they did that day, and the students just successfully applied the history, science, math and writing skills they learned in the classroom to a deep, real-world task, rather than simply regurgitating information onto an answer booklet.

In short, the goal of local accountability is to grant districts the freedom to design how they teach their materials based on what’s important to the local community while still keeping up with state-mandated standards.

‘A holistic approach’

Kenton County Superintendent Henry Webb said his district’s accountability system is split into six pillars, each of which sets out to address a priority in the school community.

“We have six action teams with over 100 people represented: students, parents,

community members, teachers, principals, and they look at what we’re doing, and they signal that three times a year,” Webb said, in addition to a final annual report.

“The Community Based Accountability is just setting metrics, an action plan,” Webb said. “Everybody on the same page about a holistic approach to the district.”

Webb said one of the key measures included in the local system that isn’t included in state metrics is transition readiness. That is, how prepared is each student when they transition from elementary to middle school and then from middle to high school?

Webb pointed to the district’s work-based learning and internship programs, from which students garnered over 160,000 hours of experience in the 2024-25 school year, as well as the fact that the district has hired about 30 students to work as technology, teaching and nursing aides in the district as examples of vibrant learning in Kenton County.

Local Laboratories of Learning

The state meanwhile has several initiatives to help districts furnish their own localized accountability systems, one of which is the Local Laboratories of Learning, or L3, initiative. Fleming County was among the first districts to take part in the initiative when it launched in 2021. Member districts engage in a similar investigation to Fleming County’s, wherein students and community members’ input is sought about what’s important. From there, the districts can experiment with vibrant learning and other specific programs germane to the communities in which they’re located. Member districts then share their results with other member districts.

Boone County Schools joined the L3 initiative in 2022. In Boone County, the initiative has focused on the district’s core student competencies, the first of which is communication. Krista Decker, the district’s director of assessment support, described how the students demonstrate their communication competency, namely through public defenses of learning, a tool that Webb said Kenton County hopes to implement in the future, too.

“Students shared with the panel members in their defenses how [they are] great communicators, and what evidence they have through their schoolwork and also what their experiences are outside in the community,” Decker said. “So, if they volunteer

and work in a soup kitchen or something, or if they are leaders in their sports team or if they’re leaders in their church community. How is what they’re learning in school impacting how they interact with others out in the community?”

Student defenses are one example of vibrant learning, Decker said. Other examples include capstone projects, student-led conferences and service learning.

Much of the work around this subject, at least in Boone County, was in a very early phase; a representative from the district told LINK nky in June that its L3 council hadn’t met in more than a year.

‘Here’s your Chromebook…’

Leslie Chambers, Day’s mother and a member of Florence city council, was critical of Boone County Schools’ teaching methods when she spoke with LINK nky. Day, for instance, struggled to reintegrate herself back into school life after the end of pandemic lockdowns, and the district wasn’t helping, she said. Chambers said this came down to changes to the district’s disciplinary policies, changing teaching habits and what she characterized as an overreliance on technology among some of the teachers.

“We found out very quickly that she [Day] does better with the older teachers,” Chambers said. “And the reason is because the younger teachers aren’t teaching. They’re like, ‘Here’s your Chromebook. Let’s just do this thing,’” essentially relying on busywork, rather than real intellectual challenge or engagement.

Day, whose favorite subject is English, re-

flected this in her comments by comparing two different English assignments, one she found engaging and another she didn’t.

“I think it was sophomore year,” Day said. “We had to listen to this podcast and then write a paper on our ideas and thoughts and stuff, and I thought that was helpful, hearing something and then having to write about it.”

In contrast, an assignment she found less engaging was a “prompt on the computer saying, like, write an argumentative essay about this and that,” Day said. “Stuff like that, where it’s not the teacher directly explaining and giving us an example and telling us or having something to correlate it with.”

There are broader systemic and economic issues that influence schools, as well, Chambers said. Salary competition and tax burdens between different jurisdictions within Boone County can have the effect of making teachers move around between schools, which makes it hard for them to develop long-lasting relationships with the kids. Chambers has advocated for tax exemptions for teachers in Florence in an effort to incentivize them staying in the city.

Creasman said the work to implement local accountability measures throughout the commonwealth is just beginning but touted it as a way of getting out of the rut that an over-emphasis on testing can create.

“What we’re trying to do is reprogram something that’s been programmed for 40 years, and it’s just going to take time,” Creasman said.

Ryle High School 12th grader Andrew Price gives a defense of learning in 2024.

By Kenton Horbeck

HDistricts fight growing teacher shortage

annah Edelen pursued teaching because she wanted to make a difference in children’s lives.

Edelen is a former social studies and language arts teacher at Holmes Middle School in Covington, something she said she always found personally fulfilling. Edelen, who taught in the post-pandemic academic landscape, said the global health crisis exacerbated growing trends around teacher shortages in the commonwealth.

“When you're having first-year teachers doing all of that, on top of getting very comfortable in the classroom, it can create for increased stress and definitely a larger workload than may be anticipated,” she said.

Currently, Kentucky is experiencing a statewide teacher shortage, one that threatens the future of the public education system. Edelen, who is now a member of the Covington Independent School Board, said teachers are experiencing rising burnout, increased stress, and heavier workloads. This environment can adversely affect both students and teachers.

“I think in general, not having curriculum coming into the classroom as a new teacher, and then not having funding available for ongoing classroom supplies and needs,” she said. “And of course, these types of situations–they create burnout for teachers when you're not able to get a moment of reprieve, you know, to catch up or plan for future classes that may have additional or different need.”

Like other regions, districts in Northern Kentucky are struggling to find new teachers and retain teachers already on staff. These issues are exacerbated when considering geography, as the region’s river city school districts face a greater disadvantage due to financial instability, chronic absenteeism and higher rates of student poverty.

In 2024, EducateNKY, a Covington-based nonprofit organization focused on improving educational outcomes for students and parents in Northern Kentucky, published its Education Landscape Assessment, which found that districts across the region are facing an acute teacher shortage. Students in Northern Kentucky’s urban core are particularly affected by the shortage, as these school districts have a higher propor-

tion of students from impoverished or atrisk backgrounds.

Six independent public school districts serve Northern Kentucky’s river cities: Ludlow, Covington, Newport, Southgate, Bellevue and Dayton. Each faces similar challenges regarding teacher retention.

According to the landscape assessment, the transient rate in Northern Kentucky’s river city districts is 20.3%, the homelessness rate is 13.5% and the kindergarten chronic absenteeism rate is 30.4%. In comparison, Northern Kentucky’s county school districts have a transient rate of 7.6%, a homelessness rate of 2.5% and a kindergarten chronic absenteeism rate of 17.2%

Teachers in these districts face challenging working conditions, including larger class sizes, limited resources and higher student needs, which lead to increased stress and job dissatisfaction. The organization’s executive director, Cheye Calvo, who authored the assessment, believes that the situation is reaching a boiling point, describing it as a “crisis.”

He further believes that Northern Kentucky lacks a cohesive regional response. Instead, individual districts are turning to methods that are proving to be increasingly ineffective.

“Districts instead are doubling down on existing efforts to recruit talent individually while working to retain their existing teaching force,” he writes.

Exodus across Kentucky

At the end of the 2023 school year, 10.9% of

teachers across Kentucky left the profession, 16.7% did not return to teach in their districts and 20% did not return to their schools, according to a statewide staffing shortage report published by the Legislative Research Commission. Perhaps even more jarring, almost half of the principals and superintendents in Kentucky reported regularly using long-term substitute teachers to cover unfilled positions.

Some of the factors leading to the exodus include heavy workloads coupled with strained resources, resulting in higher rates of burnout among teachers; inadequate pay and benefits; a lack of respect and recognition; and administrative challenges.

Teacher shortages in Northern Kentucky, as well as across the state, are directly harming students by increasing class sizes, reducing access to qualified teachers and disrupting the continuity of learning. When schools can’t fill positions, they often rely on underqualified or long-term substitute teachers, especially in core subjects like math and reading. This can lead to inconsistent instruction, learning gaps and lower overall academic achievement.

Bellevue Superintendent Misty Middleton told LINK nky that in previous years, teacher shortages have affected the district’s ability to staff secondary math and science positions. Middleton said that Bellevue is fully staffed to begin the 2025-2026 school year.

“In past years, there have been shortages, especially in secondary math and science,” she said. “Due to the lack of fully certified teachers in areas, districts were forced to hire individuals to fill roles on an emer-

gency or optional basis who did not have the complete teacher training. These were great people who worked hard and had a passion for student learning, but they tend to struggle with classroom management, curriculum standards, assessments, and other various aspects of the teaching profession. Due to this, student outcomes are impacted.”

Students are also losing access to key electives and advanced courses as districts cut offerings due to staffing constraints. At the same time, schools become less stable and more stressful environments, making it harder for both students and teachers to succeed. Struggling students, in particular, are less likely to receive timely academic or emotional support, which can increase their risk of dropping out and widen performance gaps.

One of the most significant challenges facing retention initiatives in Northern Kentucky is that the region’s school districts are at a competitive disadvantage in terms of teacher pay. Often, full-time teachers in Northern Kentucky take jobs in Southwest Ohio because of the higher salaries available there.

Cincinnati Public Schools offers the highest median salary in the metropolitan area at $87,065. In comparison, the median salary in Kenton County is $62,630, while Erlanger-Elsmere and Ludlow Independent Schools offer salaries of $61,100 and $60,250, respectively. The median salary for Covington Independent teachers is $58,926.

Teachers with less than one year of experience can expect to earn approximately $44,000 working in Covington schools, according to an April 2024 report by LINK nky.

Some of the highest-rated independent school districts in Northern Kentucky offer lower teacher salaries than several river city districts. Beechwood Independent reports the lowest median salary in the group at $56,405. Teacher salaries were a heated point of contention for both parents and teachers when the contract of former Beechwood Superintendent Mike Stacy was under consideration for an extension.

Northern Kentucky’s river city teachers aren’t leaving just for Ohio, though. Calvo reported that from his perspective, teachers from these districts take jobs at other disContinues on page 14

Hannah Mayle, a Newport teacher, with her students. Provided | Hannah Mayle

KENTUCKY STUDENTS, CINCINNATI IS CALLING.

Kentucky students receive in-state tuition at UC*

At University of Cincinnati, Kentucky students get the full Bearcat experience, including:

• World-class academics and research opportunities

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• Top 5 Public University for co-ops and Internships –U.S. News & World Report

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tricts within Northern Kentucky that offer higher salaries, more resources and different classroom dynamics.

“When it comes to pay and benefits, the region is at a competitive disadvantage for talent with districts in Southwest Ohio,” Calvo writes. “Although the county and some of the independent districts have other advantages that they use effectively to manage the talent situation, independent districts in the urban core struggle to attract and retain teachers who are actively recruited by other districts in the region.”

Despite this, school districts have attempted to address the financial disparities by voting to raise salaries. Between 2014 and 2023, Kentucky school districts increased starting teacher salaries by 3% to 22%. In 2023, starting salaries ranged from a low of $34,004 to a high of $45,772, depending on the district, according to the Legislative Research Commission’s report.

From 2014 to 2023, Bellevue Independent raised salaries by approximately 13%, taking the rate from $37,035 to $41,830. Covington Independent also raised salaries by 13%, bringing the rate from $37,371 to $42,054.

Ludlow Superintendent Jason Steffen told LINK nky that higher salaries are a way to show appreciation to teachers currently on the payroll, while also serving as a retention incentive. Recently, Ludlow raised its starting salary for teachers with just an undergraduate degree and no experience to $48,000.

“We have very competitive compensation for all of our teachers, not just our starting

teachers, but all of our teachers, to make sure they're not leaving us for more salary,” he said.

Fighting teacher burnout

Perhaps even more important than salary in teacher retention is burnout. The National Education Association defines teacher burnout as a condition in which an educator has exhausted the personal and professional resources required to perform their job effectively.

From Steffen’s perspective, teacher burnout results from the combined effects of striving to achieve academic goals while juggling the responsibility of managing students' behavior in the classroom.

“Burnout is caused by several things: the pressure from getting academic results, but also the pressure of dealing with behaviors in the classroom,” Steffen told LINK nky. “Those are probably two of the biggest things that are causing two of the biggest things that are causing teacher burnout.”

More broadly, teachers are asked to perform in a highly demanding and stressful environment while feeling that they lack adequate support, leading to feelings of uncertainty or being overwhelmed. Essentially, many teachers must do more with less. Around 93% of former teachers in Kentucky reported that teacher burnout had a substantial influence on their decision to leave the profession.

At Ludlow, Steffen explained that his district aims to tackle teacher burnout by increasing investments in mental health services, counseling, reducing administrative burdens, and providing more professional

development opportunities.

“We've put a lot of money into teacher resources that are high quality, but we're also making sure we're funding our Special Ed department and our intervention department to make sure they're getting academic supports with their students in their classroom, so they're not an island trying to get the results by themselves,” he said.

In EducateNKY’s assessment, Calvo acknowledged that Ludlow’s strategy may be working. Steffen said that many of Ludlow’s teachers grew up in the city and attended the school district.

“Ludlow has used its strong sense of community to hire and keep its people, including a remarkable share of teachers who grew up locally and retain strong ties to the small town,” he said.

Less respect, fewer teachers

In the Ohio Education Association principal survey, school leaders identified a lack of respect for the teaching profession as a significant barrier to recruitment. Nearly half, or 45.7%, of principals cited a general lack of societal respect for teachers, while 38.1% pointed to disrespect from parents and 24.4% from the local community. This perceived undervaluation of the profession contributes to challenges in attracting and retaining qualified educators.

If teaching prospects believe their work may not be rewarded or respected, there is a greater chance they may either choose another profession or leave the profession after only a few years of teaching.

A lack of respect for teachers makes re-

cruitment and retention more challenging by undermining the profession’s value and morale. When educators feel dismissed by society, parents or their community, it affects their motivation and job satisfaction. Fewer people enter the field and more leave, because respect is essential to making the work feel meaningful and sustainable.

“For starters, I believe society needs to restore the prestige of the teaching profession and respect our educators,” Middleton said. “It is a very difficult job due to the demands placed on educators, but also very rewarding. We need to invest in our teachers and staff, reduce the burdens they face, and build a pipeline of future educators with creative solutions designed by diverse stakeholders.”

Still, one of the most critical steps in curbing the rising number of teacher resignations is a coordinated regional effort, something Calvo says is still a work in progress. Northern Kentucky is home to over 10 public school districts, each varying in size, financial resources and academic reputations.

“Although money plays a role, teachers who feel supported and successful show greater job satisfaction and are much more likely to stay where they believe they are making a meaningful difference,” he wrote.

From Edelen’s perspective, the more innovative districts become, the more adept they will be at solving staffing issues.

“I know we have a lot of challenges related to staff shortages, but I believe if we're innovative at the local and the state level, we can really create some opportunities for our staff and for our kids,” she said.

By Robin Gee

WInitiatives aim to give children a strong start

hen Angela Duncan participated in a Covington walking tour designed to help families work with their young children on reading and learning, she loved it so much she contacted the city about having one in her neighborhood.

“When COVID happened, we got one of the passports, and we would drive around to the different A to Z maps,” Duncan said. “I went on to have three more kids, and each time, when they got old enough, we would do it. I just thought it was such a fun experience for us.”

Duncan contacted Read Ready Covington, a program that takes a collaborative approach to teaching children. Read Ready brings together city services, the library, local agencies and other resources to help make children ready for kindergarten.

Duncan’s request didn’t fall on deaf ears. “They set it up,” she said, “and we went around and mapped it out together where we thought it would be beneficial for each letter.”

Read Ready Director Mary Kay Connolly said the idea is to infuse learning into everything they possibly can. It promotes play as learning and provides games and other fun activities for families.

“This is a set of multiple partners,” Connolly said. “It’s individual residents, it’s agencies,

it’s schools and preschools and child care centers. It’s mental health, it’s the library … it’s different departments in this city that I’ve worked with, like Parks and Recreation.”

Read Ready’s efforts come amid a growing effort in Northern Kentucky to prioritize early learning.

Much of the brain’s development happens within the first three years of a child’s life, according to leading neuroscientists, and more than 90% of the brain’s architecture is in place by the time a child is 5

“There’s no question that early learning is a central element in the education process and needs to be a strategic priority,” said Cheye Calvo, president and CEO of EducateNKY. “And, quite frankly, it has been for a generation.” Educate NKY is a nonprofit dedicated to improving outcomes for children from birth to grade 12.

‘Program rich, coordination poor’

“This region really zeroed in on early learning and early childhood as a focus point over 20 years ago with the emergence of Success by Six, at first in Boone County and then across the region,” Calvo said. “A lot of work was done. This region, in partnership with NKU and United Way, was central to Kentucky having a universal kindergarten readiness screen.”

Yet, he said, the efforts did not have a strong impact on readiness scores.

“As a region we’re behind where we were a decade ago,” Calvo said. “Despite a lot of terrific and thoughtful work by a lot of people, we haven’t figured out how to move the needle.... Kindergarten readiness is central for kids, because we know that students who enter school ready are four or five times more likely to be proficient when they get to third grade than those that aren’t. So it is a meaningful and durable measure of success that lasts years into a kid’s education,” he said.

The organization is digging into the issue. Last year, it released a landscape assessment and created a working group of regional stakeholders to work on a strategy to address the issue and to provide recommendations. In May, EducateNKY held a Start Strong Summit, bringing together educators, nonprofit agencies, city officials and community organizations to discuss the state of early childhood education in our region. The organization sought ways to connect and help coordinate the many efforts going on across the region.

Calvo noted that, at the summit, one of his colleagues made an important point. “We are program rich, coordination poor,” she had said.

“We have a lot of programs, but we haven’t yet figured out how to make the sum equal or greater than the parts,” Calvo said. “And so there’s a few things that we are doing. We have hired what we’re calling an early learning champion, a vice president of early learning and family power, Jenny Watson, a former principal in Boone County and an assistant superintendent.”

The idea, he said, is not only to provide the programs, but to make sure people know about them so that they have a wider impact.

Gabrielle Mitchell, a middle school teacher and mom, participated with her daughter in Play with a Purpose, a nine-week educational play group that provides time for parents to meet and talk with each other. The program was with one of Read Ready’s partners, Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters.

Continues on page 18

• We offer evidenced and researched based programs.

We are a place to learn life skills, social skills, and transitional career readiness skills for ages 11-25

• Passionate about helping teens and young adults with developmental differences— including Autism, Down Syndrome, ADHD, and Intellectual Disabilities — as they prepare for life beyond school.

Lisa Smith and her son Logan, her second child to participate in the HIPPY home-visit program

Lisa Smith and her son Logan have fun with brightly colored puzzle pieces as part of a HIPPY activity. Photos by Robin Gee | LINK nky contributor

Jessica Janssen and daughter Melea work on an activity at a Play with Purpose meeting.

“As a teacher and a new person to the community, I wanted to get involved with everything that I could, and so I joined the Play with Purpose group at the day care, and absolutely loved it,” Mitchell said.

The group, sometimes abbreviated as HIPPY, not only provides physical resources, like diapers, but it equips parents and families with tools, knowledge and strategies. “They’re providing these groups where we can learn how to teach our children and how to develop them and understand their needs more,” Mitchell said.

Read Ready Covington is hosting several events this summer, including an art and reading program at the Baker Hunt Art & Cultural Center and the Early Childhood Fun Fest. For more information on Read

Ready, go to covingtonky.gov, then click on Government and then Neighborhood Services, where you will find a button link for Read Ready.

Partnering for success

Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters is an international organization that provides a home-visit based program along with the Play with Purpose groups held across the region. It partners with several organizations, including Brighton Center, which has offices in several Northern Kentucky communities.

Melissa Hall Sommer, Brighton Center’s senior vice president, said HIPPY fits right in to the center’s goals of providing a continuum of care for families. The center offers several programs for small children,

including Every Child Succeeds, home visits for new mothers and babies up to age 2. The organization continues the model of home visits and focuses on pre-kindergarten children.

“HIPPY’s belief is that a parent is a child’s first and best teacher, and our whole mission and model follows that,” said Nicole Carter, the Brighton Center’s HIPPY coordinator. “We go into the home once a week for 30 weeks at least, and we take a researched and developed curriculum that’s over 50 years old. It’s been updated through those years, but it started over 50 years ago.”

The program is free.

“So each week, during the home visits, we bring educational materials, the curriculum and any supplies that the family would need,” Carter said. “It’s play-based and book-based.”

The organization also has monthly in-person group meetings through its Play with Purpose program, which parent Gabrielle Mitchell touted. It allows time for parents to visit with other parents while their children play. The groups are held at Brighton’s Shelby Street office in Florence.

The key lesson for the HIPPY program is its success. Carter noted that 97% to 100% of the children who have participated are kindergarten ready. Cities across Northern Kentucky are interested in the program, and there are ongoing discussions about how to expand it to reach more communities.

Lisa Smith, a mother from Hebron, said HIPPY was a great opportunity, especially during the COVID-19 lockdown. “It gave us things to do when we were trapped inside during lockdown and all that, which was helpful in itself,” she said.

“Then my second child, he just started HIPPY this year,...” Smith said. “It’s just been great having activities we can do at home. We have the activities every week, and then this year they started a play group with HIPPY. So that’s been nice being able to connect with moms with kids of similar age.”

Jessica Janssen, who participated in the organization with her daughter, said the convenience of having home visits made a big

“They brought everything to you, and you didn’t have to go anywhere to get it,” Janssen said. “And, you do it on your terms; it’s not, ‘You have to be at class at 10 o’clock.’ It was, ‘If we have time, we can do it today. If not, we’ll do it tomorrow.’ And my home visitor was great. My little girl loved her.”

Sommer noted that Brighton Center is devoted to providing wraparound services for families.

“We try to look at the whole family perspective,” she said. “We are thinking about how a child learns within that family … inclusive and wrapped around that family.”

For more information on HIPPY or other early childhood programs at Brighton Center, go to brightoncenter.com.

Mobile outreach

Learning Grove is the largest provider of high quality, community-based child care in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. It operates 11 full-day, full-year child care centers. They provide Early Head Start programming, and they train early childhood educators through the Learning Grove Institute.

Recently, Learning Grove took its expertise on the road with the Learning Together van. An RV van, outfitted to look like one of its classrooms, has been going out into the community.

“We got funding through the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood,” said CEO Shannon Starkey Taylor. “We take this mobile RV into under-resourced communities, and try to target those communities where the kindergarten readiness scores might be particularly low. Our hope is that we go into those communities, and, if they don’t have access to high quality child care, we’re giving them a dose of literacy.”

Through the van, Learning Grove can provide free and fun learning activities, takehome literacy and math kits, and information for parents. By coming to where families are, the organization can bring innovative programs and resources directly to communities that need them. They are tracking their efforts, but Starkey Taylor said it’s too soon to know the full impact.

Angela Duncan’s children, her parents, Mark Cook and Vicki Davis-Cook, and several community children all pitched in to make her neighborhood A-to-Z walking tour a success. Photo by Robin Gee | LINK nky contributor

Learning Grove does know that 52% of those who have come onto the van have participated in at least one engagement or educational opportunity.

“That could be anything from getting their child enrolled in a child care program to going to the library, getting a library card,” she said. “So we are reaching families and not just having it be one and done on our Learning Together van. They’re actually following up on some of the referrals we’re making, which is really good.”

For more on Learning Grove, go to learning-grove.org.

Providing additional resources

EC Learn provides training for early childhood professionals, but it also deals directly with families and employers to help

educate them on the role of early learning in the community. “At EC Learn we like to think of ourselves as the connector,” said Sandra Woodall, the group’s executive director and CEO.

“We’re actually a comprehensive child care resource and referral entity,” she said. “We provide, educate and partner, and we influence quality early learning experiences that impact families, early childhood educators and the community.”

The organization offers a wide range of services, including professional development and training for those who work with children.

“We want to make sure that families have an understanding of what child development milestones are and how that influences and impacts kindergarten readiness,” Woodall said. “And then we also talk to employers on how they can be part of a solution by looking at child care as an infrastructure for their employees, because it impacts the current workforce, but it also definitely influences the future workforce.”

EC Learn is collaborating with Educate NKY. Together, they partner with local school systems and other organizations and work to get information out through community events and through their web-

look up information based on their child’s age and their ZIP code to find information on local resources, on topics such as child care, public preschool, mommy and me reading programs, child mental health and development.

The site’s goal is to combat fragmentation within the system and provide easy-to-find and easy-to-navigate information.

EC Learn works with its partners to provide resources wherever possible.

“Through our outreach events, we provide family guides that are linked to the early learning standards to be kindergar

ten ready,” Woodall said. “We have activity cards, growth charts and information that the schools give out to help them know some of the things that they can be doing with their children while they are at home – things that help families understand the development to get children to kindergarten readiness.”

EC Learn also advocates for early childhood education, In February representatives of the group went to D.C. to speak against cuts to education and to speak up for Head Start.

For information and resources for families go to mypre-K.com.

Families playing FRUIT in Randolph Park.

Where the LINK team goes to eat and drink

By Maggy McDonel

There are too many good places to eat in Northern Kentucky to count, and the people on the LINK team certainly like to eat (and occasionally drink), so we thought we’d share some of our favorites.

To get you the best recommendations I could, I (LINK’s digital editor) asked our team members (and myself) six questions:

• What is your favorite NKY late-night spot?

• What is your overall favorite NKY restaurant?

• What is your favorite drink in NKY?

• What is the NKY restaurant with the best vibes?

• What restaurant or bar do you recommend to people visiting from out of town?

• What is your go-to local comfort food?

Here are our answers – with a lot of talk about delicious dishes and fantastic vibes.

Favorite late-night spot

The LINK team was a little split on latenight recommendations, and the split was definitely by generation.

For a true late night, business reporter Kenton Hornbeck said his go-to is Gyros on Main in Covington’s Mainstrasse Village. “It stays open until 2 a.m. and offers a nice change from typical late-night food options like pizza or fast food.” My favorite after-midnight stop in NKY is the Covington Goodfellas Pizzeria for a slice and a breadstick longer than my arm.

Our sales account manager, Nick Kettler, said Galaxie, a bar, restaurant and EDM venue in Covington, is “my go-to when I need an EDM fix.”

Popular among the LINK team, and Sports Editor Evan Dennison’s favorite, is Second Story. Is it because it’s only a hundred feet from our office? Possibly, but the creative cocktails and immersive, artsy atmosphere don’t hurt.

On the chiller side, Managing Editor Meghan Goth has five kids, so late nights

for her are few and far between. When she does get to go out in NKY, she enjoys Braxton’s rooftop after the sun goes down, “The lights overhead, the view, the vibe ... it’s just perfect.”

Our VP of sales, Brad Crosby (who has three kids), said that Ripple Wine Bar in Covington is “a great way to end the night. They have an awesome selection of wines.”

Our CEO, Lacy Starling, who admittedly said “my idea of late night might be earlier than most!” says her go-to spot for an after-dinner drink is Juniper in Covington.

Overall favorite

Brad agrees with the Mayor of Flavortown himself with his overall pick of Camporosso in Fort Mitchell. Not only has this local spot, known for wood-fired pizza, been named Pizzeria of the Year in 2024 by Pizza Today, but it was also recently featured on an episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” with Guy Fieri.

Italian eatery Carmelo’s, which opened last fall, is Lacy’s favorite place to dine in NKY. Co-owned by Mitch Arens and Billy Grise, the restaurant features family-style Italian dishes that harken back to Grise’s heritage. Lacy said the place is “always a winner. Ter-

rific food, great service.”

As “not a highfalutin person,” Kenton said he’d much prefer a casual bite than a fancy dinner, so his overall pick is La Mexicana Restaurante Cantina and Tienda on Monmouth Street in Newport. The restaurant doubles as a grocery store and is known locally as having some of the best Mexican food in the region.

Greyhound Tavern has been serving up classic comfort food for over 100 years, and it’s the pick for our office manager, Shelly Braun. The menu offers favorites like fried chicken, fried green tomatoes and world famous onion rings.

Predictably, Campbell County reporter Haley Parnell went with a Campbell County spot: Grass Roots & Vine. The Fort Thomas favorite offers wine, loaded salads, cheese boards and more, plus brunch on Sundays.

My favorite restaurant in NKY has to be Mama’s on Main. The red-sauce Italian restaurant with a twist opened in 2022 in Mainstrasse and has an amazing vibe and even better food. I highly recommend the chicken parmesan and, of course, several orders of the focaccia bread service.

Favorite drink

Two of our reporters picked coffee drinks for this category, not really the spirit of the question, but we’ll give it to them. (We do need a lot of coffee to get through the day at the LINK office.) Kenton’s go-to is a mocha or latte from Ludlow Coffee, and every Friday during our weekly office hours, Haley gets an iced oat milk latte from Carabello.

Evan is more of a beer drinker, and he recommends anything from Braxton Brewing.

On the cocktail front, Lacy loves the Oaxacan No. 1 at Wayfarer Tavern in Dayton (did she pick this because she can walk home from Wayfarer now that she’s a Dayton resident?). Brad’s top two picks are the espresso martini from Wiseguys or Crazy Norse from Barleycorns.

Food Network personality Guy Fieri visiting Camporosso in Fort Mitchell. Provided | Citizen Pictures on Facebook

I also couldn’t choose just one: I’m stuck between the Scarlet City vodka sour from Second Story and the vanilla Coke cocktail with rum from Jerry’s Jug House. Since this is my article, I’m picking both!

Best vibes

For a seasonal atmosphere, Meghan’s pick for vibiest spot is the Hive in Erlanger. Offering coffee plus scratch-made breakfast and lunch, the Hive is definitely a vibe, and Meghan said she “especially loves the way they decorate for the holidays in December.”

Kung Food Amerasia in Covington has the best vibes in NKY according to Kenton. He said, “It really is one of the most unique spots in the region. Plus, it’s downtown in a cool space, which adds to the vibes.”

Shelly’s top pick just opened earlier this year. Stonehouse Settlement Winery in California is in a renovated schoolhouse. On Saturdays and Sundays, visitors are welcome to explore their tasting room and vineyard, and the property is also available for private events.

Located in a repurposed 1930s garage and serving up loaded sandwiches, fries and more, Lacy’s pick offers a real retro vibe. Right in the heart of Mainstrasse, the Standard offers fun food, cocktails and a great brunch on the weekends.

Sanctuary Social in Villa Hills is a “great space inside and out,” according to Brad. The menu offers everything from a chips

and dip flight to flatbreads, loaded salads and cheese boards.

“Good vibe” is hard to define, but for me, I love a view. So my recommendation for the best vibe is MRBL in Bellevue. You truly cannot beat the view of the river and the city skyline; plus, the decor gives a classic steakhouse feel with a modern twist. I highly recommend going for happy hour and sitting at the bar.

For out of town visitors

Recently reopened six years after it was hit by a barge, Ludlow Bromley Yacht Club – a Northern Kentucky staple – is Brad’s recommendation for out-of-towners. The floating bar and restaurant is known for its live music, and Brad described the experience there as “unique.”

Lacy had a lot of recommendations, depending on the mood of those you’re giving a recommendation to, but her top three are Frida 602, which serves up Latin street food in Covington; Kealoha’s Kitchen, the authentic Hawaiian food joint also in Covington; and Wayfarer Tavern, a pizza and cocktail spot in Dayton.

Coppin’s at Hotel Covington is “a great place to get an idea of NKY all in one spot,” according to Meghan. “The decor is also awesome,” she said, “and you can either sit down for a formal meal or sit at the bar or in comfortable chairs (I usually choose the long tables by the bar because there’s a plug underneath for my laptop).”

Kenton recently hosted some of his friends from out of town and took them to the Standard in Mainstrasse. “It has a cool vibe and brand, good drinks and food, and a neat outdoor area. They loved it, and I felt validated,” he said, “so good for me.”

Go-to comfort food

Since 1963, Fesslers Pizza & Legendary Hoagie has been serving up greasy comfort food on Fairfield Avenue in Bellevue, and it’s Shelly’s go-to place for something comforting and delicious.

Lacy goes for a “big plate of rice-and-beans

Mexican food” when she needs something comforting, and her go-to place to get it is El Señor Pig in Dayton.

Burgers from Mad Mike’s Burgers and Fries are Nick’s comfort meal of choice. The local chain has several locations across NKY and Cincinnati, and Nick said it’s got “great burgers and delicious fries.”

Kenton goes with the Singapore chicken noodles (spice level three) from Kung Food Amerasia. About the dish, he said, “If I had more money, I’d legit eat it every other day.”

Are you feeling STRESSED!?!?

What exactly is stress?

There are actually two types of stress – “good stress” and “bad stress.” Good stress is what you might feel before a first date or important presentation. You feel a thrill of excitement, not fear or threat. Bad stress is triggered by situations that make you feel overwhelmed, anxious, or unable to cope. There are two forms of bad stress – acute and chronic. Acute stress comes on quickly, and if you find ways to positively react quickly, can prevent it from turning into something worse. Chronic stress happens when we repeatedly face stressors that take a heavy toll and feel inescapable. Because our bodies aren’t designed to deal with chronic stress, it can cause negative health effects.

How does stress affect us mentally and physically?

When your body is experiencing bad stress, over time that can impact your mental health by causing anxiety, depression, mood swings, difficulty concentrating and sleep problems. Physically, you may experience headaches, muscle tension, digestive problems, weakened immune system, high blood pressure, fatigue, changes in appetite and skin problems.

Stress seems to sneak up on us. What are the symptoms of being stressed out?

Stress can affect your body, your thoughts and feelings, your behavior. Some common symptoms of bad stress are muscle tension or pain, restlessness, anxiety, overeating or undereating, chest pain, lack of motivation or focus, fatigue, avoiding social interaction, and getting sick easier.

What are effective methods of coping with or combatting stress?

It’s different for everyone. The key is to find activities you enjoy and do not add to your stress.

• Add physical activity, even if it’s just a stroll around the block or stretching.

• Try relaxation techniques like deep breathing, yoga, meditation, or massage.

• Laugh (it has a similar effect on your brain as an antidepressant)

• Spend time with family and friends (the ones that aren’t causing you stress)

• Find time in your day for hobbies – read a book, listen to music, garden

• Get enough sleep

• Eat a healthy, balanced diet

Learn more about how to help yourself and others deal with stress at: NKYHealth.org/mentalhealth

Meatballs, mozzarella and grilled flatbread at Carmelo’s Restaurant. Provided | Carmelo’s Restaurant on Facebook

A cut above: NKY butchers keep craft alive

By Maggy McDonel

The sons of Billy Finke and his brothers will be the seventh generation to operate the family’s Fort Wright butcher shop.

Since 1876, the Finke family has owned and operated Bill Finke & Sons. The shop was originally in a storefront on Main Street but has been at its current location on Amsterdam Road since 1962.

Billy Finke told LINK about his first true day working at his family’s shop.

“When I was 12, I wanted to go ice skating up the street, and I needed money. I called my dad up and said, ‘Dad, I need money to go skating.’ He said, ‘Come on down.’ I came down to the shop, he handed me a broom, and I had to sweep the whole floor before I got any money to go skating. And then I’ve been here ever since.”

Owning a small business, Finke said, means a lot of hard work. The day LINK spoke with Finke, he and his brother had arrived at the shop at 6 a.m., and he wasn’t leaving until 4 p.m., while his brother wouldn’t leave until 7:30 in the evening.

Finke said his father’s philosophy, which he and his brothers have continued, is that there must always be a Finke in the shop at all times to ensure everything is always up to standard. “If you sell something bad one time, you will lose a customer,” he said.

Quality and consistency are imperative for small businesses, according to Finke. He said that, after his father was diagnosed with cancer, he lived for around another

year, and he imparted some important advice to his sons.

“He said, ‘If you keep selling quality stuff, you will stay in business. Because with a small business, if somebody eats something bad, they won’t come back.’”

This year, Finke said, the shop has sold over 25 tons of goetta, its best-selling product. It’s made fresh every day, and customers buy at least 150 pounds daily.

Finke said they are lucky to have the shop still in the family. His father had the opportunity to sell it at one point, but he didn’t and had to mortgage his house to keep the place going.

“If it wasn’t for him, this place probably wouldn’t be here right now,” said Finke.

He’s excited to pass the torch along to his sons, who he said are slowly bringing the shop into the current century. They still write checks and “don’t do nothing on the computer much.” But he said, “My boy of boys might change that, when we get out of here and they get going, they might put us in 2025, but right now we ain’t.”

New shop inspired by family

Firmly in 2025 but still deeply rooted in tradition is Rekas Butchery and Delicatessen in Covington.

Owned by Shelbi Nation and her wife, Ashley, Rekas opened its doors at 401 Scott St. in November 2024.

The shop, a sister to their Wyoming Meat Market in Wyoming, Ohio, is named after

Shelbi Nation’s great-grandmother and is a tribute to her, as “it has been her lifelong dream since she was a little girl,” Nation wrote in a post on Instagram when the shop opened.

Reka was an Italian immigrant who owned a steakhouse in Springfield, Illinois. Nation told LINK that, between her time living with her great-grandmother and her time studying abroad in Italy, she was inspired to carry Italian products alongside what is popular in the surrounding community.

“I think it’s kind of like a twist of meeting cultures,” said Nation.

The deli offers a rotating menu of sandwiches along with housemade salads and more. On the butcher side, Rekas has prime ribeyes, filets, Wagyu brisket, local pork and tons of marinated meat options.

Nation said that she has a direct relationship with their farmer and actually bought his entire lot of cattle, “every cow that’s on his farm we will process, and that will come to our shop. So the fun thing about that is, like we have control of, like, age of cows, breeds of cow, diet, grass fed and grain finish.”

Now the main butcher for both of her shops, Nation started working in kitchens. She cooked at Cincinnati restaurants like Sotto and now-closed Pleasantry. She said she eventually got “kind of got out of cooking.”

She began searching for programs worldwide, aiming to “get more connected to food, rather than just working the line and cooking.” During her search, she and her wife were visiting Wyoming Communi-

ty Coffee and decided to take a walk along Wyoming Avenue. During that walk, they met Jim Gelhausen, the man who had been running the Wyoming Meat Market for 50 years and had owned it for 41.

He was looking to retire, and Nation apprenticed under him. “He taught me everything, showed me the business. He walked me through the butchering aspect; he was my mentor.”

She said that, because he was looking to leave, the business fell to her organically.

Similarly to Finke, Nation said owning a small business is hard work, but she said she is always looking forward, thinking about ways to improve and continue doing what they’re doing.

“I’m proud of the work we’re doing,” said Nation. “I don’t think if you own a business you ever feel 100% satisfied with anything you’re doing.”

Their menu is constantly changing with the seasons and with what people are looking for. Right now, they are offering breakfast on Friday and Saturday mornings, plus, when the weather is nice, they set up a grill on the sidewalk, enticing customers to come in and enjoy grilled items like smashburgers and sausages.

Though their paths are different, both Finke and Nation show how small butcher shops can thrive through quality, consistency and strong ties to their communities. Their blend of tradition and innovation is keeping the craft alive for the next generation.

Florence • Fort Mitchell

Crestview Hills • Union

A photo from the 1950s of the Bill Finke and Sons location on Main Street. Provided | Bill Finke and Sons on Facebook

The deli case at Rekas Butchery and Delicatessen. Photo by Maggy McDonel | LINK nky

Restaurants embrace trends from brunch to bark parks

Whether you’re brunching in Bellevue, sipping a slushie in Covington or letting your dog roam free in Florence, Northern Kentucky is redefining what a night (or morning) out looks like.

Rooftops

Looking to elevate your night out? Northern Kentucky’s rooftop bars have you covered – literally. Naturally, the region’s rooftops tend to be in cities with views of the Ohio River and the Cincinnati skyline.

High Note Rooftop Bar: This rooftop, atop Homewood Suites, is Newport’s newest, with cocktails, live vinyl DJs, weekend bands and riverfront/Cincinnati skyline views.

201 W Fourth St., Newport; highnoteky. com.

Lisse Steakhuis: This rooftop complements the restaurant’s atmosphere with a lounge vibe. The rooftop wraps around the majority of the upper level, complete with fire pits and sweeping Cincinnati overlooks.

530 Main St., Covington; lisse.restaurant.

Braxton Brewing Co.: This laid-back summer go-to offers 20 taps, cocktails, slushies, panoramic skyline views, igloos in the cooler months and family-friendly early hours.

27 West Seventh St., Covington; braxtonbrewing.com/pages/braxton-covington-rooftop.

Second Story Bar: This bohemian-themed cocktail lounge features an artsy rooftop patio and offers creative cocktails. The atmosphere is one of the more unusual styles in NKY, with a massive decorative tree in the middle of the bar.

100 W. Sixth St., No. 2, Covington; secondstory.bar.

Rise of the mocktail

More diners are choosing sober-curious lifestyles, and bars are catching on. Many people, especially millennials and Gen Z, are reducing or eliminating alcohol not out of necessity, but by choice. They’re rethinking their relationship with alcohol and seeking alternatives.

Blind Squirrel: The restaurant offers a mocktail list with spins on classic cocktails like a “Nojito.”

8537 U.S. 42, Suite 6, Florence; blindsquirrelflorence.com.

The Post: Guests can enjoy a variety of beverages, including alcoholic and nonalcoholic options, at this family-friendly establishment.

1136 S. Fort Thomas Ave., Fort Thomas; thepostft.com.

Juniper’s Gin Bar: Offers a “gin and nonic” mocktail alongside its 125-plus gin menu. The bar also offers a slew of other spirit-free cocktails.

409 W. Sixth St., Suite 100, Covington; juni-

persginbar.net/drinks.

Ripple Wine Bar: This wine bar and restaurant features a rotating collection of wines from around the globe. It also offers mocktails and alcohol-free beer, rosé and THC seltzers.

4 W. Pike St., Covington; ripplewinebar. com/covington-wine.

Hotel Covington’s Knowledge Bar & Social Room: Offers nonalcoholic cocktails with presentation flair. All cocktails are crafted by the Knowledge Bar team using housemade and seasonal ingredients.

620 Madison Ave., Covington; hotelcovington.com/dining/knowledge-bar-socialroom.

Brunch culture boom

Brunch strikes the perfect balance between a night out and a casual meal. People want relaxed social time, and brunch offers just that. Here’s how NKY restaurants are making morning the main event.

Otto’s: A neighborhood bistro and brunch spot with upscale twists on Southern classics.

521 Main St., Covington; ottosonmain.com.

Yuca: This scratch kitchen by Cedar (in Covington) offers a twist on Mexican, Caribbean and Latin American cuisine.

700 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue; yucabycedar. com.

Bellevue Bistro: A casual favorite with kitschy charm and hearty plates.

313 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue; bellevuebistro. com.

Boomtown Biscuits and Whiskey: This restaurant specializes in comfort food, including chicken and waffles, as well as classic local dishes like goetta.

9039 U.S. 42, Union; facebook.com/boomtownbiscuitbar.

Pet-friendly patios

Diners are choosing establishments where their dogs can tag along, especially in the summer. Here are some pup-friendly pati-

os worth barking about in NKY.

Braxton Brewing Co.: Leashed dogs welcome inside, with water bowls and treats often provided. Although pets are not allowed on the Covington rooftop, there’s plenty of space for them both in the brewery and on the patio.

27 W. Seventh St., Covington, and 8901 U.S. 42 Highway, Union; braxtonbrewing.com.

Covington Yard: An indoor-outdoor space with big screens, lawn games and plenty of room for your furry friends to walk around on a leash.

401 Greenup St., Covington; covingtonyard. com.

Fabled Brew Works: Dog-friendly outdoor patio; family-and pup-friendly with rotating food trucks.

331 Kenton Lands Road, Suite 300, Erlanger; fabledbrewworks.beer.

Alexandria Brewing Co.: Dogs are welcome on the outdoor patio; the establishment is family-friendly, featuring arcade games inside.

7926 Alexandria Pike, No. 1; alexandriabrewingcompany.com.

The Bark Park & Patio: An off-leash dog park with over an acre of fenced-in grassy space with a self-pour taproom.

7544 Burlington Pike, Florence; barkparkpatio.com.

Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey Rhine Poutine and The Mother Load. Photo by Haley Parnell | LINK nky

Second Story Bar’s rooftop. Provided | Second Story via Facebook

PIZZA TODAY’S 2024 PIZZERIA OF THE YEAR

Bridge closure spurs closures, but new spots rise in ’25

2025 has proven to be a transitional year for Northern Kentucky’s evolving restaurant landscape.

One of the most impactful events in 2024 was the closure of the I-471 Daniel Carter Beard Bridge, which led to the shutdown of several restaurants at Newport on the Levee and in the nearby river city communities.

Below is the list of this year’s restaurant openings and closings so that you can stay up to date on options for a tasty meal out.

Closings

Amador Cuban (Newport on the Levee)

This Miami-style Cuban restaurant shut its doors in January after its operating firm, Pensacola Hospitality Group, decided to take a different direction. It cited the closure of the Daniel Carter Bridge as a factor that strained the restaurant’s finances. The restaurant, which opened in 2023, served classic Cuban dishes, including the Cubano sandwich, Ropa Vieja (braised flank steak), and Lechon Asado (slow-cooked pork shoulder).

Bridgeview Food Hall (Newport on the Levee)

Pensacola Hospitality Group also owned Bridgeview Food Hall, home to vendors like Los Tacos Hermanos, Club Coop and Four Mile Pig. Bridgeview Food Hall opened in 2023 and served as a communal dining hall. The space was reminiscent of an upscale mall food court. It featured a diverse range of restaurants, allowing customers to enjoy a wide selection of cuisines. Like with Amador, Pensacola cited financial troubles tied to the I-471 bridge closure.

Opal Rooftop (Covington)

Opal Rooftop was symbolic of the growth of Covigton’s fine dining offerings, giving customers a pristine rooftop view of the city and downtown Cincinnati. With its signature rooftop bar, Opal valued aesthetics and ambiance in addition to its menu, which featured meals prepared by Grillworks’ wood-fired grill. In January, co-owners Bill

and Morgan Whitlow announced the Opal’s closure, citing financial issues and operational barriers.

Rich’s Proper and Hangry Omar’s Slider Shack (Covington)

Rich’s Proper and its iconic neon sign adorned the intersection of Covington’s Madison Avenue and Sixth Street since 2018. The restaurant featured Creole- and Southern-inspired cuisine, along with a large selection of bourbon. Hangry Omar’s was more casual, serving hungry bargoers from inside the Covington Yard food court.

Both concepts were co-owned by Bill and Morgan Whitlow, who announced the closure of both restaurants in late December 2024. Like Opal, the Whitlows cited financial issues and operational barriers.

The Brickery Café & Play (Newport on the Levee)

This Lego-themed café in Newport on the Levee opened in 2023. It offered families and Lego enthusiasts a creative retreat featuring large-scale Lego sets, including builds inspired by Star Wars, Harry Potter, Super Mario and Marvel.

The cafe announced its closure in March, with owner Daniel Johnson acknowledging the negative impact the closure of the Daniel Carter Beard bridge had on the business.

Openings

Mi Cozumel (Newport on the Levee)

Mi Cozumel is partying its way into Northern Kentucky. The Cincinnati-based Mexican restaurant chain is renowned for its lively atmosphere, Margarita Tower, tableside guacamole and flaming fajitas. Mi Cozumel offers over 40 margarita flavors for adventurous customers.

Mi Cozumel, named for the famous Mexican island, opened July 1 in the former Amador Cuban space facing the Ohio Riverfront in Newport on the Levee.

7 Brew (Newport)

7 Brew is a rapidly growing, drive-through coffee chain that opened its first Northern Kentucky location in Newport back in April. 7 Brew boasts an expansive menu with “7 Originals” espresso drinks like the Blondie, Smooth 7 and Sweet & Salty. In addition, 7 Brew serves flavored energy drinks, sparkling sodas called “Fizz,” fruit smoothies, milkshakes and lemonades.

Noche (Covington)

From the creators of Alfio’s Buon Cibo, the popular Italian-Argentine fusion restaurant in Cincinnati’s Hyde Park neighborhood, Noche offers Northern Kentucky a glimpse into Alfio’s signature dishes of

hand-cut steaks, fresh pasta and empanadas, plus cocktails and premium wines. Noche means evening in Spanish.

Noche opened in July inside the former Rich’s Proper space, including updating Rich’s neon sign.

The Bodega at Roebling (Covington)

In March, The Bodega at Roebling opened in the heart of Covington’s Roebling Point neighborhood. Founded by Covington-based lawyer Jamir Davis, the bodega serves small bites, New York-style bagels, coffee and wines from across the United States.

The café offers breakfast and lunch from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays, with later start times on weekends. After hours, the bodega transforms into a speakeasy, featuring a small wine room and cocktail lounge on weekends and Friday evenings.

Spear Ridge Cafe (Independence)

Gary Holland, founder of One Holland Group, wanted the Spear Ridge Cafe to honor his hometown, Independence. Spear Ridge Cafe, which opened in July, boasts murals, old photographs and other memorabilia that pay homage to Independence through the 20th century.

The Spear Ridge Cafe is a comfort-food café and general store offering favorites such as smashburgers, catfish po’ boys, country ham and pimento sandwiches, hushpuppies and seasonal soups. Adjacent to the restaurant is the general store, which serves small bites, coffee and other convenient items.

Wayfarer Tavern (Dayton)

Wayfarer Tavern is the latest addition to the growing Dayton dining scene. The tavern, in the historic Burton Building at 635 Sixth Ave., opened in late January. The restaurant specializes in bar-style pizzas, essentially East Coast thin-crust with a Detroit-style cheese edge, cut into Midwestern square slices.

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One of the girders damaged in a fire that closed the I-471 bridge for months is removed in December 2024. Provided | Ohio Department of Transportation

By Beth McDaniel

Take trip to Korea without leaving Covington

Meet Beth McDaniel, one of LINK nky’s new food writers. Beth writes about her search for the perfect … anything about food in NKY.

One of my first meals in Korea nearly sneaked out of the pot and onto my plate.

My employers had taken me to an upscale seafood restaurant, and imagine my surprise to find the octopus – which was being cooked in the middle of our table – lifting the lid of the pot in an attempt to escape.

Fortunately, nothing will arrive alive at Riverside Korean, yet the experience remains as authentic as any Korean restaurant I’ve been to since being back in the States.

When I arrived in Korea in August 2005, I had ever eaten only one Korean meal, at a restaurant in Indianapolis. That meal left me slightly skeptical of Korean food, especially that beloved staple of the Korean diet – kimchi.

During my initial days and weeks in Korea, I really did think I might go hungry. So much of what I found to eat was far too spicy for my then-delicate palate. There was another unexpected obstacle, too – thin metal chopsticks that made me feel like Uma Thurman in “Kill Bill,” struggling to get the tiniest morsel of food to my lips.

People told me I’d get used to eating spicy food, and they were right. One of my enduring favorites is a spicy seafood stew with creamy soft tofu (sundubu jjiggae). Luckily it’s on the menu at Riverside Korean (here transcribed as Soon Du Bu Zhi Gae), and it’s absolutely everything I remember it to be.

While I was in Korea, I also learned that there’s a slightly more “easily” palatable side to Korean food, which includes bulgogi (grilled meats often served with lettuce to make a wrap), pajeon (savory pancakes with vegetables and meat), dumplings and kimbap (a little like a sushi roll but with crab stick, daikon radish, cucumber and spam!).

Korean “Chinese” also includes some of my favorite dishes, like japchae bap (sweet and savory glass noodles with veggies and beef, often also served with rice) and jjajangmyeon (springy, chewy noodles with a sauce made of fermented soybeans).

All of these options are available at Riverside, too – and they’re excellent choices for anyone new to Korean food.

Vegetarians (and vegans) will also delight in one of Korea’s most famous dishes, bibimbap. You can order a cold version or a hot pot, which allows you to stir veggies, rice, a runny egg (or tofu) and any amount of gochujang (a red pepper paste) you want into a warm, crispy delight.

An important note: If you’re strictly gluten free, don’t eat the gochujang, which is typically made with wheat. Luckily, Riverside has gluten free gochujang – just ask!

When I was in Korea, I lived in Jeonju, the country’s bibimbap capital, and I can honestly say that the bibimbap at Riverside is every bit as good as I remember it being in Korea.

Anyone who has never been to a Korean restaurant before will also be pleasantly surprised by the diverse, rotating array of banchan (Korean side dishes), which arrive in advance of your meal.

During my time in Korea, I remember my friends and I being truly amazed at this offering, likely because we were recent college graduates accustomed to poverty and saw this array of little starters as free food (score!).

After a long hike, we’d rock up at a local restaurant and devour every bite of these little delicacies, which always include traditional cabbage kimchi but can also feature sweet bites of potato, sesame seasoned spinach, radish or cucumber kimchi, marinated bean sprouts, tofu with chili sauce and even little bowls of shellfish.

The key to Riverside Korean’s authenticity is its owners, Bruce and Yujin Kim, who continue longstanding family traditions and have a passionate commitment to bringing Korean flavors to Northern Ken-

tucky. Bruce Kim says he makes everything to his own mother’s standards, and it shows.

Riverside Korean has been named the most authentic Korean in the city since 2010. Today Riverside offers a more traditional eating experience on one side, with floor seating and “temple” décor that features hand-painted walls and tables, tapestries and colorful decorative drums. On the other side, there’s a modern bar and café style seating with painted tigers climbing the walls. You can also choose to eat outside on the patio.

One thing you won’t find at Riverside are those thin, somewhat mettlesome chopsticks. Instead, you can ask for wooden chopsticks or opt for regular western silverware. The latter could just be the better option so there’s no delay getting this delicious and addictive fare right into your mouth.

Riverside Korean, 512 Madison Ave., Covington; riversidekoreanrestaurant.com; 859291-1484.

Enjoy Riverside’s contemporary side and dine with Bengal tigers in bright, modern surroundings. Photos provided | Riverside Korean

Riverside Korean, at 512 Madison Ave. in Covington, has been a staple of the Kentucky food scene since 2014.

Edited by Margie E. Burke

The Weekly Crossword

Answer to Previous Sudoku: Each row must contain