Lawrence Central Rotary

Category: News

Mail Ballot Supports Student Centered Learning

USD 497 Superintendent Kyle Hayden brought a message to Lawrence Central Rotarians focusing on an upcoming mail-in ballot election.

Kyle Hayden grew up in Sabetha, Kansas, and attended college at Tabor, later earning an advanced degree at Emporia State University. He worked at several teaching assignments in the state before serving five years as Assistant Superintendent for USD 497. He has been on the job for one year, presiding over the seventh largest district in the state, including 1,850 employees and 11,700 students. The District is experiencing steady growth with a ½% to 1% growth increase a year. Kyle Hayden has three children, and his wife is a teacher at Free State High School.

The District strives to achieve a creative engagement of teachers, parents, and community in order to provide and excellent education. Toward that end the May 2, 2017 Mail Ballot Election is intended to address long standing building deficiencies, primarily for the middle schools and high schools. These schools are all in need of more flexible spaces, energy efficiencies and more secure entrances. Due to its age Lawrence High School is a particular focus of the plan. The development of this proposal was the charge of a Facilities Planning Committee, focus groups, administrators, staff and students. The result is an 87 million dollar bond proposal with 58,000 dollars identified for Lawrence High School. A 2.4 mill tax on local property will be required to fund the plan.

The election time line provides for voter registration to be completed by April 11. Ballots will be mailed April 12 and must be marked and returned to the County Clerk’s Office by noon May 2. Work could start as soon as next summer if the Bond is approved. More information on the Facilities Master Plan and the Mail Ballot measure may be viewed at the District web site.

April 2, 2017
Van Go: An Artistic Path to Success

Van-Go Development Director Eliza Darmon

Van Go is a unique and creative non-profit program that has provided employment, guidance, and success for disadvantaged youth in the Lawrence community. Development Director Eliza Darmon presented the story of this award -winning program started 20 years ago by Lynn Green with a modest Arts Commission grant.

Van Go has grown into an arts based social service and jobs program serving at-risk teens aged 14-24. Van Go operates a year-round after school and summer job training experience utilizing local businesses, nonprofits, and community members who provide over 100 youth employment opportunities annually. Young people are usually referred to Van Go through school social workers and have an IEP, a mental health diagnosis or have been in the court system. Some 70 percent of these young people live in poverty. Accordingly, the program is committed to providing a support system which includes academics and tutoring, counseling, encouraging a healthy lifestyle and other life skills. Clients participate in Bench Mark, an eight weeks employment program in which a bench is constructed and placed in the community. The Adornment program employs 22 clients to produce art and decorations for the yearly Van Go recognition ceremony. Young people also plan and paint a mural each spring. A tile recognition wall also provides employment with colorful fused tiles representing over 700 donors.

Van Go has a budget of $743,000 with almost half coming from Federal, City and County funding. The rest comes from donations, fundraisers, art sales, two well-attended annual dinners, and an on-site gallery that is open 9:00 am through 5:00 pm. The Van Go website is http://www.van-go.org/.

March 10, 2017
Williamson Tells Story of Revitalized Senior Resource Center

Marvel Williamson

The Senior Resource Center of Douglas County (SRC) has recently redefined its mission and rebranded itself as an information clearinghouse. The organization is now focused on helping people navigate the complexity of resources in the Lawrence area that are available to seniors, according to Marvel Williamson, director of the agency.

Nowadays it is commonly understood that there are three stages of aging: (1) active seniors who need limited assistance to participate in a community; (2) seniors who are facing a life event that limits them in some way and who need a particular set of support services in order to remain self-sufficient and connected to the community; and (3) individuals who are heavily dependent on support services for their daily routines.

When it was established in the 1970s, Douglas County Senior Services (DCSS) was a centerpiece of activity for all seniors in downtown Lawrence, a role it continued to play through the 1990s. During a recent strategic planning process, however, DSSC staff realized that the agency was serving a small population of the most vulnerable and that they interacted with active seniors only infrequently. The need was clear: re-invent DSSC in order to meet the needs of all three constituencies.

Senior Resource Center is doing just that. 2017 is a year of “building capacity” for its new mission. The agency has adopted its new name, designed a logo, and developed a website at www.yourSRC.org that identifies it as a resource and referral point. At the same time, it has taken care to maintain support services to seniors: meal delivery, rides for those who need them, a calendar of social and educational activities, and technical and legal assistance, among many others. The agency has catalogued the multiple non-profit and business resources in the community, including identifying seniors who can help each other in various ways. Professionals in the field can also use the Center as a place to network in periodic “summits,” Williamson envisions.

Funding for Senior Resource Center comes from Douglas County. The balance of the $1 million annual budget is met through grants and gifts. The City of Lawrence provides space for the agency and its programs. Because the longtime physical office and gathering spaces in downtown Lawrence are currently under renovation, the agency staff is working at Peasley Technical Center for the year. Currently, there are nine full time employees and 20 who work part time.

February 27, 2017
Lawrence Fair Housing Ordinance of 1967 Commemorated by Oral History and Documents

Lawrence Historian Tom Arnold (Photo Credit LJWorld)

The City of Lawrence was one of the first communities in the nation to establish a Fair Housing Ordinance, said local historian Tom Arnold. This important event took place in Lawrence in July 1967, well before the federal Fair Housing Act was enacted in 1968.

Tom Arnold has spent the past months doing research and developing an oral history to commemorate the passage of Lawrence’s Fair Housing Ordinance fifty years ago. After thirty years in the U.S. Navy, Tom came to Lawrence to teach Naval Science at KU for three years as an adjunct professor. He retired from the University six years ago and began volunteering at the Watkins Museum. As the anniversary of the Fair Housing Ordinance approached, Arnold took the archival work that began in the City Attorney’s office by LCR member Scott Wagner, Management Analyst, and accepted the task of developing an oral history to complement the historical documents. Those interviews were conducted in October and November 2016. The goal was to get the personal perspectives and motives of individuals who participated in this important set of decisions in Lawrence during the 1960s. Arnold conducted nine interviews with eleven people, generating twelve hours of recordings. The recordings have now been transcribed so that they are searchable for future research needs.

The milestone anniversary of the Fair Housing Ordinance will be celebrated with a variety of events and displays during the coming months. There will be a visual display at the Watkins Museum and a traveling exhibit as well. Documents will be archived at the KU Spencer Museum.

The Lawrence Human Rights Commission (HRC) was established in 1961. Before that time, none of the public swimming pools were open to non-whites. Businesses routinely segregated Afro-Americans and even refused services. The Fair Housing initiative began as a grassroots movement among Lawrence citizens in 1964 when the Lawrence Fair Housing Committee formed. Attempts to pass state legislation on Fair Housing failed, so the group transferred their focus to the local level. The Lawrence Ordinance was the result of effort and risk-taking by many to address the housing discrimination and inequities that existed in the Lawrence community. The Committee sent a resolution to the Human Relations Commission of the City of Lawrence in 1967. By that time, there was broad support. Many community groups and churches collaborated to bring this significant milestone to reality.

February 16, 2017
Dr. Roger Dreiling Urges A Questioning Attitude for Good Heart Health

“Question everything!” says Dr. Roger Dreiling, head of Cardiology Services at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. It was advice that he received from a mentor early in his medical career. Questioning led Dreiling to solve emergency situations in innovative ways and to avoid recommending procedures that had not been through rigorous medical trials. He believes that doctors who ask questions are more likely to use the correct medical tool or procedure and to refer patients to the most appropriate area of expertise to address their health problems.

Dr. Dreiling described the evolution of treatments used to help patients suffering from heart disease. It was a questioning approach that led to innovations. Years ago, for example, doctors knew that the drugs prescribed to help with some of the symptoms of heart disease caused dangerous side effects. Some physicians experimented with treatment using angioplasty, even though that course of action was not approved by the profession at the time. By 1993, the use of angioplasty emerged as the safest and best alternative for many patients. Dreiling prefers to use this procedure at LMH to avoid the side effects of drugs and the dangers of surgical options whenever possible.

From thirty to fifty people present with symptoms of a heart attack (acute myocardial infraction) at the Cardiac Cath Lab at Lawrence Memorial Hospital each year. Dreiling and his team of doctors, surgeons, and technicians respond to those situations 24/7, frequently using angioplasty. The department has very low mortality rate—only 5%. They have saved hundreds of lives during the past nine years.

Trained in pharmacology before he pursued a medical degree at University of Kansas School of Medical, Dr. Dreiling is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Cardiovascular Disease, and Interventional Cardiology.

February 6, 2017