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Healthy love starts young

February is recognized nationally as Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about the realities of unhealthy and abusive relationships among young people. Led by organizations such as love is respect and supported by initiatives from the National Domestic Violence Hotline, this month encourages communities to have honest conversations about respect, boundaries, consent, and healthy communication. Teen dating violence affects millions of adolescents each year, yet it often goes unrecognized or unreported. By increasing education, promoting ...

State Capitol gets new security, why can’t schools get the same priority?

Feb. 15 marked National School Resource Officer Appreciation Day. As a fairly new recognition, started in 2022, many people don’t even know it exists. You might not be fully aware of what a School Resource Officer (SRO) actually does, or the critical role they play in school safety. Guns often dominate the headlines when we talk about keeping students, teachers, and school staff safe, but other measures, like having trained SROs in our schools, need to be front and center in the conversation. In the wake of the Annunciation School shooting last August, parents, administrators, and ...

It’s Amazing!

Do you realize that every day is amazing? In today’s society with the constant onslaught of awful and wearying news, it’s very easy to get worn down and not see the wonders around us. Let’s explore some goodness... Every day you awake, you have an entire and amazing day before you. Yes, we have our habits of getting to work (or not), eating, getting home, eating and, then, whatever you do to finish the waking hours. The drum beat is pretty much the same, and we may not notice all that’s around us offering beauty or wonder. Interrupt that habitual pattern of life and look ...

Going for the gold

The Winter Olympics have arrived, that quadrennial phenomenon that should be called the “It’s Cold Enough Out There to Freeze the Whiskers Off a Polar Bear!” I have nothing against people who enjoy winter sporting events. But I’ve had my fill of cold, having grown up in a drafty old farmhouse where you could see your breath when you crawled out of bed on subzero winter mornings. We mortals watch, gobsmacked, as superhuman athletes perform superhuman feats of athleticism. Thanks to the TV commentators’ observations, we soon become critics. “His left skate slid two ...

In memory

Like most of my minor honey-dos from the end of year, going through old clothing to donate to the local thrift store ended up getting done two months into the following tax calendar; mostly due to deer hunting and some late season pheasant tromps that took up the last weekends before a holiday vacation. No matter, the box of shirts, old jeans and a couple of sweaters will still likely be worth the same on next year’s filing as it would have been on this one, save for the fact that as I sorted through the faded tees and holey pants, I was afforded a free trip back in time. While ...

Country School Kids – Verlane Willard Ross and Lois Willard Giles – Moving on from District 84

We have been learning about Verlane and Lois Willard growing up with their three sisters on their farm in Sodus Township, Lyon County and attending the District 84 country school. The sisters well-recalled the visits of the Lyon County Schools Superintendent to their school. (Both sisters) Jenny Frost! (Verlane) She would bring books. (Lois) Yes! She would come to our school and then you would pick (books); read them; and bring them back. Then she’d go on to another school. (Verlane) I think every six weeks she would bring a new box of books for us. She had a puppet, Felix the ...