Scholarly
Thumbs-up to Seymour High School senior Kyle Valencia who recently received a William R. Fry scholarship from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. The scholarship includes full tuition along with room and board.
Hearing help
Thumbs-up to Ashley Smoljo Beavers, Amy Boger Smith and Josh Self for establishing the Jackson County Hearing Aid Fund for School-Age Children back in 2006 when they were students at Seymour High School. All three students served as mentors for younger children with hearing loss. Around 20 students have received hearing aids from the fund, supported by donations from individuals and organizations, over the years including 16-year-old Maria Mateo-Pascual and three others this year. Mateo-Pascual, who was born in the Tzojbal village of Nenton in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, has profound hearing loss and did not attend school before enrolling at Seymour High School as a freshman in the fall of 2016.
Fire-free
Thumbs-up to the volunteers with the American Red Cross of Southern Indiana, Seymour Fire Department and the Medical Reserve Corp. who canvassed Village Green Mobile Home Park in Seymour giving away or replacing faulty smoke detectors for free. The American Red Cross of Southern Indiana also will visit homes in the area to inspect of smoke detectors and install free ones if needed. Call 812-522-3888 would like to receive a visit.
Green thumbs
Thumbs-up to the Green Team members with Groundwork Cincinnati-Mill Creek for recently building a foot bridge along Turkey Trail and planting grass plugs on a plains section of the 7,724-acre Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, located just south of U.S. 50 near the Jackson County line with Jennings County. The Groundwork’s program, established in 1994, focuses on teaching youth who live in urban areas the meaning of conservation and how to improve natural landscapes in urban settings while also allowing them to explore potential career opportunities in environmentalism.
A dog fight
Thumbs-down to people who walk their little dogs in the big dog section of the local dog park. That’s just asking for a dog fight.