East Central Neighborhood Display @ Kennedy Library

A note from Annie Poole, ECNA resident and association board member:

If you have a chance, please stop by the Kennedy Branch Library this month and check out the East Central Neighborhood display in the cases along the north wall.  Mike Mavis and I filled all 4 cases with Emily Kimbrough books and memorabilia and they look wonderful, if I may say so myself. We also were able to work in education about our neighborhood and the Washington Street Festival into the displays. In fact, the table display is mostly centered around the Festival. A big thank you to Mike who was able to provide some really unique and interesting Emily items and to Dawn for the complete collection of Emily’s books. It really looks fantastic…. Emily’s books have never shined more brightly since they were published.

Go check it out!!!!

Won’t you be our neighbor?

WIPB-TV is planning its first BE MY NEIGHBOR DAY for Sept. 12 at Canan Commons in downtown Muncie!

The free family event will focus on the importance of being a good neighbor, based on the PBS program “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” which is an animated tribute to Fred Rogers (“Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”).

The day will include appearances by Daniel Tiger himself and live performances by Ruditoonz.

But at the heart of this event will be the booths and activities that foster a neighborly spirit, including support of the arts and culture, and learning about and getting involved with our neighborhoods/community.

This is where YOU come in.

We would love for you to come and set up a booth in our “neighborhood.” The booths and activities will be lined up like neighborhood streets (complete with street signs), and children will be given maps for this neighborhood, where they will not only learn about their great neighbors at each stop, but participate in some activities designed to give back to our community.

Parents will be encouraged to learn about each organization, join in the fun with their children and, hopefully, sign up to volunteer or help in some other way.

And that’s just the beginning. There’s so much more! (Can you tell we are excited?)

That’s Sept. 12, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Canan Commons.

For more information about how to get involved, please contact Michelle Kinsey, WIPB-TV & IPR Community Engagement Coordinator, at  765.285.5887 or mkinsey@bsu.edu.

Neighborhood Conversation Series – Building Blocks for Development

Join the Whitely Community Council as they host a series of conversations on What Kids Need to Succeed. Sponsored by BY5 and the United Way of Delaware County the sessions will immediately follow the Whitely Community Council meetings which begin at 6:00 pm at the Muncie Area Career Center. Taking place over the course of four months, the conversations are scheduled for April 13th, May 11th, June 15th and July 13th. Cash prizes will be given to a handful of attendees at each event and those who come to at least three of the four conversations will be eligible for a $500 cash prize. All are welcome to attend!

WCC Building Blocks for Development Flier (pdf)

Storer Elementary Town Hall Meeting

The March 11, 2015 edition of the Star Press reported on a public meeting in which Superintendent of Schools Tim Heller proposed the possibility of closing Storer Elementary School as a cost-cutting measure. Mr. Heller will meet with the neighborhood and the community to continue this discussion on April 08th at 6:30 pm in the Storer Elementary gymnasium. This meeting is open to to the public and all are invited to attend.

UPDATE – This meeting was cancelled after the school board determined that Storer would not be closed at the end of the 2015 school year.

Schools within the Context of Community at South View Elementary – Spring 2015

Photo credit: Pastor Andy Phipps

Schools within the Context of Community is an immersive learning adventure integrating social studies, science, and language arts, with a practicum experience.

This immersive semester takes place on the south side of Muncie, within the community surrounding South View Elementary School. South View serves students coming from a community in which families have been dramatically impacted by the closing of the factories. Ninety-one percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch and their families deal with the daily impact of living in poverty in America. In order to become impactful teachers, responsive to the needs of all their students, pre-service teachers need opportunities to develop relationships of respect and understanding within the community in which they teach. Ball State students in this immersive learning journey will participate in carefully planned events in the community, along with poverty awareness events, in order to learn more about what life for students and their families might be like when living near or below the poverty line in America. While learning about the impact of poverty in the lives of those with whom they interact, students will identify a specific community need in which they will develop a plan to address in collaboration with community members.

During this immersive experience, the Ball State students will learn about children and their families by participating in community events, such as planning a Family Night that will focus on science integrated with literacy. As part of the literacy night, participating students get to choose a book to read and take home. This year we will be reading and sending science trade books appropriate to students’ reading levels home.

The students will also be working with Ross Community Center, Inc. to provide after school literacy instruction for struggling readers using iPads.

Because of the partnership established between South View, Ross Center, and Ball State, the BSU students will have the chance to develop leadership skills as they focus on high quality education for all.

February 13, 2015 – The Schools within the Context of Community students, their professor, and graduate student attended a day-long field trip visiting agencies that serve the Muncie community. The day began with a stop at the YWCA of Muncie and an inspirational tour of the East Charles St. facility given by Niki Fitzgerald, Residential Director.

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Students and Faculty next stopped at the Boys & Girls Club to learn more about the programs offered to the city’s youth. Executive Director, Micah Maxwell, inspired the immersive learning students to speak up and be prepared to present about their own program.

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Bob Ball introduced the students to Inside Out and the many services it provides to help feed the city’s hungry. The students were eager to learn about the organization’s food pantry, community kitchen and after-school food program.

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The next stop took the class to Bridges Community Services where Executive Director, Susie Kemp, gave a brief history of the organization and the Muncie population that it serves. The students were able to visit one of the housing facilities owned and operated by Bridges for a first-hand look at homelessness.

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The day’s tour ended at the historic Shaffer Chapel museum where the Schools within the Context of Community students were able to learn more about the city’s African American heritage. Eva Zygmunt, Associate Professor in the Department of Elementary Education, shared the history of the museum and the documents that it houses.

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Thank you to all those who participated in this event. The students were very excited to learn first-hand from the organizations that provide food, housing, and education to our Muncie community.