Thursday, June 8, 2023

SUMMER CONSTRUCTION

Summer STEAM Camp Enriches Local Students

"Drivers, are you ready?"

Mr. Scott Harper asked the question but already knew the answer as Robot Sphero Balls bobbed side to side, mimicking the antsy students controlling the iPad apps. And neither the robots nor the students stopped moving until the end of the two-minute game, which doubled as a chance for students to learn operating techniques.

Shelbyville Central Schools' annual STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts and Math) Camp hosted at the middle school gives rising fifth and sixth graders a chance to learn new skills and avoid a summer slump.

"STEAM camp is such a valuable asset to our community," Rachel Hutchinson, an ELA teacher and camp facilitator, said. "It allows students and teachers to engage in creative and innovative activities that help foster problem solving and collaboration with peers."

Those creative activities also include drones, building "drive bots" and solar cars, and creating terrariums in jars complete with painted rocks and moss gleaned from a teacher's property.

Facilitators include district teachers Andrew Nance, Gregg Cory, Luke Lockridge, Amy Ames, Scott Hughes, Tabitha Cole, Shanae Dees, Sarah Thorpe and Hutchinson.

The week benefits both students and staff.

"It’s fun to meet incoming sixth graders, and it’s been great for the kids to meet new and old friends from their elementary schools," Hutchinson said.  

NOTEBOOK

• Shelbyville High School freshman Aiden Smith was named to the Hoosier Heritage Conference All-Conference team this week. Smith was the only freshman selected for the honor.
• STATE NEWS: The first wave of artists set to perform on the Hoosier Lottery Free Stage at this year's Indiana State Fair has been revealed. Here's the full list of free concerts: July 28, Clint Black; July 30, Peppa Pig Live! Peppa Pig’s Adventure; Aug. 2, Keith Sweat; Aug. 6, TobyMac; Aug. 12, The Taylor Party: Taylor Swift Night; and Aug. 18, Buddy Guy. (IndyStar)

This Day in Shelby County History

2018: Ethan Larrison, a 2014 Shelbyville High School graduate, was selected in the 16th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Larrison had been a walk-on at Indiana State, where he became a four-year letter winner.

2013: Shelby County officials announced Donna Cook would be the new Human Resources director, succeeding Mike Flynn, who would be retiring in July.

2008: Blue River Memorial Park was dedicated. The 186-acre park had been in the works for approximately a decade.

2003: Shelby County Public Library director Janet Wallace unveiled a new and long-awaited Mobile Library, which made its first appearance at the Shelby County Fairgrounds. The Mobile Library was stocked with books, magazines and videos.

1998: CVS, a national retail pharmacy chain, announced plans to level part of a block and build a $2 million drugstore. The pharmacy would be the first major new retail development downtown in the past 50 years, real estate agent Steve Allen said. The project would include demolishing buildings east on Broadway to the parking lot at Cagney's, and south on Harrison Street to the law offices of Stubbs & Meltzer.

1993: Local attorney and Schwinn rider Kris Meltzer had recently moved his practice from 505 S. Harrison St., where he practiced with Charles T. Bate, Dennis Harrold and Jeffrey Bate, to 220 S. Harrison St., where he practiced with George Stubbs Sr. and George Stubbs Jr. Although The Shelbyville News called the move "a friendly one," they asked, "Still a lot of inquiring minds want to know the real reason Meltzer made the switch. Sources close to the situation say the real reason is that there is a bike rack closer to the Stubbs' office."

1988: Dorothy Frey retired after serving as Triton Central High School secretary for 25 years. She had been the secretary when the school opened, and all six former principals attended her retirement party.

1983: Stephanie Schoentrup (Waldron), Carol Watler (Southwestern), Susan Tulloh (Shelbyville), Sheila Wells (Triton Central) and Marci Hulman (Morristown) were the top academic women at each Shelby County high school. They each received a dictionary for their achievement.

1978: Norman and Anna Hatton, Waldron, found $1,000 in a billfold on the floor at the St. Paul Laundromat. They turned the billfold and money over to the proprietor of the laundromat, Jean Burch. The billfold was then claimed by Raymond Fugate, who paid the Hattons a $50 reward. Mr. Hatton had been a factory worker at Great States Corp. in Shelbyville for many years until his retirement in 1962. They bought a new porch swing with the reward money.

1973: Mark McCoy was in the lead in the Shelbyville Auxillary Police fishing rodeo at the F.O.P. pond on Knightstown Road with 34 pounds caught. Mike Creed had been the previous year's winner. Victor Chancey caught the biggest fish, a 4-and-a-half-pounder.

1968: A newspaper photo showed charter members of the St. Rose of Lima Circle, Daughters of Isabella, chatting while being honored at a 50th anniversary dinner at the Durbin Hotel in Rushville. The charter members were Mrs. Laurence Soller, Mrs. Eleanor Vatchett, Mrs. Mary Soller and Mrs. Theresa Higdon.

1963: Residents of Marion and Shelby townships prepared to vote either for or against consolidation of township schools into Addison Township and the city of Shelbyville. If the vote was favorable, Shelbyville Central School District would be formed in August.

1958: A newspaper photo showed four local boys demonstrating their pitching windups: David Epperson, Mike Dickmann, Mike Cole and Johnny Collins. All of the boys were members of the Western Auto team, which was about to play Meloy's Camera Shop.

1953: Kennedy and Morrison Parks officially opened for the summer. Nancy Cory was supervisor at Kennedy and Diane Breedlove was supervisor at Morrison. Tennis, horseshoes, ping pong and shuffleboard tournaments would all be held, Parks Director J.M. McKeand announced.

1948: Two 16-year-old boys were arrested for public intoxication. Judge Charles Campbell said he was concerned about the rise in underage drinking and the many adult contributors.

1943: Lois Addison, teacher at Thomas A. Hendricks School, received recognition in "The Etude," a nationally known music magazine, for her arrangement of "Stars and Stripes Forever," written by John Philip Sousa, as a military drill for 16 boys during a Hendricks May Day program. The boys were dressed in Uncle Sam costumes for the drill.

1938: Local attorney Ralph Adams was honored at a Republican Party meeting held in the Shelby Hotel dining room for his service as district chairman. Adams spoke and introduced Lowell Ash, newly elected county chairman.

1933: Jean Fox was appointed lifeguard for the Kennedy Park "pool," a "natural pool" at a bend in the Little Blue River. Lifelines were stretched over the pool and a diving board had been built. Fox was home in Shelbyville for the summer, a break from his job as boxing and wrestling coach at Oglethorpse University in Atlanta, Ga.

1928: The shoe stores of James Briggs on South Harrison St. and John Horst, 31 Public Square, merged and were sold to two out-of-town businessmen.

Ralph Wilcox, from the State Conservation Department, spoke about the Meltzer Place woods to the local Kiwanis Club. Wilcox, who urged tree conservation, said the woods owned by Brady Meltzer was one of the best preserved in the state.

1923: The Little Blue River Baptist Church congregation began work on a new building east of Shelbyville. Building committee members were Ralph Hester, Scott Meiks and Charles Benefiel. The design was to be similar to the Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Smithland. Little Blue River Baptist Church was organized in 1828, and congregants build a log church in the woods.

OBITUARIES

None today