ON THE RECORD is a magazine by and for the youth of Louisville. In 2015, our publication transitioned from duPont Manual High School’s tabloid-size school newspaper, the Crimson Record, to a magazine that focuses on long form, in-depth storytelling created for Louisville-wide youth audience and local distribution. Using our training as writers, photographers, designers and videographers, our mission is to create quality local journalism for youth that includes the crucial, but often overlooked, youth perspective. Each issue’s content is determined and produced by youth.
OUR CREDENTIALS
On the Record is a member of the National Scholastic Press Association, the Columbia High School Press Association and the Kentucky High School Journalism Association. Previous accolades include NSPA Pacemakers and CSPA Gold Crowns. Individual stories have earned multiple NSPA Story, Design and Photo of the Year awards, along with CSPA Gold Circles and the Brasler Prize.
WHERE TO FIND OTR
On the Record is distributed to youth-friendly businesses in the Louisville area, as well as to teachers who request class sets.
If you wish to share this magazine with your students or in your business, please contact us.
Would you like to sponsor or advertise with us? More information can be found on pages 51.
Digital copies of all magazines can be found at issuu.com/ ontherecordmagazine. Additional stories can be found online at ontherecordmag.com. Check us out on Instagram @ontherecordmag and TikTok @ontherecordmagazine.
CONTACT US!
On the Record would love to hear from you! Our magazine is published by the students of the Journalism and Communications Magnet at duPont Manual High School, 120 W. Lee St., Louisville, KY 40208. Leave us feedback at ontherecordmag.com or email at ontherecord@manualjc.com.
You may also contact the faculty adviser, Matthew Rhinehart at matthewrhinehart@manualjc.com
Matthew Rhinehart adviser
Noa Yussman creative director
Jeremy Young designer
Isabella Shory writer
Maya O’Dell managing editor
Derek Bush Jr photographer
Emma Johnson assignment editor
Frances Fendig fundraising coordinator
Sadie Eichenberger photographer
Uyen Nguyen designer
Designing the Spaces You Live, Learn and Play in.
• UL Belknap Academic Building
• Frazier History Museum
• LWC Historic Water Tower
• Speed Art Museum
• 21c Museum Hotel
• Louisville Slugger Stadium
• Zappos Unboxed
We don’t just design buildings.
We shape experiences that matter to you. From stadiums to schools, we’ve helped shape places you already know.
Explore Your Future in Design!
Whether you love art, problem-solving, or engineering, there’s a place for you in architecture.
Visit knbarch.com to learn more about the featured projects and others that may inspire your own path in design.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Dear Reader,
Seeing my name on the byline of a newly published article, leading a classroom of student-journalists every weekday, editing a magazine with eight of my best friends. These moments give me a sense of purpose and have guided me throughout my three years on On The Record’s staff. I’ve always thought that’s what makes this staff, magazine and mission so unique: our passion for telling new stories that directly affect you.
But as we’ve produced this year’s Fall/Winter issue, I’ve realized how blind I’ve been to the people and organizations all around me that exist and strive for the same things our staff does.
In this issue of On The Record, our staffers have followed and told the stories of local organizations by and for the youth of Louisville.
Senior writer Michelle Parada shares her experience in the Adelante Hispanic Achievers program and dives into other organizations promoting an appreciation for their culture in Louisville’s Latino and Hispanic youth.
Sophomore writer Aurora Gilbertson and her team volunteered at and explored local organizations working to combat child welfare, and called for increased youth involvement.
And finally, sophomore writer and multimedia specialist Maggie Stone shares the story of the Kentucky Student Voice Team in their fight for a “no” vote on Amendment 2.
Along with this year’s package, you will experience an average school day of three local youth, as well as their and the community’s opinions on Louisville’s high schools. You will also read about the Louisville Free Public Library’s
recent expansion, and how youth can utilize the organization’s unique opportunities.
Read until the end to learn more about how Louisville’s complex history with redlining bleeds into the present day, how local female athletes have overcome nutritional issues and Louisville’s chapter of Guns to Gardens, an organization taking peaceful steps to combat our city’s ongoing issue of gun violence.
Each organization in this year’s package strives for an ideal: whether it’s protecting public funding for our city’s public schools or calling for more people to get involved in volunteering efforts amid a child welfare crisis, our city’s youth work for what they believe in on important issues.
Although achieving these goals is important, it’s the collaboration and passion of Louisville’s youth that make each of these groups special. It isn’t all about their objective — it’s about the steps they take.
Producing these stories has been a unique and formative experience for each of our staff members, and I hope you set this issue down having learned something new.
The creation of this issue has certainly been an adventure for me. I’ve always thought the beauty of print journalism is in the physical product, but throughout the process of creating this magazine, I’ve realized the true beauty is in the journey. I hope every story we bring to you is as enjoyable to flip through as it was for us to experience.
Talk soon,
ALMA MATTERS
Roll Call - (Top) Lucy Donohue, 16, a junior at Louisville Collegiate School. (Middle) Ella Kozoll, 15, a sophomore at the J. Graham Brown School. (Bottom) Irankunda Izabayo, 16, a sophomore at Seneca High School. Photos by Emma Johnson.
High schools carry special meaning in Louisville, even into adulthood. Here, we highlight the experiences of students and alumni at three different schools.
writing
by ISABELLA SHORY
design
by UYEN NGUYEN
So, where did you go to school?”
Many Louisville natives face this question time and time again, even decades after graduating.
To outsiders, it’s a straightforward question. Many assume it’s asking where someone attended college; the school that shaped their future life and career.
But in Louisville, this question serves as a distinct custom, a subtle inquiry into someone’s socioeconomic background that always carries the same hidden meaning: where did you go to high school?
The answer, which may seem innocuous, provides a breeding ground for stereotypes and misconceptions: what separates the “good” schools from the “bad,” or the “sheltered” private schools from the “mediocre” public?
Stereotypes like these exemplify how Louisvillians create divisions within themselves.
In an informal questionnaire conducted in October, we asked 25 Louisville teenagers about any descriptions, words or schools that came to mind when they thought of “good,” “bad” and private schools.
The respondents typically mentioned fights and low test scores to define a “bad” school.
“When I think of a bad school, I think nobody wants to be there, not the teachers or the students,” Jasmine Johnson, 16, said.
One student mentioned that certain neighborhoods may impact their perception of a school.
“Bad areas affect high schools a lot,” Alex DeLong, 16, said.
“PRP’s in a pretty bad area so it’s usually considered a bad school.”
Pleasure Ridge Park High School (PRP) had a total of 32 reports of assault or violent events and 79 reports of harassment in the 2023-24 school year. The school also scored “Well Below Expectations” according to US News’ school ranking data of PRP based on the 2020-23 academic years.
The most commonly used descriptors for “good” schools were statistics.
“I think a good high school has high test scores and has relatively few incidents of misbehavior,” one 15-year-old said.
Respondents often described private schools as “rich,” “sheltered” or “stuck-up.”
“I perceive them as rich schools. Nothing more, nothing less,” Kenneth Nwaogu, 15, said about private schools.
In Louisville, a student’s high school choice carries special meaning: it shapes their future, their identity and most significantly, how others perceive them.
However, due to JCPS’s recent decision to eliminate transportation for most magnet and traditional schools, many students have lost this choice.
According to data from a JCPS survey asking magnet and traditional school families whether they intended to stay or leave the next school year, Black students, multilingual learners and low-income students stated that they would be more likely to transfer schools than their peers following the transportation decision.
The street a student lives on or their family’s influence often determines where they go to high school, but does an institution — only present in a fraction of a person’s life — really carry that much weight in our city?
J. Graham Brown School, 7:55 a.m.
Every school day, Ella Kozoll, 15, steps through the bright blue doors of the J. Graham Brown School on a bustling street in downtown Louisville. She walks through the weapons detection system alongside kindergarteners and high school seniors, following in the footsteps of the countless students before her.
“Many people, kindergarten until their senior year, they’re pretty much going through the same routine,” Kozoll said.
Brown is one of eight magnet schools in JCPS, and the only K-12 institution in the district. It currently has just around 700 students in total, and US News ranks it as the second-best Kentucky high school, with a 100% graduation rate.
For these reasons, as well as the school’s high test scores and strong record for college acceptance, Kozoll’s parents transferred her from Hawthorne Elementary to Brown in the fourth grade.
This transition brought its own set of changes. Brown’s environment, which was mostly comprised of students who’d been attending the school since kindergarten. However, students at Hawthorne switched to a different school for grades 6-8.
Kozoll’s decision to remain at Brown for middle and high school has provided her with numerous experiences that other students may not have.
For example, the school offers opportunities to build close relationships with staff, take dual credit courses and participate in work-based learning.
But her decision to stay at Brown also has its downsides. For Kozoll, walking through the same blue doors every morning can cause a feeling of stagnancy.
“I haven’t processed that I’m in high school quite yet because we do move through the same cycle,” Kozoll said.
While the school’s small size fosters a family-like environment, Kozoll finds herself craving change.
“We’re all around the same group of people and have been for so many years,” Kozoll said. “I would just like to meet more people.”
JCPS initially created magnet schools like Brown to attract students from across the district and diversify the student population. However, according to US News’ school ranking data of Brown’s student body based on the 2020-23 academic years, 28% qualify for free or reduced lunch and 40% of students are a minority, compared to JCPS’s overall rates of 48.7% free or reduced lunch eligibility and 60% minority enrollment.
Higher family income is correlated with stronger educational outcomes for children, specifically concerning test scores and behavioral measures — the
very standards that Louisville’s youth use to define a school as “good” or “bad.”
While Kozoll agrees that Brown is well-regarded in the eyes of many Louisvillians, she believes whether a school is “good” or “bad” depends on an individual’s experiences and preferences.
“At Brown, some people have really fantastic experiences there. Some people love that school with their whole heart,” Kozoll said. “Some people really don’t like it there, it’s just a thing of taste.”
For Justin Leonard, Brown formed his identity and reputation. He met his wife there in second grade, worked as the athletic director for 13 years and now all three of his children attend. That, along with Brown’s small size, makes it a tightknit environment for Leonard.
Peer Mentor - Irankunda Izabayo, 16, a sophomore at Seneca High School, is interviewed inside an administrator’s office on Sept. 11. Izabayo is a student in the Health Science Academy and translates for the school’s students who speak Kinyarwanda and Swahili. Photo by Emma Johnson
When he told people where he went to high school, he often heard a similar response: “Is that the weird school where people sit on couches?”
Leonard, however, believes that Brown’s quirks make it special.
One distinctive quality of Brown is its ability to serve students from every zip code in Louisville, which allowed him to learn from the perspectives of students from across the city.
“A West End student like myself, blending with people from St. Matthews or Middletown or the South End, it really taught me how to work together with a lot of people from different backgrounds,” Leonard said.
He was friends with all 48 of the people he graduated with, and felt that he and his classmates formed a close community.
“Sometimes you walk into schools and there’s certain groups that hang out with each other. You’ve got the athletes at one table, and you’ve got maybe the students that like to play video games at another table, and the drama kids at another table, where here, I’ve always felt like we blend well,” Leonard said.
He believes attending Brown gave him a reputation for being intelligent and accomplished, and that this perception might have been different had he attended the school closest to his home, Shawnee High School. However, Leonard thinks his high school wouldn’t have determined his success either way.
“There’s good and bad everywhere you go,” Leonard said. “Here, Manual, Valley, Iroquois,
Ballard — it doesn’t really matter. High school’s going to be what you make of it.”
Seneca High School, 1:45 p.m.
Irankunda Izabayo, 16, sits in his health science classroom on Sep. 24. He frantically takes notes about medical insurance, overwhelmed by the amount of information he has to copy from the board. He is thousands of miles away from his home country and trying to learn content taught in his third language. Still, he’s intently focused, eagerly learning and preparing for his future far beyond this room.
Seneca High School is a public school in the Hikes Point neighborhood that US News ranks 170th in its list of best Kentucky high schools, with an 81% graduation rate. The school has a higher percentage of low-income students than Brown, with 64% qualifying for free and reduced lunch. Seneca is also a Title I school, meaning it receives additional funding to support socioeconomically disadvantaged students. However, for Seneca students, their school is more than its statistics.
Seneca participates in the Academies of Louisville program, which aims to prepare students for their future careers. After one year in the Freshman Academy, students choose one of Seneca’s various programs, like agriscience, health and innovation. This program gave Seneca’s seniors the opportunity to receive an industry certification in the 2022-
23 academic year, with 39.4% achieving this.
Izabayo chose to participate in the Health Science Academy because he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, a doctor who treated Izabayo’s family whenever they were sick.
Seneca also has a high population of multilingual learners, with around one-third of its students still learning English. Izabayo has met students from around the world who speak various languages like Spanish, Swahili or French.
“You can learn from others; you can make friends and learn their culture,” Izabayo said.
Izabayo’s home country is Rwanda. There, he mainly spoke Kinyarwanda, but he also picked up some Swahili from his parents, who are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Because of Seneca’s large multilingual population, Izabayo often serves as a peer mentor, interpreting during class for students who speak Kinyarwanda or Swahili.
“It’s really hard for them to understand others; they can’t do much for themselves because they cannot understand, so I just help translate and communicate with others,” Izabayo said.
However, Izabayo notices that the perceptions of his school differ from his experiences. At his middle school, his peers would say that Seneca was a dangerous school where violence was prevalent.
In the 2023-24 school year, Seneca tallied 20 total reports of assaults or violence and 96 reports of harassment.
I’ve always felt like we blend well, - Justin Leonard, Brown alum
While he acknowledges that too many fights happen, he still thinks that the school is the perfect place to focus on his education, explore his passions and meet students from around the world.
Freshman Academy Assistant Principal Rebecca Merkel, a Seneca graduate, also remembers hearing about negative stereotypes surrounding the school.
“I think some of the same myths and stereotypes about public school that existed a long time ago in the nineties still exist today,” Merkel said.
As a student at Seneca, Merkel loved her experience and received a quality education that helped her understand the importance of diversity. She now treasures the opportunity to lead and shape the future of the student body she once was part of.
Additionally, as she’s grown older, she’s noticed that someone’s high school doesn’t
determine their future. She witnessed this firsthand as many of her peers from Seneca went on to a variety of successful careers.
“They’re doctors, they’re lawyers, they own businesses, they work with people like Michelle Obama and Brené Brown,” Merkel said.
Still, negative perceptions of schools like Seneca persist in the Louisville community. Whenever Merkel answers the question of where she went to school, she attempts to counter any preconceived notions that someone might have.
“Because I know what that perception is like, I try really hard to be very proud,” Merkel said. “I graduated from Seneca. It was awesome.”
As an Academy Principal, she wants to foster a rigorous academic environment, but a joyful one as well. Each morning, Merkel plays music as students walk through the weapons detection line.
“Every kid at Seneca probably wants that ‘High School Musical’ experience. They want to go to cool dances. They want to have fun parties. They want to feel challenged in school. They want to meet their lifelong friends,” Merkel said.
She wants to give students an experience similar to her own and help them realize that, no matter the outside perception, students can succeed at any school.
Louisville Collegiate School, 3 p.m.
The bell sounds. Lucy Donohue, 16, collects her phone from a locked closet and makes her way to soccer practice. The campus she walks through is neatly manicured, with white pillars marking the entryways and every departing student wearing the same navy blue and yellow colors. Louisville Collegiate School is a coeducational independent school in the Highlands
WHAT MAKES A HIGH SCHOOL “GOOD?”
It really just felt like where I needed to be,
-
Julie Evans, Collegiate alum
neighborhood that serves students from pre-K through 12th grade and has a population of about 800 students. Only 28% of these students identify as people of color.
Class sizes are typically very small, with most of Donohue’s classes containing only 10-12 people. Like Brown, Collegiate’s small size contributes to a tightknit community.
“I feel like we all know who each other is, and I think it’s just a really friendly environment for the most part,” Donohue said.
While the school’s small size allows her to participate in more activities, the lack of student support is apparent.
“We have soccer but like 15 people at a game is our biggest crowd,” Donohue said.
Athletic and social events are far less popular at Collegiate than at public schools, where many of her friends experience sporting events with hundreds of attendees.
However, Collegiate’s strong alumni culture persists even into adulthood, with students who’ve attended Collegiate from kindergarten through high school earning their own nickname: lifers. Many graduates still attend pep rallies and school events, further cementing the importance of high school in the lives of Louisvillians.
When Donohue replies to the question of what high school she attends, she often hears incorrect assumptions about her financial situation.
“They’re usually like, ‘oh, so you got money,’ like, ‘you’re a rich kid,’” Donohue said.
Collegiate costs $28,600 annually for grades 6-12, but offers financial aid to qualifying families that drive this cost down.
“I am on a scholarship, and I have financial aid, and I’m not the only student that’s like that,” Donohue said.
Instead of jumping to conclusions when describing Collegiate, she wants people to think of the academic experiences she has access to.
“I also think how they transition and prepare you for college is really important,” Donohue said. “We have two college counselors and everyone gets one and we spend a lot of time discussing that throughout high school.”
Through this program and the many other opportunities Collegiate has to offer, Donohue is confident her school is successfully preparing her for the future.
Collegiate graduate Julie Evans agrees that the school’s rigorous academics were beneficial in her adult life, but what made the school most special to her were the personal relationships she fostered within the small community.
Evans attended Collegiate from first through 12th grade, following in the footsteps of her grandmother, mother and aunts who attended the school before her. There, she developed some of her most cherished friendships.
“My best friends in first grade are my best friends today,” Evans said.
Those connections were motivating factors in Evans’
decision to remain at Collegiate throughout high school.
“It really just felt like where I needed to be,” Evans said.
In On the Record’s survey, some respondents mentioned certain schools by name as “good” or “bad.”
To some, Saint Xavier, Central and Male were the “bad” schools. To others, these were the very definition of “good” schools.
This highlighted an important truth: there are no good or bad schools.
As Louisville high school students move on to adulthood, embarking on lives beyond their high school’s walls, they might face the same question as countless other Louisvillians before them.
When Ella Kozoll, Irankunda Izabayo and Lucy Donohue answer, they want others to see beyond stereotypes. Despite their different facades and reputations, continuities remain. Students are still passionate about learning, faculties build a positive environment and alumni feel pride whenever asked: “Where did you go to school?”
The Next Chapter
Chapter by Chapter - Edith Ross, 12, and Mae Donnell, 6, enjoy a quiet moment reading at the Northeast Regional Library on Nov. 16. Ross, a South Oldham Middle School student, and Donnell, an Anchorage Public School student, enjoy going to the library often to pick out new books together.
Photo by Sarah Aleissa.
All across Louisville, libraries are opening and expanding to strengthen our community. What can they do for you?
writing
by
ZOE HUGULEY design
by GRACE
KIRBY
Ilive about a mile and a half away from my local library. My mother first introduced it to me when I was two, so it was a constant anchor in my life. We’d go on sweltering summer days when our power went out to escape the heat and “nourish our minds,” as she would say. We’d go during the winter months after a coffee and hot chocolate date and pick out Christmas picture books. We’d sometimes let my little brother tag along to go to themed events or multicultural fairs.
As a pre-teen, she’d drop me off outside while she browsed the Dollar General on the opposite street. I’d lose myself in the upstairs teen section, skimming through rom-coms and easyto-read classics. Throughout my childhood, the library was a reliable friend of mine.
Now that I’m older, it’s turned more into an estranged family member; someone who watched me grow up but now only sees me once or twice a year.
This sentiment is common for many of my friends and other teens alike — reading fades out of favor and our library visits dwindle as the years go on.
Despite this, the Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) system is still going strong within communities and only growing larger in unexpected ways.
Before the pandemic, the library bustled with visitors. In August 2019, a total of 2.3 million people walked through the doors of the Louisville branches. Five years later, in August 2024, Paul Burns, the communications director of LFPL, reported a total of 1.7 million visitors, a 26% decrease.
Despite this decline, LFPL is starting to reach their pre-
pandemic numbers of in-person visits and recent expansions may increase the number of visitors.
LFPL’s checkout numbers, which include print books, e-books, audiobooks and other materials, are also increasing. In August 2019, circulation reached a total of 3,843,250, and in August 2024 the numbers hit 3,774,611 — less than a 3% difference.
One resource that has contributed to the increase in audience engagement is the Libby app, which enables library members to digitally check out books. The Libby app was previously called Overdrive and has been a tool for the library for years. During the pandemic, it increased in usage.
However, as part of its longterm vision, LFPL is planning to accommodate more people inperson by enhancing its amenities. This summer, LFPL received funding from the Louisville Metro Government to revitalize, expand and reopen Louisville libraries. Across all projects, LFPL is sitting on $46 million — with $36 million from public funding initiatives like the American Rescue Plan.
The American Rescue Plan is a United States Congressional bill created in an attempt to provide COVID-19 relief and rescue a struggling economy. LFPL specifically benefits from the Humanities Grants for Libraries program, a part of the bill that aims to deliver relief to libraries recovering from the pandemic.
The remaining money was partly raised by The Library Foundation, a local organization that reached its $10 million goal in December.
The complete $46 million budget is divided among four
of LFPL’s branches: Parkland, Portland, Fern Creek and the Main Library.
Many of LFPL’s branches were funded by the Carnegie Hall Library Campaign. The campaign, started by Andrew Carnegie in 1886, included millions of dollars in donations for libraries across the nation.
The Parkland Library was opened in 1908 and is now working on reopening after budget cuts made in 1986 led to its closure.
However, this reopening is not just about restoring a building — it’s about enhancing community life and showcasing the opportunities the library has for all ages.
According to Burns, members of the Parkland community have been advocating for the reopening of the library for decades.
“It’s a great testament to what people can do in this community when they have a goal in mind.” said Kate Schiavi, LFPL’s youth service manager. “The neighborhood and the folks who live in Parkland are really excited about that library reopening.”
The Portland branch, another one of the original Carnegie buildings, has a similar story to the Parkland branch.
“Portland hadn’t been renovated since the eighties and it was in desperate need,” Burns explained.
The plan for this branch is to not only double the space’s square footage, but also add a flair of complex architecture. By enhancing the older features of the building rather than modernizing it completely, Burns hopes it will beautify the city.
While the Portland branch focuses on revitalizing an older space, the Fern Creek branch is expanding in a new environment.
“The Fern Creek Library was closed in 2019 due to budget cuts,” Burns said. “We’re gonna be building and opening a brand new 18,000 square foot library in Fern Creek right next to Fern Creek High School.”
Assisting the neighborhood with the reopening of its library is strategic since it is positioned in one of the fastest-growing areas of Jefferson County.
In 2013, the Pew Research Center released a study stating that 94% of Americans above the age of 16 believe that “having a public library improves the quality of life in a community” — and with Fern Creek only growing in population, there’s a necessity for a library outlet.
Beyond Fern Creek, the Main Library, another Carnegie building, will be remodeled.
“We had a flood in 2009 that damaged a lot of the Main Library here and we were able to refurbish most of the historic Carnegie York
attend Meyzeek Middle School. They frequently carpool together and have been visiting the library three times a week since the beginning of the school year.
“My favorite part would have to be the computers, it’s really nice if you have to study right after school,” Nigussie said.
However, the trio often uses the library for more than just their schoolwork.
“I choose to come here because it feels like a safe place where I can do my work, where I can play games and watch movies,” Alemneh said.
Street building,” Burns said. “The 1969 edition didn’t have a whole lot of renovation done to it, so that’s the focus of the renovation this time around.”
This investment will not only enhance the library’s physical space but also reinforce its role as a welcoming environment for all patrons. While Louisville has third spaces, or social environments outside of work and home, they’re few and far between for a city of our size. LFPL helps fill this gap.
LFPL offers free WiFi, charging stations and learning centers, all in a serene atmosphere conducive to quiet learning and socializing.
I met Naomi Alemneh, 13, an eighth grader at Meyzeek Middle School, on Oct. 23 at the Main Library branch. Spiders decorated the teen lounge and pumpkins and snacks sat on a table in preparation for the library’s Teen Choice Movie Day. I saw Alemneh and two of her friends laughing and playing Uno as they waited for the movie to start.
Her friends, Elshaday Nigussie, 12, and Shaardul Basnet, 13, also
Meeting these teenagers made me realize that maybe I’ve been neglecting what the library has to offer. I used to think that LFPL’s amenities were only for children, when in reality, the library offers a wide variety of events and resources.
LFPL provides study materials such as ACT Test Prep Packs, on-site practice tests and online tutoring.
The libraries also host similar events to their Teen Choice Movie Day, like monthly arts and crafts clubs.
LFPL has long been a cornerstone of Louisville and remains a safe place for me, even when I sometimes leave my local branch unnoticed. Since its establishment, LFPL has thrived through generations, evolving to meet the ever-changing needs of its patrons, and it will continue to do so long into the future.
CHECK OUT MORE!
Growing as a Team - Shaardul Basnet, 13, Elshaday Nigussie, 12 and Naomi Alemneh, 13, meet at the Main Library on Oct. 23. They are all seventh graders at Meyzeek Middle School and meet at the library multiple times a week to utilize its resources. Photo by Iris Apple.
Video by Bailey Molinari
AGENTS CHANGE
Across the city, young people are striving for a future built on a strong sense of community through positive social change. From the Adelante Hispanic Achievers’ mission to empower youth through education and community service, to the positive example set by teens in Random Acts of Kindness Louisville, these stories highlight organizations by and for Louisville’s youth.
AGENTS OF CHANGE
Conexiones, Cultura, Comunidad
Local Hispanic and Latino Youth thrive together.
Are you doing your part?
203024- Dreams of Tomorrow
Public Funds, Private Interests
Kentucky voters say no 2 vouchers.
Louisville’s Hispanic and Latino community is thriving. Follow along to see how its youth connect to their culture.
writing by MICHELLE PARADA and NORA RUSCOE design by UYEN NGUYEN
The lunch line slowed to a crawl, stopping me just beyond the cafeteria’s double doors. Beside me, two of my friends cracked jokes and complained about earlier classes. I joined in on occasion, but I was content to listen to their conversation in the background, instead observing the familiar faces around me. The line inched forward, snapping me back to the present. It was enough for me to realize the words I’d been hearing for the last couple of minutes didn’t make sense.
When I asked what they said, they turned back to look at me and chuckled, explaining that they’d been speaking in Polish,
their native tongue.
Of course I’d known they were Polish — I’d been friends with them since kindergarten — but for some reason the idea that they could speak with each other in a way that I couldn’t understand had never occurred to me. I spoke Spanish strictly with my family members and people outside of school; I’d never had someone to casually laugh with in a language only we understood.
I felt left out.
Throughout elementary school, my surroundings were predominantly white and stayed that way even when I moved to Louisville. I had almost no contact with Spanish-speaking
classmates until the fifth grade, when I transitioned to Lassiter Middle School. There, Hispanic students made up the majority in every class.
With my new group of friends, I’d gotten exactly what I wanted — I finally had people who, like me, spoke a mix between Spanish and English with ease. But, the feeling didn’t last. Packed around our regular table in social studies, my friends and I discussed everything from weekend plans to pop culture. Unlike previous friendships, these moments felt more personal; we talked as if we’d known each other for years and not a few months. Of course, there were still disconnects.
Bailando - Valeria Lopez, 13, performs for La Casita Center’s Día de los Muertos event on Oct. 27 at the Speed Art Museum. Lopez has been a part of La Casita since she was in kindergarten.
Photo by Emma Johnson.
The conversation shifted toward the topic of music, to a song I wasn’t familiar with.
“What’s that?” I asked.
Instead of a quick answer like I’d been expecting, the girl shot back, “Of course you wouldn’t understand. You’re too white-washed.”
I’d never heard the word before, let alone been the target of it, but it didn’t take much to guess its meaning.
My friends laughed and moved on. I did not.
Growing up, my parents introduced me to modern rather than traditional music, and I’d never thought anything of it until that moment. Of course I knew that growing up surrounded by people of diverse cultural backgrounds would make me a little different, but it never occurred to me that it would be so clear to others.
For so long, I’d been too “different” than my white peers, but suddenly I wasn’t “Hispanic” enough for my new ones. That single moment, seemingly insignificant, planted the seed of insecurity in my brain. How much did I really know about my culture? How much did I really know about myself?
Adelante Hispanic Achievers
Signs decorated the walls, advertising a new program to be hosted by the school. I ignored it, instead focusing on my first class of the day — did I have homework due? A test?
“We should go,” my friend said, drawing me from my thoughts.
“Huh?” I asked absently.
She repeated herself, begging me to go with her, “just one meeting,” she said.
Maybe it was that I had nothing else to do, or maybe it was because I didn’t really believe she would go through with it, but I said I would.
The bell rang, releasing a flood of students to their lockers. While most trekked toward the buses, we turned toward the library, leaving our classmates behind. I reluctantly followed my friend into the room, standing still as she caught up with others already at the meeting. I sat next to them, expecting an awkward hello or two, but they were quick to include me in their conversations.
With just a few words, my dour mood vanished, replaced with energy I hadn’t felt in months.
Rhythmic claps alerted us to the start of the presentation, where the organizers detailed the goals of the program, what times subsequent meetings would be and any special resources it had to offer.
My first meeting with the Adelante Hispanic Achievers program had begun.
Founded in 2005 by Stephen Imhoff, the program provides middle schoolers with tutoring aid from high schoolers throughout Louisville. Imhoff, a former JCPS school board chairman, primarily wanted to provide resources and information to Hispanic and Latino youth.
Adelante is built on five pillars: personal and social development, educational preparedness, career exploration, community service and cultural awareness. Each plays a role in the creation and assignment of activities during meetings, as well as providing a space for Hispanic and Latino students to learn about each other and their roots.
After my first meeting, I promised myself that I would take advantage of the resources offered to me and learn to become a better version of myself as a Latina woman. Though I’m no longer a part of the program, I still find ways to stay in touch with my culture.
On Saturday, Oct. 19, six years after my first meeting, current members of Adelante spent their morning volunteering at the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry.
Fabiola Marin, 16, a junior at Spencer County High School, believes that Adelante lives up to its mission of providing for the youth.
“They have new opportunities and it’s really exciting because you don’t have to pay for Adelante,” Marin said. “You go and you learn and you experience new things, you meet new people.”
Since St. Vincent de Paul is dedicated to feeding those in need, volunteers who are willing to give their time to the program go a long way.
William Avendano, 17, a junior at Louisville Male High School, also helped at the event, ensuring that the pantry was as clean as possible throughout the day.
“Honestly, I just love helping. And I love the idea that the little things that I can do can go big ways for others,” Avendano said.
Throughout my time at Adelante, I gained confidence in myself, met people I never would have otherwise and
You go and you learn and you experience new things, you meet new people.
- Fabiola Marin, 16, junior at Spencer County High School
grew to appreciate and be proud of my culture. I was lucky that my school offered the program, but other, more well-known organizations across Louisville strive for the same goal: to help Hispanic and Latino youth grow comfortable with themselves and those around them.
Backside Learning Center
Thick, summer air blew past me as I ran up the stairs, through the porch and to the black rimmed door of my aunt’s house. I knocked, peering over the stained glass window — eager to see my cousins. But when the door swung open, I was face to face with my aunt.
“Where are they?” I asked, unable to hide my disappointment.
“Off at BLC,” she said, “you just missed them.”
Unfortunately for me, it wasn’t the only time I “just missed them” that summer. My cousins participated in an organization called the Backside Learning Center (BLC), a nonprofit group that focuses on supporting the racetrack workers at Churchill Downs and their families. Although I never directly participated in the program, my uncle worked as a groomer for the horses, so my cousins had been involved for years.
BLC offers resources for Churchill Downs workers in order to ease them into their daily lives in Louisville. Around 80% of the workers are immigrants, so BLC provides them with a variety of ways to learn English. Many of those workers have kids, so they created The Mom’s Group, which encourages mothers to promote literacy for their children, and
Growing Up Together, a group for teens that offers life advice in a judgment-free zone.
Taylor Ohlmann, the youth programs manager, is in charge of providing kids like my cousins with a safe space to have fun and further their education. She works with the youth in order to foster an accepting community, a breath of fresh air and a place to unwind.
“To be able to have a group where they can connect in their native language and also have similar backgrounds, with their parents working at the track, that gives them a sense of belonging and community,” Ohlmann said.
These groups were constants in my life when I was younger and helped both me and my family form stronger connections with our culture. However, both were geared more toward certain groups of youth — Adelante for
Giving Back - William Avendano, 17, volunteers with Adelante to deep clean the food pantry at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s food distribution center on Oct. 19. Photo by Emma Johnson.
middle and high school children and BLC for the kids of Churchill Downs workers.
La Casita
The most well-known operation in Louisville, open to people of all ages, is La Casita, an organization that supplies people of different cultural backgrounds with basic necessities, as well as educational opportunities.
In 2005, a group of Latina feminists founded La Casita because they wanted to make change in Louisville’s Hispanic and Latino community. Karina Barillas, the executive director of the organization, is a Guatemalan activist who loves giving back to her community.
“I think for me specifically, something that I enjoy the most is when I’m able to hang out with people and I’m able to highlight
things from our heritage,” Barillas said.
Valeria Lopez, 13, a student at Newburg Middle School, is an active member of La Casita and has been since kindergarten. Barillas’ efforts have inspired members like Lopez to have pride in showing off their culture.
“I like presenting to people my heritage and how we dance,” Lopez said.
Many young women in the program participate for the same reason as Lopez: to find a second family that promotes self-discovery, education and expression. ...
Adelante Hispanic Achievers provided me with a new community that allowed me to reconnect with my culture. BLC gave my cousins an escape to enjoy their summer. La Casita
continues to offer a creative outlet to anyone looking for a way to show off their heritage.
It is essential for groups like Adelante, BLC and La Casita to continue providing resources and opportunities that build Louisville’s youth into the leaders of the future.
Community Ties - Fabiola Marin, 16, describes how Adelante has helped her get involved with her community on Oct. 19 at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s food distribution center. Photo by Emma Johnson.
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Video by Amelia Roida
Various organizations in Louisville are combatting the child welfare crisis. However, a lack of youth support has these lights blinking out.
writing by AURORA GILBERTSON design by DAVID ROUTT
Driving through the Portland neighborhood, I noted the old, abandoned buildings lining the street, their windows broken. My destination was an old factory, four stories high, towering up into the bright sky of the Louisville morning and casting a long shadow. Paint chipped off of the outside of the structure, revealing the cracked brick underneath. The building had a rough exterior, but looks can be deceiving.
From the moment my team and I stepped through the doors, it was clear that the volunteers inside were dedicated to bettering their community. The group’s attendees gave us a warm welcome, explaining the task ahead of us. The job, though slightly difficult, turned out to be rewarding — even fun. I stopped for a moment, surveying the people around me and searching for someone to interview. I frowned.
I’d been expecting to see young volunteers, as it was an event to help kids in need, but aside from a couple of boys and us, there was no one. Where were the other kids?
When I talked to people at school, I always seemed to hear about Beta Club, KYA and other extracurriculars that require service hours. So why weren’t there more than a few youth volunteers in spaces dedicated to
improving an issue that directly affects them or their peers?
In 2024, Kentucky ranked 38th in child well-being, meaning the commonwealth is one of the worst states for children in the nation. Louisville is no exception.
Organizations across the city are working to combat these issues. Whether it’s through building beds or providing clothing and food, they work tirelessly to improve child well-being. However, as their leaders age out, it becomes more important than ever for youth volunteers to step up.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace
As I screwed the final nail in place, a thick cloud of sawdust bloomed into the air. Setting the screwdriver down, I picked up the headboard and stacked it on the pile of the others we had already completed.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP), a nonprofit organization that builds and delivers beds to children in need, hosted their annual, nationwide Bunks Across America event on Sept. 14.
For this particular event, Lowe’s donated materials and workers.
“It’s just very rewarding to actually build something that you know is going for a good cause, as opposed to just putting it in your Amazon cart and sending it off,”
Gina LeBert, the field provider manager at Lowe’s, said.
The event reached its nationwide goal of 8,000 beds — with 32 contributed by the West Louisville chapter.
Despite the branch’s accomplishments, the future of SHP in Louisville is now uncertain.
Tom Recktenwald is the founder and current president of the West Louisville chapter of SHP. Although he has successfully run the group for seven years, Recktenwald explained that he may have to step down due to how difficult managing the organization has become.
“I’ve been trying for six months to find a replacement for me and I haven’t had any success yet,” Recktenwald said.
This is why youth are so essential: older generations need teens to step up and keep Louisville’s volunteer community alive and vibrant.
While there’s a shortage of teens volunteering to combat the commonwealth’s child welfare crisis, there’s no shortage of people in need. According to Recktenwald, there are over 300 families on the waiting list for a bed in Louisville. Nationally, there are over 150,000 children in need of one.
“Little kids are sleeping with mom and keeping her awake half the night or they’re sleeping on a couch or a pile of clothes, whatever they can find,” Recktenwald said.
“The little kids, when they see it, they know ‘that’s mine.’ They don’t have much they can call their own, but that’s their bed”
- Tom Recktenwald, founder of the
West Louisville branch of Sleep in Heavenly Peace
A study conducted by the National Institute of Health in 2022 showed that kids who didn’t get a sufficient amount of sleep showed greater signs of impulsivity, stress, depression, anxiety, aggressive behavior and thinking problems. The study found that children with insufficient sleep had “impaired cognitive functions such as decision making, conflict solving, working memory, and learning.”
Luke Mickelson founded SHP 12 years ago in Twin Falls, Idaho after he learned a family attending his church and their children had been sleeping on the floor. Since then, SHP has built and delivered 66,377 beds nationwide, as well as expanded into over 325 local chapters.
Recktenwald manages all of the deliveries in Louisville alongside his team. Every week, the group brings and sets up beds for families who have applied for one.
“The little kids, when they see it, they know ‘that’s mine.’ They don’t have much they can call their own, but that’s their bed,” Recktenwald said.
SHP has come a long way since its beginnings, but if Louisville’s youth do not step up, this chapter is in danger of disappearing.
To get involved, check out their website at https:// shpbeds.org/.
Clothing Assistance Program
Boxes filled with mascara, foundation and other makeup products sprawled across the long white tables in front of me, each one meticulously labeled in Sharpie. I took only a moment to survey the refills off to the side, noting which container would supply each box, before families spilled into the room. Each grasped a trash bag in their hands, filling them with anything they might need for the coming months.
As the volunteers across the room attempted to communicate with the event’s attendees, voices and languages clashed, clouding the space with an air of chaos.
It certainly felt chaotic — the constant running between refill boxes made it impossible to focus on one thing for too long — but in the middle of the confusion sat the opposite: a young girl, no older than four, by a shelf of pants. Despite the fast-paced movements and frustrated tones around her, she gently traced a finger over a flower embroidered on a pair of jeans. She smiled and glanced at it one last time before
running off to her mother, who was looking through a separate clothing stack.
The gesture, so seemingly insignificant, cemented me in the present. Everyone in that building was volunteering for little kids like her, who find something lighthearted even in a stressful situation.
The Clothing Assistance Program (CAP) hosted the event on Nov. 4, an opportunity for refugee and immigrant families to find materials needed to settle down in Louisville. Run by the JCPS Diversity, Equity and Poverty Department and the District 15 PTA, CAP houses an assortment of clothes and other materials, free for anyone who needs it.
On Oct. 23, my team and I toured the facility.
We pulled into the empty parking lot and walked up to the warehouse. As we approached the glass door at the front entrance, we spotted a small lobby and a handful of chairs. The main area of the facility was off to the left. This room swam with clothing from infancy to adulthood, accompanied by racks of shoes that hugged the wall near a shelf of beauty products.
However, this was merely what the public saw. Packed
into a room off to the side were industrial shelves stacked with boxes of donations from major companies and nonprofits. There, we learned that CAP doesn’t only offer clothes and shoes, but personal necessities like soap, hair products and kitchenware as well.
While browsing the rows of donations, I talked to Justin Willis, the manager of CAP, about the organization’s founding.
CAP began when a group of mothers in the school district noticed that many kids had a shortage of clothes or shoes that were falling apart.
“Every kid deserves the ability to show up at school with everything they need to unlock all the opportunities that they want to capture,” Willis said.
Originally, CAP was located in a small warehouse, but as they received more donations and supplies, they needed to move to a larger location. This space has allowed them to expand and serve more members of the community.
Today, although CAP has grown into an even bigger organization, it’s still short of teen volunteers.
“We need young people with young knees and young muscles that lift and race around and slip through crowds,” Willis said.
Willis scheduled the Nov. 4 event on a day off of school and reached out to duPont Manual High School students about the volunteering opportunity. However, only three kids made an appearance.
Naomi Miller, 15, a sophomore at Manual, has been volunteering since she was in the eighth grade, but this was her first experience with CAP.
“I’m doing it for service hours for KYA and stuff like that, but I volunteered for a while and it just makes me feel good,” Miller said.
Another volunteer at this event was Nathan Newman, 16, a sophomore at Manual, who has been volunteering since he was six.
“Most of the time it is to get service hours, but it’s also a great opportunity,” Newman said. “It helps you meet new people, help people and so on.”
Families who want to come in for clothing and other products can book an appointment with their
Reason For The Work- Tom Recktenwald, the director of Sleep in Heavenly Peace’s West Louisville Chapter, describes the organization and its volunteer process at their events on Sept. 14 at a community build. Photo by Sadie Eichenberger
school’s family resource center coordinator or reach out to another administrator. For families to be eligible for clothing assistance, they must have at least one student enrolled in a JCPS school.
To get involved, reach out to Justin Willis at justin. willis@jefferson.kyschools. us or visit CAP’s website, https://15thdistrictpta.org/ cap/ for more information.
Random Acts of Kindness
Ainsley Brown, a senior at Assumption High School, discreetly tucked a small bag of food into another student’s backpack before heading over to
Minors Lane Elementary. There, she spoke to a group of fourth and fifth graders about their responsibility in their school’s Kindness Ambassadors Club.
“They’re always so eager to help other people, even if it’s their own classmates,” Brown said.
Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Louisville is a local program run by Andrew Dunn, 21, a senior at the University of Cincinnati. He founded the group in the fifth grade because he wanted to do more for his community.
RAK Louisville not only holds its own events, but also connects volunteers with other local opportunities, like their recent period products drive.
Dunn highlighted the idea that volunteering doesn’t have to be a chore.
“Go out and find things that you’re passionate about, that you want to volunteer for,” Dunn said. “Finding your passion is so important, and the earlier you can find it, the better.”
Brown has been volunteering with RAK Louisville since she was five and joined its board three years ago. She has participated in several projects, and underlined the opportunity to visit Minors Lane Elementary and teach kids how to volunteer as one of her favorites.
However, Brown doesn’t only volunteer at schools and with kids; she also works at various
A Focused Flame- Maggie Stone, 15, uses a blowtorch to brand Sleep in Heavenly Peace’s logo into a slab of wood on Sept. 14 at one of the organization’s community builds. Photo by Sadie Eichenberger
food pantries and homeless shelters. Brown enjoys working at the homeless shelter because of the people she meets.
“I don’t just hand them food or blankets or anything. I actually get to sit down and have conversations with them and hear their story,” Brown said.
Brown and Dunn are both active members in their community, which is important given the lack of youth volunteers in Louisville.
To get involved, check out their website at https:// raklouisville.com/.
…
Although I hear about volunteering so often, it seems that there aren’t enough youth volunteers where it matters most — with the youth themselves
As poor as the state of child well-being in Louisville is at the moment, it is more crucial now than ever before that teens help these organizations.
“I think it’s important for our generation to volunteer — Gen Z. I feel like we get written off about our sense of belonging in the community and our laziness,” Dunn said. “I don’t think that’s true. I think we really want to inflict change, and we’re wanting to do that from the ground up.”
Find out more about CAP here!
Video by Maggie Stone
An Equitable Resource- Justin Willis, the manager of the Clothing Assistance Program, sorts through the facility’s clothing storage in Louisville, Kentucky on Oct. 23 Photo by Sadie Eichenberger.
Illustration by Jeremy Young
Amendment 2, the “school choice” amendment, faced a sweeping defeat in November. Kentucky’s student voices helped to make it happen.
writing by MAGGIE STONE design by JEREMY YOUNG
ov. 5, 2024, was a monumental day in U.S. history. It was the day that millions of Americans finally headed to the polls to cast their votes in a consequential presidential election. However, while most voters were focused exclusively on the top of the ticket, our state’s constituents had another decision to make. On the back of the ballot were two proposed amendments to the state constitution, both of which asked seemingly simple questions. The first dealt with voting rights for non-citizens. The second began with this:
“To give parents choices in educational opportunities for their children, are you in favor of enabling the General Assembly to provide financial support for the education costs of students in kindergarten through 12th grade who are outside the system of common (public) schools…?”
With its vague wording, it’s easy to misunderstand what the amendment is trying to say — so let’s clarify. The preface, which states that it will “give parents choices on educational opportunities for their children,” prompts readers to make a choice about whether or not they support parents deciding which school their child attends.
However, this not only makes the idea of voting “no” seem like the reader does not support education, it also does not explain the implications
of the amendment. What the statement omits is the source of the “financial support:” funds for public schools. In other words, voters were asked to choose whether or not they supported the use of public funds for private school students’ tuitions.
A group of GOP lawmakers originally introduced Amendment 2 as House Bill 2 (HB2) on Jan. 26. While marketed by proponents as an initiative for school choice, critics described it as an attempt to implement Kentucky’s first voucher program.
Still, supporters championed the flexibility of the measure, which would clear the way for a discussion involving not just vouchers, but charter schools and other tax programs benefitting private schools. Many viewed it as the solution to a flawed public school system, discouraged by headlines bearing news of teacher strikes, gun threats and transportation woes.
“Something has to change with Kentucky’s education system,” said Elizabeth Post, a representative for Kentucky Students First. “We believe that change comes when parents are given more choices for where they can send their child to school.”
When the votes were tallied, Kentucky made its position on the amendment clear. The answer, in a vote split 65% to 35%, was a resounding no. Even President-elect Donald Trump’s historic support of similar “school
choice” initiatives couldn’t convince Kentucky’s abundance of deeply red districts. By 6 p.m. on Nov. 5, not a single county cast a majority “yes” vote on Amendment 2.
However, this decisive vote wasn’t guaranteed from the start. It took the effort of hundreds of advocates, many of whom were youth, to sway voters to one side.
Protect Our Schools
KY, a coalition of education organizations that led the crusade against Amendment 2, campaigned aggressively in the months leading up to the vote. Groups involved in the effort, such as the Kentucky Student Voice Team (KSVT) and the Kentucky School Boards Association, put on independent events across the state.
Strategic moves like these enabled the campaign to accomplish its eventual sweeping victory. Still, the path to “no” was not as simple as it may seem.
The Buildup
Although Amendment 2 was introduced only within the past year, the idea behind it is nothing new. In fact, Kentucky lawmakers and our Supreme Court have been at odds over funding for private education for years.
In 2017, Kentucky’s House Bill 520 (HB520) legalized the creation of charter schools, a type of school that operates under an independent board. These schools have more flexibility than
public schools, but still benefit from public funding.
HB520 was controversial, the debate lasting several hours in both the House and Senate. Its passage made Kentucky the 44th state to implement such legislation. However, the General Assembly didn’t approve a funding mechanism for the proposed schools, so no charter schools actually emerged from the effort.
In 2022, GOP lawmakers proposed a remedy to this issue in the form of House Bill 9 (HB9), which mandated the use of public school funds for charter schools. Although the bill originally passed, Governor Beshear swiftly vetoed it. Not long after, the state legislature overrode the veto. The debate finally ended at the end of 2023, when Chief Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd struck down HB9 due to unconstitutionality.
After the promise of a charter school system failed to come to fruition, the battle continued in the form of vouchers. On Feb. 23, 2021, District 50 Rep. Chad McCoy introduced House Bill 563 to the Kentucky House of Representatives. Put shortly, the bill aimed to establish a tax credit program that would help fund scholarships to private schools, using a system comparable to what a handful of other states have implemented as a “voucher program.”
The bill was passed by the General Assembly in March of 2021, but the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional the following December. In January 2024, several Republican lawmakers joined Rep. James Tipton to introduce HB2, which attempted to alter the Kentucky
Constitution so the General Assembly could provide financial support for the education of students outside of the public school system. The passage of that bill led to the proposition of Amendment 2, which would allow for the creation of both voucher programs and charter schools.
A Difficult Past
Nationally, school choice initiatives have a long and complex history, especially in the southern region of the U.S. The modern school choice movement originated in the 1950s after the Brown v. Board of Education decision ruled that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. White parents, unhappy with the verdict, promoted “freedom of choice” in order to keep their children in segregated schools.
For Their Education - The Kentucky Student Voice Team showcases their opposition to Amendment 2 with signs in Frankfort, Kentucky on Oct. 13. The students’ tour aimed to reach voters who have never heard of the amendment. Photo by Derek Bush Jr.
In Virginia in 1959, the Prince Edward County Board created the first school voucher program, then called tuition grants. Leaders resisting integration understood that many white southerners couldn’t afford exorbitant private school expenses, and the ones that could wouldn’t justify the price tag. By reducing the cost, both groups were able to send their children to these schools, keeping a decades-old system of educational segregation in place. Throughtuition programs and other initiatives, state and local governments could slash public school budgets, targeting schools with a majority Black population.
These programs and policies spread across the American South and their legacy is especially evident in Louisville today. White students make up around 80% of the student body at private schools like Collegiate, Sacred Heart Academy and Holy Cross, while JCPS’s cumulative student population is only about 38% white.
Supporters of Amendment 2 claimed that it would reverse this effect. They maintained that, through public funding, all sorts of students would be able to attend private schools. However, given the historical prejudice behind school choice decisions, this claim seems doubtful.
Many states enacted voucher programs in recent years, and the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy estimated that between 65-90% of voucher recipients already had their children enrolled in a private school the year before.
In Arizona, families received vouchers to homeschool their children. However, the funds were reportedly used for questionable expenses like horseback riding lessons, home gyms and television sets, among other things.
Spreading the Word
This piece of evidence was one of many brought up during the campaign against Amendment 2. Protect Our Schools KY, a coalition of organizations focused on equitable education in the state, facilitated the movement and launched on May 23. The coalition hosted dozens of rallies, canvassings and other events.
One of the most active organizations in the group was the Kentucky Student Voice Team, or KSVT, a group of “young people co-creating more just, democratic Kentucky schools and communities as education research, policy, and storytelling partners.” Utilizing an active student base and large online following, KSVT launched their own campaign to defeat Amendment 2.
“We believed that it was important for the student voice to be heard in this campaign, given that the amendment would directly affect us the most,” said Peter Jefferson, 17, the campaign’s coordinator.
The group’s effort crescendoed on Oct. 13, when they embarked on their “Myth Bus Tour,” a daylong trip across Kentucky. At each stop, students and adults spoke during 30-minute-long “teachins.” The speeches touched on the economic consequences of Amendment 2, the severe impact on rural schools and the problematic history of voucher programs. They often included personal anecdotes of students’ experiences in Kentucky’s public education system.
“Many of the arts and humanities programs such as speech and theater that have shaped me and provided me with a home away from home rely on the funding that this amendment would take from us,” said Ivy Litton, 17, a senior at Rowan County High School.
The students traveled from stop to stop in a bright yellow school bus, adorned with a poster that read “Public Dollars for Public Schools.” When parked, the teens dangled hand-drawn signs with brightly colored slogans like “Kick Vouchers to the Curb!” and “Honk if You Support Public Schools!” out the window. After months of weekly meetings over Zoom, the students were eager to speak on the amendment.
“When I first moved to the U.S., the first school I attended was a public school, which allowed me to have connections and explore and just learn more about who I am as a student,” said Danielle Chivero, 16, a junior at Tates Creek High School in Lexington, during the drive to Frankfort.
Chivero noted that although she is a stakeholder, her involvement in KSVT goes beyond personal interest.
“I chose to get involved because this is not only harming me, but it’s also harming everyone, every student around me.” Chivero said.
KSVT’s efforts paid off. Several local news stations covered the event, and videos uploaded to Instagram reached
“I chose to get involved because this is not only harming me, but it’s also harming everyone, every student around me.”
- Danielle Chivero, 16, Tates Creek High School
thousands of views, drawing more youth attention to the issue.
“A lot of what I’ve seen also comes from social media with people sharing stuff on their platforms,” said Mitchell Smith, 18, a senior at Atherton High School and first-time voter.
“That’s how I was introduced to the movement as a whole.”
As the topic gained more online traction, conversations surrounding it materialized more and more in real life. Katie Kolb, 17, a junior at Eastern High School, said the topic came up in her AP Government and Politics class.
“A lot of people were, again, very shocked that that was even a possibility,” Kolb said.
“Obviously, as a bunch of public school students, we don’t want funding being taken away from public schools.”
Other students made individual efforts to sway voters.
Liam Amick, 17, a senior at Trinity High School, gained a surge of attention after writing an article about the amendment for the Courier Journal in late October.
After Trinity’s president spoke to
“I want us to ensure that all students are afforded the opportunity of a great education,”
- Pamela Zipper, 7th through 12th grade director at Walden School
students about the amendment, Amick realized his stance.
“He came and talked to us about it, and said that Trinity students could get service hours to phone bank for it. As he was describing it, I was like, whoa, I don’t like the sound of this,” Amick said. “Would this not take away money from public schools?”
Amick’s article poked several holes in commonly made arguments for the amendment, including the misconception that JCPS has a spare $1 billion available. He also emphasized that most Louisville private schools already have a surplus of funding.
“In the summer of 2022, a donor provided money for Trinity to install a videoboard in the football stadium. At a high school,” Amick wrote.
Engaging young people became essential to the campaign in the weeks leading up to election day. According to a Protect Our Schools KY poll, the votes from ages 18-29 heavily leaned toward “yes” in the summer, but were a solid “no” by the fall.
Beginning on Sept. 25, just over a month before the election, KSVT flooded its Instagram with popular memes. They included an image of a pro-Amendment 2 flier edited over a broken Twix bar with the caption “Watch out parents! Out-of-state billionaires have begun hiding their pro-Amendment 2 mail in Halloween candy this year.” Another highlighted a shot from “Mean Girls” featuring the titular trio sitting in a car, captioned “get in loser, we’re stopping Amendment 2.”
Meanwhile, Kentucky Students First stuck to more traditional strategies. Throughout September and October, Kentuckians across the state received fliers in their mailboxes promoting the amendment, all with varying catchphrases.
“We need to update our constitution because moms deserve
a choice in education. 1891 was a long time ago. Women have a voice now,” one flier read, referencing Kentucky’s constitution, which was ratified before women had the right to vote.
“A vote ‘yes’ on Amendment 2 is a vote against the swamp,” read another. “President Trump wants you to support school choice, vote YES on 2.”
This specific flier featured an image of Trump speaking in front of a crowd, which included several photoshopped signs promoting Amendment 2. The fliers left many of Kentucky’s voters confused, including Pamela Zipper, the seventh through 12th grade division director at Walden School.
“I still don’t know if the information they’re providing us brings enough clarity,” Zipper said. “We can funnel money into charter schools and private-independent schools, but I still question, ‘where does that come from?’”
Zipper has worked as an educator for over 15 years in three states. She’s taught at private, public and Catholic schools. Although she is currently employed at a private institution, she still passionately supports public schools.
“I want us to stand by our public educators,” Zipper said. “I want us to ensure that all students are afforded the opportunity of a great education,” Zipper said.
The Vote
On Nov. 5, months of relentless campaigning came to a close. Kentucky’s constituents made their choice — and that choice was “no.”
The heart of the argument in favor of Amendment 2 relied on the assumption that public schools are inadequate, or that students want “out” and to choose a “better” option.
In my experience, this hasn’t been the case. I attended a private Catholic school for seven years. From kindergarten to sixth grade, I put on my plaid skirt, short-sleeved button down and color-appropriate socks every single day and walked into a class with 20 other students in it. Although many of my classmates thrived in the environment, I struggled to fit in. There were few extracurricular activities, with most of the school’s attention focused on sports. Exclusionary language revolving around race, gender and sexuality wasn’t uncommon.
When I switched to a public middle school in seventh grade, I found new friends, clubs and teachers who helped me feel welcome. There was a clear difference in the financial situations of the two schools:
my elementary school was newer and cleaner, constantly undergoing renovations, while my middle school remained a time capsule of its original 1970s design. To me, though, material differences were secondary to the differences in community.
My story is one of school choice. Participating in the opportunities I want and need is only possible because public schools have funding. For me and thousands of other students across the commonwealth, public schools have been and will continue to be our chosen place of education. This is true for some students in rural Kentucky, who may not have access to a private school in their area. It’s true for queer students whose private options may not welcome them. It’s true for students of color who may feel alienated in a private school
setting. By taking away funding from public schools, these students may only be hurt, not helped.
Although Amendment 2 is no longer a threat, many of our state’s public schools are still deeply in need. It’s essential we continue to advocate for public education, no matter the political atmosphere.
Speaking Out - Allison Slone, a special education teacher at Rowan County Senior High School, speaks at the Amendment 2 Myth Bus Tour teach-in in Frankfort, Kentucky on Oct. 13. Photo by Derek Bush Jr.
Follow the KSVT bus tour here!
Video by Maggie Stone
LINE SIGHT
As housing initiatives take shape to mitigate the effects of redlining, we must look at its century-old history.
writing by JOANNA LEE - design by JEREMY YOUNG
Piles of old cans, water bottles and food wrappers littered the floor. Black mold grew throughout the air vents and remnants of cigarette smoke caked the walls. These conditions are a grim reality for the residents of Dosker Manor, a public housing unit in downtown Louisville.
Dosker Manor is one of many units across the city that is impacted by Louisville’s history of racial division. Today, residents see those effects firsthand to such a high degree that the Louisville Metro Housing Authority is planning to demolish Dosker Manor entirely in 2026. As a result,
the unit’s residents are slowly being relocated.
This relocation is occurring right now, and Dosker Manor is just one example of how methods of segregation, including redlining, have plagued both our nation and our city.
When I first learned the definition of redlining, the complex explanations made it difficult for me to fully understand — and I wasn’t the only one.
According to a Louisvillebased survey of 44 students, 41% didn’t or only sort of knew what redlining was.
“It’s not really a commonly discussed topic,” said Wesley Buchanan, 16, a junior at Atherton High School. “I think it’s kind of in the background and it’s not reported on as much as it should be.”
I had multiple discussions with other local teens surrounding this topic, and when I asked where they first heard of it, they usually gave the same response: AP Human Geography. I took the class freshman year, and though I was introduced to the idea of redlining, it was only through its basic definition and a few examples. But what
exactly does redlining do, and how did it start?
Looking Back
Redlining refers to the practice of restricting and denying homeownership loans in certain neighborhoods due to racial and socioeconomic factors.
Though redlining dates back to the 1930s, a U.S. Supreme Court case set an important precedent 20 years prior.
In 1917, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Louisville’s Buchanan v. Warley case. Charles Buchanan, a white real estate broker, sold a home to William Warley, a Black attorney. At the time, Louisville had an ordinance that prohibited Black residents from living in a neighborhood with majority white homeowners. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People staged the Buchanan v. Warley case to challenge this ordinance. Because
Warley’s new property was located in a predominantly white area, he would not be able to live in the home, which Buchanan claimed was a violation of the due process clause. Buchanan’s claim led to the eventual overturn of the ordinance by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, discriminatory practices still occurred both federally and locally, producing a new era of housing discrimination: redlining. This process of working around equitable policies began with racial covenants in 1920. Racial covenants were clauses within housing deeds that prohibited the sale and occupation of certain properties to certain groups — especially people of color. Racial covenants were legally enforceable, allowing for the restriction of Black individuals from moving into predominantly white neighborhoods in a new way.
In 1933, President Roosevelt enacted the New Deal, which included a series of federal zoning laws aiming to protect homeowners whose property was at risk of closure. As part of the national policy, the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) supplied over one million mortgages between 1933 and 1935.
The HOLC also added a systematic neighborhood rating system, which grouped different neighborhoods into four categories: green (A), blue (B), yellow (C) and red (D). The system graded neighborhoods based on their “livability.”
Neighborhoods zoned as green were typically described as “new” and “in-demand” residential neighborhoods. They were also primarily white or higher income, with greater housing prices.
Blue-zoned neighborhoods were “still desirable,” but not as
Discussing the Divide - Wesley Buchanan, 16, defines redlining at the St. Paul United Methodist Church on Oct. 27. He highlights that, while this process is illegal, its effects are still present in Louisville. Photo by Loren Williamson.
There’s a reason why there are certain racial patterns that are exhibited in terms of where people live in Louisville to this day.
- Jeana Dunlap, city planner and urbanist
“high quality” compared to the green neighborhoods.
The third zoning level, yellow, was characterized by “expiring restrictions” and influence from “lower-grade” populations.
Red-zoned neighborhoods weren’t eligible for Federal Housing Administration backing, a key part of the New Deal’s solution to the homeownership crisis.
“If they were Black or immigrant communities or Jewish communities, they typically were rated red, 4th grade, grade D, the lowest,” Jeana Dunlap, city planner and urbanist, said.
Throughout this period, the real estate industry prioritized the socioeconomic characteristics of a neighborhood over the physical ones.
The HOLC visualized their color zoning system through residential security maps. The maps were not available to the general public, but rather used by banks and insurance companies to reject loans or mortgages within low-graded communities.
If these companies refused to give someone a loan, it was typically based on the residents’ perceived qualifications or credit.
When I think about loans, I have always understood that they are given based on the financial capability of the individual — there has never been an instance where I
have heard otherwise. But for redlining, it was different.
Due to the residential security maps, banks and insurance companies began to refuse homeownership mortgages to people in the lower yellow- and red-graded areas. As these neighborhoods were made up of Black people and immigrants, this refusal to lend mortgages prevented them from receiving proper housing.
When minorities were not offered loans, properties were often bought by wealthy people, who utilized the buildings as apartments or for rent. In poorer communities where citizens were offered loans, property owners would charge high interest rates that made loans harder to pay off, with more money going to interest rather than the loan itself. At the same time, the companies financed more mortgages for the green and blue neighborhoods, disproportionately skewing the housing market toward highergraded areas and making it more difficult for minorities to build generational wealth.
An easier way to think about this market is that if fewer expensive houses were bought in certain areas, then they were viewed as unnecessary. This idea caused a decrease in new and nicer developments created for
lower-graded neighborhoods and a more affluent market for the higher-graded — predominantly made up of white people.
Underlining Louisville
Louisville has a significant history of redlining, as it shaped many of the neighborhoods around downtown and the West End. Living in this city day to day, we might not see the effects of redlining, but its structure is an ever-present reminder of the discriminatory practice.
“There’s a reason why there are certain racial patterns that are exhibited in terms of where people live in Louisville to this day,” Dunlap said. “It’s because of the historical and present-day impact of redlining policy.”
Neighborhoods such as Russell Lee, California, Chickasaw and Park Hill — all parts of Louisville’s West End — exemplify the effects of redlining.
“When you look at Louisville, even though it’s fairly diverse, you still have an area of town that’s considered the ‘Black’ part of town, the West End, and you still have an area of town that’s considered the ‘white’ part,” said Martina Kunnecke, an activist focused on increasing housing initiatives in the West End.
Many areas in the West End lack permanent housing. Typically, people have to choose between
affordability and quality — a choice forcing many Louisville residents to reside in homes with internal and external complications.
Dosker Manor is a prime example. Since its construction in 1968, it has predominantly housed minority and low-income residents. The complex is split into three buildings, and each are in a similar condition. From carbon monoxide leaks to the usage of lead paint in Dosker Manor’s walls, the health of the residents is constantly at risk.
With a lack of quality affordable housing in the city, units like Dosker Manor are the only option for some residents. However, the Louisville Metro Housing Authority (LMHA) is working to change this.
Finding Stability
LMHA is a nonprofit organization responsible for managing housing developments within the Louisville Metro area, aiming to provide sufficient housing for all. Since January, LMHA has made an effort to address housing issues directly related to redlining, like the ones present in Dosker Manor.
“We have started a voluntary relocation effort to get people out of there because I firmly believe it’s a humanitarian crisis,” Elizabeth Strojan, the executive director of LMHA, said.
Another example of LMHA’s efforts is the Section 8 Rental Assistance, or the Housing Choice
Voucher Program. Section 8 is a federally funded program designed to assist low-income individuals in securing quality housing through vouchers.
In addition to this program, LMHA offers other financial assistance services for the community, like its Family SelfSufficiency Program. Within this program, participants work closely with a case manager to develop a plan to reach their financial goals.
It also offers each participant an escrow account, which increases in funds as their rent or income goes up. After finishing the program, they are able to use the money to put a down payment on or move into a home.
“There’s a growing gap between what people earn and what it costs to live,” Strojan said. “We exist to try to lower that cost for people.”
LMHA is not the only organization that combats the detrimental effects of redlining. Other groups continue to pave the way for change within the housing market — Housing Partnership Inc. (HPI) is one of them.
From the Ground Up
Jackhammers pounded against the concrete and the arms of a crane creaked as they moved steel beams and panels toward construction. Orange cones and yellow caution tape were scattered throughout the site, warning people of potential hazards and equipment.
Workers in white hard hats, dirt-covered jeans and neon reflective vests used radios to communicate over the noise.
I dodged around the mounds of dirt and debris, moving between the concrete columns and exposed bricks of the building before me. Inside, its wide windows allowed rays of sunlight to illuminate the wooden frames that sectioned off spaces for future bathrooms, apartment units and common spaces.
But this skeleton of a building, the Gateway on Broadway project, isn’t just steel beams, concrete pillars and wood planks; it will soon be a home for hundreds of residents relocated from low-quality housing by the end of the year, many from Dosker Manor.
HPI is a Louisville nonprofit that helps renters create plans and financial goals in order to afford a broader range of housing. HPI has developed housing projects from Ninth Street through the West End, including the recent Gateway on Broadway project, which aims to support individuals who might have been affected by redlining.
“We’ll finish about three months early completely, but we’ll start housing some of those people as early as November,”
Steve Gallahue, a project manager at HPI, said.
In addition to public housing units, HPI has developed over 1600 single-family homes.
There’s a growing gap between what people earn and what it costs to live. We exist to try to lower that cost for people.
- Elizabeth Strojan, executive director of LMHA
“We went in, boarded them all with new roofs, new kitchens, new baths, new flooring, new everything,” Gallahue said.
HPI also provides education programs to teach individuals how to become homeowners. Housing counselors work personally with residents during classes to help them improve their financial statuses and take care of their homes.
“We’re trying to take renters who normally could not afford to own their own home and educate
them to get their credit score up,” Gallahue said. “We get them into their own home so that they can break that generational poverty.”
LMHA and HPI are just two of the many organizations that aim to mitigate the housing crisis.
For youth, it might not seem possible to directly alleviate the effects of redlining, but education is the first step. Through continuous conversation and action, we are able to tackle the issue of redlining — one step at a time.
Scan the QR code for more content!
Rebuild and Renew - Steve Gallahue, a project manager of the Housing Partnership Inc., describes his favorite part of their mission at their work site on Sept. 19. He loves providing a helping hand to those in need of a new start. Photo by Loren Williamson.
Video by Maggie Stone
WHAT ARE YOU LOSING?
Finishing StrongSavannah Mooney, 17, a junior at Bullitt East High School, runs in the Class 3A Region 3 race at Seneca Park on Oct 26. She finishes fourth in the region, running an 18:40.62 5K. Photo by Suzetta Fuller.
Getting Warm - Anna DeBeer, a former captain of the volleyball team at the University of Louisville, warms up her arms before her match against Creighton University at the KFC Yum Center on Sept. 15. Photo by Suzetta Fuller.
Practicing for Perfection - Finley Hostutler, 17, practices a choreographed routine at The Vision Dance Center on Oct. 28. Photo by Suzetta Fuller.
Without enough fuel, female athletes may lose more than just their period or a few pounds — they lose aspects of their performance too.
writing by ELLA MOHR design by GRACE KIRBY
Omore hill,” I thought to myself. “Then you’re done.”
My teammates began to pass me one by one, and as I inched closer to the top, a wave of dizziness hit me. Hill repeats were usually a workout I felt strong in, but in that moment I had never felt worse.
It wasn’t until this lightheadedness occurred several workouts in a row that I realized it was a serious concern. With the help of my dad, a sports dietician, I was able to quickly find the root of my problem: improper fueling.
Even though I was able to find what was right for me, I was still curious about what I’d experienced and why no one else was talking about it. As I looked deeper into the topic, what I read surprised me: I wasn’t alone. Female athletes all across the country struggle to fuel themselves properly.
A 2013 study published in the Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism journal found that over half of all female athletes have symptoms resulting from low energy availability.
There isn’t a significant amount of research on the nutritional needs of female athletes, and many agree that they don’t have the access they need to educate themselves.
Anna DeBeer, 23, played volleyball at the University of Louisville (UofL) and is continuing
her career at Indy Ignite, a professional team. The support she received at UofL was not the sole reason for her athletic success, but she does acknowledge the difference it made.
“I definitely have learned a lot more in college as to what my body needs in order to perform my best,” DeBeer said.
While at UofL, she felt she received the nutrition support she needed from its sports dietitians and coaches. Prior to college, however, those resources weren’t freely available.
When she attended Assumption High School, DeBeer didn’t pay much attention to what she ate. Although her high school career was successful, her coaches tended to focus more on playing well and winning games than on fueling properly.
“I never really had someone sit down with me and talk through what I needed,” DeBeer said.
DeBeer never experienced intense negative impacts of improper fueling, but Reagan Gilmore, 18, did when she was in high school.
Although Gilmore is currently a runner at the University of Florida, she began to struggle with energy deficiency during her time at Assumption. Since the school did not have a dietician on staff, she had to find one herself. Assumption is not alone — the lack of nutritional resources seems to be common in high schools across Louisville.
Now, it may be even harder for high school athletes to connect with dietitians. As of January, a change in the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics requires any prospective dietitians to have a graduate degree before applying for the registration exam. Before, it was only necessary to hold a bachelor’s degree in nutrition. Caroline Blincoe, a UofL sports dietitian, found that it was easier to become registered and receive internships when she was in college through an accelerated program. Getting a master’s degree is more timeconsuming and financially straining, which may dissuade people from pursuing a career as a dietician.
“
I never really had someone sit down with me and talk through what I needed.
- Anna DeBeer, 23, University of Louisville alum
“Now, there’s a whole other step of continuing education, as before, you didn’t necessarily have to go get your master’s,” Blincoe said.
Athletes struggling with their nutritional needs may have a harder time finding dietitians since there is already a limited number of them at colleges. While UofL has a total of six dietitians, this is unique.
“From a collegiate standpoint, there’s already schools that don’t have access to a dietitian, and now you’re gonna limit the amount of dietitians there are available,” Blincoe said.
This potential decrease in dietitians makes it less likely that athletes will know how to effectively fuel. Because of this, improper fueling could become more common.
Unfortunately, improper fueling can have negative impacts on female athletes.
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) occurs when athletes repeatedly don’t eat enough to meet
their demands. Lack of sufficient energy results in fatigue, delayed recovery, decreased strength and an increased risk of injury.
Gilmore experienced these symptoms firsthand. When she was a sophomore in high school, she passed out near the end of her state cross country meet. No one could figure out why she had fainted until her mom pushed her to visit a dietitian. After working with them, Gilmore realized the incident was because she hadn’t been eating enough throughout the season.
There are many branches of RED-S. One of these is the female athlete triad, which is made up of three parts: low energy availability, decreased bone density and amenorrhea, or the absence of menstrual cycles for at least three consecutive months. Amenorrhea leads to decreased bone denstity, which means there is a higher likelihood of athletes developing stress fractures or similar injuries, which causes them to sit
The Female Athlete Triad
out for potentially long periods of time.
While former duPont Manual High School and current University of Colorado Boulder runner Jessie Secor, 20, never had a stress fracture, she did have irregular periods due to insufficient fueling. She never realized how much energy she used, even when she was crosstraining. This led to her undereating and losing her period for several months.
For many, this occurrence is nothing new. A survey of 118 female athletes in Louisville revealed that over one in four of them have dealt with symptoms of amenorrhea at some point. Without sufficient resources and support, athletes don’t know what or how much they need to eat. This struggle is only perpetuated by unreliable information from social media.
“Social media is definitely not a source I would recommend,” Secor said. “When you’re a student athlete, and you’re doing
According to kidshealth.org, the female athlete triad is a combination of three medical conditions. A female athlete can have one, two or all three parts of the triad. Since it can cause long-lasting effects, it is important to catch the signs early and receive treatment.
Amenorrhea or Irregular Periods Low Energy Avalability
Overexcercising and an insufficient diet can lead to an imbalance of hormones like estrogen, which controls a female’s monthly cycle.
Not eating or drinking enough to match a high level of exercise can lead to low energy availability.
Decreased Bone Density
Low estrogen levels, poor nutrition and insufficient calcium or vitamin D in a diet can cause decreased bone density.
as much exercise as you are doing, you need to not be eating like people on social media.”
In fact, a 2024 study published by MyFitnessPal with Dublin City University found that almost 98% of the nutrition information on TikTok was inaccurate, leaving just about 2% to be reliable.
Secor noticed how different the information was between what she saw on social media and what her coaches were telling her.
“Our coaches are telling us that, no, we need to stay on top of what we’re eating. We need to be feeding ourselves. And I would say social media is probably telling the opposite to most people,” Secor said.
The idea that carbohydrates are harmful and lead to weight gain is prevalent on social media, but when it comes to exercise, carbohydrates are the primary source of fuel for muscles and necessary for higher level performance.
Blincoe frequently emphasizes that carbs and
calories are beneficial and will not lead to excessive weight gain.
“The reality of it is, if you eat calories and you’re active, you’re not gonna gain an exorbitant amount of weight. You’re gonna be fueling for the activity that you’re doing,” Blincoe said.
Gilmore noted that changing her caloric intake significantly impacted how she felt. After this change, she had no lingering physical issues, which enabled her to run at the high level she does now.
Because it’s difficult for female high school athletes to find reliable information on nutrition, Blincoe poses an interesting solution.
“I think it would be beneficial to mandate nutrition education for athletic trainers,” Blincoe said. “If they have the basics of nutrition, they can better educate their student athletes on how much they should be eating and what they should be eating to optimize performance.”
While training does impact athletes’ overall capabilities,
nutrition plays an equally significant role.
“If you’re going into a sport, you obviously want to be great at it, and you obviously want to do the best you can,” Gilmore said. “Doing all the small stuff behind the scenes, especially nutrition, is what’s really going to distinguish the good people from the great people.”
Hydration Station - Gatorade cups filled with electrolytes sit on the bench during the University of Louisville’s volleyball game versus Creighton University at the KFC Yum Center on Sept. 15. Photo by Suzetta Fuller.
Drink Up - DeBeer drinks electrolytes to fuel her body during their match versus Creighton University at the KFC Yum Center on Sept. 15. Photo by Suzetta Fuller.
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Video by Bailey Molinari
TRANSFORMATION TOOLS OF
Photos by Sadie Eichenberger
Gun violence is decreasing nationally, but Louisville remains a hot spot — especially for youth. Guns to Gardens Louisville works to fight this trend despite restrictive legislation.
writing by LUKE BOGGS design by YINA HWANG ●
The first woman drove a light blue Mini Cooper. The shotgun sat heavy in the back of her trunk, its rusted coat sealed with years of neglect. She had inherited it from her deceased husband, a relic of the past that didn’t serve her any purpose.
Next came a large, red Ram truck. Like the woman before, the driver carried multiple aged shotguns in the bed of his pickup. Seated in the bolstered height of the vehicle, he awaited the transfer of the firearms from his truck to the disposal tent.
The third man drove a gray Hyundai, a seemingly new revolver in its trunk. The parking lot was filled with dozens of volunteers in bright orange vests, who took his firearm and started the disassembling process.
The Guns to Gardens Louisville event was in full swing.
Cars crept through the parking lot of Grace Hope Presbyterian Church, each vehicle moving with a quiet purpose, bringing their weapons to the operation’s center. The volunteers worked swiftly, moving guns from the cars’ trunks into bins to be greeted by screwdrivers, hammers and electric saws. From there, the guns were turned into gardening tools, art and jewelry. This process represents a small but meaningful step toward change, a change that aims to uplift a young community disproportionately impacted by violence.
In 2024, the age demographic with the highest number of non-fatal shootings in Louisville was 18 to 24-year-olds.
The Louisville Metro Gun Violence Dashboard anonymously surveyed some of Louisville’s youth who have been or might be impacted by this threat in their community.
“I’ll do anything to stay safe. That’s why I carry a gun or knife,” one respondent said.
“I’m on edge all the time. I can’t be caught off guard,” another said.
“I worry about my little brother getting shot,” a third source explained.
However, many of these young people are uninformed about the disproportionate impact of violence on their generation compared to others. In a city with such a high percentage of youth impacted by gun violence, anti-violence organizations like Guns to Gardens are essential to creating a better future and breaking this cycle of fear.
Guns to Gardens
Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, the national Guns to Gardens group launched to address the urgent need for peaceful approaches against gun violence. Guns to Gardens works to combat gun violence through its safe-surrender events, which are annual opportunities to turn in firearms. Once relinquished, they
are rewarded with a $50 Kroger gift card. The organization then repurposes the weapons by melting and molding them into metal goods, primarily gardening tools like shovels and hoes.
Guns to Gardens Louisville began in 2018 after a group of people from the Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church congregation created the Gun Violence Prevention Team.
“We found out that there was a national group doing Guns to Gardens,” said Eva Stimson, a volunteer for the Louisville chapter. “We were intrigued by that.”
Aiming to broaden their reach, they partnered with RAWtools and the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship to expand their initiative, insisting that they create their own local branch of Guns to Gardens.
Acquiring and managing the funds for the Louisville chapter took time, but they modeled their approach in cities where Guns to Gardens had already been implemented, like Buffalo, Denver and Asheville.
In order to mitigate the unsafe disposal of firearms, the committee researched the best way to run their local branch.
“What could we do about gun violence? None of us own guns or even know how to operate guns,” Stimson said. “It’s mostly women in our group and older women like me, so it was kind of an odd thing, but we felt very strongly about this issue because kids should not be getting shot in schools.”
“There’s no good way of getting rid of guns in Kentucky.”
- Eva Stimson, Guns to Gardens Louisville volunteer
After frequent meetings, they secured 12 places of worship across the city, ranging from Baptist churches to synagogues. Four years of planning led to Guns to Gardens Louisville’s first safe-surrender event in December of 2022.
Though few guns were turned in, the word was out: the Courier Journal covered the event, Kentucky Life documented the gun melting process and The New York Times interviewed Craig Kaviar, the blacksmith for Guns to Gardens Louisville.
Kaviar’s skills and resources are essential for the organization’s operation, with over 60 years of blacksmithing experience, as well as his own facility, Kaviar Forge.
Since the extensive coverage of the first event, Louisvillians have given up a total of 88 guns.
“Each person has their own thing, but there are guns people no longer want, that they inherited,” Kaviar said. “There are guns that their spouse had and there are suicides.”
The painful backstories behind some firearms emphasizes the need for safe gun disposal — unused or not — because any weapon has the potential to kill again.
However, Guns to Gardens Louisville’s efforts are hindered by laws governing the redistribution of used firearms.
The Cycle Continues
Kentucky Revised Statute (KRS) 16.220, a piece of state legislation instituted in 1998, mandates that guns that have been displaced or used in a homicide must be transferred to the Kentucky State Police Department and sold at a public auction.
Supporters of this statute believe that the earnings from the auction fund necessary state departments that keep the commonwealth safe. 80% of the profit made from each auction is streamlined to the Kentucky Department of Homeland Security, while the remaining 20% is given to the Kentucky State Police Department to buy body armor.
Organizations like Guns to Gardens view it from a different perspective. Despite the inherent good that comes from additional funding to safety departments, guns sold in auctions have the potential to end up back on the streets. It’s unclear as to how many auctioned firearms are used in crimes, though a 2021 Courier Journal investigation of Kentucky and Louisville police records uncovered more than two dozen examples of guns sold at auctions later resurfacing in criminal cases across the country.
“When Mayor Greenberg was elected, what he tried to do was make those guns inoperable,” said Mike Bassi, the regional director of the Southern Police Academy Institute at the University of Louisville. “I don’t think that worked because you can obviously put those things back in again and make them operational.”
However, Mayor Craig Greenberg also ordered the Louisville Metro Police Department to affix stickers on the confiscated firearms before sending them to the Kentucky State Police Department, reading, “WARNING. Deadly weapons like
this one caused 146 homicides by gunshot wound in Louisville in 2022. Fourteen of those deaths were children.”
With legislation like KRS 16.220 lingering over Guns to Gardens Louisville, smaller issues are often overlooked, like finding places of worship willing to host their events or police surveillance of their chosen location.
As groups like Guns to Gardens Louisville face these challenges, some elected officials have attempted to address the potential risks of rereleasing firearms by finding creative legal solutions.
In 2024, Kentucky House Representative Keturah Herron filed House Bill 325, which would allow for the destruction of firearms once confiscated, forfeited or abandoned. However, it did not pass its first reading in the Committee on Committees. Kentucky Senator Karen Berg filed a similar bill in 2023, Senate Bill 168, which aimed to render the firearms inoperable throughout Kentucky. Though it was introduced to the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection Committee, the bipartisan bill didn’t make it past a second hearing, whereas bills expanding open carry and preventing the enforcement of federal firearm bans received committee conferences.
“Those are the bills that are getting hearings, those are the bills that are getting attention,” Berg said in a 2023 interview with Spectrum News.
Violence following a gun’s confiscation alarms lawmakers and civilians alike. Though efforts have been made by both groups to alter this cycle, many have been unsuccessful.
Regardless of whether this call for change is through protests or legislation, it is unlikely that guns will ever fully be eradicated from the hands of criminals.
“This is not new. This is old. This has been going on and going on and going on,” Berg said. “It’s just getting worse.”
This sentiment is echoed by Stimson, who, after analyzing the pattern of how guns are processed and resold, reached a grim realization.
“There’s no good way of getting rid of guns in Kentucky,” Stimson said.
…
The challenges presented by Kentucky’s gun disposal laws hinder progress toward Guns to Gardens’ goal of turning violence into hope. The tragic irony is that, while laws like KRS 16.220 are intended to fund safety initiatives, they ultimately fail to address the fundamental issue at the heart of gun violence: the guns themselves.
Louisville’s youth hold the potential to be powerful advocates for a safer Kentucky, but remain the most affected by gun violence. Without addressing the legal barriers that allow firearms to re-enter circulation, efforts to protect young people and reduce violence will remain limited.
Despite the barriers preventing Guns to Gardens from keeping these weapons completely off of the streets, the organization continues their peaceful efforts moving toward a less violent future. Scan the QR code for more content!
Video by Samiyah Taylor
Sparks - Blacksmith Craig Kaviar dismantles a gun brought to the Guns to Gardens safe-surrender event on Nov. 11. Each gun is deconstructed immediately at the event. Photo by Iris Apple.
