19 minute read
Craft Time
A BUZZWORTHY CRAFT
Today I am going to show you how to make a bee. The reason I chose this was because I’m from Highland, so I thought this would be a good way to represent my school! Even if you are not a Highland Hornet, this could still be a fun summer craft! Have fun!
1
Paint a toilet paper roll yellow.
2
Cut black construction paper into three strips.
3
Glue the strips on the toilet paper roll.
4
5
6
7
Then, take a piece of yellow construction paper and cut out a circle.
Then glue it on top to make a head. Draw a cute face!
Cut blue construction paper to make wings.
Then take black pipe cleaner and make them into antennas to decorate.
Or use what you have around the house. Tissue paper is a great alternative. For older kids, add some cute ribbon for even more decoration. We made this into a bee wind sock with some black and white ribbon.
FACTS ABOUT Honey Bees
Honey bees are super-important pollinators for flowers, fruits and vegetables. This means that they help other plants grow! Bees transfer pollen between the male and female parts, allowing plants to grow seeds and fruit.
Honey bees are fab flyers. They fly at a speed of around 15 mils per hour and beat their wings 200 times per second!
Each bee has 170 odorant receptors, which means they have one serious sense of smell! They use this to communicate within the hive and to recognize different types of flowers when looking for food.
The average worker bee lives for just five to six weeks. During this time, she’ll produce around a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey.
The queen can live up to five years. She is busiest in the summer months, when she can lay up to 2,500 eggs a day!
Sadly, over the past 15 years, colonies of bees
have been disappearing, and the reason remains unknown. Referred to as ‘colony collapse
disorder,’ billions of honey bees across the world are leaving their hives, never to return. In some regions, up to 90% of bees have disappeared!
HF
12 FLOWERS THAT ARE GOOD FOR BEES: ›› Lilac ›› Black-eyed Susan ›› Lavender ›› Honeysuckle ›› Wisteria ›› Lantana ›› Mint ›› Snapdragons ›› Sunflowers ›› Sedums ›› Poppies ›› Coneflowers
MAKING IT Pet Lover’s
LUNCHBOX
You don't need to be a Pinterest queen to make some extra-fun school lunches for birthdays, special occasions, or holidays! It's as easy as using cookie cutters or "sandwich cutter kits" found in grocery stores. Watch for more lunchbox themes and inspiration in upcoming issues!
Online Classes Available for Expectant Parents
Owensboro Health Regional Hospital is here to help expectant parents prepare for their new arrival. The Maternity Services department is offering virtual facility tours, online classes and more to make sure moms-to-be are ready to welcome their newborn, even during COVID-19.
Jessica Crisp, Director of Nursing, said the team is excited to offer parents the opportunity to virtually tour the facility, because it can help expectant parents know what to expect and ease anxiety on delivery day. “The tour is an actual walkthrough of each unit and it helps prepare you for what you will experience when you come to the hospital,” she said. “After the tour, there is also a question and answer session with one of our prenatal educators. Expectant parents can inquire about anything they want to know about their stay and learn the most up-to-date visitor guidelines. It is a wonderful opportunity to become acquainted with our facility and some of our prenatal team members.”
Virtual tours aren’t the only offering. Since families can’t attend in-person classes at this time, Maternity Services is hosting online prenatal education classes. Courses offered virtually include the Prepared Childbirth Class Series, the Baby Care and Safety Class and a Breastfeeding Class. The breastfeeding course is led by an Owensboro Health lactation consultant, and the others are hosted by prenatal instructors.
“One of our most popular classes is the Sibling Class,” Crisp said. “This is a wonderful class to get other children involved and excited about the birth of their new baby brother or baby sister.”
The Sibling Class is not online, but it’s been adapted to complete at home. Parents who sign up for the class are emailed a course guide and handouts to help them teach their children. A sibling t-shirt, coloring book and stickers are also mailed to all participants.
For all classes, expectant parents can sign up online at OwensboroHealth.org/Pregnancy or by calling the Prenatal Education Registration Line at 270-417-5303. They can also contact prenatal education at PrenatalEducation@OwensboroHealth.org
if they have questions. Once signed up, participants are
contacted with instructions for accessing the online course. If parents are interested in a course that isn’t offered online, educators can work with them on an individual basis.
As expectant parents plan for delivery day, they must
remember that special visitor guidelines are in place to keep new moms and babies safe. Visitor restrictions limit who can be present at the hospital, but technology allows families to stay connected.
“Patients have been able to use FaceTime and video calls, and many other ways to connect with their families and show off their new additions,” Crisp said. “If patients do not have a device to use, we are happy to work with them to make this happen.” Even though things may look slightly different as the facility
takes extra precautions to keep patients safe, Crisp said they don’t want you to be worried about coming to the hospital. “We want our moms-to-be and their family members to know that we take pride in providing safe, high-quality patient care,”
she said. “Our patients are our number one priority. Our team
members ensure that our patients and their newborns will be
safe and well taken care of. Owensboro Health is dedicated to
providing excellent care, and we are excited to take care of our
new moms and their babies.”
For the most up-to-date information about visitor
restrictions and enhanced patient safety measures, visit
PINKY’S PINKY’S How one single mom is living her dream and teaching her daughters
By Laura Murphy // Photos by Jamie Alexander
When Sheila Crowe took over Pinky’s SnowCones & Snacks in 2015, she was one step closer to achieving her dream of owning her own restaurant one day. Crowe, a single mom, was looking for a way to supplement her income and give back to her community at the same time.
With Crowe working part-time at the
Neblett Center, she had to figure out a way to balance her new business with her work and family life. Since she enjoyed interacting with customers, she says the demands of learning the business were worth it.
In addition to snow cones, Pinky’s offers other food items such as all-beef hotdogs, nachos, and walking tacos. Crowe’s daughters, Aliehs, age 13, and SheLia, age 9 help run the business.
One aspect of the business that Crowe most enjoys is her involvement within the community. When local elementary schools hire her for school wide events, Crowe enjoys serving hundreds of students in one day.
Pinky’s has given her the opportunity to offer giveaways, host fundraising events, and teach her own kids about hard work. Crowe says her children enjoy their mom owning the business, too.
In 2019, the property where Pinky’s was parked was sold, leaving Crowe no choice but to relocate. She would have to move her business, but was unsure where she would go.
Although she was aware that she could easily move to a new spot in a different part of the city, Crowe was adamant about staying near her original location.
“This is the neighborhood where I wanted to be. I grew up in this neighborhood on Elm Street. My dad worked a lot to support us in a singleparent household. It made sense for me to want my business to stay here,” Crowe said.
Once she purchased a new location just down the road, she had quite a bit of work to do. After completing
renovations on the parking lot, adding landscaping, and new signage, in addition to renovating the floors and paint, Crowe was ready to re-open in July 2019. According to her, it became an unexpected future benefit to be pushed to move before she was ready.
“It’s so crazy because I had this goal the whole time of running my own business and not having to get up and work a full-time job. I wasn’t ready to make that move last year but I was forced to make
that move,” Crowe said. “This brought me closer to my goal.”
Aside from Pinky’s, the entrepreneur has another side job through baking. Thanks to the Kentucky Home Bakers law that passed in 2018, Crowe says she has been making cupcakes, popcorn balls, and strawberries to come up with extra income by working out of her home.
She calls this venture part of a bigger picture, to be done working for people and open her own
restaurant full time. The
ultimate goal is for her
to be her own boss while
providing for her family.
“This is only the beginning for us here in Owensboro in the food industry. It’s ‘us’ because it is me and my kids. I want to get something
built on that property
and I am going to own
it,” Crowe said. “I was
looking to invest in my
community down there
and this has all been a
blessing in disguise.”
HF
LAURA MURPHY is an eighth grade LA teacher at Daviess County Middle School. She has three kids who keep her life interesting; Jonah, Lily and Josiah. She survives on Grape Spark, Jon Gordan books and all things Grumpy Cat.
IT’S ALL ABOUT HER: The Writings of Roxy Rickard
It is apparent by the fact that 14-year-old Roxy Rickard refers to herself as an “awkwardly extroverted introvert,” that the Owensboro Middle School eighth grader has quite a sense of humor. Her published memoir, Not to be Conceited, But It’s All About Me, is a 90-page behind-the-scenes look into the teenager’s unique, and often accident prone, daily life.
With chapters detailing everything from her love of the 80s and fashion, to memories of sloth and spider bites, Roxy’s sharp wit is evident throughout every page. Although she will readily admit that she does not always easily recognize sarcasm, the often soft-spoken free-spirit is not afraid to share the realities of growing up.
“I like telling all the crazy things that I do, to my friends,” Roxy said. “I thought it would be fun to make a book out of those crazy things — I like making people laugh.”
Not to be Conceited is Roxy’s second published book in the past two years, thanks in part to the after school commitment of OMS English teacher Jenny Hudson who spent an afternoon a week for six weeks with student authors during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).
NaNoWriMo was conceived on the notion that writers would attempt to craft and complete an entire book manuscript during the 30-day span of November. Published author and Owensboro Public Schools District Literacy Coach Amy Bellamy brought the Young Writers version of the NaNoWriMo program to Owensboro Middle and High Schools three years ago.
Hudson said students were
nominated by their teachers to participate in the project, and were then asked to fill out an application form prior to participating.
“We sent out teacher recommendations to language arts teachers and then used an application process to narrow it down from there,” Hudson said. “We narrowed it down to about 10 and had five of the 10 finish, which is actually pretty good. There were some that got started and were like, ‘This just isn’t for me.’”
Out of the 10 students selected this past year, five seventh and eighth graders completed the process. But few have equalled the accomplishments of Roxy, who saw the publication of her second novel before her 14th birthday.
“That’s kind of what makes her stand out,” Hudson said, “She hasn’t done it once, she’s done it twice.”
Roxy’s first book, Chasing Buckley, which she wrote as a seventh grader, was a fiction novel about a mother trying to find her austic son who ran away in the midst of Hurricane Katrina.
“My school asked me if I wanted to write a long story again and I like humor so I made this a funny one,” Roxy said.
Roxy said she wrote her latest book over the span of one month and then spent two to three more months editing the content to reach approximately 16,000 printable words. At 43 copies, Roxy said she has sold more of her second book than her first. Both books were published through and are available for sale on Amazon and offer Roxy an opportunity to receive a small royalty from the monthly sales.
“A lot of people who have bought my book have come up to me and said that they laughed at my stories,” Roxy said. “I really think that they’re all pretty funny, mostly the ones where I get hurt because that happens a lot. But I don’t go to the hospital — it’s never been that serious.”
Roxy’s father Storm, who is also an OPS educator, finds joy in the irony that his daughter is shy around others in public, yet doesn’t mind sharing her personal mishaps in print.
“It’s funny thinking of an introvert writing and shining a light on herself and all of the follies she’s experienced in a little over a decade,” Storm said. “I think that the stories and a lot of the premise of the book is a normal situation where a mishap will happen.”
Although Roxy’s parents recognize that the majority of the topics she covers in her memoir can often be perceived as embarrassing, Storm said they are proud that she has found a platform through writing to be able to share these moments with others.
“This avenue and opportunity to produce her novel — she’s able to tell a lot about her(self) and how she came to
be who she is,” Storm said. “So brilliant, so bright, so weird — she gets to show people outside of her tight knit group who she is. By it being in written form, she’s able to mitigate the responsibility.”
While Roxy is open to writing more books and does occasionally refer to herself as a published author, her dream is to embrace her love of animals and become a zoologist. After reading her memoir, one can only hope that her
future sloth encounters will be more
positive than her last, should she choose
that career path.
Both of Roxy Rickard’s books, Chasing
Buckley, and Not to be Conceited, But It’s
The Roxie Pickrell Award
Despite the uniqueness of their names and personalities, Roxy Rickard and Roxie Pickrell have had several shared experiences. From living on the same street and attending the same kindergarten class as little girls to later playing in the band after school, the two shared a friendship and a love of creativity.
So, it should come as no surprise, that during the first week of May, Roxy Rickard was the first ever recipient of the Roxie Pickrell Award.
“We created a new award this year in honor of Roxie Pickrell,” said
OMS Principal of Operations Randy Bryant. “This award recognizes a student with great artistic ability, as well as someone who treats others in a very caring and appreciative way. The winner of this award was Roxy Rickard.”
The Roxie Pickrell award was created in memory of 13-year-old OMS seventh grader Roxie Pickrell who died unexpectedly of a brain tumor in November of 2019.
Coincidentally, November was the same month that Roxy Rickard and the other seventh and eighth grade students were working to complete their novels for NaNoWriMo.
Other 2019-2020 OMS student authors of mention: Kierra Arbuckle Johnson, Sophomore Year Georgia Calhoun, A Goose In the Middle of the Ocean Eliza Beth Francis, Phoenix Rising Isabel Bauer, Two Septembers Agoç
OMS language arts teacher and NaNoWriMo club sponsor
Jenny Hudson said November was a difficult month to try to
complete the novels because of the impact Roxie Pickrell had on the other students and those around her.
“She was a very special young lady, very mature beyond her
years,” Hudson said. “Roxie died on the 11th of November —
she left on fall break and never came back. We met once a week,
but we didn’t meet the week they had the funeral. It was an unusual time to do it [write and publish novels], especially for what was going on for those seventh grade girls.”
Hudson said that, although November was a difficult
month for both students and staff, Roxy Rickard stepped up and helped guide the NaNoWriMo sponsors and students through the finishing and publishing process of their novels.
Coming alongside her OMS classmates in a time of need, is
just another example of why Roxy Rickard received the award
of her namesake. Roxy’s parents shared the news of the award on social media after a private presentation was made.
“The ceremony looked a little different this year, but the
pride we feel is just as strong,” Roxy’s father Storm said. “Even
more so, to receive the honor as the first recipient of the Roxie Pickrell Award, for great artistic ability and a genuine care for
others...Knowing Roxie Pickrell, and watching her grow up, we are beyond proud.”
HF
MELODY WALLACE is a mom, stepmom and seventh grade language arts teacher at College View Middle School. She runs on caffeine, good deeds and the inspiring stories of others.
A GIFT OF A GIFT OF LOVE & LAUGHTER
By Elizabeth Muster • Photos by Jamie Alexander
IF you’re searching for laughter in this time of uncertainty, look — or listen, rather — no further than to 9-year-old Carly Roby. In fact, I couldn’t help but grin as I heard Carly’s incessant giggles in the background while interviewing her mother on the phone.
Carly doesn’t laugh because life is easy. Life with no sight, no speech, impaired hearing, and a feeding tube is quite the opposite. Born with cerebral palsy, Carly is confined to a wheelchair, is prone to seizures, and has undergone many surgeries. But mother Carla Roby reiterated multiple times that Carly is “a happy girl who loves everybody and everybody loves.”
This past Christmas Carly received an invaluable gift, a wheelchair swing. The present was inspired by a treasured moment that her cousin Blake Edge had captured on video a couple years before. During a family reunion, Blake’s mother and Carla’s mother were swinging Carly in a blanket. Everyone was “laughing like crazy,” and the look on Carly’s face was “pure joy.”
When Blake saw a wheelchair swing online, he wanted Carly to have one of her own. Even though she had a swing at her house, Carly was outgrowing it quickly. With Carly’s muscle-tone issues, Carla had difficulty lifting her daughter into the swing. As Blake scoured the internet, “the room started spinning” because prices were in the thousands. Maybe he could fashion one from old pipes and materials?
Next, Blake texted a picture to his uncle, Tom Jones, owner and president of Industrial Mold and Machine. Tom readily agreed with Blake’s
“thoughtful idea.” At Thanksgiving, the two stealthily measured to see if Tom’s design would fit in Carly’s yard. During the month of December, Tom and his
fabricators cut and welded the frame from new
materials. Blake’s friend and owner of D&K Powder
Coating, Brian Ray, sandblasted and powder coated the swing.
At the 2019 family Christmas celebration, Tom
and Blake surprised Carly and Carla with the swing. In early April, installation of the swing was a family affair. The front ramp folds down, so Carly can “roll right off the sidewalk, up the ramp, and onto the
swing,” said Blake. The wheelchair locks into place and Carly swings — and laughs — as long as anyone can push her. Carla is thankful for the “big family that loves [Carly] and takes good care of her.”
Now that Carly can’t attend Country Heights
Elementary School or the Wendell Foster Campus
due to the coronavirus, the swing is even more
precious. Her other favorite activities like swimming, playing at the park, going to the movies, and riding horses at Dream Riders are also closed. Even the
Bar-B-Q Festival 5K which she participates in with Team Karlie has been cancelled.
Like most kids her age, Carly gets tired of playing
in the house. “She loves being outside taking in the fresh air and the various sounds,” Carla said. So when
the weather is nice, Carly can be found outside going for a stroll, blowing bubbles, and of course, swinging.
The cost of the swing has never been mentioned, as Carly’s “deep belly laughs” are certainly priceless.
HF
ELIZABETH MUSTER is the mother of a four-year-old, the wife of a funeral director, the library media specialist at Burns Middle School, and an aspiring author of children’s books.
