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LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WINS SECOND PLACE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPETITION CVMS WELCOMES NEWEST MEMBER OF TRACK TEAM AND TEAM KARLIE

At the inaugural GO Pitch Competition, a “Shark Tank” style event where local entrepreneurs competed for grand prize money, Benchsmart Benches, a budding business of three Daviess County High School students, claimed second place and the crowd favorite award to earn a total of $4,000. Benchsmart Benches is the creation of three Daviess County High School Seniors: Daniel Flick, Noah Clark, and Preston Smith. They created and have produced a bench that allows a person to charge their devices via solar powered electronic chargers. The concept stems from society’s increased reliance on technology, the need for more renewable energy, and peoples’ urge to go outside despite having responsibilities online. Smith said he was awestruck to both get second and win the crowd vote. “To win crowd favorite is also very touching because it means that we really resonated with people in the room, not just the people who know the financials and the actual business side of things, but also the public relations side as well,” he said. Smith said the next step is to make sure they can get a patent for their product, which he said will be unique from other smart benches that can be found online. “As a small business, we would be able to fully customize the bench for people’s likings — if they would prefer an ad on it, if they would prefer their own business’s logo on it, if they would like to make it shorter or longer,” he said. “We even looked at the future of WiFi; you could do mesh networks where you can put a booster underneath the bench and put them every so many feet apart, then you can easily carry a WiFi network all around a park.” College View Middle School seventhgrader Peyton Howard is the newest member of the CVMS Vikings track team – and the newest member of Team Karlie. Team Karlie was created in 2009 by Jeff Miller, who was then a health room technician at Burns Middle School, and Amanda Owen, who was a special services teacher at BMS and is now the executive director of Puzzle Pieces. Team Karlie was designed to allow students with physical disabilities to experience the excitement of athletic competition by providing special racing wheelchairs that are pushed by other runners. The project was named for Karlie Hempel, whose first race was a 5K in which she and Jeff Miller “teamed up” with a special running stroller that was purchased by donations from BMS students and staff members. Team Karlie was featured on the Katie Couric Show in 2014. Peyton will compete in three events at his first race on April 28 on the CVMS track. The meet begins at 4:30 p.m. and Peyton will compete in the 100-meter dash, 400-meter dash, and the 4x800 meter relay. In addition, Peyton has accepted an invitation to compete with the CVMS crosscountry team this fall. CVMS track coach Geoff Snyder said, “We are blessed to have Peyton as a member of our team. Peyton is such a warm-hearted person who lights up a room when he enters it.” Peyton’s racing stroller will be pushed by sixth-grader Brayden Duke, who competes in the shot put and discus events. In explaining why Braden was chosen for this honor, Snyder said, “Braden exemplifies the highest ideals of a Viking and sets a positive example for all those around him.”

OWENSBORO TEEN (AND OUR PUBLISHER'S DAUGHTER) SINGS WITH NEEDTOBREATHE

Our publisher, Jason, and his family have been big fans of NEEDTOBREATHE since their oldest daughter, Ella, was born. She’s 16 now. So, when the band came to Evansville for their acoustic tour, the whole Tanner family was sure to grab tickets. For the encore, the band came out again, but without microphones or amps. They started singing a song they typically duet with Carrie Underwood. When Carrie’s part came up, they asked for someone in the audience to sing it. According to Jason, they’ve never done that before... and they picked Ella! Once the song was over, Ella told the lead singer that she had a dream she was pulled up on stage with her family's favorite band. Crazy! Daviess County Middle School 8th grade student Bentlei Stallings is known for her record breaking times in cross country and track, where she’s been a member of the team since third grade. The 13-yearold athlete joined the Daviess County High School track team recently, running up this season. Her 4x800 relay team has several victories and she’s willing to run where she’s needed most. Her classroom teachers describe her as a leader, setting the example for her peers to follow in work ethic, attitude and effort.

“Bentlei is a dream student,” her teacher Mrs. Murphy said. “She is 'all in' in all aspects of her life.”

Hunter Wimsatt has been attending Gatton Academy at Western Kentucky University for the past two years, where he graduated in May. While there, he also fulfilled the religion requirement as an independent study class in order to graduate from Owensboro Catholic High School as well. Hunter was accepted to Yale, Northwestern, Davidson, and Vanderbilt, along with UK, UofL, and WKU. He chose to attend Yale this fall to study Computer Sciences.