There have been several admissions related to the flu at Geary Community Hospital, and the emergency room and lab are seeing a number of influenza patients. That information was provided by the hospital’s Chief Nursing Officer, Dawn Engel. “Just up to January 9th of the flu swabs we did do we had a 46% positive rate. That’s just on the swabs we did, not on the patients that were actually sick.”

Engel believes the flu cases are up from past years and it hit about two months earlier than in past years. “It usually spikes for us about February, but we had a really high spike in December that’s not usual.” Engel also thinks that could possibly happen again in mid-February.

To prevent the flu Engel said the first thing to do is get a flu shot. “The flu shot may not prevent you from getting the flu, but maybe it will lessen the symptoms. Other things are to avoid close contact with people that are sick. If you’re sick stay home. If you think that it’s the flu and you have a fever stay home at least 24 hours after that fever is gone. ” Other tips include covering your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze, wash your hands with soap and water or hand sanitizer, and avoid touching your face and nose. Be sure to keep everything clean and disinfected on surfaces.

The Martin Luther King Jr. celebration will be spread over two days in Junction City.

On Sunday the MLK observances will include a Gospel Tribute and Musical Celebration at 3:30 p.m. at the Second Missionary Baptist Church at 701 West 10th Street. The program will feature area choirs and music groups. The guest speaker will be Larry Jones, pastor of Second Missionary Baptist Church. “A Man with a Message” is the theme for the 2018 celebration.

At 10 a.m. Monday the MLK Celebration will be held at the C.L. Hoover Opera House. Dr. marche Fleming-Randle will be the keynote speaker. She is the first female African American Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement at Wichita State University. Fleming – Randle has military roots in Junction City and is author and motivational speaker.

At the celebration there will be presentations for the local Coretta Scott King Courage Award and Martin Luther King jr. Scholarship. Special music will be provided by the Geary County Children’s Choir and the Mike Brown Ensemble. The program will conclude with a community walk. All of the activities are open to the public, and admission is free.

Posted by USD 475 Communications Department via the school district’s connectED

USD 475 announced on December 20, 2017, that Jackie Bender, from Sheridan Elementary, and  Jennifer Brown, from Junction City Middle School, would be the USD 475 nominees for Kansas Teacher of the Year. Each school district is given the opportunity to nominate one elementary classroom teacher and one secondary classroom teacher for Kansas Teacher of the Year from within the district. These nominees must be a full-time classroom teacher in any state-approved or accredited school in USD 475, pre-kindergarten through grade twelve, who is planning to continue in an active teaching status.  Jackie and Jennifer were chosen by a panel of previous Kansas Teacher of the Year nominees from the school district to represent USD 475 for the 2019 school year.

Jackie Bender has been with USD 475 for three years teaching first grade at Sheridan Elementary. She is originally from upstate New York. She studied early childhood education at Niagara University and then earned her Master’s in Education with a concentration in literacy from City University of Seattle. Jackie is certified in Early Childhood Education, Early-Late Childhood Generalist, and English to Speakers of Other Languages. Her journey includes teaching pre-k, first and second grades in the states of New York, Washington, North Carolina, and Kansas.

“I love teaching at USD 475 for so many reasons.  Most important are the kids, families and my co-workers who all help create a positive, exciting, and energetic environment for the kids to learn in.  The diversity in our district is really unique and the different backgrounds our kids come from really contribute to their learning. The support we receive from the community and district is tremendous.  There is an abundance of professional and personal development opportunities.  My recent involvement in Girls on the Run was a perfect mix of being a role model for students while being able to do something I really love, which is running.” – Jackie Bender

 

Jennifer Brown has been with USD 475 for eight years. She teaches Language Arts at Junction City Middle School. She began teaching in the inner-city of Cleveland in 2002 as part of a school-based masters program. After moving to Kansas for her husband’s job, she began teaching in the district in 2007.

“I love teaching in 475 because of the people. In every position I’ve had, I’ve always been surrounded by amazing colleagues, great administrators, and fantastic kids. It really is the best place to work, learn, and grow.” – Jennifer Brown

There will be an adjustment for the annual United Way campaigns in Geary County going forward in the future.

United Way Director Nicole Mahder said when she was first hired in 2016 she agreed to take the position on a part-time basis. “With being part-time we’re finding that it’s going to be a little bit better for us to run the campaign from August until the first part of June. That way if it’s not convenient for them ( a business ) to do an internal campaign in October or November, maybe it’s more convenient for them to do a workplace campaign in February or March.”

Mahder added they want to try and work with the community and their supporters. and that will allow them to accommodate those supporters and agencies.

Fundraising for the current United Way campaign will continue until June.

The overnight and morning snow and ice in Geary County led to multiple cancellation, but fortunately no serious injury accidents on roadways in the county.

Sheriff Tony Wolf stated when Fort Riley decided to go with nonessential personnel and USD 475 closing that helped. “That took a lot of traffic off the roadway and made things a lot easier for us to deal with this morning.”

The sheriff confirmed there were a few vehicle slide-offs on roads and one non-injury accident on K-57 in the southeast part of the county. He noted there still could be some slick spots so motorists should use caution as they travel home.