Little Library of Hope

Smallwood Looks for Ways to Give Back to Community

Sasha Bush

The Ashland Beacon

It’s one thing to have a dream… it’s an entirely different thing to make that dream a reality. Dreaming big is always important but turning those dreams into a reality is much harder if you don’t have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish. For one local teen knowing what she wanted wasn’t an issue. Hope Smallwood, a seventeen-year-old junior at Boyd County High School, was selected as a 2022 Rogers Scholar. Part of being a Rogers Scholar is spearheading your own community service project. This project was right up Smallwood’s alley.

“In my free time, I like to read, hang out with friends, and volunteer. I am also involved in Key Club at both the school and district level,” shared Smallwood. Brainstorming for the Rogers Scholar project quickly began, and it didn’t take long for Smallwood to come up with the perfect way to help her community.  “The brainstorming for our projects started with identifying a need within our local community. Once I started thinking of different ideas for a possible community service project, Boyd County’s Early Childhood Academy came to mind. I knew that they didn’t have a little library, so I decided that my project would be to fix that.”

She quickly went to work on the project. “My dad and I constructed a library box, and then I began receiving donations from teachers, libraries, and family. My hope is that this project will instill a love for reading within the children of our area. This project is extremely important to me because reading is the cornerstone of all education, and I want kids to start a love for reading at a young age. So, what better age than preschool? I think that others will share in my excitement because money doesn't have to be spent in order to benefit from this little library.”

After the construction of the library’s box, Smallwood knew she had to come up with a name for this project, so she came up with the name “The Lion Cub Library.” The Lion Cub Library is free for all children at the Boyd County Early Childhood Learning Academy to use. “The hope is that any child who attends the Boyd County Early Childhood Learning Academy can take a book and share a book,” stated Smallwood.  The library features preschool age books that have been donated by various people, organizations, and schools. Had it not been for the generosity of so many caring individuals, this project would not have been possible.  “If anyone would like to help this little library grow, they can contact me (Hope Smallwood) on my Facebook page “Lion Cub Library,” said Smallwood. Currently, the Lion Cub Library is in need of any preschool level books. With any luck, this little Lions Club Library will outgrow the little library box built by Smallwood and her father.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. Then more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”- Dr. Seuss

See a Need, Meet the Need

Local Teen Uses Service to Bring Joy

Deidra Bowling-Meade

The Ashland Beacon

   American Christian minister John M. Perkins proclaimed, “Godly leadership is not about attaining recognition or glory; it's about serving others.”  It’s a rare treasure to find such leadership and servitude in today’s youth; however, Ashland Paul Blazer senior Rachael Fritz embodies the heart of service and loving thy neighbor to glorify God and not self.

   Fritz proclaimed, “I love helping others.  Service brings me joy!” 

   For the 2022-2023 school year, Fritz was selected to serve as the Family Resource Youth Services Center (FRYSC) Youth Service Member at Paul Blazer High School.  This is a short-term AmeriCorps position which provides an education award upon satisfactory completion of service to the FRYSC Corps and host site. The time commitment for the FRYSC Youth Service Member is 300 total hours which is about 8-10 hours a week. Key responsibilities for the member include but are not limited to understanding the needs of their school and local community, supporting, and maintaining the weekend backpack program, assisting with school and community programs, fundraising, meeting students’ basic needs, recruiting volunteers for projects, and building relationships with FRYSC, community partners and families within our community.

   As a Youth Service Member, Fritz had to complete a service project that was special to her.  Fritz explained her chosen project, “I decided I would like to make no sew baby blankets for the babies in NICU. My sister had her baby, but unfortunately he was in the hospital for almost a week due to having severe jaundice. While there, I had noticed all the premature babies had blankets over them to keep them in the dark. At first glance, I thought it was super sweet but didn’t think anything of it until I talked to a mom who received a blanket for her baby 18 years ago, and she still cherishes it. It was meaningful service, so it felt like the perfect opportunity to make the blankets.” The blankets will be donated at Two Hearts Pregnancy Center in Ashland, Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville and the Ronald McDonald House in Huntington.

   Each no sew baby blanket takes approximately 30 minutes to make.  The process involves laying two layers of fabric together and cutting strips around the sides of the fabric. Those strips are then tied together in a balloon knot.  Fritz formed a team to help her complete the blankets.  Those who participated in the project include: Dalin Eng, Katy Raybourn, Abby Leeper, Dylan Pierce, Caitlyn Pierce, Elizabeth Pierce, and Zoey Melvin.  A special blessing was bestowed upon all the blankets that Fritz and her team made.  The blankets were anointed and prayed over by Summit Church of the Nazarene where Fritz and many of her friends attend, so that each baby who receives the blanket will feel loved and comforted. 

   Fritz started with a goal of making 10 baby blankets and has already exceeded that by making 24. She currently has enough materials to make 30 blankets, but she would love to make even more.  Fritz is still taking donations and can be contacted by email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  Fritz remarked, “I would love to make so many that I need to recruit more volunteers from my school!  Thank you to everyone who donated so far and helped me make my goal come true.  It wouldn’t have been possible without all the support and help I have received.”

   Paul Blazer High School’s Youth Services Center Coordinator, Brittany Brown, praised Fritz, “She is always willing to lend a hand wherever she is needed and is a role model for those around her. In the time I have known Rachael, I have watched her grow in confidence while watching her show unwavering support for those that she serves. Rachael amazes me with how well she balances her commitments to her church, education, volunteer work, and community. Rachael’s servant heart and how well she gets along with others is an inspiration.”

   In addition to the blanket project, Fritz is quite active with other service projects.  She tutors at Ashland Middle School and serves daily at The Mission with Director Mike Maynard. For completing all her hours of service, Fritz received the Education Award for AmeriCorps.  For Fritz, it’s not about the scholarship or recognition; it’s about seeing a need and meeting the need. Whatever path Fritz takes in the future, service will always be a part of her life.

Local Students Shine at STLP State Championship

Deidra Bowling-Meade

Ashland Beacon

Two local schools dominated the Kentucky K-12 Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) State Championship that was held Wednesday, April 19th, at the Lexington Central Bank Center & Rupp Arena. Summit Elementary School in Boyd County Schools District and Ashland Middle School in Ashland Independent Schools District both brought home 1st place trophies, which earned them a spot to compete nationally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the International Society for Technology in Education.

Over 13,000 Kentucky K-12 students and over 3,000 adults were in attendance. According to David Couch, who is the Associate Commissioner, KY K-12 EdTech Leader & Chief Information Officer, this is the largest number of KY K-12 students that have been part of any state-wide academic, club or sports event/competition.  Couch explained the importance of the STLP program, “STLP starts at the earliest grades at the elementary school level and goes all the way through 12^th grade. Kentucky K-12 has the biggest and best STLP of its kind in the nation. STLP is not a science fair or a club. It’s much more than that. STLP designs, creates and operates technology enabled products and services for their fellow students, teachers, school, district and community. It is project-based learning of the best and most meaningful kind.  We have close to 60,000 KY K-12 students that are part of STLP.”  At the STLP State Championship, there were 2,500 KY K-12 EdTech projects/initiatives/inventions.  From that group, the competition was narrowed to identifying the top 90, then Terrific Top 20, then Elite Eight and then 4 KY K-12 state school project champions. 

Summit Elementary School’s team known as the Math Cats represented the elementary school that took home the first-place victory.  Letitia Rudie, who is the librarian at Summit Elementary and the STLP coach, worked with students Carson Holbrook, Eli Slone, Ben Smith, and Declan Ward. Rudie explained the students’ project: “I have worked with these boys the past two years as STLP students, so this project was two years in the making. The Math Cats took their interest in coding games to create over a dozen games using the Scratch coding website to help students learn math. Each game focused on a set of multiplication tables, ones through twelves, and each game had a different theme. They went into classrooms and shared the games with 3rd, 4th, and 5^th graders at our school. They wanted to have more of an impact, so they emailed teachers in two other districts that I know and asked if they would care to share the games with their students. In total, they shared their games with six elementaries in three districts.”

Fifth grader Carson Holbrook, who is part of the Math Cats, shared his experience competing in STLP, “ After competing locally with other schools, we were told that we had the chance to go to Rupp Arena and compete against hundreds of other teams from Kentucky. I was really excited! My team was proud of all of the hard work we put into our project! It was super exciting when we made it past the 2nd round and into the third and final round of judging in Lexington. When it was announced that our team was the state STLP Elementary Champion, I went through a lot of emotions: disbelief, total shock, happiness, and of course--excitement. My favorite part was working with my friends and seeing other students' excitement when playing our games at the competitions locally and at state; it proved to us that our project was helpful and enjoyable.”

Rudie praised the team, “These students took true ownership of this project, displayed an amazing work ethic, and honed 21^st century skills of collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. Winning the state championship is a major accomplishment, and I couldn't be prouder of them.”

Ashland Middle School was the middle school who took home first place after competing against 635 state projects. The students who competed included: Lyric McKeand, Kirk Walker, Brandon Mefford, Jaden Hall, Christian Morales, and Emmanuel Aguilar.  Ashland Middle School’s STLP has been led by teacher Mark Harmon for the last four years. Harmon works with the students 45 minutes every day. They are assistants during one of his classes and work on their project during that time. David Sparks serves as co-coordinator.  They also worked with Mike Polley from ACTC. He is the Computer Aided Drafting and Design program coordinator. He gave the students feedback on how to improve their initial design.

Harmon described the project created by the team, “The students developed a school safety system that addresses the urgent need for enhanced security in educational institutions. Their project features an emergency notification device, which streamlines the lockdown process, and a barricade system designed to protect students and staff. The notification device allows a school-wide lockdown to be initiated from any classroom with the push of a button. Once activated, this device sends a wireless signal to surrounding classrooms that sound an alarm. Their barricade system allows a classroom door to be reinforced with three steel rods that go into the door frame to increase classroom fortification. This device differs from most on the market because it allows police to override the lock from outside the room after the event has ended or if the perpetrator has barricaded his/her self in the room. During the development process, students developed multiple prototypes and collaborated with their school resource officer, school administrators, and the Computer Aided Drafting and Design program at the Ashland Community and Technical College.”

The team all reacted with excitement over their state championship. 

Lyric McKeand never doubted the team’s ability, “Our project was strong, so I knew we were going to win from the very beginning.”

Jaden Hall remarked, “I still can’t fully comprehend that we are the state champs of ALL of Kentucky.”

Emmanuel Aguilar commented, “When I was on stage, I looked around and we were the only middle school left. I was shocked when I realized we were going to win the title of state champion.”

Christian Morales was also surprised, “I can’t believe we were named state champs!”

Brandon Mefford exclaimed, “STLP was fun, and I can’t wait to go to Philadelphia!”

Kirk Walker agreed, “STLP was a great experience, and I am very happy to be a state champion.”

This was a wonderful opportunity for these students.  Harmon shared his thoughts about this group and the work they put in, “This is a tremendous group of students. They are very mature for their age. The problem that they chose to address was a very serious topic, and they approached it that way. Rather than assuming they had all the answers, they worked with experts and really took their life experiences and feedback to heart. I could not be more proud of them and the work they’ve done. Furthermore, I am extremely appreciative of the Ashland community. They always go above and beyond when asked to work with our students. Our STEM program has been extremely successful the last several years and it wouldn’t have been possible without their support and assistance.”

Several local schools competed at this year’s competition.  The individual and team state champions in other categories can be found on the STLP website at: https://stlp.education.ky.gov.

STLP truly changes the lives of students for the better.  The program has positively impacted several local schools within our area. Ashland Middle School has proudly represented our area as state champions three out of the four years Harmon has been in charge of STLP.  While the titles are rewarding, the program builds true student leaders who are wanting to solve today’s problems with their technology skills. Ashland Middle School student Christian Morales declared,  “Being a part of the middle school STLP team was the best decision I’ve made this year.” 

Summit Elementary’s Carson Holbrook concurred that STLP is enjoyable and something worth participating in for the future, “I will definitely be continuing to learn and develop with STLP in middle school and high school.”

Be on the lookout for wonderful yearly technology projects created by local students. Special thanks to all the local schools who have STLP opportunities and take time to advance the knowledge, skills and excitement of students through technology. Best of luck to Summit Elementary School and Ashland Middle School as you compete nationally this summer!  

An Awesome Day for Ashland Blazer’s Special Olympics

 Sasha Bush

 The Ashland Beacon

On Friday, April 14, 2023, Ashland Blazer High School held its annual Special Olympics on the school’s soccer field. This event started about 10 years ago and has been going strong ever since. It is because of the generosity, compassion, and the selfless individuals who make this event possible that this event is such success. Kids from all around showed up to compete in various events and take part in something that is not only essential to the growth of our community but also provides a plethora of opportunities for them.  Blazers Youth Service Center played an integral role in making this day so special for everyone involved. Brittney Brown, Youth Service Center Coordinator, gave us a little insight on just one of the many activities that was planned for the day, “The Youth Service Center is always excited to be a part of this special day. We always like to provide the children with a sand art activity. We have baseballs, soccer balls, and footballs for them to fill up and just have a chance to be creative. It is really important to have events like this because it not only helps to get the student morale up, but it also gives everyone in the community a chance to come together and just enjoy the day.”

Vanessa Akers, Special Education Teacher at Poage Elementary School, has been a teacher for over thirty years. “We started the Special Olympics ten years ago while I was teaching at Poage Elementary School.” Akers went on to share just how she felt events such as these are so vital to the growth of our community. “The main reason I think events like these are so important for our community is because we need all of our students to recognize that they are winners, and that being a winner doesn’t always mean coming in first place. One of the most important things to remember is that all these kids are a part of our community, and we need our community members to understand this. Events such as the Special Olympics help to educate others on the importance of making sure that everyone feels included. These kids have so much to teach us. We just have to be willing to give them a chance.”

Akers stated that had it not been for the volunteers, parents, students, community members and businesses who helped to make this event a reality that it would not be the success it is today. “Our local people really stepped up this year. These sponsors fed this entire group.  It cost us nothing, and they deserve some recognition for that. We couldn’t have done it without them,” declared Akers. This year’s sponsors included: Ironton McDonalds, Tipton’s, Double Drizzle, My Dad’s Pizzeria, 13^th Street Little Caesars, Bombshells and Ales, Dominoes, Donatos, 29^th Street B & T Deli, John Clark, JJ and Kathy Hicks, KDMC, Blackburn Giovanni’s, Moe’s, Winchester Ave KFC, Texas Roadhouse, Summit Subway, The Outback, BelleFonte, 13^th Street Tim Hortons, Cheddar’s, and Pepsi.