Residents can take part in the following events during the month of May to support Stigma Free Fishers and raise awareness for mental health:

Hope for Happiness & Movie in the Park 
Friday, May 14, 6 – 11 p.m.
This year’s Hope for Happiness event brought to you by both Fishers & HSE High Schools’ Bring Change to Mind student clubs and will be paired with Fishers Parks’ Movies in the Park. Attendees can enjoy mental health activities, food trucks, and more. The event will take place at Brooks School Park from 6-9 p.m. After the event, stick around as Fishers Parks airs the movie Onward for the first Movie in the Park of the season from 9-11 p.m.

Yoga at the Fishers Farmers’ Market 
Saturdays, 8 a.m.— noon
The Fishers Farmers’ Market is back this summer and returns every Saturday in May from 8 a.m. to noon. Take a moment to destress every Saturday morning at the market with yoga at the AMP stage! Yoga will take place from 8-9 a.m. and will be guided by various local studios in Fishers.

For an extra dose of mental wellness, mark your calendar for the annual Health & Wellness Expo at the Fishers Farmers’ Market on Saturday, May 22, to fuel your body, mind, and soul. At the Expo, Fishers residents can explore local health and wellness services and products and talk to experts one-on-one about health issues important to them. The Fishers Health Department will have a booth with tools and information to discuss mental health with residents.

Take the Pledge  
Residents are encouraged to take the pledge to learn more about mental health and share their pledges on social media using the hashtag #StigmaFreeFishers. Residents can take the pledge virtually at www.stigmafreefishers.com/pledge.

Mental Health Resources 
Other mental health resources for residents are available at www.stigmafreefishers.com. Keep up with the City on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for other updates and look for blog posts regarding Mental Health every Monday throughout May on www.thisisfishers.com.

Learn more about Stigma Free Fishers at www.stigmafreefishers.com.

When former Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board Member Diane Eaton spoke before the board at the last regular session, she urged the board to hire in interim leader and delay the hiring of a school superintendent.  After the meeting, Eaton said she was speaking for “hundreds” of other families in the school district.

Ms. Eaton is now involved with a new group calling themselves Fishers One.  The organization is in the process of applying for nonprofit status.

Eaton told LarryInFishers Wednesday night that Fishers One is mobilizing to hold the school board members accountable, with the goal of academic excellence.

The current members of the board have never hired a superintendent and, according to Eaton, should wait to hire the permanent superintendent later when the pool of candidates may be larger.

Fishers One calls itself a grassroots group.  In a news release issued Wednesday night, the organization listed these priorities:

1. Restoring academic excellence to ALL HSE Schools

2. Hiring an Experienced Superintendent with robust:
• Fiscal management with specific deficit reduction experience
• Demonstrated staff and student leadership success
• Qualifications for superintendent role of this magnitude verified by data, job titles and
experiences

3. Unifying our School Board, Teachers, students, parents and community through
unanimous support for:
• Curriculum focused on traditional education pillars and standards so ALL students are
equipped for the future
• Minimizing distractions attributed to Social Emotional Learning ( SEL) programming
• Allowing parents to be responsible for the social and moral development of their children

Fishers One will have representatives attending HSE School Board meetings, and Eaton says the group will also be involved in Fishers city government.

As spring is here (we hope) it is time to think about the out of doors.  That makes it a good time to speak with Sarah Sandquist, Director of Parks & Recreation for the City of Fishers.

We talked about plans for the new Geist Waterfront Park, as well as what to expect this year at the Spark Fishers Festival and outdoor concerts.

Below are links to the video and audio versions of my talk with Sarah Sandquist.

Matt Kegley is a top administrator for the Hamilton Southeastern Schools nd joined my on April 21st for a podcast discussion, recorded for video & audio (links below).

Dr. Kegley is involved in virtual learning, school start times, school calendars and a number of other issues.

We talked about that and more in the podcast.

The Fishers Arts Council has announced winner in the Senior Shocase competition.  Below is the news release issued by the council:

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The Fishers Arts Council announced the winners of the 2021 STAR Bank Senior Showcase during an awards ceremony held this past Friday evening, April 16th at The Art Gallery at City Hall, Fishers. Mayor Scott Fadness and STAR Bank VP Courtney Lloyd presented the award for Best in show to Hamilton Southeastern High School student, Maxim Kovalsky for his drawing entitled, “Oppenheimer.” Maxim also won first place in the painting category for his artwork entitled, “Orbit.” Scholarship awards for the evening totaled $2500.

The evening’s other big winner was Fishers High School senior, Olivia Larson. Olivia won the Jordan D. Snider Award for Art Best Reflecting Poetry or the Written Word for her piece, “A Study of Life.” The award was presented by Catherine A. Snider and Mayor Fadness. The artwork will remain on exhibit at The Art Gallery at City Hall, One Municipal Drive, Fishers during the month of April from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday.

A complete list of winners follows:

Best in Show – Maxim Kovalsky – HSE

Jordan Snider Special Award for Best Art Reflecting Poetry or the Written Word: Olivia Larson – FHS

1st Gurbani Ghuman – HSE – Drawing

2nd Riley Newton – HSE – Drawing 3rd Jordan Vanwey – HSE – Drawing

HM Brynn Patrick – HSE – Drawing

HM Hailey Brownewell – HSE – Drawing

HM Satvika Anand Raj FHS – Drawing

1st Maxim Kovalsky – HSE – Painting

2nd Isabella Romaine HSE – Painting

3rd Satvika Anand Raj – FHS – Painting

HM – Ashleigh Havrilesko HSE – Painting

1st Alamira Leem Leen Mahmoud – HSE FHS– Photography

2nd Shalom Shalem Lee – FHS – Photography

3rd Izzy Alexander FHS – Photography

HM Kylie Terpening FHS – Photography

HSE = Hamilton Southeastern High School

FHS = Fishers High School

HM = Honorable Mention

Democrat Jocelyn Vare, an at-large member of the Fishers City Council, has issued an open letter to the new Democrat that will soon take office on the council, sharply critical of her Republican colleagues.

North Central District Councilor Samantha DeLong, also a Democrat, is moving out of Indiana and resigning from the council.  A caucus of Democrat precinct officials will caucus in a few days to select Ms. DeLong’s successor.

Vare has written the open letter to whomever will take over the North Central council seat, and has used that opportunity to take issue with GOP council members.

“Unfortunately, I routinely experience reluctance from our City Council Republican colleagues to address important, non-partisan city issues,” Vare says in her letter. “For example, I’ve seen firsthand their reluctance to address Open Door Law compliance concerns that obstruct government transparency. I’ve seen their reluctance to improve the way the City Council appoints citizens to boards and commissions, even when failing to do so risks the integrity and diversity of our local government. I’ve seen their reluctance to supervise the State Road 37 construction project even though it is currently $40 million over budget. I’ve seen their reluctance to critique the Fishers Health Department, a new department of city government created hastily during the pandemic. They seem reluctant to oversee municipal spending of taxpayer funds, even though such oversight is the cornerstone of fiscal responsibility.”

Vare claims Republicans on the council “feel uncomfortable” with Democrats serving for the first time in anyone’s memory.

“A bipartisan legislative body is a new opportunity for lively debates on how to achieve the best outcomes for the city,” writes Vare. “But it requires an acceptance of diverse perspectives in order to be productive.”

“Multiple” instances are cited by Vare in her letter where the city failed to provide information she has requested.

“If I raise a constituent’s concern to the City Council but receive silence in response, I keep using my voice,” according to Vare. “And if another council member tells me that I am overstepping when I demand better for our city, I know that demanding better is exactly my job.”

Vare praises DeLong and the job she did in her tenure on the council dealing with a pandemic, but also cited the “partisan obstacles” Democrats have faced serving on the council.

Hosting a Farmers Market during a pandemic has proven to be a challenge.  In 2020, the City of Fishers tried a system of ordering online and picking up your order.  In 2021, the city plans to retain the online pick-up feature with a home delivery option, but will use guidance from the Fishers Health Department to have an in-person market in 2021.

Below is the news release issued by the city with all the details:

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The City of Fishers is updating and refreshing its comprehensive plan, called the 2040 Plan.  The first version was approved in 2016.

The City Council received an update on the plan at last Monday’s work session.

The Fishers 2040 Comp Plan creates long-range planning goals for land use, housing and neighborhoods, transportation, and parks. For more details on specific changes to the original plan, visit fishers.in.us/2040.

Process for Fishers 2040 Comp Plan Update

April 21, 2021 – Virtual Open House #1 – Zoom

May 6, 2021 – Virtual Open House #2 – Zoom

June 2, 2021 – Planning Commission Public Hearing – City Hall

June 21, 2021 – *City Council Adoption – City Hall

Virtual Open Houses

Wednesday, April 21 at 6 p.m. – Register

Thursday, May 6 at 7 p.m. – Register

Online Feedback

Residents who cannot make it to a Virtual Open House may submit feedback via an online form.

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness puts together a youth academy each year, and the current group decided to take on the task of connecting the local youth with the Fishers Fire Department.  The group made their presentation on the project before the City Council Monday night, including a TickTok video.

On hand for the presentation before the council were academy members Arianna Davis, Darlene Senisse, Noah Spirek, Savanna Jensen and Shelby Sloan.  Group member Ajaypratap Singh was unable to attend the council session.

Other members of the Mayor’s Youth Academy include:

Nataki Pettigrew has been the Equity & Inclusion Officer for Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools for roughly three months, but has been very busy during that time.  She updated the school board Thursday morning on the many programs ongoing at HSE.

She talked about student forums, feedback from district parents and collaboration with the City of Fishers, just to name a few.

Board member Suzanne Thomas asked about parents and students wanting to opt-out of equity & inclusion programs because they want less of that and more of the core subject areas.

“It’s not about teaching students what to believe, but it’s teaching them – how do we work together to deal with some of these complex problems in the world?,” replied Ms. Pettigrew.  “We can’t do that in isolation.  We have to do that together.”

Pettigrew says inclusion and diversity prepare students for the world today.

“We have to live in reality,” said Ms. Pettigrew. “For example, if someone says racism does not exist, that’s not living in reality.”

Later in the day, the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial was announced.  Following the verdict, HSE Schools released the following statement:

Continue reading Equity & Inclusion Officer addresses HSE Board plus HSE reaction to Chauvin verdict →