(Note: This podcast will be taking a few days off & will return on February 29th)

There was food, music, step dancing and strolling.  That was the celebration of African American Heritage Night at Fishers High School Thursday evening.  The Step Dance Club did their routine.  Alexandria Murphy was the event MC.  The strolling came from the Pi Lambda AKA of DePauw University.  Jaylene St. Hilaire along with Brianna and Toni Grace provided the singing.  Kendra Perkins talked about growing up in Hamilton County as an African American.  There was a pitch for providing water to Flint, Michigan from Kimacke Randall representing the Indy Flintstones Organization.

Indianapolis City-County Council Member La Keisha Jackson was the keynote speaker. She spoke of many things.  She expressed her pride in being the first person in her family to graduate from college.  She spoke of the great African American role models and how important it is to find mentors outside your family.  She talked about the importance of voting.

Fishers High School Principal Jason Urban talked about the plans for the first Black History Month event at the school 8 years ago.  The celebration has grown with an overflow crowd on hand for this event.

If you review the data, two things are clear:  heart disease is the number one cause of death around the world, and CPR can save lives.  The Fishers Fire Department and Forum Credit Union are joining forces to provide CPR training on Friday, February 19th, 9-11am, at the Forum headquarters building in Fishers.

For more details, see the news release below from the Fishers Fire Department:

=================================================

Fishers Fire Department and Forum Credit Union have partnered to provide a Family and Friends CPR class for some of the employees of the Forum Credit Union Headquarters Office.  In the spirit of Valentines, FFD and Forum Credit Union have joined forces to increase the number of people in Fishers who can provide life-saving CPR when someone goes into cardiac arrest.

On February 19^th, Fishers Fire is beta testing this partnered approach to teaching CPR.  In continued efforts to Protect the Heart of Fishers, 25 employees at the Forum Corporate Headquarters will take this 2 hour, non-certified course that will provide the techniques and skills for CPR and AED usage.

On the heels of an earlier announcement by St. Vincent Hospital to provide funding for 11 new AED’s for city parks, firefighters want to assure there are trained individuals throughout the community that are prepared and willing to take life-saving steps for others.

The department is excited about this approach to community education and looks forward to other opportunities to work with business leaders and innovators throughout the City of Fishers.

According to the American Heart Association:

o   326,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur annually

o   Many victims appear healthy with no known disease or risk factors

o   Effective bystander CPR can up to triple a victims survival

o   Only 32% of cardiac arrests receive CPR prior to emergency services

o   Only 11% of cardiac arrest victim survive

o   Of those receiving CPR and AED intervention, that raises to 31% survival rate.

o   Heart Disease remains the #1 global cause of death.

Class will be held:

2/19/16  9am-11am

Forum Credit Union Headquarters

11313 USA Parkway,

Fishers, In 46038

If you are 13 years of age or older and are enrolled in junior high or high school in Fishers, the police department plans a teen academy June 20-24.  It’s a way for teens to better understand what police officers do.  If you want in, act now.  There are only 40 spots available.

Below is the text of the news release from the Fishers Police Department:

=============================================================

The 15th annual Fishers Police Department Teen Academy will be held June 20^th – 24^thin conjunction with the Fishers YMCA.  This year’s academy will be held at Riverside Intermediate in Fishers.  The academy is one week of law enforcement type training that will allow teens to better understand how law enforcement works.  The academy will also allow teens to get to know several officers through a variety of social activities. 
 
Each day will begin at 9:00am. The teens will start each day with physical exercise.  The students will then attend classroom training followed by practical hands on skills to reinforce the lesson of the day. Each day will conclude with a social activity between officers and students. Parents can pick up their teen at 3:30pm.
 
“The children in our community are very important to us and with the success of Teen Academy, we are excited to work with the kids again this year.” – Chief George Kehl. 
 
            The purpose of the academy is to allow teens to better understand police officers and to strengthen the relationship between the police department and the community.  Officers will teach blocks of instruction on various topics such as making traffic stops, meeting our K-9 units and learning how they work with police, learning about the Fishers Dive Team, meeting our Crime Scene Investigators, learning about Internet Safety and much more. Students will have classroom instruction as well as practical “role play” training each day.
 
            The academy is open to any applicant 13 years of age or older.  Applicants must be enrolled in a junior high or high school in Fishers.  Each applicant is subject to a screening process and therefore walk-ins will not be allowed. We only have 40 spots available for this year’s academy!  If you are interested, please contact Officer Cory Robinson at robinsonc@fishers.in.us to begin the screening process.
 

School systems surrounding the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) have reduced hours for their Instructional Assistants (IAs) below 30 hours a week and have not offered them benefits, including health insurance coverage.  HSE has tried to postpone decisions on how to handle pay and benefits for their IAs.  However, HSE will need to make a decision soon.

Several proposals were discussed at the February 16th school board work session.  One would reduce daily hours for the IAs to 6.5 hours per day, but increase hours based on how many IAs choose a minimum health insurance plan.

In recent years, HSE grandfathered many long-time IAs with their health benefit package and not offered benefits to the more recently hired.  The Affordable Care Act is forcing a decision soon by the school corporation on how to handle the new health care law and the IAs.

A large percentage of the IAs in Hamilton Southeastern Schools work in the Special Education Program.

Several school board members voiced their support for the IAs and are willing to find the money to support that program.

Superintendent Allen Bourff said the administration will take all the school board member comments into consideration as a recommendation for the board is formulated on what to do with the Instructional Assistants.

Assistant Superintendent Jan Combs came to HSE from Lawrence Township, and said recruiting IAs in Lawrence became a serious challenge when hours were cut below 30 hours per week with no benefits.

In this day and age, working for the same employer a long time is very rare.  At the February 15th City Council meeting, 3 workers were recognized for their length of service to the city.

Kyle Marks was cited for 30 years of service to Fishers.  He is currently Facilities Manager for the Department of Public Works.

Mitch Thompson was recognized for 25 years of service.  He currently serves as Assistant Police Chief for the city, and will take over as Chief once George Kehl retires in September.

Finally, the current Director of Public Works for the city, Eric Pethtel, was recognized by the council for his 25 years of service.