GoodGiving Guide meets its goal, sets a new one
On the evening of Dec. 7, the GoodGiving Guide Challenge - an online charitable campaign launched as a partnership between Blue Grass Community Foundation and Smiley Pete Publishing, this magazine's parent organization, on behalf of 58 local and regional non-profits - reached its goal of $100,000, coming from nearly 1,500 online "gifts."
With matching funds and grants, as well as concurrent fund-raising initiatives, challenge organizers put the actual amount of money raised, thus far, at approximately $120,000.
Given that the online campaign runs through Dec. 31 (it started Oct. 27), the challenge organizers have set a new goal of $200,000 - a lofty goal, but organizers believe the a final push during the campaign's final weeks could help exceed the second goal.
For more information, or to make an online donation, visit www.GoodGivingGuide.net (there is also an updated account of the campaign's activity in this magazine, beginning on page 12).
Purpledinowolficorns at Tates Creek win national eco challenge
Tates Creek Middle is among eight middle schools winners nationwide in the land/water division of the annual Lexus Eco Challenge - a program which encourages students to develop environmental programs that positively impact their
communities.
For their entry, the "Purpledinowolficorns" team (a team name that's actually several proposed names mashed into one) renovated rain gardens in the school's community and designed school presentations for faculty, students and staff about the importance of land and water conservation. Each member of the team, which consists of seventh-grader Emily Sanford and eighth-graders Hannah Barnes, Morgan Boaz, Ethan Bridges, Casey Darling, Kasara Miller and Katie Sanford, will receive $1,000 for the efforts. Their advisor, seventh-grade science teacher Melanie Trowel, will receive $1,000 for school supplies, and the middle school will receive $2,000.
The Purpledinowolficorns will compete for the grand prize this spring during the contests Final Challenge.
In last year's contest, a Tates Creek Middle team of seventh-graders won in this round of the air/climate division.
LexPhil celebrates 50th anniversary with special concert event
The Lexington Philharmonic will celebrate its 50th anniversary in January with a special "And the Award Goes to ..." concert event recognizing and honoring the individuals and institutions that have made the organization's first 50 years possible.
The event, which takes place Jan. 14, includes pre-concert festivities at 6 p.m. at ArtsPlace, the concert featuring award-winning film scores at 7:30 p.m. at the Lexington Opera House, and a post-concert celebration at 9 p.m. at ArtsPlace.
"LexPhil's 50th anniversary celebration is a way for us to say thank you to those who have supported LexPhil and the arts and to truly celebrate this exciting mile-marker in our history, as well as give us an opportunity to look forward to the next 50 years," LexPhil Music Director and Conductor Scott Terrell said.
For more information, or tickets, visit www.lexphil.org or call (859) 233-4226.
Veterans Park Elementary wins category in city recycling contest
More than 243,000 aluminum cans were collected for recycling by students in Fayette County during this year's Cans for Cash recycling contest. In terms of weight, students collected 7,618 pounds of aluminum beverage cans - 32 percent more than was collected in 2010, according to a press release.
The contest challenges public and private schools in Fayette County to collect and recycle as many aluminum beverage cans as possible during the month of October. Students from 26 schools competed to see which schools could collect the most cans per student for recycling.
Winning schools in their categories were Veterans Park Elementary, Montessori High School of Kentucky and Sayre School.
Wise Recycling, Baker Iron and Metal, Phinix LLC, and the LFUCG Division of Waste Management contributed monetary prizes to reward the schools. The schools that collected and recycled the highest number of cans per student in their respective categories received $1,000; the six schools that collected the most cans regardless of their size received $600 each (Lexington Universal Academy, Meadowthorpe Elementary, Cardinal Valley Elementary, Christ the King School, Wellington Elementary). The schools were also paid by the pound for the cans they recycled through Wise Recycling and Baker Iron and Metal.
Runners to "mount" Fifth Third Bank building
for charity fitness contest
On January 28, hundreds of "runners" will take to the stairs of the Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Lexington for the Urban Mountain Challenge, a fitness event presented by WLEX for charity that challenges participants to climb the building's 30 floors.
This year, the limit on the number of participants will be capped at approximately 500. Climbers will be grouped by their abilities (fast/medium/ slow/ walker) and started at 15-second intervals. Water stations will be staged on floors 7, 12, 19, 25 and 30. Medical staff will be present on those floors and an EMS ambulance and team will be located just outside the building.
On the 30th floor, participants will be given the chance to catch their breath, enjoy the view of the city, and then ride to the ground floor via the elevators. A staging area will be set up in the front of the building to house refreshments, light snacks and the awards ceremony.
The event will begin at 8 a.m. Early registration material must be received by Jan. 17 for a discounted fee. For more information, or to register online, visit www.downtownlex.com.
Mary Queen nabs prestigious national honor from department of education
Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary School celebrated being awarded national Blue Ribbon status by the U.S. Department of Education in a ceremony in early December.
On Sept. 15, the education department designated Mary Queen as a 2011 Blue Ribbon School, one of just 49 private schools in the country to earn the distinction this year. The award is the most prestigious national award given by the department of education, according to a press release. Mary Queen principal Rebecca Brown and school librarian Betsy Tibe formally received the award in Washington, D.C., in mid-November.
Blue Ribbon distinction is reserved for high performing schools. Mary Queen students' scores on the 2011 Terra Nova standardized test placed their school among the highest performing schools in the nation in reading and mathematics; students scored in the 90th percentile.
"This award speaks well of our students, faculty and staff, and emphasizes the quality of education that Mary Queen provides every day in a Catholic, Christ-centered environment," Brown said.