Podcasts about fort hays

On this episode:- Benton boys make it to another Benton Cardinal Classic Championship game. Hear from Cardinal coach Jared Boone & Senior Myles Bachali.- East Buchanan boys comeback falls short vs Pembroke Hill- Central boys rebound after a heartbreaker Tuesday to defeat Savannah. Hear from Indian Seniors Marquel Mayfield & Ammontay Henderson.- Thursday Tournament Scores - Missouri Western women defeat Top 10 Fort Hays for the 2nd time in 2 weeks. While the men fall to the tigers - Northwest basketball both fall to Nebraska-Kearney *This episode is sponsored by Tolly & Associates, Little Caesars of St. Joseph, John Anderson Insurance, Meierhofer Funeral Home & Crematory, Musser Construction, HiHo Bar & Grill, Jayson & Mary Watkins, Matt & Jenni Busby, Michelle Cook Group, Russell Book & Bookball 365, The St. Joseph Mustangs, B's Tees, KT Logistics LLC., Hixson-Klein Funeral Home, James L. Griffith Law Firm of Maysville, Toby Prussman of Premier Land & Auction Group, Barnes Roofing, The St. Joseph School District, HK Quality Sheet Metal, Redman Farms of Maysville, Melissa Winn, Amber & Anthony Henke, Adams Bar & Grill, Green Hills Insurance LLC., Cintas, Thrive Family Chiropractic, IV Nutrition of St. Joseph, J.C's Hardwood Floors, Roth Kid Nation, Serve Link Home Care out of Trenton, Barnett's Floor Renewal LLC., Balloons D'Lux, B3 Renovations, Gabe Edgar, KC Flooring & Drywall, C&H Handyman Plumming, The Hamilton Bank member FDIC, Wompas Graphix & Embroidery of Liberty, The Tabor Family, Ellis Sheep Company of Maysville & Bank Northwest of Cameron.

On this episode:- The Missouri Western women run their winning streak to 7 giving 3rd ranked Fort Hays State their 1st loss while the Griffon men snap a 2 game skid ending the tigers 5 game winning streak.- Nebraska-Kearney basketball sweeps Northwest - Day 2 of the St. Joseph Sports Winter Showcase - Lawson boys luck up a win at the Hoosier Gym. *This episode is sponsored by Tolly & Associates, Little Caesars of St. Joseph, John Anderson Insurance, Meierhofer Funeral Home & Crematory, Musser Construction, HiHo Bar & Grill, Jayson & Mary Watkins, Matt & Jenni Busby, Michelle Cook Group, Russell Book & Bookball 365, The St. Joseph Mustangs, B's Tees, KT Logistics LLC., Hixson-Klein Funeral Home, James L. Griffith Law Firm of Maysville, Toby Prussman of Premier Land & Auction Group, Barnes Roofing, The St. Joseph School District, HK Quality Sheet Metal, Redman Farms of Maysville, Melissa Winn, Amber & Anthony Henke, Adams Bar & Grill, Green Hills Insurance LLC., Cintas, Thrive Family Chiropractic, IV Nutrition of St. Joseph, J.C's Hardwood Floors, Roth Kid Nation, Serve Link Home Care out of Trenton, Barnett's Floor Renewal LLC., Balloons D'Lux, B3 Renovations, Gabe Edgar, KC Flooring & Drywall, C&H Handyman Plumming, The Hamilton Bank member FDIC, Wompas Graphix & Embroidery of Liberty, The Tabor Family, Ellis Sheep Company of Maysville & Bank Northwest of Cameron.

On this episode:- 3rd ranked Fort Hays State women move to 12-0 while the Tiger men hold Northwest to 27% Shooting to earn a sweep in Maryville - Western earns a split with Nebraska-Kearney - Maryville boys and girls pick up wins vs Falls City - and we run down the schedule for Friday. *This episode is sponsored by Tolly & Associates, Little Caesars of St. Joseph, John Anderson Insurance, Meierhofer Funeral Home & Crematory, Musser Construction, HiHo Bar & Grill, Jayson & Mary Watkins, Matt & Jenni Busby, Michelle Cook Group, Russell Book & Bookball 365, The St. Joseph Mustangs, B's Tees, KT Logistics LLC., Hixson-Klein Funeral Home, James L. Griffith Law Firm of Maysville, Toby Prussman of Premier Land & Auction Group, Barnes Roofing, The St. Joseph School District, HK Quality Sheet Metal, Redman Farms of Maysville, Melissa Winn, Amber & Anthony Henke, Adams Bar & Grill, Green Hills Insurance LLC., Cintas, Thrive Family Chiropractic, IV Nutrition of St. Joseph, J.C's Hardwood Floors, Roth Kid Nation, Serve Link Home Care out of Trenton, Barnett's Floor Renewal LLC., Balloons D'Lux, B3 Renovations, Gabe Edgar, KC Flooring & Drywall, C&H Handyman Plumming, The Hamilton Bank member FDIC, Wompas Graphix & Embroidery of Liberty, Tabor Family, Ellis Sheep Company of Maysville & Bank Northwest of Cameron.

The Associate Head Coach of the UConn Women with Bob Joyce after the win over Fort Hayes State Sunday in Storrs

The voice of the Pitt State Gorillas Eddie Lomshek joins me to talk last weeks game @ UNK and preview this weeks big game vs Fort Hays. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cliffnotespod/support

Get ready to hitch a ride to the wild frontier with tales from the legendary George W Brown, also known as Hoodoo Brown. Born under the Missouri skies in 1847, he invites us into his past, from fighting in the Union Army to life as a bullwacker, hauling wood for the government. His trailblazing tales are packed with excitement, danger, and the raw reality of frontier life. With every twist and turn, from dodging wild Texas steers to navigating treacherous wagon trips, we're right there with him.And the journey doesn't end there! The second half of our adventure features Jack Stilwell, a scout handpicked by Colonel George A Forsythe for a special operations unit. He takes us from being recruited at Fort Hays to the throes of intense battles, leaving us hanging on his every word. Jack's recollections of the Battle at Beecher's Island will make your heart pound and your mind spin. Then, it's back to George Brown as he teams up with Buffalo Bill and other scouts on a mission to clear the Republican region of Indians. These unmissable chronicles from the frontier will have you yearning for the wide open plains and the echo of cattle drives in the distance.Support the showReturn of the Great HuntersCattle Drives WebsiteLegends of Dodge City WebsiteOrder Books

"If there's one thing you can do today, be kind.” - Bayleigh Petty  We're celebrating another amazing year of the 31 Days of Kindness annual series, which began on October 14 and ended on World Kindness Day (November 13). Dr. Michelle Robin invites the Big Shifts Foundation Program Director, Bayleigh Petty, to share why this year was special to her while running it. She'll also share why she continues to learn something new about herself every year she participates. Both Dr. Robin and Bayleigh will read some stories that were submitted to our team during the 31 days – which all truly reflect the power kindness has in our lives. At the end of the show, she'll also explain how the series impacted kids in schools this year, and why the younger generation has an opportunity to change the world by carrying kindness forward.  About Today's Guest:  Bayleigh Petty's passion for health and wellness began when she first started playing sports. She studied Human Performance with an emphasis in Sports and Exercise Therapy. She graduated from Fort Hays and began working with Dr. Michelle Robin at her chiropractic practice. In 2021, she joined Small Changes Big Shifts because she believes in approaching health from a whole-person perspective and loves educating the younger generation about connecting their mind, body, and spirit. In 2022, she transitioned to the Big Shifts Foundation team as the Program Director.  Mentioned in the Episode:  31 Days of Kindness – sign up here  7 Days of Kindness for kids  Read all kindness stories submitted  Submit your kindness story  Big Shifts Foundation 

Fort Hays State University, North Central Kansas Technical College and Northwest Kansas Technical College have decided to face the challenges of declining rural population and businesses struggling to find workers — all at the same time. The regional university and two tech colleges have joined forces with a strategic affiliation initiative that aims to not only strengthen the institutions, but revitalize whole regions of the state.

Ever thought about how life was in the Wild West? Imagine, the rawness of survival against the elements, the adrenaline of buffalo hunts, and the intrigue of lawmen and outlaws! I'm inviting you to saddle up and join us on this journey as we live vicariously through the life of our protagonist, Josiah Wright Mooar, a young man discovering the thrills and perils of the frontier. Our tale begins in Fort Hays, Kansas, where Josiah sets up a buffalo hunting team with a seasoned hunter, James White. From acquiring a wagon and camping supplies to the exhilarating hunt itself, we are right there with them. We encounter the mysterious figure of Thomas Nixon, who offers us an exciting opportunity to buy a buffalo hide business. But as a fierce storm threatens our hunt and a stampede sets off, tension rises. How will Josiah and Jim navigate these sudden threats? Through this captivating narrative, we uncover the vibrant life of the Wild West, the frontiersman and Buffalo hunters who shaped it and the crucial role they played in frontier survival. Moreover, we delve into the techniques used in buffalo hunting and how these adapted to the changing environment. So, get ready for a riveting exploration of the Wild West's legacy, one that promises to keep you on the edge of your seat!Support the showReturn of the Great HuntersCattle Drives WebsiteLegends of Dodge City WebsiteOrder Books

Join Host Matt Daniel as he recaps the 17-6 Bearcat loss last week in Fort Hays and previews this weekend's Family Day matchup versus Lincoln. He chats with Senior DL Drake Kinsella (25:10), Voice of the Bearcats John Coffey (41:41), Trevor Hahn of the Jefferson City Tribune (50:40) and don't forget about The Bearcats According to Eli (1:00:46). Thanks for listening!

Welcome back to the Establishing Your Empire show. Today's episode is a unique and indeed an extraordinary one for me. My guest is someone who's had a profound impact on my life, my career, and my understanding of what it takes to build a successful business from the ground up. He's not just a mentor, but a lifelong friend who's stood by my side, shared wisdom, and taught me that creating a business is not just a dream, but a possibility within everyone's reach.His name is Eric Wagner. Eric isn't your average businessman; he's a true empire builder. Over three decades ago, he founded Showcase Diamond Jewelers in a small town of just over 20,000 people in the middle of Kansas. Today, despite its modest location, his store generates over seven figures in revenue, proving that success isn't just about where you are, but what you do and how well you do it.Eric is a master of his craft, and today he's brought along some high-end pieces from his collection, stunning pieces of jewelry, interesting coins, precious diamonds, and luxury watches, to make this episode a visual treat for us.For the first company I ever created, Eric was right there, teaching me, guiding me, showing me the ropes. And today, it's my honor to welcome him to the Establishing Your Empire show.So sit back, tune in, and get ready for an inspiring journey into the mind and heart of a true empire builder. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my mentor, my friend, and a jewel in the crown of entrepreneurship, Eric Wagner.00:00:00 - 00:10:00:Daran Herrman introduces Eric Wagner, a jewelry store owner from Hays, Kansas, and his mentor. They discuss Wagner's background, the buying habits of their local community, and the importance of investing in precious metals.00:10:01 - 00:20:00: Eric elaborates on the possibility of the US dollar declining value and how assets like precious metals can maintain their value. He discusses how he entered the jewelry industry, despite having no experience.00:30:01 - 00:40:00: The conversation shifts to the topic of mentorship and its role in their respective professional journeys. They discuss the impact of mentors and share anecdotes about the advice they received that shaped their careers.00:40:01 - 00:50:00: Eric talks about the challenges of running a jewelry store during economic downturns, and how even during recessions, jewelry retains its value. He speaks about his customer interactions, especially regarding their choice between spending on travel or buying jewelry.00:50:01 - 01:00:00: They discuss the evolution of the jewelry industry with the advent of technology.01:00:01 - 01:10:00: The conversation moves to entrepreneurship, where Eric shares his perspective on startups. They chat about how starting a business today seems easier due to technology but warns about authenticity and transparency in the digital era.01:10:01 - 01:20:00: Eric shares some of his interesting sales experiences in the jewelry business and discusses how the sentimental value of the jewelry he sells creates an emotional bond with his customers. He also talks about being part of significant moments in people's lives, which he views as rewarding.01:20:01 - 01:13:00: As the interview comes to an end, Eric expresses his desire to be remembered for his role in creating sentimental memories for his customers through his jewelry. Daran appreciates Eric for being on the show and acknowledges their shared history and experiences.

The story of The Trails to the Washita is about when civilization in Kansas began traversing the gilded regions of the plains. It was also a time when the Native Americans in this region became alarmed at this new encroachment. They were ready at any moment for a desperate, final effort to drive out the invaders of his hunting grounds. In part one, entitled Custer's Return, we tell many early back stories of Sheridan's campaign against the central plains Indians. These backstories include the Cheyenne raid against the Kanza tribe in Council Grove, Sullys September 1868 expedition in the South, Forsyth's battle at Arickaree River, Custer's arrival at Fort Hays and the October 12 capture of Clara Blinn. If you have any comments or want to add to our series, please write us at wildwestpodcast@gmail.com. We will share your thoughts or questions as they apply to future episodes. Cattle Drives WebsiteLegends of Dodge City WebsiteOrder Books

US Army Major Ben Peeler, alumnus of Fort Hays State University History Department joins Hollie Marquess to discuss his time at FHSU and how his degrees from Fort Hays prepared him for his successful military career.

On this episode: - Benton names its next football coach - Western women's 11th straight win results in coach Candi Whitaker's 200th career win - Northwest women put a scare into 13th ranked Nebraska-Kearney - Bishop LeBlond Senior Tatum Studer scores her 1,000 point as the Golden Eagles roll in Richmond - Thursday's High School Tournament scores *Wanna thank our sponsors Don Tolly & Tolly & Associates, Inc - American Family Insurance, Barnes Roofing, Adam's Bar & Grill, Dave & Jen Schoeberl, Rob & Stacia Ann Studer, Patrick Lile, Little Caesars of St. Joseph, The Hi-Ho Bar & Grill, Weaver Overhead Door, Scott Hudson from ReeceNichols Ide Capital Realty, Chad and Kae Lewis, Miljavac Electric, Erin & Josh Perry, Janelle Glidewell of Lightstar Financial, J.C's Hardwood Floors, Ingles Plumbing & Excavating LLC., Musser Construction, Hixson-Klein Funeral Home LLC., KT Logistics LLC, Cutting Edge Commercial Cleaning and Preferred Lightning Protection, Inc. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cliffnotespod/support

On this episode: - Maryville basketball sweeps Platte Valley in a doubleheader - Northwest Basketball splits with Nebraska-Kearney - Missouri Western and Fort Hays women battle in a rematch of last seasons Central Regional - We rundown all the local football players who were named All-State - Central and Savannah cheerleading have strong finishes at state *Wanna thank our sponsors Don Tolly & Tolly & Associates, Inc - American Family Insurance, Barnes Roofing, Adam's Bar & Grill, Dave & Jen Schoeberl, Rob & Stacia Ann Studer, Patrick Lile, Little Caesars of St. Joseph, The Hi-Ho Bar & Grill, Weaver Overhead Door, Scott Hudson from ReeceNichols Ide Capital Realty, Chad and Kae Lewis, Miljavac Electric, Erin & Josh Perry, Janelle Glidewell of Lightstar Financial, J.C's Hardwood Floors and Ingles Plumbing & Excavating LLC. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cliffnotespod/support

On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Chamber vice president of membership Rhonda Meyerhoff and vice president of marketing and communication Mariah Legleiter stop by to share information about the relaunched Chamber referral program.   Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  The Hays chamber has relaunched their referral program Vice President of Marketing and Communications Mariah Legleiter along with Vice President of membership, Rhonda Meyerhoff stopped by to share the details on this episode of the Post Podcast.   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  Some might have heard, we just finished up the coupon book in print.   Mariah Legleiter  Yeah, hopefully in the next few hours. Actually.   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  Yeah, out in October, later this month. This is October, isn't it?   James Bell  Yeah. We're just getting into it. It's the fourth. I had to look, I had to look, I don't know,   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  I missed the changing the month.   James Bell  How involved you guys were the calendar change? You didn't even know it. Sarah, you're working them too hard. Oh, my goodness. That's gonna be so exciting. Because there's, I don't, you know, as somebody that works in publishing, and now it's digital publishing, so it's a little different. But there's nothing I don't think more exciting than when you hand off something like that to the printer. And you're waiting for it to come back. Because you know, there's gonna be a mistake. There's always a mistake. Yeah. And you're gonna see it. As soon as you pick it up. You're like, dang it. There's my mistake. But then you're also going to be like, Look at what I did. Yeah. Look how cool this is.   Mariah Legleiter  Yeah, I think that was my first my first experience without the Community Guide last year was yeah, it was an amazing feeling. Yeah.   James Bell  About turning, turning an idea into a real physical object. Yeah. You just, I mean, you can do stuff online all day. And it feels good. That's great. But getting that thing in your Yes,   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  yes. Yes. i My first mistake was revealed on my first project back in 1981. And it had gone through several edit things. And like you said, opened up the box, and there was the word that was misspelled. So yeah, I just know that now. I'm not perfect. Try as hard as I made to make everything right. But I think this coupon book may be a first extent. Well, your guide was good. So yeah, I think it'll be great. So we're excited. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, these are some of the reasons to why our members are really proud, James, to belong to the the chamber and be a member of the chamber for these different various opportunities. Because in in our book, if they were not a chamber member, then then they weren't allowed. Yeah, yeah. And, and many of them, they're, they're really so happy about their chamber membership, that they end up talking to other businesses about it, and that it's an opportunity to for them to gain much by by joining the chamber, so we decided that we wanted to revitalize the referral program. Very cool. Yeah.   James Bell  Who doesn't love a referral program? That is like the most effective marketing you can really have? I think,   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  I think so too, is word of mouth. Yeah. Yeah. We know that. That's great. So yeah, if the the business analysts say, what's a business that's not in town, let's let's go CQRS talks to U V. W. And you see, W decides to that they want to join the chamber, and we know that QRS talk to him, then, yeah, there's some referral money in there. And it used to be that that was going didn't have quite the same as a reward as what it is now that we're going to give it's $25 and chamber checks. I realized $25 isn't going to make you rich, but who doesn't like some acknowledgement for their efforts? Yeah. And just the fun of receiving something that maybe you weren't planning on meeting your budget? You know, gosh, we have we have some people that I would anticipate are probably worth quite a bit. And they get tickled pink over a $25. Yeah, chamber check. Yeah. So it's, it's a good way for us to, to acknowledge that our members are doing that, you know, we want them to know, we're paying attention and, and show our appreciation for what they're doing. That all helps the chamber to grow. And also, it's paying them I guess, for some extra work that they're doing or maybe sometimes it was an uncomfortable conversation that they had. That's right. Yeah. So yeah, we're getting bring back that referral program. And, you know, James, there's lots of reasons for people to be happy with a chamber. You know, one of so many times when people think of the chamber they think of all the events that We do. And yes, those of yours   James Bell  do a lot of   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  yes, we do. Yes, we did   James Bell  talk about some of those here in a little bit. Yeah.   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  And so that then other businesses will say that they can't go to all those events. So there's no reason for him to belong to the chamber, which is nothing really farther from reality. When you stop and look it, let's just take childcare task force of Ellis County, for example. You know, even though I may not have children that need daycare, if I'm running a business, and I find out that there's going to be more people working through a childcare effort promoted by the chamber, that means more expendable income. And they just might spend money at my store my business. And so it, it's kind of a revolving circle with that. So that advocacy that we're out there, we're doing, we'll go on to Ellis County Commissioner meetings, the city of Hays meetings, school board, the single board meetings, helping Ellis now what we did here in Hays to help advocate for a school bond chatting with Victoria on different things that we might be able to help them with as well. There's a lot of advocating going on. And that's the number one reason why chambers were actually formed was for them to get together as a pool and to advocate for causes that were going to help their businesses. So that's huge. Yeah, that that visibility, then that you get with those free benefits, inviting people to chamber chats, or to the ribbon cuttings, or the groundbreakings or the catching ups, I most always tell our businesses that are going to schedule one of those, please invite the individuals that you want to make sure that are here, you might have some customers that are not directly related to the chamber, that if those are people that you would like to have, send them an invitation column, let them know that you'd love to have them there. Because that celebration, although it's a chamber celebration, it's also the business member celebration. And so it's fun for them to have the people in their lives that were important in making their business what, what it is? Sure. So lots of reasons. Gosh, what's another one where I look here? We   Mariah Legleiter  have a lot of development opportunities, too. So there's there's tons of learning opportunities where you can get a competitive edge over non members with exclusive training opportunities on all kinds of hot topics. I mean, we have one coming up, but Mike Hankey seminar that we have that we've kind of partnered with the I'm going to get that wrong western Kansas Human Resource Management Association, I think. Right. Yeah, it's something that we we kind of approached them about and   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  it was actually Heartland credit. Oh, okay. Yeah, we found out about Mike Hankey through that. Okay, yes. And they said, This is somebody that you need to bring to town. And he's going to talk about setting yourself apart in the job market as an employer that's trying to hire people. So   James Bell  talking about an important skill right now. Yeah. Oh, my God. Absolutely.   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  So at the Chamber, we're not just sitting around talking about it. We're actually trying to do things to help our businesses with those different aspects, you know, so he'll do a seminar on Thursday, the 27th. And we'll talk about that probably more with another segment. And then on the 28th, he's going to, he's going to talk to our members at the luncheon about, you got to know how are you going to keep them? You know, that that whole piece, and they're both very, very important pieces, you know, I'm of the firm belief. I'm 63. James, and I'm so proud to say that, that in my career, there's a lot of things I've learned that I think I can always learn more, or sometimes you'd go to those events, and it gives you more energy, again, to go back and, and do or you forgot about something you were doing it worked really well. So maybe this can help you to remember what those things were. And so I think everyone can benefit from from this education experience. And yeah, we have other places where MDC through Fort Hays, there's a special discount on training, if you're a chamber member for any of their training. And so yeah, different opportunities like that.   James Bell  Even here on the morning show yesterday, we were speaking with a couple of the leadership Hayes class guys, they're doing the Green Ribbon haze, which I thought was such a cool program and they mentioned this is a chamber this come out of the chamber. Yes.   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  Isn't that a great program that they're done? Anyone, man? Is it? Is it going to end up being a podcast or anything?   James Bell  If it is? Yeah, you'll see it on post here. Probably next couple days.   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  Oh, that's great. I would really encourage your listeners to go and see what they're trying to do. And I think it can help make a difference for things. So to schools. Yeah. And so it is great. And that, yes, like you said, that came out of the chamber. And then we go ahead. Oh,   Mariah Legleiter  I was, you know, something fun that I didn't realize until, you know, working at the Chamber is that we found a statistic from American business magazine that says 63% of consumers are more likely to buy products and services from companies that are members of a local chamber, I think is a super strong and important number. I mean, that just shows you know, the the trust and the the relationship that you can build with the consumers, just by being a member of the chamber by being a member of the chamber.   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  Yes, absolutely. So yeah. And then you did you talked about that credit, credibility, yeah, members, perks and those learning opportunities, you know, and those connections, we do have opportunities for you to build really strong connections, absolutely. Through those events, that's one of the main things that those events can help you to is for you to build connections, you may have the opportunity to talk with someone that you couldn't get in front of otherwise. And so now, it's just really, really strong.   James Bell  Yeah, you know, I remember from my time in the business world, one of the things that was a huge lesson for me, was learning how many people didn't know what was going on in our businesses, like if we were we'd have a special and we would think that we were saturating, we'd be sending out coupons and doing door knockers, and we thought everybody would know, and then come to find out later, we do surveys, and it'd be like 10% a percent, you can always get that word out there. And again, that word of mouth is so valuable to spread whatever message it is whether you know, it's new specials, or new products, or sales, new opening, whatever it is,   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  on the mouth, and even our newsletters. Members are welcome to put inserts in our newsletters, business connection section is for businesses that have something special going on and anniversary or, you know, some news that they would put in and so, yeah, lots and lots of opportunities to get your name out. Oh my gosh, our team members, actually once a quarter can email all the other chamber members just gets their name out in front of them. And, you know, over 400   James Bell  of them, right, a high, close to 500. justifies   Mariah Legleiter  the 500 real valuable.   James Bell  Oh, my hands on that list. What are we gonna do? We're gonna sign up, right? Well, yeah, contact     Rhonda.   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  Yes, absolutely. So, um, I was gonna go somewhere, and it's gone. I guess. That's part of being sick. I know what it was. When I graduated in 1981. James, it took seven touches. So a mailer, a radio, AD, a T TV, whatever, it took seven touches for an individual to even consider doing business with your company. That's for them just to consider. That's not saying they will. That's for them to consider. And that number is now 12. Whoa, yeah,   James Bell  I thought I'd go down.   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  Look at look at all that's out there. Yeah. That's trying to get people's attention. Suppose   James Bell  that's true. Yeah. We've always got some chirping or beeping at us emails pop in and all kinds of crazy.   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  Absolutely. And it's good to have a spread of all those mediums. So yeah, we're just one other opportunity for your business to get their name out there.   James Bell  Love it. Well, guys, before we run out of time, we better talk about the weekly events because I'm sure you guys have some going on. There's always some going on down chamber.   Rhonda Meyerhoff, vice president of membership  Absolutely, absolutely. This is you know, low week   Mariah Legleiter  we were used to,   James Bell  it'll be like, Oh, I can see there's like a 404 thing. Yeah,   Mariah Legleiter  it is kind of you know, we were joking earlier about being so busy. We are so busy today that we actually have something going on right now. So we have a catching up event with the USD 489 Foundation for Educational Excellence is going on right now at the Rockwell Administration Center. And then on the fifth, just tomorrow, we have the Hayes young professionals is having a lunch with leaders at noon at Paisley, pear wine bar bistro and market. On the sixth. We are having Earth H yp is having their network and Engagement Committee meeting at 1205 at the Welcome Center. And then on Friday, we'll wrap things up with our chamber chat with options downtown at Union Pacific Park. And now it'll be at 9am on Friday.

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Fort Hays State University president Tisa Mason and chief communications officer Scott Cason share details of the upcoming FHSU Media Tour.   Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  Fort Hays State University will kick off their media tour next week from the university president Tisa Mason stops by along with chief communications officer Scott Cason to talk about that and more on this episode of the Post Podcast.   Tisa Mason  Last year, when we went out and we talked to people, we realized so much more value was developing working relationships with member of the media, even at the Kansas Board of Regents. Now I see some of the people I talked to last year, I have those relationships. So that is really great. And of course, always sharing information on Fort Hays impact in Kansas and beyond, is one of the great joys. And, you know, it's something we have to work hard on, quite honestly, we have to draw attention to us. And that's not part of our culture, we tend to be more modest. But we've got a lot to be proud of. And it's it's really a privilege to be able to tell that story. And we always we learned a lot last year going out and seeing how media consolidation and how that is impacting communities. And, and the the, it just was incredible to hear stories of what's going on, especially in the smaller rural communities. But even in the urban institutions, the consolidation and what that means and trying to find somebody open to even have a conversation with or going into newspaper and seeing that they're printing the newspapers for a large area because everything's consolidated. So we're always excited about identifying opportunities for also our experts, our faculty that are doing extraordinary work, to assist in news reporting. So when we get to have those relationships, then we connect everyone together. And that makes us better.   James Bell  Yeah, truly. Now, let's talk about some specifics. I think you're kicking this thing off pretty locally right here. Oh, goodness. Oh, less than a week, isn't it?   Tisa Mason  Yes. Yes. And always we start right here in this studio.   James Bell  Oh, is this the first one? This is the first one. Let's call this a warm up. Because as everybody knows, I'm not shy to say that I'm not a professional broadcaster. I just kind of hear doing the radio thing. The case kickoff. Exactly. But we're gonna be in Great Bend, McPherson, Pratt, and then kicking down into Oklahoma. The business Oh, next week.   Tisa Mason  Yeah, that's just Monday. Well, that's just   James Bell  Monday. Yes. Oh, my goodness. You're gonna be dreads a lot of road time. Are you gonna be flying those spots?   Tisa Mason  No, we are driving driving it. Oh, yeah. The real American experience. We're getting in that car and we're driving from community to community.   James Bell  Very cool. Very cool. Man. You're I mean, you're hitting everywhere. You're getting down to the Wichita, Kansas City. You mentioned you're popping up to Nebraska, McCook, Nebraska looks like and then of course, dodge sitting gods in the Garden City. Those are always really fun, aren't they?   Tisa Mason  Yes, we love that. And we love that in Garden City. We have our Higher Education Learning Center there as well, which we've had for decades to help tell the higher education story first and the Fort Hays story second, and really trying to drive people to understand the value of why a higher education post K 12 is really important today.   Scott Cason  And two of those stops, the one in pride and the one in Garden City will highlight our partnerships with the local community colleges there.   James Bell  Go Pratt, I don't know if you guys know this. I was actually I'm a I'm a proud alum. I went to community college there. And before I came to four days, and really they are the ones that steered me this way. I had never been to Hayes before. Well, before enrolling, to be honest.   Tisa Mason  No, for decades, we were among the first to do the articulation agreement. And we have always valued our Community College and our tech partnerships. We've done some really unique things with them. And we think that's really important. So yeah, go Pratt, and shout out to all the rest of the community and tech colleges in Kansas. Love it.   James Bell  So let's talk some specifics about what you're going to be talking about on these media, media tours. You know, I think it's no secret. There's since the pandemic, there's been a lot of changes, we've seen what's going on in Emporia and you know, kind of trying to rebalance these things. And, you know, I wonder if you want to talk about how that's going to be part of those conversations and how this strategic plan is going to be brought up as you guys are out and about.   Tisa Mason  So of course we're aligned with the Kansas Board of Regents strategic plan on building a future and theirs is built on family you know, and affordability which is something that we are the star at and continue to drive forward. Because access is the first thing that you need to go to coloriages is the ability to open that door and we have flown it open for decades, you know businesses and how we create jobs and provide a talent pipeline, particularly since the pandemic hiring employees is an every call conversation in every community. And so how we continue to fuel that and provide an educated talent pipeline is really important. And then economic prosperity. How are we driving? How are we making an economic impact in communities? How are we bringing value with all kinds of outreach centers that we do in communities. And so that's really important, that's tied to our strategic plan as well. Then, of course, we at Fort Hays talk a lot about academic excellence, because that's really important. Our value is not just about our low price point, but it's also about the high quality. And so we're constantly investing and professional opportunity for our faculty, encourage their dialogue with business industry, so that we're keeping all that connected. And then resources and infrastructure, look anywhere across the state of Kansas, and you will find the best buildings and experiences at Fort Hays State University.   James Bell  Absolutely. And you know, what I like about kind of the strategic plan is, is your guys's vision of growth and how to actually accomplish that. And one of the things we've talked about previously in the segment is the the I don't remember the name of the plan, but basically the in state tuition that's offered across seven or eight states. Yeah, the 1313 states Oh, I was under pending. Yep.   Tisa Mason  We call it our 13 state regional tuition, program. And we're really excited. Of course, we don't have final numbers yet, because we're still waiting till the end of the month to get those. But early indicators with our first year out, is sending us really strong success in Colorado and Oklahoma, as first place winners for increasing those students. I've had I've had fun talking to are in states or out of state students from those 13 states last night at a dinner in my house with our VIP students. And we had a couple of students from Texas, like, how did you like that discount on your tuition this year? And they're like, We loved it. We're so excited. Thank you. So that was really fun.   James Bell  That's very cool. And you know, it really I think that helps probably in the community and global engagement piece as well, because you're getting people and folks, students from a larger geographic region, which then I think is going to just feed into the I don't know the stature, maybe a Fort Hays crossed the Midwest.   Tisa Mason  Yeah. And more importantly, we know when since that program is only for on campus students, we know when students come to Fort Hays, and then they do internships and practicums in the community, they're most likely to stay in Kansas. And that feeds the talent pipeline. So it's Win win, it's win for the students. It's win for the university and for our community in our state.   James Bell  Yeah. And there's lots of different ways I think you're going to be talking about on this tour, right about specifically some areas where the impact is very noticeable, like, for example, K through 12. Education, I think we're a huge driver of teachers out and across Kansas and beyond, right?   Tisa Mason  Yes. And really important. I think, over we've had about 200 students in teacher ed, every year, over 85% of them end up teaching in Kansas, and around half of those are in western Kansas, and often in rural areas. And that's something we work hard. And I know our nursing program. Also, if you're going to go to Fort Hays, you're going to do some practicums and some experiences in rural hospitals, because we want you to know that and understand that we really want to incentivize and encourage people to stay in rural Kansas. Yeah,   James Bell  yeah. I love that. And you mentioned at the top of the program here, the difficulty in hiring, and I think that is especially true in these rural school districts where, you know, you've got to pull in people that maybe aren't native to the area and are kind of questioning like, why would I live in this little town over anywhere else that I can live? And I think that's gonna help but to social workers, also a big important part of this, right?   Tisa Mason  Yeah. And they have been one of our strategic enrollment planning fancy word to say, how are we going to grow? And that's where we've put some of our dollars because we know the community needs social workers in many areas. And it's been a huge winner for us. Since its inception in 2015. We have expanded from 100 undergraduates to over 300. The Masters of Social Work, which is brand new to us had inaugural class of 52 students and grew to 85 students in just one year. And now a has a waiting list. Wow. We're really excited about the placements. Just last year and 21. The department placed over 90 students in clinics and other social service areas in 24 Kansas communities with 90% of that, or about 90% of those placements in rural areas. Again, really focusing on serving rural Kansas. We have about a hunt There needs students enrolled in practicum field experiences right now. And we're just really excited with our success and with the growth.   James Bell  Yeah, that's, that's awesome. This is another thing that I keep hearing about that I think is a really probably impacting a lot of people in ways that they don't understand or they don't know maybe don't understand, but don't necessarily see in their day to day lives. And that's the criminal justice program here. And the Regional de escalation Center, which you guys have been a huge part of getting set up. And I believe that's, that's up and running now. Right?   Tisa Mason  It is. And another shout out to Senator Moran, who helped us with some of the funding, we received $2.75 million in federal funding to fuel the center. We're doing all kinds of training both online and in person. We have delivered 20 programs to agencies in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado. And right now, law enforcement agencies in Kansas, Nebraska and Florida, are scheduled to start completing online training created by Fort Hays and our fantastic teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies Group that can take learning to a new level online.   James Bell  Yeah, I love that. And then there's one other one we want to talk about. And this is this one is something I love. I think it's so cool. And it's been you know, I think it's becoming more and more prevalent. We saw the story even last year here in Hays, cybersecurity, you got some big achievements out of the Institute and technology department there, right? Yeah, infirm.   Tisa Mason  Informatics is the academic department. And we were so blessed by the legislature with half a million dollars and dedicated funding to create what we're calling the cyber Institute and technology incubator. So we're just ramping up right now. The first thing you're going to see here is the development of some really cool micro internships. So our students can go in sometimes I'm like, virtually, and sometimes in reality, physical body, and they can go into small businesses, small and medium sized businesses can lose their whole business with a cyber attack. So our students can go in and do web security evaluation, security vulnerability reports, clean up data for businesses, these smaller businesses don't have the resources that the large industries do. And so that's really important for us to make sure that we are supporting the grocers and other businesses, and the small area. So software testing and compliance of reports, this is going to be a great opportunity for our students to get hands on learning and training. And work on those soft skills as well. As well as support the small and medium sized businesses will be also then kicking off in years two and three incubators specifically to grow more businesses that can help small businesses and medium sized businesses with these issues in partnership with our outstanding Small Business Development Center throughout the state. So it's going to have I think, deep ramifications. And I'm so grateful for our faculty and informatics, who are leading this charge.   James Bell  Yeah, love that. All of these things, I think, you know, they're going to be really continuing to impact the folks out here in western Kansas and beyond. And I'm, I bet it really is just so exciting to go out and share more of these details with those, especially those young folks, as they're considering, like, what am I doing with my future? Where can I go and cybersecurity I think is in particular one of those areas that there's just unlimited potential out there in the field.   Tisa Mason  Yeah, we're actually having some exploratory conversations on we do a lot of Gen Ed, concurrent credit in high school so that they can take college bearing credit courses while they're in high school and informatics. We'd like to get a little bit into working with some of the high schools and partnerships so that the students can start getting college bearing credit in this in this information computer science area.   James Bell  Very cool. Get head start in the future. Yeah, love it. When the other last thoughts before we go,   Tisa Mason  I just want to say it's such a joy to be in this community. Our freshmen and our students have returned on campus today are high energy, they're loving haze, they're loving the campus. And I want to thank everybody who's coming out to our volleyball games, our basketball basketball is started but soccer and football and thank you everyone for being part of our community as we are a part of yours.

The Fort Hays State University Neuromuscular Wellness Center has a new person in charge. Luke Kriley stops by to tell us about himself and a little bit about the Center on this episode of the Post Podcast. Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  at the Fort Hays State University neuro muscular Wellness Center has a new person in charge Luke Kriley stops by to tell us about himself and a little bit about the Center on this episode of the Post Podcast.     my new assistant professor Fort Hays State University within the HHB with his health and human performance. I'm a physical therapist by trade, I switched over to academia just this year. But I wanted to talk about some of the service based programs we have on campus, what we're in charge of is the neuromuscular Wellness Center. So essentially, what that is, is just think of it like a gym or miniature PT clinic, it's there to provide an accessible resource for community members who have neuromuscular diseases, if they want to work on physical fitness, functional mobility, quality of life, or just to stay active will serve those populations. A lot of the times when you have a specific disease that's kind of chronic in nature, and does not improve over time, just based on how the disease progresses, pathology wise, you know, you can only do so much physical therapy for someone's gonna have to pay for it, not just insurance. So if you get to a point where you meet your cap, you need to look for a place we're a good place to do that. What's nice is we're staffed by two full time faculty myself and then Macy Klaus, we both bring clinical experience, she's is experienced in cardiac rehabilitation and pulmonary rehab, I come a physical therapy background. And then we also have a lot of students, I get involved with the program as well.   James Bell  Love that, you know, I had the opportunity over the years to do some stories with physical therapists. And it's such an interesting kind of field. It's, it's, I think most people think of it as just an extension of like a massage or a yoga class class. But really, it's it's more in depth than that, right?     Yes, yes, absolutely. So, you know, within the world of physical therapy, most people come to physical therapy for pain. But one of the things pain does is it causes dysfunction, whether it's emotionally, physically, however you want. So those are the things we try to address. You know, if you come to us and say, Hey, I can't get swing my tennis racquet anymore, because my elbow hurts. What do I need to do we find a plan, we give you some interventions, some exercise stretches to help you figure that out. But there is massage involved. But there's a lot of other things as well. People just like to massage the best.   James Bell  Imagine that. So you said this is this is open to the community how to get involved? Or how do they take advantage of those services?     Yeah, so they can just get a hold of us anywhere at Fort Hays State University and they get a hold of me, I can give you my email or I don't have a phone number on me from my office. I don't know that quite yet. It just started. So   James Bell  fair enough. You know, and I've been here three years, I can't tell you my office line either sorry. But you're listening. Yeah, I just use my cell phone.     So it is $45 a month, you pay as a membership. And then you can come Monday through Friday, every single day, if you'd like to, we can give you different hours, we try to leave it open up for general hours in the morning. Because it's no longer staffed by full time position. That's faculty running it. The hours have changed a little bit, but we tried to be as flexible as possible.   James Bell  Okay, so is there you mentioned insurances? Is this covered at all by insurance? Are you guys strictly Okay, cash kind of service provider,     this is strictly cash service provider, we do not bill insurance. Now the neat thing is now, you know, say you do want someone to provide you with a little bit more guidance, supervision, because you're a big fall risk, you have these certain things going on, and you want someone maybe more than a personal trainer or a fitness expert, when you being a physical therapist, I can guide you through that stuff, give you the exercises you need, maybe do some hands on strategies. And the nice part is we don't have to bill insurance, so we're not restricted or limited by anything.   James Bell  Okay. And then I wonder if you want to talk a little bit about the role the students play in this? Because I mean, I it's obviously it's on campus, it's probably an academic kind of training exercise for them. But how does that all work together? Yeah, so     we use it a lot for professional development. And a lot of kids are going pre professional programs. So this gives them an experience to be hands on and actually see some people in the clinic with real disease real diagnosis, and then get to work with clinicians like Macy. And I,   James Bell  you know, historically, do the students always kind of have that track where they were seeing those hands on or is that relatively new kind of part of the field? It has     been going on for quite a while, I think they've had this for five or six years, somewhere along those lines, I'm not 100% Sure. But with myself being in the clinic, now we have a more clinical approach, I believe, we can start doing some more stuff to get them a little bit more specific into different tracks professionally that you want to take.   James Bell  Okay, you know, I'm just curious, what does a training track look like? Is that a standard four year program? Or is it kind of like a doctor program where they have the post secondary, and they have to do specialized training and all that to get certified or or     sure what I'm talking about physical therapy. So if you go pre professional PT at Fort Hays, you're gonna get your four year bachelor's degree, you'll have some specific prereqs you have to take and then after that, you'll go to a post professional or postgraduate school, which is going to be three years and you'll end up with a doctorate of physical therapy. So it's four years of bachelors, you apply to whatever program going to get into and then it's three years of additional graduate work.   James Bell  Okay, so yeah, that's like a doctor, as long as the training and lots of education I love that because that's who you know. You think talk about these things. And it seems like Google Now, everything is accessible, you can look it up, you can learn, you know, learn those exercises, but having that specialized training and having that people direct to you, probably when you're talking about physio, specialty, physical health, is a much better way to go. And having to have that training probably is invaluable to the, in the in the field,     right? Absolutely. And the nice part is they learn to work with patients and console them. So, you know, in the medical field, No, you go to see the doctor, you're gonna see the doctor for four and a half, five minutes, when you come see a physical therapist or with a clinician, you're gonna see them for 45 minutes to an hour. So there's a lot of personal one on one relationships, they start to figure out how to talk to different generations, you know, there's many years difference between most people they're going to work with, so trying to learn how to communicate, relate to them, not be offensive, and kind of find things they're interested in is a really nice aspect. They, they learned to develop their soft skills very well.   James Bell  Yeah. And you know, we're hearing more and more about that how important those are in almost every academic pursuit, but especially out in the workforce, having those abilities in those skills kind of translates to everything we do. Absolutely, you know, with this program as well, I wonder if you want to talk a little bit about some of the well, I don't know what what the right word would be. But some of the maybe the specifics, like what does the physical therapy look like? Or is it just so different for everybody that it doesn't take any sort of standard track?     Yeah. So you know, in general, we're going to be working on making sure people aren't high fall risk. So if you come in and say you have difficulty walking, we call that gait training. You know, if you're in a wheelchair, and you want to be able to get up and transfer move around a little bit, those are things we can work on. A lot of it is technique based, making sure you do it safely and appropriately and efficiently based on whatever you have going on. You know, the students like to work on the gait training, because it's interesting for them to see how different people walk to learn those different techniques. And the whole goal is to keep you more independent. So you're not having to go live in a nursing home or do something along those lines. We I mean, it's different for everyone, a lot of it's gonna involve the gait training, cardiovascular training, strength training, there's different balance technique techniques. We don't do a lot of hands on manual there. That's kind of not the point. But no, if that needs to be done, we can do a little bit of that too.   James Bell  Okay. Well, we get just about we've gotten under a minute left. I wonder if you want to share any last thoughts or anything else before we go?   No, I just say if you're interested, please try to get a hold of us. You know, I did not bring my contact information. So I'll get that to you, James. But you know, anyone that's really thinking about, Hey, I just want to get active, get involved, but I've got certain things going on where I really want to be supervised. We'd be a great place a great fit for you

Students at Hays High have hit the ground running for the academic year principal Shawn Henderson stops by to give us an update on this episode of the Post Podcast. Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  Students at Hays High have hit the ground running for the academic year principal Shawn Henderson stops by to give us an update on this episode of the Post Podcast.   Shawn Henderson  we have several new teachers that have joined us this year. And it's always exciting to see the energy that they bring in. Also to watch our people that are already part of our team, welcome them in and make them feel like they are part of this great thing that is Hayes Hi.   James Bell  Love that, you know, it's it's gonna bring in a new energy and new kind of feeling when you have instructors in the beginning of the year and like new ideas and the collaboration and all that probably just to me seems like it would be I don't know, like a fun way to kind of kick off the year and move on into 2020 to 23. academic school year.   Shawn Henderson  Absolutely. And here's the thing. I mean, as an educator, there's nothing more exciting than the beginning of the year, right? I mean, get your new backpack, pick out a first day outfit, and come in and all those connections that are made, you know, our theme this year was engaged. And it was fun to watch that happen to watch our people engage with the students. And vice versa. We even had Open House on Monday evening and to get to have all of our clubs and sponsors out and to have parents come in and see our school. It's It's really neat.   James Bell  Yeah. And some exciting stuff going on in the district just in general. But we talked a little bit or we want to talk a little bit about this enrollment up as well. And you've got that new school coming here in the next few years is probably going to be like, Oh, my gosh, I want in there now. Right?   Shawn Henderson  Yeah, I think patience is going to be is going to be a real thing. But I'll tell you what, we have a great design team construction team, the district we continue to meet and talk about what this vision for the future looks like. So it's kind of fun, because we already we have feet on both, you know, on both ground here we are in the current school with the current people and we are doing all that we can. But we're also getting to plan for this new exciting thing that is on the horizon. And just knowing what impact that will make on not only our school, but the whole community is is really exciting.   James Bell  Yeah, with this increase in enrollment, is it? Are you guys like add capacity, or you still got a little room for them to get around? Okay,   Shawn Henderson  we definitely can feel the students, the the the extra people that we had last year, you know, we're up over 950 now. And we ended the year at about 888 last year. So we definitely have more students. And we have some teachers sharing some spaces as well. And obviously, but at the same time, it creates some new collaboration. You mentioned it earlier, and some of our new people are in those collaborative spots. And so it's been, it's been fun watching that happen. And actually, as we plan for the new high school, that collaboration and teacher spaces and how people work together to impact student learning. That's really where we're headed. So we're just we're getting there already. So   James Bell  love that. So what kind of stuff you guys you know, and I know, you gotta get into the academics of it all, but what kind of stuff goes on in the first part of the year to kind of ease into the rest of it.   Shawn Henderson  There's not much easing at the high school. That's okay, though. That's the energy that we like. And you know, it's so fun to walk down the halls and see the students dressed up. You know, today we have, you know, soccer and we've got tennis that's in town, we have the volleyball team that's on the road, we have cross country that's on the road this morning. So we've already got hundreds of kids that are out, you know, doing their thing just today, and that's a random day in the fall. Doesn't feel like fall, by the way, one day, we might get some fall weather, right. Yeah, I mean, that's, you know, and then Friday Night Lights tomorrow, highlighting, you know, it's never just about football, it's all of the things, it's the community. It's the brand new band uniforms, which we debuted last week, which was really cool. And the cheerleaders and the dancers and I mean, it's, it's everyone, and there's just nothing like it. Actually, we love that Friday Night Lights. So yeah, we just have a lot of activities up and running. And we've had a lot of success with our groups. And it's, it's fun to watch them thrive. And so that's really exciting.   James Bell  Very cool. Very cool. Anything on the academic side this year, that's kind of harder than usual, or is it just businesses? Businesses normal there?   Shawn Henderson  Yeah, it's businesses is normal. But you know, one of the things that we're really proud of right now is our CTE and pathways. pathways in the state of Kansas is a conversation about how do you get students out and into internships and turning their, their, their academics from school into future opportunities are both at the post secondary and, you know, training level and, and so we have a lot of those partnerships and we're, you know, growing those partnerships all the time. But you know, like right now we have 97 students that that are leaving our building that are in an internship. So when you see someone walking, a high school student like this morning, said, Good morning to one that was wearing scrubs walking in, because there's going to come a point in the day to day that they're headed over to the hospital. That's really, really neat for our students, and it's something that we want to build upon all the time. I'm,   James Bell  yeah, I like that, you know, and one of the things not not at all to get political here, but one of the things that came out of the student loan proposal out of President Biden's office is the well, how did we get in this mess, and we need to fix that. And you know, over the last few years, what I've seen, especially locally here is there has been an effort to not to dismiss or discount college education, but to right track those students and get them in the career fields that they want to be in and not necessarily skip college, if that's the way they want to go. But get them into a program or an internship or some sort of post secondary or post high school training that gets them where they need to be, without incurring a whole lot of debt and wasting a lot of time and things like that.   Shawn Henderson  Right. And I think, but the impetus for that has to start with what's best for this kid, what's their story? Where are they headed? And how do we get them where we're going for some of those students, it's absolutely college. And they should do that. For some of our students, they have a lot of skills and a skill set that communities need. And it could be in all kinds of things. And that's why, you know, within CK tech and Fort Hays and our other other partners, we are looking at the student and their story, and how we can support them in that. And then, as the community realizes, you know, we have these partnerships, we hope to expand that so that our students have those opportunities to say, this is what I think I want to do. But when they go out and have those experiences, they're like, yes, it's really what I want, or no, it's not. And then they can be very intentional with their parents as to what training they need. And I feel like even in the new high school, and we're looking at the plans and talking, those CTE programs, those are those are going to be prevalent, they are going to be seen, and kids are going to watch what other students are doing. And CTE is for everyone. And that's really that's, that's something that that we're proud of, and that we just continue to bolster in our school.   James Bell  Yeah, love that. And I would imagine, too, it probably helps in the effort to keep some of the students out here in western Kansas, whether it be haze or whatever, it down, you're listening to us. And there's that brain drain that we hear about all the time and those folks going elsewhere. And I think if we can train them to do the jobs that we need hear, we're more likely to retain them.   Shawn Henderson  Yeah. And some of it is just letting them know what the jobs are. Now, we often hear well, we're training kids for jobs that are not that don't exist yet. That's 100% True. But I think some of that is being a responsive community to say, we do have young people that have all of these skills and this opportunity, how do we create it to where they feel welcome to insert themselves into what we have. And I think that's, again, a partnership between the school the community, the institutions that support us, and, and we're having those conversations, and it's fun. I mean, especially if you start to talk about it in terms of the scope of a new building, and how the new building can assist that. Then it's, you know, and I'm a creative person. So, to me, those are fun conversations.   James Bell  Absolutely. Well, we've got just about a minute or so left, and we got to talk about this homecoming right around the corner, right?   Shawn Henderson  Yep. It is coming up soon. It'll be October 3 through the seventh, you know, we have two new StuCo sponsors, Luke Lundmark. And Alan Neill. And they've just done a great job. I mean, I think we have literally I think we have 193 students on on the docket force StuCo. That's how many students are involved. And so I feel like that student engagement and that level of school pride is really up in the morale is up. And so I just imagined this homecoming to be really great.

On tonights episode: - Benton Volleyball comes from behind to snap East Buchanan's 4 game winning streak hear from coach Lauryn Doolan and Junior Hollie Peters - Wednesdays scores - Missouri Western gets set for a trip to Hays America for a clash with Fort Hays State * Coach Williamson sound bit is courtesy of Tommy Rezac, KFEQ, Eagle Radio and the Griffon Sports Network * This episode is also sponsored by the fine folks at Tolly & Associates --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cliffnotespod/support

On this episode of the Post Podcast USD 489 assistant superintendent Shanna Dinkel shares updates from the district. Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  As USD 49 continues in the accreditation process, they are evaluating and enhancing their career exploration and tech education programs. Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Shanna Dinkle stops by to share some of the details on this episode of the post podcast.   Shanna Dinkel  Two big year for our school district in that this is our final year of a what was to be a five year cycle, but really six year with COVID apology are in there of accreditation, so we will send our information about our processes and and how we work for continuous improvement as well as the measures we have in place and the growth we've shown and that will go to the state board this year. And we hope that you know, we will be fully accredited. That's our anticipation. One of the measures, obviously state assessments is a measure in the academic measure that we focus on. But there we look at wider range, because our ultimate goal and rock as a district is a successful high school graduate. And that's so much more than just the academics, it's also admit socially emotionally, how students are and what support they need to be able to get to the academic piece. And so our families of third through 12th graders got an email or a text this week, asking them to opt in and allow us to provide a screener for their students on social, academic, and semi emotional questions. And so that came about because we had some new legislation this past year, which is requiring schools to reach out and let parents know what the tool is, which is very appropriate. And so I just wanted to kind of help explain why that text was sent this year and not in the past. But it is one of the ways in which we look at how students are doing socially, emotionally. We also look that though at attendance, attendance is so important. And then behavior course grades, but that sabres, that screening piece is just another layer in which we can just make sure that we have whatever support is needed for students to be successful. And again, as a successful high school graduate, from pre K, all the way up, everybody plays a role in that. So that was something that was sent out this week. But another big piece and, and one of the data points that really we need to celebrate as a district is the post secondary success of our students, you know, our ultimate goal at the state level is defined at 70 to 75%. Because, according to studies out there, 75% of our graduates will need some type of post secondary education, to to have a workforce, you know, here in Kansas or, or in the nation, those other 25% are also successful, they may be going to the military, they may be taking over the family business. So it's not to say that those aren't successful, but that's our target. And as a district, we're at 69.5% of students who graduate then a year, starting their second year out have been to some tech, Ed type thing or are enrolled in that second year of maybe a two year or four year university. So career tech ed is so huge, and we used to think about it in two groups of our high schoolers college prep or career tech ed. But really, we're all on a pathway to some career in after high school. So it's a large umbrella that really, it's all about career tech ed. And so we have some amazing things happening at our high school. Becky hicker, who is an assistant principal there, she and her team have worked really, really hard. We have career exploration happening. So just a few numbers is last year, we had 9060 students who were out in the community doing some career exploration this year, we have 97. And that wouldn't be possible without partners in the community, with businesses to allow our students to get out there. But it's such a necessary and important piece of students exploring what it is that is of interest to them that they might want to pursue. Post High School.   James Bell  Yeah, if that makes perfect sense because I you know, I think back to my college experience, and I had a pretty major shift mid college, and I say mid I was about four years in when I decided to change majors and have a scene that in advance, I may have made different decisions when I was 18.   Shanna Dinkel  Yes, and so we hope to even grow that. And at last year's class of 2220 22. We had 120 members who were pathway concentrators, so really it has a lot to do with what courses you take and how many, a lot of times students Are we actually enrolled in more than one pathway, but as we call them a pathway concentrator, it's how many they align within a pathway. But we're trying to expand the pathways next year. It's exciting that we hope to have a military and military military health pathway for students who choose to explore that. This year, we're starting our health science pathway. We're partnering with Hays Med, and a grant out of K u. And that's been excited. We have over 70 students who are in the intro to health career courses. And we know how important that is. There's just it's so exciting. And we have students who, you know, some of the NCQA programs that our high schoolers are involved in our Certified Nurse Aide, allied health, pharmacy tech, auto mechanics, so many of those things, we have students who go and attend Fort Hays on campus during the day, or taking online through NC K or Fort Hays on campus at Hays high. So really just you know, one of our core values is selling students on the possibilities and opportunities for their future. And that's really what it's all about. And it's not just something that happens in high school, you know, one of the resources that's available to parents, as parents, we, you know, we want to talk to our kids to about what it is, is of interest to them, there is a program called Higher paths, H AI, R e paths.com. And there were some grant money, and there's some amazing videos, and just talking points for parents, upper elementary are ready to just start thinking and exploring and seeing what's of interest. So lots going on. And again, it's that partnership with parents that the school wants to work with, because that's such an important role in what their student chooses to do post secondary, but good things happening. And like I said, are the 70, nearly 70% of our kids having some success after that high school graduation, that that's awesome. And we want to see that continue to grow?   James Bell  Yeah, you know, I love that I've seen this over the I don't know, I'd say maybe the last 10 years or so really an effort, and especially locally in all of the high schools from Fort Hays and CK tech, USD 49. And the Catholic schools as well to have that kind of overall focus on not pushing children into one thing, university education, but rather, what is it that you like to do? And how do we get you to a successful point there. And I've seen some of the USD 49 tech programs in action. And it is truly incredible. There's constant learning, not only with the students, but with the educators as well. And how do we better implement this? And how do we bring in new tech, and especially on the coding front? It's really just incredible to me to see.   Shanna Dinkel  Yeah, and you know, really, that is the purpose of T CTE is to support and empower schools, developing those pathways to lead students to whatever is post secondary. And a lot of times, we want to train them with that content, like we've talked about, but also can they work with others? That's that social piece? How do they feel about their learning emotionally? Where are they so it's all tied in with like, we talked about social emotional learning is such an important way, and why that's also something that as schools, we want to make sure that we work with parents and help support kids, because a lot of times, it's those soft skills, too, that we want to make sure whether it's growth mindset, working through things, overcoming some difficult situations. So lots of good things happening. And it's exciting to be here. And I look forward to our accreditation that we send to the state board, because I anticipate that we will be fully accredited.   James Bell  Yeah, get that check off. That's, that'll feel so good, I'm sure. Yeah. You know, I'm curious how much of this the shift in education to this kind of newer model where we were on the career track and the pathways? How much of that is the changing education structure? And how much is the changing world we live in? And I think about, you know, all the tech that, you know, I'm at the end of that age that when I was in, you know, my my kids school age, in fourth, fifth grade, we had a computer in the classroom, and it played Oregon Trail. And that was about all it did. You know, we had some typing tutors, but they're what they do on technology is so different and so much more expansive, and a wonder like, if you want to kind of help us, or help us share with us? Are we learning better how to adapt those kids to that world? Or are we learning a better rather how to educate them for that world? If that makes sense? Yeah, it's probably a   Shanna Dinkel  little bit of both. And you know, I think that's why it's important to even start exploring careers because there's so many things out there, our tech will eliminate some jobs and add to others. So we don't even know some of those things that are out there. Sometimes when we think about tech and students are, you know, devices are just second nature to them. As a system, we need to unlearn some of their habits of more just casual use of technology to really get into some specific I'm things with technology. So one of the things that's exciting with the bond passing, again, thanking the community for that opportunity, as we, you know, look at design, we really want to make sure that we're taking into account what our students need for the world beyond high school so that they're ready, including technology and those types of things. So I think it's a little bit of both, it's kind of like our kindergarten readiness, you know, that's another one of our measures for accreditation, we don't want to have students have to fit our environment, we need to know the needs of our incoming kindergarteners and create that environment that meets their needs, where they're at, and then moves them forward. Same thing, when we talk about career tech, Ed, what's out there, and then making sure that we provide that for students to move them forward.   James Bell  And I would imagine, too, at this point, you kind of have to teach students to be I don't know what the right word but able to adapt themselves to the business world because it changes so quickly, you know, like I think of jobs that didn't exist when I was in school that are now you know, top needed jobs and out in the workforce, that you wouldn't have the there's no way you would have the education for you have to educate yourself. Right.   Shanna Dinkel  And I think that's what we're hearing from businesses and again, are Dr. Watson, the Commissioner of Ed has been on tours across Kansas. And a lot of times we hear, we'll train them on those specific skills they need for this job. It's more of those soft skills, showing up on time, making sure that you're in attendance, having a good work ethic, growth mindset, working well with others, being able to express yourself, when written or oral communication, being a good listener. All those are things that through the different, you know, content and academic tying that all together because then at some point, yeah, it's hard to prepare him for everything that's out there. But just making sure that those basic skills are there so that they can adapt and be adaptable out in their environment and what they choose to explore next. Very cool. Yeah,   James Bell  sure. We've got just about a minute left. Any other last thoughts or anything else that we want to hit on? Before we go? You know,   Shanna Dinkel  I really think we talked about a lot. I'm excited to be it is a great year, we started off well, like you said, Superintendent Wilson share that last week and it's just a really good start and all the activities and the whirlwind is is picking up as we get here into September and and it'll fly by but we're just glad that we're able to work with students, parents, and again, thanking the community for all those career exploration opportunities they're giving our students because it really does make a difference.

On this episode of the Post Podcast Fort Hays State University Alumni Association engagement strategist Carolyn Tatro shares FHSU Homecoming 2022 details.  Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  The Fort Hays State University Alumni Association is get ready for this year's homecoming, Alumni Engagement strategist, Carolyn Tatro stops by to share some of the details on this episode of the post podcast.   Carolyn Tatro  It's only got a month away at this point, right about a month away and really for homecoming for us. It's there are parts of it that are year round. But by the time we get to this time of year, we kind of can't believe that it's already around the corner. And we have some really exciting things planned. So I'm really looking forward to it. I know a lot of other people are too.   James Bell  Yeah, yeah, it's always a good time. And I know, you know, COVID kind of changed some things, you guys introduced some virtual events, and that seemed to go over really well just, you know, as we were having to deal with that, but a lot of back to normal kind of stuff. Um, you know, oh, my goodness, look at the list of thing. No, lots of stuff going on. Yeah, you want to give us some highlights?   Carolyn Tatro  Yes. So first of all, we had a record sell out of the golf tournament. So the golf tournament is currently sold out. It's one of our most popular events throughout the three days, which by the way, before I forget, October 6, seventh, and eighth is what we're talking about here for our alumni homecoming events, the golf tournament sold out in five days, which record for us. So we're excited about that. But we, we know a lot of people didn't get into it, but we you know, give us a call and we want to talk to you about it. Because there's a lot of other things that you can do lunch with Coach Brown is also happening that afternoon, which the golfers can participate in because it's during lunch. So we want people to come and have lunch with football coach, Chris Brown and and learn a little bit about game day routines, and learn about the team, that kind of stuff. So that'll be a really exciting event as well. And then I know later that evening, we'll have the bonfire. Hopefully Weather permitting knock on wood was a great event last year. So hopefully we'll get to do the bonfire again.   James Bell  You guys do that right there to the the west of the Alumni Center, right   Carolyn Tatro  right next to the Robins.   James Bell  The one that always floods.   Carolyn Tatro  Hopefully we're you know, we're again, month away. We'll see what happens. But the bonfire is always a big event when we get to do it. So yeah, very fun. Yeah. And then lots of exciting things planned for Friday. And we have a rather exciting slate of award recipients this year, our homecoming awards are always, you know, a really big deal. There are some of the most distinguished alums that we get to celebrate. And Friday is sort of the the big day to do that Friday and Saturday, we get to have lots of events to celebrate these award winners. So looking forward to that have people from all over the place that I'm looking forward to meeting in person, some really fascinating individuals that I think people want to meet.   James Bell  Yeah, for sure. You want to tell us maybe what some of those awards are? I know, I've seen them year after year, but I'm drawing a blank. Yes.   Carolyn Tatro  So we have four awards that we honor at homecoming. One is the Alumni Achievement Award is sort of the most prestigious for our alums via NIDA, Landrum and distinguished service awards are some of the others. This year, we are honoring four Alumni Achievement Award recipients and two Young Alumni Award recipients. So we've got alumni achievement, and NIDA Landrum Distinguished Service and young alum. And the this year, we have four alumni achievement, and two young alum award recipients. So very exciting people.   James Bell  Cool. Cool. Yeah, I'm gonna talk more about these events. But I am curious, like, how do those folks get selected? You guys drop out a hat or is there a vote   Carolyn Tatro  there. So we have a nomination process that takes place, December, I read around December in January, we open it up for about a month, but people are sending us names year round, you know, oh, I met so and so who's doing some really cool things that you guys need to know about. So we do collect names pretty much year round. Our Alumni Board has a committee that reviews these nominations. And then based on specific criteria, we they select who they believe should be the standout award winners for the coming year. So the selection is usually made end of January, sometime in February. So a lot of us are sitting on this secret for several months before we finally announced them in the summer.   James Bell  I can tell by your face. You know who they are?   Carolyn Tatro  Oh, yes, yeah. And we know we, we know who they are for a long time. And we usually release, we put out the press release in the summer. So, you know, it's it's maybe six months before we get to tell the public about it. But um, yeah, they're out there. And I think some people are very excited about who we get to celebrate this year. Very cool.   James Bell  Very cool. Well, moving back into some of these events. I mean, that's gonna be fun. That's again on Friday. I had it open in the morning, Friday morning, but lots of stuff going on that Friday afternoon night, right?   Carolyn Tatro  Yes, that's right. So Friday morning, we will have a meet and greet for these award recipients now I should say. So John Allen, who is a world renowned journalist in Rome, he will be unable to join us but we're So excited to celebrate him. And also Mike McCarthy, who's the current head football coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He's a little busy right now. So he's not going to be able to do it because I know he's he's got some things going on. But we're really excited the meet and greet will involve Judy billings, who's a lifelong nurse educator, Don Richardson, who's also a lifelong educator been teaching for more than 50 years. Tory blue, who is the current House Majority Whip in Topeka. She's great Ben native ran for office before she even graduated from Fort Hays, and then Brandon Penny, who I'm very excited to meet great creative mind doing some really cool things in New York for Saks Fifth Avenue. So it's, those four individuals will be at the meet and greet. And there'll be at the Alumni and Friends awards banquet on Friday evening, as well. So just a couple of different opportunities to meet them on Friday, they'll be doing some presentations in classes, mostly from the departments that they graduated from, but opportunities to speak to students, and then we get to celebrate them in the parade on saturday as well. So get to spend some time with them this week, that weekend.   James Bell  I love that. And you know, it's always so amazing to me. The I mean, obviously, we have a large number of alumni out there doing amazing things, but it always seems like you guys are finding new ones that you know, maybe the general public doesn't know or people that left years ago, and they're doing amazing things internationally. You're on the coasts. Yeah. And it's like an endless supply of amazing four days long.   Carolyn Tatro  I'm telling you even just yesterday, there were a couple people who came up to me and said, Did you know that so and so has a connection to Fort Hays? And it's, it's really cool to see some of these names that you're right, we just we don't always know that they have the connection to Fort Hays. And that's why we like to celebrate them with some of these awards, because it's just a really exciting time our community gets to see how connected we are to some people that are doing some really amazing things out in the world.   James Bell  Yeah, very cool. And to be able to celebrate and bring everybody together, or almost everybody in this case and, and hang out and get to meet those individuals. What a cool experience.   Carolyn Tatro  Yep. So a lot of those events, you can check out the full list of our events at fhsu homecoming.com. Now, I will say that is the website for our alumni events. There's a lot of other stuff happening happening on campus that week of Homecoming. So make sure you check out the fhsu website as well, but fhsu homecoming.com. A lot of the events that I've mentioned already, you do have to pre register for, but you can do that through September 29. So you still have a couple of weeks to do that. But we were very excited. And yeah, I can't contain it. Honestly, this is one of my favorite, favorite times of the year, just getting ready for all this and then watching it all come together and and seeing people come to the events is just a really great time.   James Bell  Yeah, I bet because I mean, you guys have to plan this for such a long time. There's so many moving pieces, and especially when with your events, and then the university events you got a whole has to coordinate together and to some degree and so many people make this event how happened it just you know, everybody gets together have a great time. But there's a lot of work in the behind the scenes.   Carolyn Tatro  That's right, and we participate with Oktoberfest as well. We're going to have an Oktoberfest tent out there, come out, meet people, you know, if you're meeting up with a group of friends, our tent will be a great place to do that. Sit down, enjoy the delicious food and the atmosphere will be out there both days too. So again, something happening pretty much every day, Thursday, Friday, Saturday through a homecoming so yeah, on on all the time.   James Bell  And Oktoberfest you also know that's separate, but it's the same. And it brings a lot of people to town to do that. But while you're there, come make the connection to Fort Hays, where you connect with Fort Hays and go check out the bit like if you've been on campus, holy smokes, it still boggles my mind. How much has changed even from the time that we were there, which was, you know, we're pushing in almost a decade, I think since we both graduated, but so much activity, physical activities there. And it's just, it's still it's great. It looks amazing. But it's different. And it's it's a it's fun to explore even I think some of those new facilities and buildings   Carolyn Tatro  it is. And we do offer, you know, we offer the opportunity for people to take tours of campus while they're out there as well. Even some of our awardees that I've talked to on the phone, I haven't been to campus in a long time is there going to be a chance for me to see, you know, this such and such new building or my building has been renovated since I was there. So you know, things are changing all the time. And they still are and so yeah, this is another just a great time for people to come see how things are different on campus and all the cool things that we get to do out there. Absolutely.   James Bell  Well, Carolyn, I tell you, we've got just about a minute left last thoughts or anything else you think that folks need to know before we go?   Carolyn Tatro  Well, again, just check out fhsu homecoming.com. We really encourage people to pre register for some of these events because they are going to fill up again lunch with Coach Brown on Thursday afternoon. So that will be October 6 That noon. Again, something we don't get to do all the time. So come and have lunch with the football coach Chris Brown, and then sign up for our alum. I award events as well. So you can meet some of these really cool people we have coming to town, September 29. That is the deadline for a lot of our registered events. Don't   James Bell  wait. Don't get you know what happens when you have a deadline like that. Always for me, people wait   Carolyn Tatro  till the day I wait till the deadline is right. Don't wait till the deadline, get it out, get   James Bell  your computer listening to us and probably at work. So go ahead and just take a minute to lock out. Get it in do it now. Yeah, no, it'd be a good time and hopefully you get a great turnout. And you know, I'll be around I always am.   Carolyn Tatro  Yeah, absolutely. And everybody, give us a call if anybody has questions, lots of stuff happening. So we want to be able to point you in the right direction.

On this episode of the Post Podcast Center for Life Experiences executive director Darian Schlegel shares updates from the center. Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  The Center for life experiences has a new executive director and some new programming on the way. Darien Schlegel stops by to share with us the details on this episode of the post podcast.   Darian Schlegel  So a little bit about me, I'm from a City, Kansas, I moved to Hayes to go to college, and just recently graduated with my clinical psych in the psych department in May of 2022. And then I was recently hired at CFL II this July. So I've been there for about a month and a half now.   James Bell  Very cool. Yeah, kind of settling in with Anna. She was a frequent guest on the show, obviously. And it's been several months before bird since we'd seen her that her last sign off, I think was, oh, goodness, May, June ish. And yeah, that transition happened to kind of wall in the interim. But how are things going?   Darian Schlegel  Good, good. Yeah. And kind of stepped off in May. And she's been helping out here and there for a while helping me get adjusted and everything like that. So it's been, it's been good. We're learning and starting some new things. And we're excited. Very cool.   James Bell  And, you know, I love that. Obviously, you know, you mentioned that you just got out of college, you're fairly young. And I think that's got to be a change, because and, and we've been there so long and really kind of made her own but to bring in that new ideas and the young blood, probably a little bit of a, I don't know, a nervous energy, but also excitement around there. Right?   Darian Schlegel  Yeah, it was definitely, I don't want to say intimidating because it has kind of a negative connotation. But, um, yeah, it was definitely interesting to step in the foot after, and has been there for so long. I mean, she helped found the foundation and everything. So it's cool to learn from her because she's so involved in she knows so many people in that community. So it's great to learn from her and just kind of take over in her footsteps, then, like you said, it's fun to start those new ideas, too.   James Bell  Yeah. And we're going to talk about some of the new stuff that this launched here in the are launching recent or soon. But before we get there, I wonder if you want to talk a little bit about just kind of the overall center for life experiences mission and what you guys do down there.   Darian Schlegel  Yeah, so CFR li focuses on helping people basically grieve and heal and talk about their daily struggles. It's a place where people can come and connect with others who have experienced similar experiences. We're all about just forming that support for other people, because a lot of people just don't have that support system around. So we're there to make that happen. Very   James Bell  cool. And for my understanding, I've never been affiliated with the groups, but just the years of talking with and it's a very informal, it's not not a counseling session, per se, it's, as you say, it's just it's a, it's something to help you get through the process and with others, that have also been through it. Yeah,   Darian Schlegel  yeah, it's a very informal process. We have groups in the evenings, healing after loss, healing after loss of suicide, and then Healing Hearts. And there's three separate support groups where people can come and just talk about their struggles and learn from other's experiences and just feel like they have a connection somewhere with somebody because a lot of time family members don't really know what to say, especially if they haven't experienced that grief themselves. So that's a place where people can really just be surrounded by others who have the same experience.   James Bell  Yeah, know what those groups, those groups that you've kind of inherited. are the timings in the day, same, the same on those meetings. Are those been adjusted   Darian Schlegel  yet, so they stay the same? Every month. So Healing Hearts, meets the first Thursday of every month and healing after loss meets the first and third Tuesday every month. And then halos, which is healing after loss of suicide meets the first and third Wednesday of every month.   James Bell  Very cool. Just still have the calendar on the website. Yes. Okay. CFE. hope.org. Yes. Okay. Cool. I was hoping I remembered that right. Very cool. Well, then, let's move on. And let's talk about some of these new things that are coming up. The first one I think we want to hit on a little bit is the John C lecture series. What is this?   Darian Schlegel  So the John C Lecture Series is where cflc brings in a speaker every so often to talk about different mental health topics and stuff like that. So for the Jhansi lecture series this month, it's happening in September 22. At the beach Smith are performing arts center on campus at Fort Hays, it's from six to nine. And they will be talking about suicide awareness and stigma that surrounds suicide. And they are bringing somebody in from Arts Otsuka and It's hard to pronounce. And they will be talking about this. And they partner with psych u, which is an amazing resource for mental health as   James Bell  well. Very cool. People are interested, do they need to sign up in advance? Or is any sort of fee on this? Or is it just come and go with it?   Darian Schlegel  Nope, it's just a come and go. We really encourage people, the community come, just learning here about suicide and stigma, because it's something we want to talk about. It is increasing in all of the population. So it's really important to know how to talk to somebody and learn about it, and how to combat the stigma surrounding it.   James Bell  Absolutely. Okay, and I have for my understand you've got some other new groups. I don't have them in front of me, but other new groups that are starting up, right?   Darian Schlegel  Yes, yeah. So we have what we call a support series. And so it's going to be roughly six to eight weeks of different groups. So the first one we're starting is called Fostering Connections. And this is going to be a six week group starting September 26, at five o'clock, where children the age 10, to 18 can come and really just talk about their life experiences children with experience with the foster care system. That way, they have somebody to talk to who have been in similar situations. And just so that they can talk to other kids who have had had the same experience. And then our next group is called the CF le book circle. And this is another four to six week group that's going to alternate every month with different topics. And our first book is gained something, it focuses around divorce. So anyone going through divorce, or who has already gone through it, and just want to be around other people who have the same experiences, again, can read the book and learn some things and all of that good stuff.   James Bell  Very cool. You know, I think about, you know, traumatic life events like that sometimes I think are even more harder to deal with than the loss of a loved one, just because it's, there is no loss, it's you know, that you're losing the relationship, but not losing the person. And that adds a whole nother layer of complexity to   Darian Schlegel  Exactly, exactly. And I think cflc is wanting to talk about all the different types of grief, there are different branches. And like you said, you're losing that part of your life that you had a huge connection with. And so we'll be able to talk about that as well.   James Bell  Very cool, very exciting stuff. Is information for those available on the website as well.   Darian Schlegel  Yes, everything's available on the website. And we are updating our website as well. So hopefully in the next coming month or so people will be able to register for different events on there as well. So, so keep a lookout for that.   James Bell  Your website work. Never goes as fast as you want. Right? Yeah. Well, very cool. Well, there's anything else that you think the folks need to know about what's going on down at the Center for life experiences right now.   Darian Schlegel  Um, I just hope that you guys come out and visit us if you ever feel like you just need to talk about your life. We're here for you and we hope to see everyone

Join host Matt Daniel as he chats with Fort Hays play by play voice Gerard Wellbrock (3:57), NW Senior DL Elijah Green (36:12) and Voice of the Bearcats John Coffey (53:07). This week also marks the return of The Bearcats According to Eli (1:05:30). Thanks for listening!

On this episode of the Post Podcast Ellis County Fire Chief and County Administrator, Darin Myers shares tips for keeping safe through preventative measures.   Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  As Fort State University students move back into Hays for the upcoming semester, it's a good time to check those fire prevention measures. Fire Chief and County Administrator Darin Meyers stops by to share with us some safety tips on this episode of the Post Podcast.   Darin Myers  October 9 through the 15th is fire prevention this week, and state fire marshal starting to send out information in regards to what is going to catch capsulate this year, but I think time fire prevention week and just general fire safety topics is kind of a good thing to bring in, we got a lot of people moving back into the area for Fort Hays. And I thought it'd be good just to kind of mention is, you know, some of the new freshmen are moving into a new apartment new dorm, new fraternity sorority is just make yourself familiar with the place that you're living. Now, where the fire alarm panels are at how to activate the fire alarm, and one of the biggest savers lifesavers is smoke detectors. So if you're in an apartment, make sure you have them, they should be in every bedroom, in your in the residence, and then they should be outside of every living area, as well as on every floor. So make sure you have them. And then the second step is make sure they actually work. You know, if you can't reach them, you know, get you a broom handle or something and push the test button on there and make sure that they work and make sure the batteries are in there. And if not contact your landlord and get the batteries replaced. And it's the best thing that can happen in the middle of night. And the best way and the fastest way to detect a fire in the residence is having the smoke detectors in there.   James Bell  Absolutely. And what a simple and small measure. I mean, I'll give you an example in my home. Last time I moved in or not, I think it was the place before but I never tested them. They were there. They looked good. And I thought oh, okay, I finally after like three or four months oh my gosh, should hit that button. I did and it didn't do anything. There was no battery yet. There was no battery in it.   Darin Myers  Don't Don't don't assume that just because someone else isn't there before you that they didn't pull out the detectors or the batteries. Like you said. One thing to also consider nowadays, they always used to teach or we always used to teach as you change your batteries in your smoke alarms twice a year, every time you change your clock for spring and fall you replace your batteries. Smoke detectors nowadays, we're coming out with a lithium ion batteries that last you know, they're saying 10 years, we never have to replace them. But don't take that for granted that they are still working. If they you know their batteries do become faulty and they don't last always as long as you expect them to so you still want to test them. And you know, testing them drains the battery and it'll start chirping at you if it's not a full full alarm, but it will just do little chirps. And I'll let you know that the batteries are dead on. And to get the to get it either replace the battery or replace the smoke detector as well. And in the other piece to that is not just your smoke alarms, but your co detectors detecting the carbon monoxide, we get a lot of calls starting the city in the county, but throughout the nation about this time of year, not quite yet. But once it starts cooling down, everybody starts turning their furnaces on. And a faulty furnace or a hot water heater or stove can emit carbon monoxide in your home. And so it's nice to have a carbon monoxide detector as well. And make sure that those were actually working, some of them actually plug in down on the floor. But those those are are typically placed as was Frequenters. As often in your home as a smoke detector. Those are supposed to be just one on every floor. don't necessarily want them close to your kitchen or your furnace room though you want them separated more likely in your living area and sleeping area. But you don't want them close to those areas because when it is common to have carbon dioxide actually in your home at all times. But if they're too close to those servers like the the furnace, the sensors can actually become saturated. And then they can give you false readings and maybe not go off as when they're supposed to or go off too quickly because they're saturated. So make sure you have your smoke detectors and make sure you have your carbon monoxide alarms in your home.   James Bell  You don't want those carbon monoxide alarms to I wonder what's the best placement Do you want them high up near the ceiling Do you want to towards the floor I and I've seen it kind of everywhere in the in all the years that I've moved around.   Darin Myers  You're testing me on that one because I don't remember what the the vapor did stupid the the relation of carbon dioxide is to air if it's heavier or lighter. You always have smoke detectors up top because smoke rises so you just fold detectors up low. However, I've always seen carbon monoxide detectors, usually about a foot two off the floor and plugged into your your power outlets. And so it may be that it's best to have but you caught me on that one. I can't. I might be able to Google that while we continue to   James Bell  talk about you I think probably the most important thing is just have them in the house. Yeah, right. If it gets to a point where you're in danger, I would think no matter where it's at, it's gonna be beeping at you in one way or another. Yep. Very good. And you know, another question I had and when it comes to the fire safety in the home fire extinguishers, I've lived in places that have the little tiny ones I've lived in you don't they have the big full on ones, what's the what's the best recommendation there for you   Darin Myers  definitely have one just like.   James Bell  Again, the most important thing is have one Walmart and Home Depot may   Darin Myers  like us after this, everybody's gonna be running into the store and pick up some more. Yes, definitely have one one of the best place to always keep it to good places, but the best and the most common place to put it underneath your kitchen, sink your your base cabinet there. But an ABC fire extinguisher. And what an ABC fire extinguisher is it is acceptable use for three different types of fires a type A fire, which is natural, so woods and trees, and then Class B is liquids and Class C would be electricity. So you have that ABC that will lay this electrical fire grease fire. Or if you just light your fire on a stove, your pizza in the stove on fire, you can use it. So definitely have that. They usually make him there, they're about biggest size you'd probably need is they're about four inches in diameter. They make home versions at the at the store, you can buy as big as you want. Because it just depends on how much space you want to take up. But they also make an extinguisher specifically for kitchens, which is a class que so it's more designed for your kitchen fires. If you want to buy one of those there, they are a little bit more expensive than a regular ABC extinguisher though.   James Bell  Alright, for safety, what's the what's a few dollars for safety? Exactly. I always I always love to be more prepared. My my wife teases me all the time, because I'm always like about that stuff. But anyway, that maybe that's just me. Well, before we run out of time, we've got our shift gears here. You've got a Fire School coming up from what I understand, right?   Darin Myers  Yeah. So each year, well, every month actually. So the Kansas State Firefighters Association has host different fire schools around the state. Not every single month because we have a conference in April, which we actually just hosted the annual State Conference here this year. But here in September, the 10th and 11th. We're hosting the regional Fire School. And so I guess it's somewhat of an invite if there's any fire departments for firefighters that are listed in this morning. We welcome everybody to come out on September 10 and 11th. And we'll be hosting it again this year at the high school. While vehicle extrication class, we'll have some chief officer classes, some skills training, we'll have a live burn trailer. Then we're also we'll be cooking up the day before a couple of pork butts to be able to feed everybody for lunch. So we'll have some free food for everybody for the lunch period. But one of the neat things this year's our fire school that we got approved for is on September 10 and 11th. But you know, it's been over 20 years now since 911 happened and last year was the first year that Fort Hays started it but they started a memorial stair climb out of Lewis field. And we're partnering up with Fort Hays this year. So it won't be on the 11th just because it's a Sunday, but on September 10 That morning, registration will start out at the Fort Hays lose field. And for registration of the stair climb, because everybody registered and at 747 which is our time for when the first tower was hit. We'll start the stair climb. And if you just want to do a walk around the track or he can actually climb the stairs and they'll have it all set up on the on the bleachers that you'll be able to climb 110 flights of stairs in honor and remembrance of those who sacrifice their lives back on 911 of 2001.   James Bell  But are good you know what a powerful way to help remember all of those victims?   Darin Myers  They are they are I've never actually attended one, we usually send our firefighters because I believe it's good to let them go out and promote that and experience that and fire departments from around the state to around the nation that happens that weekend every year. And we usually send several most we've ever sent was about seven down to a one time down to the one in which top but hopefully we'll have quite a few area firefighters joining us this year and come out to Lucasfilm It's a free event. It's just a you got to put some blood sweat and tears into climbing, climbing the stairs and walking the track to to complete it.   James Bell  Sure. Do they need to sign up at all? Or is it just kind of a show up and be   Darin Myers  there just show up. You don't have to for the stair climb. We actually don't even have to be on the fire department if you just want to come out and take part of the event. It's just registrations at seven and we'll give it about 30 minutes. Everybody lined up ready to go.   James Bell  Very good. We've got about a minute or so left. I want to hit on this. I saw you guys driving around. I think you're probably heading to a fire. He got some new vehicles in the fleet, right?   Darin Myers  Yeah. Not too long ago since well, it's been a while since we've actually Been in near to visit but we did get a new fire truck. We ordered it actually last January so about a year and a half ago but with the production delays and everything it took to get the actual the chassis up to South Dakota where they built the truck. We finally got it and the fire department, the members of company five here in Hayes spent about a month training on it they had to go out and do driver training and pump training, draft training and a lot of drills driving it around and etc. To make sure that they were fluent with the truck driving it safely and then operating it during a fire so got it in it's nice it's a very nice truck. I appreciate the County Commission support letting us purchase it it was well needed it replaced a truck that was about 27 years old. And got it and service. It's out and about it's it's a neat truck the let the firefighters have a lot of input on it and it's kind of a new color scheme that will have county fire departments black over red so the top of the cab and everything is black and the bottom half is red and looks pretty sharp and like said I'm appreciate appreciative that we got it. The firefighters are liking it, enjoying it. And it's kind of neat because it's it's a 27 year newer truck, but it's simpler to operate and kind of stopped us a few times because we thought it would be more complicated. It was simpler than it was. So that's I guess that's good news.

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares insights from recent tours of Ellis County's largest employers.   Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  Few of the largest enterprises in Ellis County have a significant impact on the area economy. Grow Hays, Executive Director Doug Williams stops by to share some of those insights on this episode of the Post Podcast.   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  Fort Hays State is the crown jewel of western Kansas, we got to tour the three new buildings to three, three newest buildings on campus. I was just blown away by what all they have down there, and how nice and just effective and what a wonderful resource those buildings are. To the art department, the technology department and the Center for Student Success and just amazing buildings. You just go in and you don't feel like you're in hate, you know, you feel like gosh, I shouldn't be in a metropolitan area, or huge university someplace, but it's right here and it's impressive. Yeah,   James Bell  yeah, I really like about all of the construction they've done because I was I was on campus there when they started with the with Hammond Hall, and kind of that whole process. I love that the new buildings the the the consensus, the goal is to make them look like they're part of the old campus. You know, there's an aesthetic there that I just I can't think of another college and I've ever been on to that really does that.   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  Well they've done a terrific job of maintaining the limestone construction, you know, the same building materials and and the look and feel with with some modernization. And of course, the art area, they use the old power plant and being a lifer here in Hayes. I remember that powerplant, my granddad used to work there. And I used to go down there when I was a kid, and walk through there with him. And that was longer ago than I'd like to think. But they, they were able to restore that building, at least the exterior structure and things keep the bill brick and that kind of thing is really cool how they did that. So it they have done an amazing job. And we can be very proud of, of what we have there. And what a wonderful asset it is to western Kansas and to Ellis County in particular, to have that type of an institution there. It's it's just tremendous.   James Bell  Absolutely. You know, I love then it's and I know, it's not a haze, exclusive thing, but there seems to be just such an undercurrent here of people wanting to reutilize those historic structures, those old buildings and I love that we do that in Fort Hays is done that I think is in modern history, at least has absolutely much as they can.   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  They have, you know, as I said, the old power plant they use for that the library's the next project with the grant that they recently received a $17 million grant, I believe it was, and they're going to be renovating the library, but I don't think they're going to be changing a whole lot on the exterior. I say that they probably aren't going to do a fair amount to it, but but they're going to maintain the spot they're going to maintain some of the the structure and things and so they'll continue that look and feel and and you know, really the only other a couple buildings on campus that aren't of the limestone, I think domanick Hall is, is maybe non limestone and things but I tell people this all the time I would I would compare our campus to any other anywhere really, in terms of the look and quality of a campus is is just really second to none. And I mean even big schools and, and division one schools and it's just an amazing place.   James Bell  Absolutely. And I love talking for hates, everybody knows I went for Hayes and big champion of everything they do down there. Well, I   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  went there to just not the whole ride. I got sidetracked along the way college algebra. As I told the group the other day, college algebra ended my college career. And however I told them in the Center for Student Success, they have an area for tutoring, and they bring in tutors. And it's a great spot where kids can come in and get the help they need. I'm sure something like that was probably available when I was there, but I didn't find it. And if I were to go back, I might have gotten through college algebra and continued my college career path. But that didn't happen. So kids have a much better opportunity today to utilize those resources.   James Bell  Absolutely. Hey, and I'll share this with you Doug. If you keep it between you and me. College Algebra. I took it six times six before I finally got   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  through sixth time's the charm.   James Bell  Everybody knows to I was in college forever. I was there for dang decade. It was amazing. Probably why I love it so much. Why   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  ever leave? Yeah, exactly.   James Bell  But, you know, four days, you know, and that's it. That's a showcase piece. And it's easy to point to that but you had some opportunity here in the last week to go through some of the large employers here in Hays and, and really kind of see what they do as well, right? We did   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  yesterday, Scott, the plant manager at EnerSys was good enough to give us a tour of intercepts and I had never been in there. That's one of the really cool things about this job I have is that I get to go in some places that I've never been. You know, I mentioned I've lived here all my life. I remember very well when it was traveling all and you know it was our Our largest employer at that point in time, but I was never in the physical plant. I've been in the front offices. So yesterday, we got to take a tour of the entire place. And wow, it's it's an impressive place as well in a different kind of way. Because it's hardcore manufacturing going on in there, you know, plant floor and Fire, fire deals, melting lead, and pouring lead into forms and then turning it into batteries, ultimately, big batteries and things. But what an impressive place and just shows we've got a lot going on here. I've had tours of brands, I've had tours of Glassman, we have some really impressive has. We had some really impressive businesses here that are doing some amazing things right under our noses. And I don't think we realize it sometimes just how impressive these things are.   James Bell  Yeah, absolutely. I was even I had a conversation with my wife not too long ago. And matter of fact, we were talking to nurses, we knew they make batteries, but like what they actually do, we don't know. And it is it's so easy to overlook those those major employers Hays med is another one here in Ellis County that really helped drive our economy, but they're kind of you know, you don't think about a lot of them frequently, maybe his med is a bad example. Because you do. Most people out there though   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  maybe higher profile in the community. But you know, in our system, we talked about this yesterday, they're kind of on the edge of town. And so you drive by that building all the time, but you don't really think about what goes on in there unless you have some reason to either know, somebody that works there or having worked there before. But it's an impressive operation. And they, they produce some amazing products to get used all over the world. I mean, these batteries, these are not your car batteries. These are industrial type batteries that are used for backups of telecom systems and computer data centers and that type of thing. Even utility companies use them nuclear power plants use them for their backup, because they want to have backup power if they have to shut down the plant for some reason or another. So these products are used everywhere. And they're made some I mean, they have multiple plants but least these are made right here in Hays America.   James Bell  I love that are we're literally, you know, building the things that are driving the world.   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  Well, at some level we are, you know, I know tronics makes parts for the the auto industry and for General Motors and the big car manufacturers and cross Of course, I'm not sure exactly what all they make products for, but their products are used all over I know. And RANS my gosh, he's, he's got airplanes all over the world. And he's been at it a long time out there, Randy and his crew and they do a terrific job as well. So pretty special stuff goes on here.   James Bell  Yeah. You know, from a truly economic standpoint, I wonder, you know, how much of our economy is driven by those large employers? And I don't know where you draw the line on large. But, you know, those are the ones who are most talking about   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  the end. You're right. The definition of large is always interesting. When I was back into computer business and working with IBM, they called small businesses, anything under 1000 employees. Those were small businesses. Well, they're not small to us. But those employers are critically important to our local economy, and they contribute a lot. You know, Fort Hays, state Hays med EnerSys has Glassman RANS, all of those cross, they all contribute a lot of dollars in employment to our community. Unfortunately, they're all facing the same problem right now is finding people. That's that's the real challenge. The biggest challenge that they face, you know, I'm talking with the Scott at an intercessor. He also talked about supply chain issues, you know, they have been challenged with supply chain issues and trying to get products and, and it's a process. So when you lose one piece of the chain of manufacturing something, it gums up the whole work. So it is some challenges, some challenges, but I think employer employees are their biggest challenge to find good qualified employees.   James Bell  You know, and that's something we talk about quite a bit. And one of the driving factors on that is housing here in the area. And from what I understand there was a reason how recent housing study done by the city of Hayes, I wonder if you want to share some of the insights from that? Well,   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  there was the city page recently completed a housing study. The document Institute did a housing study forum and in a company called rd G did a supplemental study. And it showed us basically kind of what we already know that we have a shortage that we have under built for quite some time. And it's put us in the hole in terms of available housing and thus our ability to recruit the workforce is challenging, because we don't have any place for him to live, whether it be a very white collar person that's looking at our community health care provider or a college professor, school team. Teacher, or somebody that's got a skilled laborer that's looking to go to work for one of these manufacturers that we're talking about, they have to live someplace. And we have not built enough homes over the last 10 years to meet the need. And then if we want to take advantage of this urban migration that's taking place over the next five to 10 years, we're gonna have to really ramp it up. So we have some real challenges ahead of us if we expect to continue to have any growth and do better than we have done.   James Bell  On that same note, though, there are some positive actions going on here in Ellis County that are designed to alleviate some of those shortages, right?   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  Well, we're obviously the heart of America development out and Tallgrass is 36 homes that will be added to the market. The Ellis Estates is adding 42 units to the market out there. And there's other projects that are in at least a conceptual stage. So absolutely, we're looking at solutions and trying to get new housing going. We couldn't have picked a worse time to try and build things. Because the construction industry has labor shortages as well, costs are higher than they've ever been escalating interest rates mean, we could talk all day about the challenges really doesn't matter. We've got to figure out solutions, because we've got to provide housing for people that might want to move into this area. So we're just going to have to do   James Bell  You know, as we heard earlier from again, from the city leaders here on our City Commission recap on the show. There's another IRH ID that they approved to hear. But I guess yesterday   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  last night, yes, I didn't mention that in terms of stuff under construction. But Mike Graham is going to build 33 or 36 units at the corner of fourth and fort. That will add obviously 36 units, by my estimation, we're probably four to 500 units short, in our current housing supply. I say that because our vacancy rate is virtually non existent right now. And, you know, we've got about 9000 units in our community, a healthy vacancy rate would be five or more. So if you do the math, you come up with, you know, anywhere from three to 500 units that we could use. And it also would help other landlords be a little bit more motivated to upgrade what they have. Because there's no motivation to fix things, or to upgrade properties, or even to possibly knock down properties and put something new up, so long as you have a rental market where everything rents. And so if we can add properties to the market, we'll see some of that kind of thing take place. And that's a good thing that's healthy for a community to to go through that process. It's not healthy, to not have places for people to live when people want to move here. That's not a good situation. We need to resolve that.   James Bell  You know, we've talked about this so much. But I wonder if you want to put kind of a timeline on it. And I know that we we both frequently say this, it never moves as fast as you want. But I'm wondering at what point do you see that here in Ellis County, we might get past that kind of crisis point in the housing and move into that place where we're in a, at least a stable and positive looking outcome.   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  I think even if all the projects we have on the board would occur, we're still two or three years away from getting to the point where we have adequate inventory maybe longer simply because it takes to a couple of years to take a project from concept to reality or longer to get things built. So we're still two or three years away from having any hope of resolving some housing issues. So it's going to be an ongoing thing for quite some time. Oh, we're gonna get there. We absolutely are.

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Fort Hays State University Alumni Association engagement strategist, Carolyn Tatro and psycology instructor, sports announcer and recipient of the 2022 FHSU Pilot Award Ken Windholz speak about connection and community.   Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  A big part of the Fort Hays State University culture is celebrating successes of students, faculty and alumni from the Alumni Association, Carolyn Tatro joins us with pilot award winner Ken Windholz, on this episode of the Post Podcast.   Carolyn Tatro  Couple of reasons that I invited Ken to be here with us. First of all he is well, he's a very well known voice around here, as I think many people who are listening might pick up on. But Ken was actually our pilot award recipient this year. So one of our commencement award recipients we selected, our committee selected Ken to be our outstanding faculty member of the year. And so we were just very excited to be able to talk about his story, his time at Fort Hays, and one of the things that I like to think, you know, when I in the time that I've been in this office, I've met a lot of alums and one of the most common threads among each individual alum that I've talked to is, everybody can pick out an a professor and instructor, an advisor, who kind of helped shape their time at Fort Hays. And so that's really why we like to honor our faculty in the ways that we do because they really helped shape the our students into outstanding alums. And so I'm really excited to be here. Ken is a instructor in the Department of Psychology. He's also as I mentioned, our PA announcer for football, basketball larks games, a well known voice around here. So thank you so much for being here with us. It's   Ken Windholz  great pleasure. Thank you, Carolyn. And, James, thank you for taking the time to visit with us this morning.   James Bell  Yeah, absolutely. It was great to get to hear a little bit about your story. And I'm excited to talk to you today. And congratulations on winning that pilot award. That's a big deal. Right   Ken Windholz  knocked me over with a feather. I'll tell you what, it was the most interesting thing because it's not one of those awards that you seek. I, I was in awe of the folks over the years since the 1970s, when the award was conceived and brought forward very impressed with some of the people who had wanted over the years, some of those people were my instructors and mentors, and teachers, and I held them in enormous esteem. And so it's not something that you strive for, and say, Well, one day, I didn't even dare to dream it. But it was a step by step process of being nominated. And I think that's one of the greatest privileges of being nominated by the students themselves. And it's a very humbling experience, to know that people value what you do, and that they take it to heart. And it puts even greater emphasis, I guess, on on the role that good instructors and educators serve in our society, and particularly here in our community. So I just I had hoped that I would be a good reflection of all of the incredible people who had, who had given their time and their passion to me over all of those years and, and that I would be somehow able to play that forward to today's students. And what it feels good to know that among people who are so, so caring, and so advanced, and who in fact, teach me in many ways, far more than I think I ever teach any of them. It's a real privilege.   James Bell  It's very cool. And I love that you talk about the you know, the continuity of it, you studied with award winners, and now you're bringing that legacy and who knows maybe one of your students 2030 years down the road, they're getting their own toy   Ken Windholz  would not surprise me in the slightest, because one of the great things that being an instructor at the university affords is to meet some of the most gifted people on the planet. I mean, these are folks who are curious, who want to know how life works and who keep people like me on our toes. I have a saying and I and it guides me every day that I walk into the classroom or certainly into the office and I mentioned it at the at the presentation ceremony back in May. And it is it's a quote that I don't really know who the who the author is several different people are attributed with the same with the same sentiment but it but it goes like this. A good educator teaches you where to look, but doesn't tell you what to see. That works for me. I can show people the things that I've been privileged to understand and recognize in my own education, my own career and how life works for me, and pass that along to folks But, but the real education comes when we enter that journey of our own self discovery and informational discovery and how that works for us. The only thing I ask in addition to something like you know, I can't tell you what to see is when you do see what you're looking at, tell me play it back so that I can learn. Also, from that standpoint, a good educators also a good student, we want to know, we're as curious as anybody else that we ever encountered in the classroom.   James Bell  I love that. And and as a journalist, I feel that, that that curiosity, it's hard to keep it. And I think for a good educator to really to be able to carry that through the career is a hallmark of what makes them you know, remembered and someone like yourself,   Ken Windholz  well, thank you. I mean, it's, it's a matter of, of how do I explore this life? I'm given the privilege the opportunity of this lifetime, how do I use it? Shall I use it in service? Shall I use it in gaining something of a material sort? Of? What should be? What should be? How should my lifetime be spent here? And I think a lifetime spent in, in service and in giving and playing forward is a life well lived?   James Bell  Absolutely. You know, I wonder Ken, if you might be able to share with us a story or two some of the accomplishments or something maybe that sticks out to you over your career as an instructor down at Fort Hays?   Ken Windholz  Oh, I you know, every day if I thought about this, you know what it is that I love about this place? And about this profession? This the opportunities I alluded to just a few moments ago to meet people who are as curious as I am, but who have a perspective that maybe I don't have who can share that with me also. That's the excitement I feel every single day walking into the classroom. Yes, you know, 689 weeks into the school year into the semester, things become kind of a grind, and you're facing people who, who may or may not be highly enthusiastic about being there. So the challenge is to go back to that bedrock, what's our motivation for being here, and to continue the process and knowing that this is not a sprint, it's a marathon. It's piece after piece. And this is the way life works. It's the way it works in the classroom also, but we look for a continuity, or at least I do, from moving from the overall perspective, here's why we're here. And these are the elements that that help animate that purpose. And so that's the piece that excites me every day of the challenge, how am I going to make this work? You know, I've gone through a number of phases in my life and in terms of how I've viewed the things that, that come my way things from which I can learn, and ultimately, I'll be able to pass along to students, this is more than just standing around lecturing and telling people what to think. But it's a mutual discovery processes. As I as I think we're understanding here. I used to view problems as problems. And then I evolved slightly to understanding them more as challenges because the idea of, of a problem was a little bit daunting. A challenge met, okay, am I up to meeting this requirement? What resources of mine can I bring forward to meet this challenge? I, I have found a way I think, thanks to the students that I know and have met and who, who, whose hearts and minds are open to next steps in their lives. That rather than it being a problem, rather than being a challenge, we look at it as an opportunity. So things that are set in front of us are really our opportunities to grow. How do we take advantage of that? That made all the difference for me as a game changer when I started understanding problems in my life as opportunities. I see students do James at our university, who in in some cases work full time, jobs in addition to carrying full loads that's incomprehensible to me, and lots of instil, make up the class and still do well still put in the time and the effort. In fact, I'm thinking there may be as many as six or maybe even 70% of our students who work in parallel with their class time. So the concept or That or the notion that we have students who are just privileged and sitting around all day long and living off of someone else's money or the or, you know, not earning their way in in kind is really a fallacy. At least it is a Fort Hays State. And I think it probably isn't many other places. These are hardworking folks. And it shows in their classroom and in their discipline, and it shows in their accomplishments, and so many of them do it in such quiet ways. In unrecognizable ways, I think one of my greatest joys in the classroom, is seeing a student and experiencing with a student, the occasion when they find their voice, when they move from that invisible. Don't look at me sitting in the corner kind of individual just let me get through this too, challenging themselves to moving into that difficult territory where they're able to voice an understanding and share a view and, and play it forward. For people like me. That's a that's a thrill that connects it all for me.   James Bell  That's very neat. Thanks for sharing that sir. We've got just just about a minute or so left, I wonder if we want to maybe wrap this up with the the way that alumni kind of feed into that same thought and as they go out. And we talked about this in the segment a lot how the Fort Hays alumni get out into the world and kind of share that attitude and those ethics with everyone.   Ken Windholz  Right? I you know, I'm local. I was born and raised here. I went down to the university when I was 10 years old and watched Fort Hays basketball in the Old Snake Pit the Coliseum and, and never had an intention of attending school anywhere else. But for Hayes. I don't know how common that is. But what I would encourage you I'm very familiar with with the plates and with the the policies and the grounds and all of those things. What I encourage alumni to do is come down, come and visit us take part in this process. Yes, we appreciate any generosity that you can offer to us, whether that be materially but but your own time. Come down and see what we do. Visit, walk through the campus see this beautiful place. It's an oasis of sort here in western Kansas and be a part of the university to the extent that your time and your resources allow. We want our alumni to come back and see what they have helped develop and be a part of the process as we're moving forward. They're vital to that  

I am joined by three members and one coach from Fort Hays State University in Hays Kansas.  This team has won 9 SCTP National Championships and 4 of those have been consecutive.  This is an organization that started back in 2005 with only 6 people and has grown into a championship winning team that is very determined and very supportive of each and every shooter on their squad.  This smaller college in the mid-west really has alot to offer someone. Listen in and find out why more and more people are choosing Fort Hays State.

On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays High principal, Shawn Henderson shares information about the end of the school year at Hays High.   Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  Hays High is getting ready for graduation weekend. Principal Shawn Henderson stops by to share some of the details on this episode of the Post Podcast.   Shawn Henderson  On the night, we had our big athletic and academic awards night. And what a great time to come together and really see all the great things that our students are doing. It's really fun to see.   James Bell  Yeah, you know, as we're wrapping up the year, I wonder if there's any particularly notable things that come to mind that you want to discuss with us before we move on and talk a little bit about the graduation ceremonies coming up this weekend?   Shawn Henderson  Well, you know, I have an interesting perspective, because I'm the new guy, I always say I have the new guy card, it's just part of part of being the new principal. And so my new guide card is going to wear off soon. And that's great. What it means is, is I've got some perspective, I got to see what, what our school is all about. And what it's about is some really great people and great students, great teachers. And, you know, it's just there's a lot to be proud of. And again, going back to Monday night, that's when you can smile and say look at the scholarships. Look what these students have done. Look what the accomplishments have been. And it's really humbling to see just the amazing thing our students are doing. That's awesome.   James Bell  And some of those students so seniors, they're wrapping it up today, right?   Shawn Henderson  Yeah, really wrapping it up. They did a great job this morning. I have to brag on him in a world where you could Google senior pranks that would be not wonderful. Our students were in the parking lot. They were playing cornhole. Spikeball, I think is that the one that hits off the little trampoline? They're smiling. And, you know, I just, I think that's real. And then they cleaned up after themselves and went right to class. I mean, again, just, we're just proud of them. And I have to say, too, I am the new principal. And I'm also a dad. So I have a senior that's graduating as well. So this will be my first graduation with Hayes high, but it's also I get to be the dad too. So that's exciting. Wow. Yeah,   James Bell  that's a that's got to be just an emotional jumble.   Shawn Henderson  There's a lot of truth to that already got some pictures. So she wanted to take a picture this morning. So anytime the kid asks that you, you roll, so   James Bell  absolutely, absolutely. So yeah. So let's talk a little bit about graduation coming up. I believe that is this Sunday. Right? It is   Shawn Henderson  Sunday. And it is. So we've got Sunday at 130. And it's going to be right there at Fort Hays, our great partner who allows to us gross Coliseum. So yes, Sunday, May 15 2020 to 130 will be our graduation. Very cool. What   James Bell  do people well, you know, what do attendees expect in that event? Is it is it going to be similar to years past? I know. And again, as you mentioned, COVID kind of threw everything into a cocked hat for a couple years. But back to normal this year. Right? It is   Shawn Henderson  yeah. And we're excited to have everybody, everybody back. There are no restrictions in terms of seating or anything like that. We'll, we'll be there and we'll be ready to go. We are trying something new. I think that's kind of neat is the band is going to play basically, in the program that I'm looking at. Right, right in front of me, it says various selections, Prelude concert. So kind of neat. So for 20 minutes prior to graduation, we'll have our fantastic band plan music to kind of set that tone, which I think is really neat. Namely, because I used to be a band director before I was a principal. The more band music, the better. But yeah, so I think that I think that will already add kind of a neat feel to the event.   James Bell  Absolutely. And then again, is it just the standard kind of graduation you got? You're forgetting the name of it like the the class leader, the valedictorian, valedictorian speeches, and, sorry, go ahead. Oh, we   Shawn Henderson  don't have a lot of speeches like that from students that traditional Hays high is that the students select a speaker and this, this hurts Miss Diane Mason, which is actually really cool, because Diane is retiring at the end of the year. And so the fact that the kids picked her I think is really neat. So to kind of bookend her her career here, she's going to be our, our speaker, and her addresses called what the rabbit knows. So I'm excited to see, see and hear what she has to say. But yeah, it's kind of fun.   James Bell  Yeah, that's interesting. And I love that. So, you know, I don't know her. But most assuming she has been a longtime teacher at Hays high. Yes. That's really cool. I know, like a lot, a lot of schools that a lot of the kids, they all they like to shoot for the moon and think about the famous people, the celebrities and to come and talk but to select somebody from inside the district that that's going to be like it personally rewarding. Yeah, I   Shawn Henderson  think it is. And, and I know she's excited about that. And I think like I said, I think it'll, I think it'll be good for our kids to, to hear her and to, to go out that way. Which I which I think is great. Very cool.   James Bell  You'll probably be sharing a few thoughts too, right?   Shawn Henderson  Oh, yeah. Not too many. But there'll be there'll be a couple. Yeah, a couple of thoughts there. My way I have to smile too is I'm looking at this program. The class model motto is I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22 So Taylor Swift ah, matter of fact, I think when the graduations over or that's what they'll hear is Taylor Swift. It's just kind of fitting for the class of 2022. Yeah, absolutely.   James Bell  All right. Well, what else? Do you folks need to know about the graduation? Or really just about the year in general?   Shawn Henderson  Oh, you know, I, you know, first of all, we're excited that there's gonna be a new haze high school built, so won't dive into that other than to, you know, say thanks, and an appreciation for the community. And I think that's really going to be fun. And even honestly, watching our seniors take part in that and be a part of that civic operation to go vote was was really neat to know, I think it's been a really good year. And I think we've had, you know, going back to these students, you know, we have 26 students, you know, again, on the danger, Hansen, over $330,000 in scholarships, just from that one, one operation alone. We've got students that are going into collegiate athletics and activities, we have folks that are going to be moving on to the armed forces. And like I say, you know, the word I always say is humbling. It's humbling to see what a whole community supporting in and working and helping our students, and then it's this time of year where you you take a step back and say, Wow, look at look at what they've done. So   James Bell  yeah, yeah. Love this time of year. Yeah. Although it's busy, right. It's busy, busy, busy. There   Shawn Henderson  is no doubt it's busy. Yes.   James Bell  All righty. Well, sir, yeah. Any other anything else you want to talk about before we go?   Shawn Henderson  No, I just think it's been a great year. I want to say thanks to the community for again, I will be putting away my new guy card soon. But I just appreciate the opportunity to be the leader of this this great school. Just so proud of the work of our amazing educators, staff and students and community that rallies behind them every day.

On this episode of the Post Podcast Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares updates presented to the city of Hays during this week's commission meeting. Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  Grow Hays can often act as a point of contact for business owners in Ellis County Grow Hays, executive director Doug Williams stops by to talk to us about that and more on this episode of the post podcast. We had the City Commission recap a little bit earlier on the show. And one of the things that came up was user apparently you were at their meeting last time. We're gonna talk a little bit about that today. Right?   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  We are and I was there.   James Bell  Good stuff. Well, good and bad. I think Sandy Jacobs told us.   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  Well, mine was all good. There was some bad there are some challenges. But yeah, challenges.   James Bell  That's a better word for it. Because I mean, we talked about this all the time. There's there, we all know, there are some opportunities here. And hey, so we've got to take on and also some amazing things going on.   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  That is true. And we I wouldn't say that it was all good what I talked about, but most of what I talked about was positive, you know, our microfactory housing, that type of thing. And that there was a group of childcare providers at the at the meeting last night, and Sarah was singer who's leading the childcare Task Force spoke and gave an update and, and childcare is certainly a challenge for our community.   James Bell  Yeah, almost unbelievable numbers that we were hearing this morning about parents in need, and students that are children, I guess that can't find a spot.   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  That is true. And it you know, that ties back into much of what we do, which is workforce. And if if one of the parents can't work because they have to stay home with the children, because they either can't find childcare, or it's too expensive for them. That takes out of our workforce. And the task force has done a survey which has identified a large number of people that would go back to work if they had childcare. So it's an issue. We're not unique, you know, like many of these problems. It's all over the country that childcare is a challenge, but particularly I think, Kansas, because we actually have some, some pretty antiquated regulations that limit the number of children that can be taken in certain situations. And that just makes the problem worse. So we have some challenges in that area.   James Bell  Absolutely. You know, I we did hear about some of the action and activities that are going on locally to address that problem. I wonder if you have any insight on on the bigger picture, the state level stuff? Or if you've even if they've even really done anything with that in the last few weeks? Well, I   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  think there's discussion. You know, a lot of it comes if you talk to, if you talk to childcare providers, the ratios that they have to maintain based on how many children they can look after, at certain age groups and how that affects. If you take so many infants, she can't take some others. So age, children, just just different things like that, which I think that is being looked at that the state, the Kansas Department of Health and Education, I guess is who supervises that. And when you look at Kansas, compared to many other states, the ratios here are, are pretty prohibitive with, say, the number of infants that the number of providers per infant, I believe it's four to one under 18 months. So if you look at the economic aspect of a daycare center or childcare facility, they can take four infants per employee to provide that service. Well, they can charge, let's just say three bucks an hour. For those for infants, maybe that's $12 an hour, and to hire someone to take care of those kids. And that kind of thing may be more than that, not to mention payroll taxes, and that kind of thing. So it's a it's a broken system, because of these ratios. And I understand, Katie, he they, their primary concern is child's safety as it should be. But there's got to be a happy medium in there someplace. And I think when I last look, Kansas was a one of two states in the United States that had that stringent of a ratio requirement. And so we really, you know, they need to look at that, and I think they are.   James Bell  Okay, well, and I looked forward to see you know, what, what results come out of these discussions and what actual action we can take to alleviate some of this need, because it sounds huge. But I wonder if you want to speak about some of the other updates that you gave the city last night? Well,   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  I told him about our microfactory project, you know, we got the base grant, and we're proceeding along with the try and get arrangements made architects engaged to get that project started. That of course, is the 30,000 square foot building that we intend to construct at the corner of ninth and commerce Parkway. And it'll be split into either five or six different areas for upcoming or startup manufacturers who we hope to you know, it's to be an incubator for them. They go in there where they operate for three to maybe up to five years, perhaps trying to get their product established and grow their business. And then we roll them out into a facility of their own, and we roll the next guy in. So it's it's one of these deals that will, that will serve as an endowment for our community for a long, long time. And so I explained that to them and what our plans are there. We hope to get started sometime this summer, on the construction of that we have two years to get it constructed in under the terms of the grant we received. But we hope to be up and running well before two years. So we're getting started on that. I talked about housing, we talked about the apartment situation last week, a little bit in terms of the number of apartments that are being constructed in the area right now. And then also discussed the tall grass addition, the fact that there are currently now there are four homes that are owner occupied, they've been completed and the owners have moved in.   James Bell  so fast that didn't happen. I mean, we talked about how long it takes to get these things to happen. But that actually seemed like it happened overnight. It seems like   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  it it was back in, you know, the fall that they started construction on these and, and so they I give the contractors that are building out there all the credit in the world, because they have had to overcome a lot of obstacles.   James Bell  And we heard about some more of those obstacles that are coming, or at least for one of the builders, I think that they said they wouldn't be able to start the next set until July.   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  Well, well, yeah, I mean, the if you go out there, and I encourage everybody to do so. There are eight basements that are in the ground right now. But the framer who the contractor uses is tied up on other projects and can't get to it till probably June. And so there they sit for 30 to 45 days, that just adds to the construction time, it just adds to the time that that home is going to be available for somebody to move into. But we've got activity going there's there'll be four completed in the next 30 I actually another six completed in the next 30 days. And then these eight are going to are already started that have basements, the other contractors plan to start another 11 this summer. So that developments going to be built out pretty quickly. I'd say by year end, you're going to see lots and lots of houses out there. Excellent.   James Bell  And that really ended Sandy Jacobs talked a little bit about your I say famous kind of workforce needs pyramid that you go around the community and share. And that's that's the bottom. So to help us kind of get to the spot where we can develop those other things. And that's really something else we want to talk about today. There's been an effort that you guys have made, and really, I think done a great job within the last few months of promoting Hayes's story, and getting people out here. And we talk a lot about this remote workers, they can pick wherever they want to go. And we hope Hayes is one of those places. But I want to talk about that. As your organization grow Hayes's the Economic Development Group, and connections with so many other organizations, I wonder if you want to talk a little bit about someone that maybe is looking at Hayes from the front range of Denver, and they want to start a business here, what resources are available to   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  well, where they're starting place, obviously, if they want to start a business, we have an E community loan program where we can provide funds to a business startup, they have to involve a bank as well. And that and we've we've actually got a couple of we're meeting today on one application for a business analysis. And we will probably be funding a portion of that one. And then we obviously we kind of know where the sites might be available what either space or building site might be available. So we assist them in that regard. And then we can connect them with all the other resources that they may need. The Small Business Development Center on campus can help them with business plans. We can direct them to the northwest Kansas Planning Commission and some of these people who can help them with some SBA loan things. So we're kind of a connector, we if they start with us, which we hope that they do, we can help them find the resources that they need, and show them why Hays is a good place to come if you're going to start up a business, or why Hayes is a good place to come if you just if you're a remote worker, and you can live anywhere you want to live. We've got a great story to tell here.   James Bell  Absolutely. You know, I wonder if we want to talk a little bit of the details and some of those other organizations. I know network Kansas is a big one that you guys partner with a lot and I think they provide some of those resources for potential business owners or entrepreneurs as well.   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  They do they're a great partner for us. They're a great resource for across the entire state. They do fund are a community loans. So we work with them and if once we have a loan committee local made up of local people, but once we approve a loan, they send us the money to provide to the borrower and integrate new twist on that is that network Kansas was able to get a grant from the Patterson Foundation. And now, up to 20% of what a borrower, the loan amount from us is available to them in in form of a grant. So if some are our loan limit is $45,000, if somebody qualifies, and if they meet the requirements of the of the grant 9000 of that comes back to them as they don't have to repay it. So that's a great deal not to mention the fact that our interest rates are typically around prime rate, so typically going to be lower than they would expect to pay elsewhere. So it's a great program, I encourage anybody that is starting up a business or wants to do an expansion to to contact us on that. And network. Kansas also does our youth entrepreneurship programs. And they sponsor a lot of entrepreneurial activity. So they're a great organization and a great partner.   James Bell  Yeah, you mentioned the SBDC, down on the Fort Hays campus. And I wonder if we want to talk about this as well. I think really out here in Hays, we've generated this culture of entrepreneurship, that really, I think kind of maybe starts there on the campus and permeates the entire community. But if you're someone that's looking for that kind of place where you can connect with those folks, Haze is a great place for that right?   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  Or it is now the campus, obviously, they're they're very focused on entrepreneurship on campus with the Faulkner challenge and and Hanson Hall are both very entrepreneurship focused, the SBDC that's Rick Felton Berger leads that group, and they're very good at helping a person take an idea and getting it on paper, because you know, a bank, they always want to see it on paper, they want to see your business plan. And, you know, I've always said, a business plan is one of those necessary evils of starting a business. Because the second day, you're in business, everything changes, and you can kind of the business plan may not be as appropriate, as applicable, as it was, when you thought you were gonna get started. But it is, it is something you have to do. And Rick does a great job with working with prospective business owners or business owners who are wanting to expand to actually crunch the numbers and put the components of the plan together, so that the bank can look at it and understand what you're trying to accomplish. And, and it's more likely to fund a deal. Very cool.   James Bell  You know, I wonder if somebody out there is listening, and maybe their local, maybe they are out on the front range or somewhere else in the country. But if they're listening, I think and man, I think he's might be a place I want to check out what's the best and easiest way for him to get those economic resources? Is it just calling or checking out websites? Or a little bit of both?   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  Well, a little bit of both. But certainly calling our office is where we start. And that's as a connector to these resources, we're going to, we're going to ask him some questions about what they're trying to do and what their resources are and what their background is. And then from that we can direct them into and put them in the right direction, get them in touch with the right people. We don't do it all we do some of it, but we don't do it all. But we do know who does. And that's the key. And we can save people a lot of time and grief, I think if they would call us and allow us to help them connect with the right resources.   James Bell  Yeah, you know, I think about all those business owners that I've known over the years that when they launch their business or launch a new operation anyway, they try to reinvent the wheel. And I think oh my gosh, guys get go to get the help that is out there. That's what it's for.   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  Yeah, and we don't charge anything. SBDC doesn't charge anything, you know, this is all free stuff. So why not take advantage of the resources that are available to you, and can ensure your success?   James Bell  Absolutely. Well, Doug, I tell you, we've got just about a minute or so left in the thing else that we want to hit on before we go?   Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams  Well, I think, you know, we talk about brief space all the time. But brace space is the microfactory for office workers. You know, we have space down there and it's really going well down there. We do still have space available for some people if they want to come down and check us out. The usage of the facility just keeps getting more and more the meeting rooms and the various our podcast station and all those things that we have for resources for people. So as always come down, check us out. We'll give you a tour and maybe it'd be the right spot for you

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Fort Hays State University choirs director Terry Crull shares information about upcoming university concerts.   Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  For the State University choirs are preparing for their last show of the academic year. Director Terry cruel stops by to share with us a little bit about what they're going to be performing and when, on this episode of the post podcast   Terry Crull  and of the year concerts Yep, we're preparing last night the orchestra and I worked on our last piece. The Hayes Symphony Orchestra is the company my choirs on Frances pool onx Gloria, beautiful setting. And then hey, Symphony Orchestra will play. Very famous piece. Hector Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique are very cool. Yeah, great piece, very picturesque, kind of the start of programmatic music where you tell a story with it, too. So they've been working hard on it. It's a it's a, it's a big bite for them to choose, hey, symphony orchestra, but they're working their tails off. So it should be a fun concert Sunday night 730 and beach Schmidt, free to the public.   James Bell  I love that all of the concerts down there Fort Hays and you see me down there for almost every one I hit drag my kids down there probably two or three. It's such a great assets of the community to have those free concerts. And, you know, while it's not quite could not quite professional level, those students sure get darn close.   Terry Crull  We think we think our kids are on the road to that if that's their career choice. And we hope people will come and hear it and say, Wow, those kids got some stuff going on because they do they work hard. And a lot of talent fun to work with them every day. So   James Bell  yeah, it seems like this year you've had you had a really great group. I mean, every year is good. But this year, I don't know. It seems like there was just really a few field   Terry Crull  trip like two why kind of bonds a group together. So he developed a spirit of esprit de corps that it's really fun to see they're working hard. No complaints in that group hardly ever. I mean. That's that goes to the concert choir and our bands and our jazz groups to Brad just gave his last performance. He's given up the jazz bands, turning them over to our new percussion and band instructor Ryan Pearson. So   James Bell  young guy I don't know, guys   Terry Crull  just out of graduate school. He's been here a year on part time, and now we hired him full time. And his wife was out. They did their joint recital. He's a percussionist, of course, she's a clarinetist. She played amazingly well, too. And I think they bought a house and hey, so hey, they're coming here.   James Bell  They're here. They're stuck. Yeah, very cool.   Terry Crull  Pass the bond issue they'll have a nice new school for when their kids get there. Yeah, well, we'll see how that goes.   James Bell  But But yeah, so suddenly, so is all this piece is going to be set with the orchestra is just   Terry Crull  the orchestra is grand finale concert, and every other year we join them for a combined orchestral work. And the concert is called voyage to France because Hector Berlioz for the orchestra and Francis Poulenc for the choirs, and we did his Gloria wants 10 or 12 years ago, was a guest conductor. Dr. availa Allen or soprano is doing the soul. The soprano solo work three of the six movements. So we'll start off with that plonk, Glory acquires behind the orchestra. And I bail out front and meet conducting. And then after intermission the symphony fantastic. It's 5055 minute work as long five movements but it's great story. If you know that piece. It's about a artist in France who goes into a drug induced trance and has this horrendous dream. When they first played Symphony fantastic. It caused a riot. I mean, they had to bring the police in because they really aren't used to that kind of grotesque in your face music you know, some of the harmonies some of the blasts of sound. The famous DS era that you hear do you do at the beginning of shining Jack Nicholson movie is a is from that work? The big brass sound. So it's a big orchestra, powerful orchestra. And the Poulenc is just sublime. I mean, it's beautiful melodies, great harmonies by the choir, they've had fun working on it. So we're excited. 730 Sunday night, voyage to France, free to the public. Love it. Love it. To the public. Do we say free to the public? Be free to them? Well, I don't know. Yeah. Military. I'm not used to this hour later time I spent the hour calling my 3200 listeners tell them I'm on at 845 instead of 740.   James Bell  Yeah, there's a little bit different but but, you know, I also I wonder I count how much work has to go into put in one of these shows. And, and everybody knows, I think that you know, I was a music student. So I was on the band side. But for choir, you know, of course, the band side there's that little bit of rivalry sometimes Right, like, they have that   Terry Crull  advantage of, you know, being able to pick stuff up more quickly. Although they have the disadvantage of not having all the parts in front of them, I'm singing a choir music, you've got the soprano part there as well as your tenor part or whatever. And when you're a bassoon as long as you have as your part in front of you, so you've got to listen hard and work beforehand to get familiar with the work so that you know how your, your part fits with the other parts. So there is that but yeah, the orchestra has been working, I think six rehearsals for this concert, which isn't very many four pieces complexes of the symphony. Fantastic. We even the choirs have been working while since our spring concert, which was March 10, I believe. So 340 minutes, 45 minute rehearsals a week and and to learn that it's in Latin. So the language presents a challenge, although it's pretty common Latin. So a lot of the kids have some of   James Bell  like any Latin is common lap, rock breaking in Latin   Terry Crull  text. I mean, Gloria in Excelsis day, I mean, every Christmas time. So they haven't had too much trouble with that. Poulenc is a little bit post romantic, a little bit modern, 20th century and that his style is classic in form. But his harmonies are more colorful, and lots of use of the woodwinds and the horns. And that's a great orchestra. They work so well. Brian buxted is our orchestra director, he's done. marvelous job at getting that orchestra, you know, up to snuff, so to speak, and, and playing consistently. Well always enjoyed their concerts. So   James Bell  yeah, and he was I think, correct me if I'm wrong, but he came in right before that pandemic, right. And then   Terry Crull  a lot of big concerts with them. Since he came in right at the end of that, yeah, so this year has been his debut year, I guess you could call it and they've done some great stuff. Of course, they have their children's concert in Halloween. We got that again next year. On Sunday, whatever, October 3 Year 29th, or whatever is close to Halloween. It's always a fun event. There'll be with us under cathedral concert next year, which was December 11. The strings Anyway, do some combined work with the choirs and then they always do their grand finale concert with some large works like this. And then every other year we joined them. So next year, I'll do my own masterworks choral concert with the choirs, and he'll do something with his orchestra. I don't know yet if he's got programming ideas, but for this year, it's voyage to France. Very cool. Again, it's Sunday at 730. Don't miss free,   James Bell  free and free no excuse not to go.   Terry Crull  No excuse not. Yep. NBA Playoffs aren't anywhere close to the end yet. So who's watching those? I didn't even know that was going on. Honestly, other in the early stages, you know, 28 teams that make the playoffs out of 29 teams. Oh, yeah. So yeah. Everybody makes up like not to select. But anyway, I watched when it gets down to the semis. There you go.   James Bell  So well, already. Certainly anything else you think folks need to   Terry Crull  know? Well, the last week of classes, the percussion ensemble will have their concert, and the bands will have their concert? Oh, let me see. What's the date? I think it's Thursday, which would be the 12th nor the fifth. So we exam week. Yeah, that's the last exam. So the fifth will be the band's concert. And I think the night before and Wednesday, the percussion will be in beach Smith. And those are all free as well. So wrapping up the year yeah, kids are excited the ball teams are trying to make the playoffs softball and baseball got a few those kids in my class. I gotta get to here in a few minutes. So it's always exciting at the end of the year when the weather turns nice guy. I wish we had some rain to soak us down a little bit good, but at least it's windy. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, in Kansas with my big motorcycle on the road with those windy. Oh, yeah. So always good to be with you, James. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it. So he's kind of like, Hey, we got a contract this week. Can I get on tomorrow or the next day and you always accommodate me. So thanks a lot. I love your music program. I know you're a student there percussionist were Yeah, I was. Yeah. So you enjoy. Did you happen to come down when Ryan gave his faculty recital   James Bell  didn't I was I was wanting to I was so   Terry Crull  remember, he's fun to watch to kind of dances up there. My wife turned to me and said, you know, you could lose some weight. If you were a percussionist. He's going to workout Oh, yeah. So having been an athlete, I know that sometimes. I work just as hard in certain aspects. You know, we'll have conditioning that it didn't was a basketball player. But you work hard when you sing. We could play an instrument because

On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Arts Council executive director, Brenda Meder shares information about the 2022 Hays Spring Art Walk.   Transcript: EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.   James Bell  The Hays Spring Art Walk is on the calendar for later this month and there's going to be a lot going on. Hays Arts Council Executive Director Brenda Meder stops by to share with us the details on this episode of the Post Podcast.   Brenda Meder  The Smoky Hill art exhibition is in its 53rd year, and it always opens as the anchor of the spring Artwalk. So that's an amazing day because our Smokies pretty spectacular. And it's going to be pretty spectacular again this year. And last year having moved the spring Artwalk with the the kind of the the chaos of scheduling that happened during the pandemic. We put it on a Saturday, there's a lengthy audience, but we found out that a lot of people really really enjoyed the more leisurely pace they enjoyed, they had more time to see everything including going down to the college, they enjoyed being able to also patronize and frequent the retail establishments, the restaurants, coffee shops and breweries in downtown Hayes. And so it's like we're gonna we're gonna give that a shot again, and let people just really relish and enjoy everything that is about you know, arts culture in our downtown over the course of that day. And that is on Saturday, April the 30th from 10am to 4pm. So a week from this Saturday, Saturday, April the 30th. And there is just a wealth of everything in addition to the to the Smoky Hill exhibition, which is the state's oldest juried Fine Art competitive. I think I counted I probably am missing some, but there are at least two MFA thesis exhibitions big important shows, you know, with wonderful bodies of rich contemporary artwork, but I mean, they put a lot on the line when these masters students are doing their MFA show. That's a big deal. And they bring out they bring out all the stops, and both crystal Hammerschmidt and Tanner Hoffman will be having their crystals it'll be down at the moss Lawrence gallery, Tanner's will be at our annex. And I think I counted four or five BFA exhibitions. So students who are finishing their their undergrad, their bachelor of fine arts programs, they, the visual artists, they need to mount exhibitions, or at least should for fulfilling all their requirements. And between some places on campus, both the Taylor Gallery and the Robbins center at the public library. And I think another couple of places, I think there's at least four if not five, BFA exhibitions, and then there's also just a variety of community artists and professional artists, and photography and programs that allow organizations like options, Big Brothers, Big Sisters and Janis campaign, those three important community organizations will be having features out that are, you know, arts and culture based, like Big Brothers Big Sisters is going to do a display of creative things that have been done by these collaborative partnerships. So to bring some awareness to get people excited to see what kind of things it is that people engage in, and quite frankly, just a great showcase for some of the great creative fun things that some of these pairings have done together. And there's, for instance, in the Chestnut Street building, which is where they're housed out of. And so you've got a little bit of everything that goes from North Main, the style stand center, which is where Janice campaign is located all the way to seventh in main Dallas County Historical Society, which is hosting a wonderful two photography exhibits one of them, one that Dr. Laura Wilson from Sternberg Museum is doing with some sort of abstracted photography that has to do with the natural world, and various scientific components that they're working with out there. But it's creating art out of these very unique, almost micro views of interesting things. So that's going to be fascinating. And a whole bunch in between including defiance brewery has been really wanting to get on the art walks for a while. And so they are going to be hosting a body of work that we still have from Gordon Sherman, with some frank nickels pieces in there. So anybody just going there, as a matter of course on Saturday will see things in there. But other folks may just want to migrate down that way. Because again, you've got six hours on Saturday. I do want to remind everyone that I mentioned the campus exhibitions, they are just 10am to 2pm. But otherwise, everything else is 10 to four, we've got a new art car that's going to be over at the Pavilion. I'm so excited. It's called spellbound and a gentleman who just moved to Hoisington from Trinidad, Colorado, an incredible artist, but also an art car enthusiast. He's organized tons of them all over the country. He has a couple of them. And this one is covered in in fabulous artwork and a gazillion scrabble tiles in phrases and words and quotes and statements. There's places on the cars where people can do their own, you know, make their own words and phrases and contribute to you know, with the Scrabble tiles, but it's covered. It's awesome. And that will be over there as will be a ceramic show and sale from Fort Hays State students that was very popular last spring over at the Pavilion and John makings from Great Bend will be back with his handcrafted drums. So we'll have three interactive drum circles at 11am 1pm and 2pm. There in the pavilion, and then another student coming from the performing arts, Danny Zhang will be having sort of his graduating undergraduate special, or I don't know if this is his masters, but his special jazz concert showcase performance. That'll be at three with Brad Dawson, Josh Duran and Spencer wheat corn, so no slouches there. And so that'll just be a wonderful free concert at three. And speaking of concerts on Friday night, we have our opening events at the downtown pavilion will be the Fort Hays jazz band spring outdoor concert, and it will be the final time that the jazz bands will be under the direction of Brad Dawson. He's still here still going to be doing music, but he will be conducting the jazz bands as the director for the last time in this wonderful open air concert at the Pavilion at seven o'clock on Friday night the 29th. The same night that the Encore series has their final program of the season. And of Green Gables the ballet, of course, there are tickets that you need to purchase for that. But I thought it was exciting that on that, you know pre Artwalk nights sort of the pre event, we've got these two amazing performing arts events. And this information that I've just shared is not on our website yet it will be on our website this weekend. And it's just a nice eight and a half by 11 sheet of information, easy to print out. So be watching for us on Facebook and our website because this will be available to you for the entire week before the Artwalk happens. So you can plan your attack and not miss a thing. But it's going to be a really, really amazing event. The Smoky Hill itself will run through June 4. So if you do have to miss the Artwalk weekend, still take time to come and see the smoke because there will be our amazing artwork there in so many different styles, genres and sizes from artists all throughout Kansas. And we will be dispensing $3,000 in cash awards. Don't know yet who's getting those. But that's something that'll happen right before we open. So a lot going a lot going on there. Good event.   James Bell  Yeah, excited for that. But that's just a fraction of what you got going on here because it's this time of year, the kiddos wrapping up their school year and I know you specifically especially love to be involved in   Brenda Meder  some stuff. We love working with the schools and getting involved with the kids in the schools. The schools love it. We try to bring things to them as often as possible. Just some of the things like today is high school art day. So we know there's some people out there that love seeing that and there's a few people who do go down and traipse around gross Coliseum. That's where all these I think there's something like 64 high schools represented I think I saw on Fort Hays website. This is Fort Hays, our high school art day. So it's not a haze Arts Council event. But we will have hundreds of students who will be visiting the Hayes Art Center to view our current exhibition for which it's the closing day of the Fort Hays State University departmental showcase faculty and graduate and undergraduate students that we've got there. So we'll be hosting tons of them today. Tomorrow, I'll be hosting about 1000 Kids in beach MIT for an outreach that we are doing with the Encore series for fourth and fifth grade students from 12 different elementary schools in our area. And then on Sunday, the day after the Artwalk. We have our big creative writing award ceremony. invitations have gone to the schools hopefully they've come on with winning students, families to know about that. Just a reminder, I've because I think there's almost 100 students from kindergarten through seniors in high school in both pose and poetry. In fact, I know your wife was one of the judges for us again this year. The English department is so kind and generous with their time to serve as the judging panel. And because it's 13 grades of you know, three to four places because we do a lot of honorable mentions in both prose and poetry. So about 100 young people will be honored and recognize so about 300 guests in the ballroom on Sunday afternoon for that. And then from Sunday, May 1 all the way through the end of the week, we have a residency with Che and Leslie Katie laughing matters that amazing, wonderful duo. In fact, on Thursday night, may the fifth Anyone is welcome to come to the Hayes Public Library at 630. Because Jay unless they will be doing their public showcase. We want to make sure everybody can see them, even if it's adult soup aren't part of the school systems because there's nothing better and more entertaining, and more professionally well done than Jay and Leslie Katie's laughing matters performance and famous figures finals are going to be on Friday May the sixth in the Beechman Performing Arts Center. So that kind of overlaps during the week that we've got these residencies with J and Leslie Katie. I also want to remind people that are wondering about our summer classes, we will be having our summer class program again. And we are working on getting things arranged. We know we'll have theater classes we know we're going to have classes in two and three dimensional art. We'll have a stained glass class again, things are looking good for another one of the Sternberg outreaches with those critters classes that we have. But those classes will not be ready for for public review and enrollment until probably the middle of that first week in May. It takes us a long time to get those together because all our teachers who are amazing people fit us into their schedules, they value this, they want to do it right. But they have a lot of items they have to check. So it will be the middle of that first week in May before you will find this information on our website, or announced through our Facebook page. But yeah, so just tons of stuff. Oh, and then I just want to give them a plug. Finishing the weekend, I talked about the performing arts that kicks off on Friday the 29th. And then Saturday, the Artwalk itself Sunday, not only will there be the creative writing award ceremony, late that afternoon DSM Wk is inviting to the public to their event with Jay and Leslie Katie, we're helping to serve some of their specific clients and constituents Sunday night at 730. Again, free because of their sponsorship support, the amazing Hayes Symphony Orchestra will be having their final concert of the season at 730 in beach, MIT. So this amazing, wonderful rich community has no shortage of different areas in the Visual Performing and literary arts for people to be engaged from the youngest of children, through the most senior of citizens, and throughout the community on campus. And I just want to remind everybody to keep your eyes open for that, again, if you follow us on, on Facebook, the Hayes Arts Council, we try to share as much as we can for not only our events, but events that happen for other elements of the community as well. So be watching and looking for that and definitely come out. It's all free on Saturday, April, the 30th 10am to 4pm to just enjoy the best and the most exciting that our community has to offer in the most wonderful environment possible.   James Bell  Absolutely. You know what else? If you want to find out more, I always like to talk about this, you got your website,   Brenda Meder  we do. And there's a lot of stuff on our website, even exhibitions that close, but you just want to sit around and look at artists, you got nothing else going on. That's up there. The famous figures videos from last year still there, they'll be there till we get this year's up. And in fact, it gives me a chance to give a plug to Tiger media network is going to film everything for us this year. So even though we get to go back to a live competition on stage and beat Schmidt on Friday, May the sixth people will be able to watch those videos, all the videos of them after the event on our website. It'll take us a little while to get them up there. But yeah, there's so much on our website, the exhibition that's up now if you don't get in since it closes today, every single piece and every artist that's featured in there is up on our website. There is information on those people so that you can really understand where they're coming from their backgrounds and their views as they make their art and yeah, a lot of stuff on our website. And it you know, I'm always afraid I'm not getting as much up there but it's already full so what the heck

On this episode of the Post Podcast Fort Hays State University provost, Jill Arensdorf speaks about the direct benefits to the are provided by the university.   Transcript   James Bell  Fort Hays State University is more than just an education center for the region. It provides direct benefits to the community. Provost Jill Arensdorf stops by to talk a little bit about some of those benefits on this episode of the post podcast.   Jill Arensdorf  Obviously, the purpose of a Fort Hays State University and really higher education is to educate primarily our student population. However, we also have part of our mission to serve the public good. And many of our outreach programs and impact that we make in Kansas, specifically western Kansas, focus on what you called the impact of teaching and learning. And so I'll share just a few examples. And if you have questions about them, please please ask. But we have the fhsu Literacy Center. And that may be one that people aren't that familiar with, because it's relatively new is a partnership with the Hayes Masonic Lodge, and they're providing virtual and face to face helped area schools that need additional assistance in their reading skills. And this was really primarily due to the COVID 19 shutdown and some of the needs that came from that. And so this Literacy Center has, has risen and been created in the last year or so to provide that assistance that that students may need. In addition, you know, we've got great programs at Sternberg Museum and many people in the community and outside of the community and enjoy those educational outreach activities throughout the year. And then we have a gem in Great Bend with the Kansas wetlands Education Center. And that is connected to Fort Hays and folks might not realize that connection to Fort Hays and the educational opportunities that that provides.   James Bell  Yeah, that's something we talked about the events down there. And and I think that's one of those things. And I grew up near that region. I grew up in Stafford County. It is such a such a jewel down there. And it's really, you know, when you when I think about these events, you think about that drive, but my goodness, it's not that big of a deal, really, in the long run to get down there 45 minutes or so.   Jill Arensdorf  Yeah. And they've got I mean, they've got indoor and outdoor excursion activities and things going on all year. So I really hope that people can take advantage of that. You know, one other thing that if you drive through campus, many days, you won't see the maker van there but many days you will meet the maker van has programs for STEM. And so that maker van allows us to take our STEM show on the road so to speak, and and go into schools and communities to teach students about physics and science and using robots and the mobile planetarium and then our ever popular high altitude blond balloon experiments which go on pretty regularly throughout the year.   James Bell  Yeah, this stuff is so neat. I was I actually got to hang out with one of your Dean's Paul Adams the other day, the who's doing a robot session training session with some middle school teachers and may My goodness, how cool is this stuff? It's just, you know, and I'm pretty tech savvy, I'd like to thank but even the way that this is developing an education so quickly and rapidly, it's just It blows my mind.   Jill Arensdorf  Yeah, if we can get students excited about science at an early age through things like the maker band through things like Sternberg through things like the wetland center, they're more apt to maybe find that as a career path and passion as they choose higher education and a career. So I mean, there's obviously a reason for this outreach. And it's an important part of our mission at Fort Hays State University.   James Bell  Very cool. And that, you know, one other thing in that in that regard, we talked about the weekend center. I don't know that you want to talk a little bit about that one as well.   Jill Arensdorf  Yeah, it's relatively new. So this is a cooperation with USD 489. And the west central Kansas Special Education Cooperative, and several other regional school districts, and the Heartland Community Foundation, so a partnership with many entities. And it is a center where preschool and 18 to 21 year old transition programs occur where students are working with these populations preschool and then the 18 to 21 year olds, adults as they prepare to become teachers. And so it's just a, it's a unique new opportunity that for Hayes's has gotten involved in here in the local community, downtown, at the Hadleys at the Hadley old Hadley hospital, that Hadley building, and it has been a fantastic partnership thus far to create opportunities both for our students to learn but also to impact the community. Very cool.   James Bell  Yeah. And in schools, those economic are about I mean, educational opportunities are there's also some real economic benefits to having the university here and we hear about the Small Business Development Center and you know, Management Development Center as well. And I think that's a huge way that Fort Hays can help and especially right now with so many people going remote work and looking at those kind of things are working for themselves. It's got to have like a tremendous benefit on the area.   Jill Arensdorf  It is and you know, for higher education specifically for Hey, does make an impact on our business and economic development, as you said, and so, through the pandemic, and as we've come out of it, the Small Business Development Center and our management development center, have pivoted, and then they've grown from that and and have expanded their services and expanded the way that they're serving the western Kansas population. So I'll just give you a couple of quick examples. James, the Small Business Development Center for Hayes's the statewide host, but we also have a regional center. And so the numbers I'll share with you our regional numbers, for Hayes, the regional Small Business Development Center establishes and helps startup businesses. So lots of workshops and counseling services that can be done in person, but that also can be done remote now, because of our learning through the pandemic. And so this past year, the center has developed 78 workshops, assisted 124 established businesses in their regional area, which is primarily western Kansas, and then helped 14 new entrepreneurs launch business in this area, which is exciting for the economic drivers that we need to be as an institution and in our in our region. The Management Development Center is housed at Fort Hays State University as well provides lots of public workshops, the focus on customer service, managing people mastering business and communication software and applications. So really serving anyone that has needs in management leadership areas.   James Bell  Yeah, that's we talked about leadership earlier this week on the show and the difference between leadership and management and, and how that works and how it develops. And it is such an interesting field and Fort Hayes has been a leader, I think in in Leadership Studies and how that all not only academically, it comes together, but how it works in the practical world as well.   Jill Arensdorf  Yeah, you're right. Of course, I have some affinity for the Leadership Studies program since it's my home department. But the management development center that I think one of the beautiful things about that center, is that it utilizes expertise of not only our faculty, but business people and other people in the community that have a skill set that they can share with other folks. So they basically contract a facilitator. And then that facilitator uses their expertise to teach others about one of the areas that that we already discussed within the Management Development Center. One of the things I'll quickly mentioned, James, kind of connected to the business and economic development piece is an online bank management contest that the Robins banking Institute hosts each year, in coordination with Robins College of Business and Entrepreneurship. This institute actually engages community banks in Kansas, in this friendly bank simulation competition. So everyone likes a little healthy competition from time to time. And so this online bank management contest has been a fun way for the Institute in our community banks to compete and sharpen their banking skills as they compete.   James Bell  That's very fun. You know, it's one of the things I imagine it is, it is difficult to turn that into a fun activity. But that's a good time. You know, and the other thing speaking of, you know, the activity in the university helping the area, you know, a lot of ways I think the university just kind of generally makes life better out here, right?   Jill Arensdorf  Yeah, no, one of the things that I've always appreciated about living in western Kansas, and specifically now in Hays is that the quality of life is so good here. And our university contributes to that in a way that I'm certainly very proud of. An example of that would be the Herndon Speech Language Hearing Clinic, the clinic, His home is on campus, but the clinic is actually in its fifth year of providing mobile hearing screenings. This is a program sponsored again by the Kansas Masonic Foundation. And so in the last five years, the Herndon clinic, students, faculty and staff have actually provided over 830 free screenings in western Kansas communities, which is an amazing service. And it's amazing learning opportunity for our students who are in those programs. So that then when they're going out into their career, they have experience working in rural Kansas and rural communities and see the need out there and can help serve that need. Another example of just raising the quality of life in western Kansas is our Department of Geosciences is doing some research that's actually been funded by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to test private wells for contamination in western Kansas. So again, a great way for our students and faculty to connect to western Kansas communities and ensure that our water water is of high quality and is safe to drink and use.   James Bell  Yeah, because I mean, otherwise, those resources are harder to find. I mean, I've done some some water testing and I know you have to ship that off and it's, you know, it gonna be a few days where you're doing a locally, just quicker and easier and And again, they're great learning.   Jill Arensdorf  Absolutely. Do we have time to talk about more? Yeah. Okay. So as I, as I came over to the station today, I walked literally walked by the senior companion and Foster Grandparent Program Office, which is now housed in rare at call. These are programs for our local seniors that fill a need on our community for services for our citizens over 55. And so if you're interested in getting involved, we have a director that that would be very anxious to visit with with you if you're interested in getting involved with our senior companion and Foster Grandparent Program. And then we have just ongoing partnerships with the pace Public Library in our downtown art and event venues to host exhibitions and poetry readings and author book signings which all contribute to the quality of life in the community. And so we have lots of students in lots of different departments that are collaborating with downtown Hayes, to to raise, raise our appreciation, maybe for the arts, but also to allow people to participate in a unique way. this coming Saturday is another great event that we have, probably you've probably talked about, in fact, I think I heard about it on the radio on my way up here, the teaming up for Tots toy assembly that will occur this Saturday in the Department of Applied Technology. I can't remember James how many years this has been going on. But it's been going on for many, many years. 200 wooden toys will be assembled from start to finish for children ages two to six. And those will be delivered just in time for Christmas. But if you haven't, if you haven't ever been to that event, it's it's it's really powerful to go in and see the community come together with students and faculty to contribute in a meaningful way and also honor a former Applied Technology faculty member Fred Ruda, the toy, the teaming up for Tots toy assembly is named after him. And he started that program. And it's just a really cool way to get into the spirit of the season, but also to contribute to the community.   James Bell  Absolutely. Yeah, I remember even as an undergrad here, I think it was a student reporter for the student newspaper, and I wrote some stories with with Dr. Ruta when he was doing that program back then. Yeah, it's it's cool. And I love that it's been able to continue and even expand and grow a   Jill Arensdorf  little bit. Yes, yes, I and there's, I think they sometimes have more volunteers than they then they have toys, but but it's just because people find the work so meaningful. And so I believe this year, there's a team of students that's working with Big Brothers Big Sisters. And so they're connecting that project into the teaming up for Tots toy assembly as well. Which actually leads me to another example. Our university athletes, many of them serve as Big Brothers and Big Sisters are for the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Ellis County programs spending their time with students that need to mentor in their lives. And so that's a way that our, many of our students and many of our faculty and staff are connected to youth in the community through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.   James Bell  Yeah, that's awesome. Cool program and and even cooler when you got to Fort Hays athletes, you know, leading the charge. Exactly,   Jill Arensdorf  exactly. I think I think in some ways, in some of those pictures, I see I think, impacts probably the Big Brother or Big Sister just as much as it impacts the little already cool. Yeah, very cool.   James Bell  Well, we've just got just about a minute or so left, we got to get over to weather. But any last thoughts before we go?   Jill Arensdorf  Well, James, thank you so much for this time that you afford to us on a very regular occasion to talk about Fort Hays State University. I respect our university and love it very much. And we have a very much a shared commitment to service. President Mason often often refers to this as the ethic of care. That's what makes for hasty different. And I think the examples we've talked about here, show that we really care about our students, our faculty and staff, but also our community and that that mission that we hold as high in higher education of the public good. speaks through these examples of outreach that we've talked about this morning, and we can talk probably for 30 more minutes and not cover everything. But as people get into the spirit of the season, I hope that you find a way to get connected to your community and appreciate the outreach that we all bring in.

Transcript James Bell  Fort Hays State University is set to celebrate Veterans this week, President Tisa Mason talks to us about that and more on this episode of the Post Podcast.   Tisa Mason  We're really excited. And actually, I would say a year or so ago, when the fabulous Senator Jerry Moran was on our campus, we talked about what we were doing with the National De-escalating Training Center, which we started actually in August of 2020. And we're a part of a national network that is definitely working on education to provide both in person and online, law enforcement professionals with some new skills in their toolkit and techniques to defuse potentially dangerous situations, which we know happens all the time. Or more often than we want. And not just with law enforcement, it happens in all of our lives. And so these are really, you know, great skills. And we're really excited about that. So this grant is going to help us as the $1.25 million grant from the Department of Justice, and really, Senator Moran was very instrumental in facilitating the awarding of this grant. So we're excited we're going to have on campus to celebrate his efforts and our ability to move forward. He'll be here on November 23, when we will, officially and ceremonially accept the grant.   James Bell  Love it. Um, is there? Is there an event planned yet? Or is it still kind of in the works a little bit   Tisa Mason  It is planned.   James Bell  Okay. Well, we'll keep an eye out for some details there. Um, oh,   Tisa Mason  4 p.m.   James Bell  Yes. Okay, there we go.   Tisa Mason  4 p.m. at the Fischli Wills Center.   James Bell  I love that, because officially wills what a perfect opportunity, if you haven't yet to get in there and see that new building that thing is amazing.   Tisa Mason  It's fun to have it there too, because it's about success. That's a building about student success. And this is about world of success.   James Bell  Absolutely. And from my understanding, you had some contributions that kind of helped technology-wise with that whole thing, right?   Tisa Mason  Well, you know, I'm a huge fan of our Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies team, which are our instructional design teams that build and work with faculty on all our outstanding distance learning. And so the team that is working with the De-escalation Training Center, matched up with TILT the Teaching Innovation and Learning Technology so that they could create really immersive safe paced scenario based learning experiences for the people that will be going through this program. So again, we're I'm we're married, marrying, so to speak, rich content and skill building with a history of strong online learning platforms. And that's one of the things that we're really good at.   James Bell  Yeah, I was gonna say online education. When you think online education, at least in the Midwest, I think Fort Hays is always the top of that conversation. Oh, very cool. Well, moving on. Also, you know, it's we're coming up on Veterans Day. Oh, I think it's a, you know, week or so week and a half away from now. And you're going to be celebrating that as well down at Fort Hays State.   Tisa Mason  Yeah, I love the opportunity to say thank you to our military and of course, Veterans Day gives us the ability to do that, especially for those who are serving now. And we're going to have lots of activities on campus. Participants can see a flag in a poster display that celebrates our heritage with the connection to the military. We have a strong connection with military, military programs, and other ways that we work with our service members of whom we for whom we are very, very grateful for. That will happen in both the Memorial Union and Fishchli Wills Center for Student Success. We also have an opportunity to folks to leave messages in recognition of family members who have answered the call to duty. Again, very grateful I'm and the daughter and the sister of a veteran so it hits home with me for sure. On Thursday at 11 o'clock. We're going to host our annual Veterans Day ceremony on the quad side of the Memorial Union. And then at our outstanding we're going to win football game on Saturday. We will have a Military Appreciation and a Senior Day. I understand from Matt Cook will be managing horses, people and motorcycles for that game so it should be a fun football game.   James Bell  Very cool. Yeah, go out it very least cheer on the Tigers and help us celebrate those military professionals that yes, are very important to us. Every, all of us really. There's one other thing we want to hit on before we go. And that's, you know, the COVID thing. Fort Hays State, you know you guys have done a pretty good job. I think down there you we haven't seen a whole lot of activity there. But one of the things that I think is been huge in the news is the D-one schools, the vaccine mandates they are mandating, but Fort Hays is going a different way, right?   Tisa Mason  Yeah, we have not implemented a vaccine mandate. We did have an incentive program I think we talked about at this point, I think we are a little above approximately 80 percent of our faculty and staff. I don't recall the percentage off the top my head for the students, but I know that it's over 50 percent of our students as well. Most importantly, we have to be careful of our residential students, and isolation and our high has been well, it was three students till the other day, we're up to four students. But it's been very minimal. We've really done really well with people making local decisions. But what happened recently is the federal government said that they were going to put language in federal contracts. So research institutions are particularly going to have to make decisions about a vaccine mandate whether they wanted to do one or not, and turning down contracts from the federal government because there's a lot at research institutions. For Fort Hays State right now, although we have grants and contracts. At this point, we reviewed all of them, not one of them, includes the language. So we are watching, we are studying, if we get a contract that hasn't, we'll have a conversation about whether we turn it down or move forward. And our hope is not to have to do a mandate. It's really unfortunate, quite frankly, that we've been put in this position but so far, we're holding strong we do not have to mandate and we are going to continue with our excellent success on mitigating the spread of the virus on our campus. Another shout out to the doctors and Student Health and the faculty and the staff and everyone who has come together, our students to make our environment safe.

Leading a public university during a devastating pandemic and demographic shifts slashing the number of college aged people is a mind boggling challenge. In addition to the evolving economy, emerging technology and politicization of government spending on higher education, the challenges are great. One of the six people entrusted to manage a state university in the Kansas Board of Regents is Tisa Mason, president of Fort Hays State University. Mason has a grip on all these challenges and joins senior reporter Tim Carpenter to discuss  the business of operating Fort Hays and broader questions facing colleges and universities nationwide.

On this episode of the Post Podcast Fort Hays State Alumni Association alumni engagement strategist, Carolyn Tatro, along with marketing program specialist, Noelle Husmann share information about the upcoming Future Educators Day.   Transcript   James Bell  The Fort Hays State University Alumni Association is getting ready for their popular future educators day later on this month, Alumni Engagement strategist, Carolyn Tatro, along with marketing program specialist, Noelle Husmann, from the Alumni Association stopped by to talk to us about that and more on this episode of the Post Podcast. There's also something cool going on down there. And this time is no different. But before we get into the new stuff, how was Homecoming?   Noelle Husmann  Homecoming was great. We had alums from not only all over Kansas, but we had some drive in from like Louisiana, California, all over to kind of come back to campus and see all the new changes and reconnect with classmates.   Carolyn Tatro  It was there were a lot of people who hadn't been back on campus in a really long time. And they all had a wonderful time, the weather actually turned out beautiful for us. We're really grateful for that.   James Bell  The parade was iffy, right?   Carolyn Tatro  A little bit. But you know what, it's slowed down a little bit there. Right, about halfway, I would say, but it was it turned out really great. And everybody had a great time. And, and, you know, I'm I think we're really looking forward to seeing what homecoming can become, you know, having a little bit of a break last year that we did with some of our events, we're looking forward to growing a lot of our events in the future. So it was a really great time.   James Bell  Awesome. Yeah. And it seemed like to me the little bit that I got to encounter, you know, everybody was just so excited to get back together. Right, right. You guys could have held the thing in a field, you know, and everybody would have had a good time.   Carolyn Tatro  Everybody was happy.   James Bell  Yeah, absolutely.   Carolyn Tatro  Yeah.   James Bell  What's making it homecoming. So one of the things that went on that weekend, they had the grant or not the groundbreaking but the ribbon cutting for the new Fischli Wills center. Last time I was in there, they were putting some finishing touches touches on there, but I think everything's ready to go at this point. Right?   Carolyn Tatro  That's right, actually as we speak. So the the new officially Fischli Wills Center for Student Success is up and running as we speak. And the admissions office is actually kicking off their newest portion of their prospective student experience, which is having students meet them in the Welcome Center, which is sort of one of the grand pieces of that Fischli Wills building and today's actually the first day that they're starting tours over there. So they're really excited to to begin working with that.   James Bell  Very cool. Yeah, I think the last last time we spoke about this, Joey Linn was with us. And yeah, what a cool unique like building and just a center, you know, it kind of brings together all those student services that are so important, you know, for the current students and also the prospective students and I can't imagine a cooler way to to see that start off to campus tour. But other than that, except for maybe the new art gallery in the old Power Plant. Oh, yeah,   Carolyn Tatro  that's a very cool experience. Yes,   James Bell  I drove by it the other day and I just I saw the paintings in the windows I drive my my way, what was that and I stopped and that is really cool.   Carolyn Tatro  It is very neat. If you ever get a chance to go in there and definitely stop in but I think the the Welcome Center all you know, there's always something exciting happening on campus. And that's just one of those things. And, you know, we always like to tell our alumni, there's lots of different ways that they can help the university grow and, and, you know, the welcome centers is part of that, that new Fischli Wills building is part of that. And I know another thing that's gotten a lot of really great feedback is the unveiling of the new regional tuition program. I was gonna say he has a solid offering for next year.   James Bell  Yeah. Okay. So because we have talked about this in the in the show before, maybe we should recap what the what we're talking a little bit before, basically, you get in state tuition from a laundry list of states. I don't know, how many is there?   Carolyn Tatro  So there's 13. Okay, I was gonna count, I was hoping you just know, 13 new state in addition to Kansas.   James Bell  So you have 14 different states. You're getting in state tuition right here at Fort Hays State University. Right? So it's kicking off fall next year? That's correct.   Carolyn Tatro  So students who are applying for this year, will be eligible for that starting next year students who are currently on campus will also be eligible for that starting next year.   James Bell  That's awesome, though. Yeah. And I just, you know, and look at some of the states I think about like Iowa, Illinois, you know, the ones that are a little bit further away from us this year, oh, haven't had a program like this available. I just got to believe there's going to be so many people come in here and take advantage of the wonderful education you can get a Fort Hays State University.   Carolyn Tatro  That's right. And we have alumni from all over the country and all of those different states. And so we're really excited that they're able to spread the word now, to our prospective students about about these new opportunities for them.   James Bell  You know, it's interesting, you mentioned that I wonder how important is it for for the alumni to be able to spread that word, you know, is that a huge recruiting tool for the school or is that kind of just a I don't know, you might say a bonus kind of recruiting structure.   Noelle Husmann  No, I think it's very important. We have a lot of families that attend many generations attend Fort Hays. I was just talking with someone he has like a fourth generation Tiger family. So it is pretty important for our alumni to spread that word to their perspective, either like family, relatives, friends, relatives of friends. It's a pretty large and important network.   Carolyn Tatro  That's right. And the people who work at the university, our admissions counselors, you know, we can they can only do you know, they can, they can only do so much to bring students here, they really have to, you know, they have the help of those alumni who will have their, their kids and their, their grandkids, their nieces and nephews really get to hear what their experience is about. So it's really a collaborative effort between those who are working at the university to bring students in and those who have the the experience in their families.   James Bell  Yeah, I know, I talked to my kids already there. My oldest ones are nine. But I'm already talked to about Fort Hays State. rarely go But yeah, I remember Yeah, my oldest son, we got one of those Tiger hats that were really popular like three years ago, literally the tiger, the big Tiger on the head with the things that Yeah, dangle down, loves it. Still wears that thing. Absolutely. And it's a lot of fun. I would wear it if I've got a big head. But anyway, yeah, so it's really cool thing, you know, the admissions teams, those departments have done a really good job. But we want to shift gears a little bit here and talk about something you've got coming up. It's a popular event, I think down there on campus, and that's future educators day that's on the way, right?   Carolyn Tatro  That's right. So future educators day is actually something that the university has done for a number of years, within the teacher education department. And of course, our College of Education is incredibly popular, and incredibly successful. We have teachers from all over the state all over the country who attended Fort Hays and are part of Tiger teacher nation. And so they're just trying to bring that again to prospective students give students an opportunity to see what it's like to be a teacher education major, and meet the Kansas Teacher of the Year. So they're kind of they're really excited about how this event is going to grow in the future to bring more students into our College of Education.   James Bell  Yeah, that's awesome, and what a great, you know, program, the I I've known several people that went through the program directly, you know, and they're teaching now, and I've also, in recent years known a lot of people my age that have went back and they've done that transition to teaching program. Yes, that's unnecessary that the department as well, I believe.   Carolyn Tatro  Right. Yeah. Right. It's, you know, there's a lot of different ways that you can take the route of, you know, through teacher education, and so students who maybe know what sort of what they want to do, but maybe they don't know the direction to take, they really don't know, if there's a special area that they want to, you know, teach and an opportunity, like, this is really great. And it again, really helps to have our alumni, you know, our incredible teachers who have gone through this program, they will bring their students in to campus for this day. So they'll be able to kind of see along with their students, what things have progressed at the university, and what opportunities await them. Yeah, absolutely.   James Bell  And, you know, I think, too, with with education, especially, it's one of those fields that, you know, having that hands on experience, actually seeing what you're going to do is is very valuable, what you know, to help shape what you might want to teach, but also really, like, what area do I want to teach is that, you know, high school kids grade school kids, I want to get into a college, a junior in college, you know, tech school, so many options there. So that's awesome that they get to explore that. Suzanne Stevenson, that's the Teacher of the Year, right?   Carolyn Tatro  That's right, she'll be there. She's going to be presenting to, to students in the teachers and counselors who bring them. And so I think it's just gonna be a really incredible day. It's October 27. So it is coming up. And I know that they're looking forward to having lots of students and teachers come back for that. Really great things that, you know, I think they're just really looking forward to showcasing.   James Bell  Absolutely. So if people want to be involved in that, what's the easiest or best way to get information or sign up maybe.   Carolyn Tatro  So they can sign up to the university website, and they can contact the admissions office. They're the ones that are sort of primarily hosting this event. And our alumni staff can answer some questions as well. I know, as we have a little bit of knowledge of some of these kinds of events that happened. So really am anybody at the university? The Alumni Association, the admissions office, Teacher Education, they can answer all of those questions if they're interested. Very cool.   James Bell  Now, we just got a couple minutes left, but we want to talk about this as well, that you're, you know, I know, President Mason's out she doing the media tour, I think right now, actually. But you've also got some counselors out there spreading the good word, right?   Carolyn Tatro  Yes, absolutely. The admissions counselors are back on the road, and they were not able to make it into too many high schools last year. And so they're very excited to be visiting in schools, at college fairs and different events that are out happening out there for prospective students and they're also doing a phenomenal job of informing you know, people on social media, where they're going to be and so if you know, anybody, if a student or an alumni who wants to bring their students to visit with the admissions counselor they can find them on social media they'll find out where they're going to be that week and meet up with them if they're going to be in that area.   James Bell  Very cool and when you say social media you guys have your own alumni page right? Matter of fact I think there's probably about 90 Facebook pages for Fort Hays State depending on what department   Carolyn Tatro  You are going to miss what's going on at Fort Hays State everybody's got something out there.   James Bell  Absolutely. Well guys, we get we're almost out of time here. Any last thoughts before we go?   Noelle Husmann  Sure. Uh, with admissions starting the tours, they are waving the application fee for anyone who comes and visits campus.   Carolyn Tatro  Right.   Noelle Husmann  So if you have someone that wants to check out Fort Hays bring them sooner rather than later so they can get that fee waived. And then also this Saturday, is Tiger Day.   Carolyn Tatro  See a lot more students on campus this weekend because it's Tiger Day admissions is hosting their annual Tiger Day event for prospective high school students or transfer students so there'll be checking out campus I think they're getting tickets to the football game as well. So they're going to be all over campus on Saturday.   Noelle Husmann  Yep, a lot of gold going on right?   James Bell  Love it. It's UCO, this weekend, right? We're gonna we're gonna win. I'm confident. No, I am. I said this was the homecoming game. So I'm just throwing that out there. Okay. My mother in law so you're gonna win this game. I look at her say we're gonna win. And look what happens.   Carolyn Tatro  Everybody needs to stay for the whole game this time because you never know what's gonna happen.   Noelle Husmann  True. True.

We have a packed show this week as we recap both Missouri Westerns and Northwest Missouri States Week 1 Matchups, Hear from both coaches and various media members and a look ahead to Week 2! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cliffnotespod/support

Thoughts from the Bearcats' week 1 win vs Fort Hays and the cancelation of our week 2 matchup vs Lincoln due to Covid. Join me as I go Into The Pressbox with the voice of the Bearcats John Coffey, chat with NW AD Andy Peterson, NW Senior LB and Captain Jackson Barnes, MIAA Columnist for D2football.com Devin Albertson and The Bearcats According to Eli. Thanks to all my guests this week for helping me put this together.

In our first MIAA pregame show. We breakdown Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri States opening football games of the season and Devin Albertson from D2Football.com joins us to break down all things MIAA! Hope everyone enjoys this! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cliffnotespod/support

It is finally time for the season! Join me and the play by play voices for both teams and we preview this big week 1 match-up under the lights in Hays, KS. I'm also joined by NW QB Braden Wright and a special appearance by my son Eli.

From an early age Kory Keeth knew he wanted to announce rodeos and fortunately, had the gift of gab. After graduating high school, he set out to pursue his dream at North Eastern Oklahoma A&M. His announcing career started in the fall of 2012 at the age of 19 announcing every calf roping and team roping jack pot there at the college. He then went on to announce the 2013 Southwestern Oklahoma State University rodeo which officially kicked off his career which led the way for two more college rodeos in the central plains region, including Kansas State and Fort Hays, which he still announces today. From there Kory has spent the last few years announcing a variety of events such as:- RFDTV's The American-Cowboy Channel JR NFR - Ellensburg Rodeo- Las Vegas Days Rodeo- Catfish Stampede- Dacotah Bank Stampede- The American Royal In 2017 Kory began his PRCA announcing career and has spent the last year traveling the country gaining as much experience as possible. Kory takes pride in being sure he knows as much as possible about every contestant. On top of his announcing career, he has a beef cow/calf operation in Southwest Missouri and raises high quality commercial heifers. Kory is also heavily involved in ministry and speaks at many different events throughout the year, as well as plays music and leads worship at cowboy church services all across the country. “I love the lifestyle, the people, and I love telling the great fans all about who we are as Cowboys and Cowgirls” -Kory

JACK WRIGHT - From Crops to Counselling (Part 1 of 2) In this first of a two part episode, we meet Jack, a Kansas farm boy who grew up on his family homestead and becomes Mr. Jack Wright, an inspirational educator and both a literal and figurative bridge builder. Mr. Wright is a retired high school college and financial aid counselor from Franklin High School, in Los Angeles, CA. Our Co-host Sal Holguin was a member of Mr. Wright's last graduating class of Panthers in 1992. No introduction does Mr. Wright justice. In Part 1, Mr. Wright takes us on a virtual auto-biographical journey, including how his family was among the first homesteaders, through the worst day of his life as a 10 year old boy, to establishing himself as a teacher and later a counselor in the 1960's and early 70's. The social and equity issues of those days influence him to find that all students and their families must be treated with respect. Thanks to his beloved high school coach, Kayo McGilvary, Jack visited, applied, and attended the Fort Hays campus of Kansas State University. We learn that on his journey, building bridges in the summer motivated Jack to do his best in college. We hear our friend Sal connect the words he often read inscribed in Mr. Wright's college office, “If you don't like the smell of sweat, go to college,” to his counselor's inspirational life story. Well-founded and long lasting relationships are key in Jack's success and keen ability to help others. In Part 2, Building Bridges For Brighter Futures (Part 2 of 2), we will learn more about Mr. Wright's relationships with former students and now well-known individuals, who helped establish and fund the Franklin Education Foundation's endowment of now over $4 million dollars, which awards a number of annual scholarships to graduating Franklin seniors. Sin Cuenta has commissioned a Loteria inspired card depicting Mr. Wright, supporting the iconic Franklin High School bridge, titled “El Bridge Builder.” The image evokes Mr Wright's days of building bridges in Kansas and reminds us of all of his work to support current and future Franklin Panthers. We hope you enjoy this episode. Esperamos que este episodio sea de su agrado.

This week, Scott and Brad discuss Fort Hays State's big win at Kansas State, high school basketball, the Chiefs, and they pay respect to former K-State coach Frank Martin.

This week, we examine the NFL playoff race, Sunday's key matchups, potential coaching changes, (New) Nick, and Woody's Best Bets. Nick and Woody provide their three best bets for the week. Brandon and CJ will highlight any CFB news since their last CFB News and Recap Show, and we finish up the show with some CBB news and just how did Fort Hays beat K-State? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/5toolsportspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/5toolsportspodcast/support

Newman vs Fort Hays from Newman's perspective.

It’s finally stopped snowing, and the rains have come, and the kids are getting out of school. You’re starting to plan your summer vacation. Part of our mission is to encourage Kansans to get out and learn more about our state, so we’ve put together a new travel episode series (that we’ll post every once in awhile) that allows you to listen to locals share places to see and things to do in their towns in order to give you ideas for your travel plans. For summer 2019, we are going to highlight 3 great towns for a summer vacation: Hays, Dodge City, and Manhattan. In our first episode, we talk with Melissa Dixon, Executive Director of the Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau. There are lots of things to do in Hays, and it makes a great base camp to explore the surrounding attractions. Whether you visit Fort Hays to see how the soldiers lived before there was I-70 to get us across the plains, or the world famous Sternberg museum for its amazing fossil collection, or spend the day at the aquatic park, you’ll enjoy yourself in Hays.  If you go to Hays this summer, share pictures with us on our Facebook Page!

The Wild West podcast proudly presents the story of Hoodoo Brown. The story begins in 1886 when Hoodoo takes his first job as a Bullwacker taking supplies to Fort Wallace Kansas. Hoodoo Brown’s adventures on the plains of Kansas, written and produced by Mike King takes the listener to a time when Kansas was settling lands along the overland routes of the Santa Fe, and Smokey Hill trails. Narrator Brad Smalley will take you to Abilene, were Hoodoo joins a cattle as a drover and then on to Hays City right before Hoodoo meets up with Jack Stillwell a famous Indian scout. At the conclusion, Hoodoo gives up on the hide-hunting business when he sees prosperity in starting a saloon business in Dodge City, the second business in the new town. Brown hauled plank wood from Fort Hays to construct his small building, a shack on the south side of the tracks and near the bank of the Arkansas where it was handy to get water to cut his whiskey with, as well as for the Texas men to water their livestock.

We begin our story in early June of, 1872 two hunters are tracking a large herd of buffalo along the Smoky Hill River and its tributaries, between Fort Hays and Fort Wallace. The region was well known by experienced hunters as the special hunting grounds for the Cheyenne Indians. As hunters Hoo Doo Brown and Dave Morrow travel south to the Arkansas river Morrow an adventurous fellow begins to tell how he became an entrepreneur by raising prairie dogs – thus giving him his nickname "Prairie Dog Morrow." The story narrated by Brad Smalley and written/produced by Mike King is a part of a historical series about the early buffalo hunters in Kansas. You can purchase the book by clicking on the link Return of the Great Hunters: Tales of the Frontier. Learn more about this episode at Wild West Podcast Facebook Page.

The commander of Fort Hays wore this army dress jacket during the 1870s. His years of Kansas service were the culmination of a long and distinguished career.

-In this episode: Sheridan sends the captured squaws to Fort Hays, but keeps Mahwissa and Meotzi on hand in case their help is needed with the other Cheyenne. He insists Custer show him the Washita battlefield. There they find Elliott and his men, massacred. Grant is

-In this episode: Custer rides out toward the Platte River to rescue the Union Pacific's workers. Meanwhile, huge rains flood the country around Fort Hays, and to escape the floods Libbie and Anna flee east to Fort Riley. Out on the Platte, Custer meets Pawnee Killer

Today's podcast features a dumbbell used by George Armstrong Custer. Learn how spirited soldiers adapted to an often boring frontier life.