Latest news with #BereaCollege
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kentucky's first public school mariachi band fosters cultural pride
LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Every high school has a music program, but Bryan Station is the only public school in Kentucky to have a mariachi band. Director Genaro Rascon formed the band at the high school in 2023 after heading up a similar program at Berea College. He said Fayette County Superintendent Dr. Demetrius Liggins, a Texas native, 'grew up around mariachi bands in the schools' and wanted to see a similar program in the district. It made sense to locate it at Bryan Station High School, where 36% of the student body has a Latino background. The school also has a Spanish immersion program. Kentucky's first public school mariachi band fosters cultural pride Starting early: 11-year-old Lexington boy says he's running for Congress Hazel Green, Kentucky gets a makeover as a 'Celtic Village' 'Mariachi is the folkloric music of Mexico, just as people in Kentucky might recognize bluegrass as their folkloric music,' Rascon said. Janely Hernandez, a junior, said she loves the way crowds react when the band plays at a concert or festival. 'I get really excited because everyone is super excited, jumping up and down, asking for more songs, and I get really happy that I'm doing this.' The students who transitioned from concert band or orchestra learned quickly that this is not a band where you can be timid. 'There's a lot more connection there, but it's also a theatrical performance,' said assistant director Nathan Bailey. 'They're not just learning how to play their instruments. They're learning how to sing and act on stage all at the same time.' There are also lessons in history and culture thrown in. Mariachi dates back to the 18th century. A typical band has violins, trumpets, and guitars, and the members take turns singing lead. Read more Spirit of the Bluegrass stories The directors say many people only think of mariachi bands as a novelty act. They hope to change that. 'So much of public-school teaching of music is that it's either John Philip Sousa and 'Stars and Stripes Forever' or Beethoven and Bach,' Rascon said. 'This music belongs in that conversation.' 'We want to showcase it as a fine art,' Bailey added. 'We're bringing our groups to stages where people sit and watch us perform. It's not just music that's performed in a corner as background sound.' In its second year, the band, called Mariachi Escudo de Bryan Station, got ornate mariachi suits and sombreros. Members say that has helped them feel more professional. 'Yes, it does,' said Jack Roblero, a senior who plays guitar. 'It makes me feel like I'm more connected to my culture. I really enjoy it a lot.' He said he would like to form his own mariachi band someday. There's a lot of pride in being in the state's first public school to teach mariachi, and that pride extends into the community. Jerry's Restaurant in Paris is the last of its kind Hernandez said, 'I like bragging about it!' 'It's the first time for a lot of these parents that they're happy to come to a school function, that they're excited that their kid is in band,' Rascon said. 'It means the world to me that they get to have that experience, and their students get to have that experience.' Bryan Station may not be the only public school to have a mariachi band much longer. A middle school in northern Kentucky has reached out to Rascon and Bailey for guidance in forming a band as early as next year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Berea food bank working to meet increase in community demand: ‘Hunger never rests'
BEREA, Ky. (FOX 56) — Food pantries across the country are working to keep up with an increase in demand coupled with rising food costs. Being hungry is not an option. That's what Darla Puckett with Brigham Baptist Church said when it comes to her community. 'Just to see people come through here that need food and prayers and support and just sometimes conversation,' Puckett added. 'It's just something that we don't take lightly here, and we're going to continue to do that no matter what.' Nicholasville unveils over $18M plans for state-of-the-art rec center Since COVID-19, the increase in demand has continued to climb. 'Grocery store prices haven't come down, and rents have gone up, so we see more and more people who are reaching out to us for assistance,' said Berea Food Bank executive director Tony Crachiolo. 'Berea Food Bank and the people that support it are dedicated to making sure that hunger finds no home in Berea, so we work every day to make sure that that happens.' 'I anticipate that getting worse as we fall on hard times financially in our local community,' Puckett said. 'So, there is a hunger security here and food insecurity here.' While the need is great, meeting that need has presented a challenge for some due to a surge in costs. The Consumer Price Index for food has grown 23.6% since 2020, which outpaces the overall inflation rate of 21.2% 'We don't get nearly as much stuff, food, and supplies as we used to like pre-COVID,' added Puckett. 'But because that just kind of hit everybody, it just trickled down, and it's just going to trickle down into the service industry and into the ministries that we do here.' Despite the circumstances, Crachiolo said they will be there to help their community no matter what. 'Hunger never rests, hunger never sleeps, and it finds new people all the time,' Crachiolo said. 'Someone who's lost a job and is having a hard time finding one, someone whose rent is going up 25%. We need to be here with community support to make sure that any Berean who finds themselves in need of filling up a pantry and getting food for a week or so can come to the Berea Food Bank.' And with data showing a nationwide rise in food insecurity, both said it's vital to have community support. 'We find that it requires more and more of us,' added Crachiolo. 'And, fortunately, with 30-odd volunteers and a board on top of that, we've got plenty of hands to do the work. And there is a lot of generosity of spirit in Berea, both in donors and in people who are willing to come in and do the work.' Part of meeting the need is hosting community events like the 22nd annual Empty Bowls fundraiser. 81-year-old faces charges after Laurel County deputies find meth under truck's hood AG Coleman announces $19.8M in grants to combat drug epidemic Berea food bank working to meet increase in community demand: 'Hunger never rests' 'One of the ways that we fund what we do is by partnering with an organization like Berea College's Celts program; the 22nd annual Empty Bowls dinner is coming up, where a handcrafted bowl and delicious soup can be had for $15, and 100% of the proceeds go to Berea Food Bank,' said Crachiolo. 'Our friends at the Berea College program have been our partners for over 30 years, helping the food bank meet the need in this city.' The event will take place on Wednesday, April 2, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
From the WV mines to a Ph.D., Carter Woodson strove to preserve black history
GLEN JEAN, WV (WVNS) – Did you know the man that is responsible for the creation of Black History Month once worked and lived near the New River Gorge? Timelessness Through the Decades highlights creativity and unity as Black History Month begins Carter G. Woodson was born in 1875 in Virginia to parents who were slaves. As he grew up, they moved to Huntington to pursue new lives. To earn a living, he worked in the New River Gorge coalfields, more specifically a coal mine in Nuttallburg, Fayette County. Here, Woodson heard lots of amazing stories from other black coal miners, which inspired Woodson's love for history. Eve West is the chief of interpretation and education at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. She explained that Woodson went on to have a unique college journey to get his doctorate degree after graduating high school in Huntington. McDowell County teacher close to achieving extraordinary feat 'To go from Kentucky to Chicago and then on to Harvard University back in that time period [was amazing]. The coolest fact about him really, I think, is he is the only African-American who was born of parents who had been slaves at one point in time, who went on then to get his Ph.D. at Harvard,' said West. The colleges that Woodson attended include Berea College, University of Chicago, and Harvard. Woodson's passion for history led him to join the American Historical Association. However, he was not allowed to attend their conferences because of his ethnicity. So, he founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 to shine a light on black history. 'He was a miner here [in West Virginia]. He was a teacher here and then he actually came back as dean of West Virginia State University,' added West. 'He attributed his work ethic, a strong work ethic, to being a coal miner here in the modern New River Gorge and so he learned that strong work ethic here in this new River Gorge region. I think that is something also to be very proud of.' In 1926, he helped launch Negro History Week, which would take place during the second week of February. Former McDowell County hospital once the largest privately owned African American hospital in US 'Woodson passed on in the at the age of while he was in his eighties, [in] 1950. But then in 1970, [at] Kent State University, the educators there got interested in the whole concept, and so they created they turned in Black History Week and what we have today, which is Black History Month,' said West. The United States officially recognized Black History Month for the first time in 1976. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
