Columns

I have given considerable thought regarding what topic should be shared in my first communication as superintendent of Grant County Schools. My first idea was to share how much I appreciated the opportunity to return home and lead this great district. Then, I debated several hot topics in education today: college and career readiness standards, 21st Century skills, or even, of local interest, our new Career and Technical Education facility.      

It came as an unexpected phone call on a warm Wednesday afternoon that my sister, Beth, was going to be having her baby.

The butterflies in my stomach began churning away, as I knew that I was going to be holding my niece or nephew that night, as both Beth and Claus didn’t want to know the sex of the baby before he/she was born.

I drove from the Grant County News office all the way up to Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati anticipating the moment I would see the baby’s face.

I thought that I knew this place. When I packed up my bags and came home from Lexington for the summer to be an intern at the Grant County News, I thought I knew what I was doing. I thought that I already knew all of the people and places. I thought I knew it like the back of my hand.

Many families have been visited by an unwelcome guest this spring and summer: the Shigella bacteria. Between April 1 and June 28, more than 100 cases of Shigella were reported in Northern Kentucky.