Author: Jes Beals

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2016 Black History Month Community Forums

Tuesdays in February the City of Muncie and Mayor Dennis Taylor will be hosting a series of community forums.  These sessions are free and open to the public.  Everyone is welcome to attend and share their thoughts. Muncie City Councilman, Julius Anderson will moderate.

Download the flier (pdf)

February 2, 6:00-7:00 PM
Mt. Zion Baptist Church
Lenny R. Corthen, Pastor
820 S. Penn Street

February 9, 6:00-7:00 PM
Prayer House of Deliverance
John L. Smith, Pastor
1805 S. Wall Avenue

February 16, 6:00-7:00 PM
Repairing the Breach Ministries
Kevin Ivy, Sr., Pastor
2417 W. 8th Street

February 23, 6:00-7:00 PM
Antioch Baptist Church
Edward Long, Pastor
1700 E. Butler Street

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Contribute to the MCS Strategic Plan

Muncie residents have been invited by Muncie Community Schools (MCS) Superintendent Steven Baule to contribute to the development of MCS’s strategic plan.

Starting in February, Muncie residents may participate in up to five focus groups to hear preliminary plans and provide feedback. You do not have to have a child in the Muncie Community School system to participate.

The focus groups will be held at the Anthony Administration Building, Boardroom #4, 6:30 p.m. on the following dates:

Student Services, Support & Safety
Curriculum & Instruction
Finance & Facilities
Human Resources & Professional Development
Communications & Family Engagement		 Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Monday, February 29, 2016
Monday, March 7, 2016
Monday, March 14, 2016
Thursday, March 10, 2016

“We welcome and strongly encourage you to be a member of one of our focus groups; your role as a focus group member is critical to this process,” said Dr. Baule. “Thank you in advance for your willingness to serve our students and school corporation in this capacity.”

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Beech Grove Cemetery Book & Phone App – Fall 2015

Beech Grove Cemetery holds many wonderful stories about the people who came from Muncie and made contributions as state, national and international citizens.  Muncie’s Beech Grove Cemetery Board asked Ball State students to create a book to document these stories and to transfer that content into a walking tour that would allow visitors to access that information via smartphones.   Students gained experience in historical research, technical, and public writing.  The students were responsible for conducting research, identifying themes, designing interpretation, and selecting stories for the book and app.

Learn more from the project video:

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City-wide Preservation Plan for Muncie – Fall 2015

Muncie – like many Midwest industrial communities – is recovering from the recent recession and the resulting blight. According to research completed by Ball State’s historic preservation graduate students, the cities that are making the best recoveries are those with strategies that combine historic preservation and city planning to enact redevelopment efforts based on strategic demolitions, rehabilitations, targeted code enforcement and land banking. They have two major strategies in common: data collection and good preservation plans. Through this immersive learning project, Ball State students led by Faculty Mentor Susan Lankford, participated in ScoutMuncie, a data collection and historic resources survey initiated by Muncie’s Historic Preservation and Rehabilitation Commission. The students used this data, information gathered through a series of community meetings, and their own research to prepare a preservation plan that will guide the Commission’s efforts to preserve our history and use our historic resources to increase quality of life, strengthen our sense of place, and ensure our Sustainability.

Check out their video to learn more:

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The Many Faces of Muncie – Fall 2015

People make Muncie tick.  This city was built and continues to run because of complex, interesting, fascinating people.  This project celebrates the lives of everyday Muncie residents and their contributions to the economy, history, diversity and culture of this community, focusing on telling the stories of their lives and their professions.  By spending time with these people, the Ball State students and their Telecommunications Faculty Mentor, Suzy Smith, were able to shed light on what it takes to create a diverse, steadfast and strong-willed community.