My Word

Gov. Steve Beshear joined entrepreneurs and educators across Kentucky to announce the creation of the Governor's School for Entrepreneurs. Speaking alongside him, on behalf of high school students across Kentucky, was Taylor Nash, a sophomore at Collins High School.

When Taylor first heard about the program through a meeting at school, he said he was excited, “This is definitely a path to careers that would work for me because I want to start my own business and make a difference in the community.”

Leadership Shelby is an organization sponsoring an annual group of individuals from the county who have demonstrated leadership qualities and a deep commitment to the community and who are likely to assume greater responsibility in the future.

On Nov. 14, the class of 2012-2013 completed a full-day overview of the industry in our county. We toured the operation of four businesses, and reviewed a wealth of data on the trends in population and employment opportunity, as well as the economics behind the numbers.

Debby Sowell is thankful she is able to buy food... she has a home... she is a teacher.

Sowell, the art teacher at East Middle School, overcame obstacles to achieve her goal and is proud to share her story.

“I grew up poor,” she said. “My Mom had her GED. My Dad had a high school diploma. He wanted me to go to college and harped, ‘Medicine is the way to go’ because he wanted me to have money...something we never had.”

On Oct. 10 the 2012-2013 Class of Leadership Shelby embarked on our first educational adventure together as a team. I don’t think it was any coincidence that our first day trip was planned as “Agriculture Day.” After all, our county began as a booming agricultural land, and even though most of us do not get to see it every day, our county still thrives on agriculture, which has taken many different shapes.