So, the word on the street is that the Streetchat App has made its way into many Asheville area schools, and it is being banned by teachers and law enforcement. First of all, you have an Anonymous name, which increases the chance of posts which include cyberbullying and attacks on teacher, students and others. There is not any accountability, and technically there is not any easy way to hold anyone responsible. They have rules forbidding certain things being posted, but there is not any monitoring of the content as of yet. You are supposed to be 17 years old to use the App, but anyone can download it for their iPhone or Android. The App uses GPS, pinpoints your location, and then generates a list of schools from Grade School to College, that are nearby. Then people can post a message about that school, people in it, and individuals; never naming who the user (the one who posts) is.
A teenager in Connecticut is facing charges for posting inappropriate photos of a teacher with sexually charged captions. Several schools in Princeton WV are also dealing with bullying posts. As you can see in the post above, Clemson University in South Carolina is Trending on it as we speak.
Enka High School is one of the educational institutions that have been battling the Streetchat App. The school is currently on a top user list ranking #11 out of all of the schools across the Country, having over 1000 sign-ups that have downloaded the App. Students have been warned with OSS (Out of School Suspension) for anyone caught posting to Streetchat.
So many wonderful things are happening behind the scenes with education in Western North Carolina. Charter schools are opening up all around town, joining many already successful establishments. These buildings and rooms are filled with great folks and families, education and creativity, and a chance to improve schooling on a whole new level. Check out this great news from the Franklin School of Innovation:
Congressman Mark Meadows will visit the Franklin School of Innovation at their temporary location at 104 Peachtree Road, South Asheville on Thursday, October 9, 2014, at 1pm to announce the grant.
Thursday, October 9, 2014 – Asheville’s new Expeditionary Learning Middle & High School is one of 16 national winners of a Charter School Education Grant. Franklin was awarded $194,000 from the U.S. Department of Education and is the only recipient in the state of North Carolina. The school was chosen for its efforts in a number of areas, including the promotion of student diversity, professional learning activities, and community support.
Michelle Vruwink, Franklin’s primary founder and Executive Director was the lead author on the grant. “I’m thrilled at the news of financial support for our vision,” Vruwink said. “For a start up school in the current school budget climate, this grant gives us resources that we couldn’t otherwise afford. This allows us to focus on developing the Expeditionary Learning model, supporting teacher’s professional growth, and improving instruction in our classrooms.”
Congressman Mark Meadows’ office called the school with the news and sent a letter of congratulations, applauding Franklin’s efforts to seek a student body diversified by socioeconomic status, ethnicity and learning differences. Meadows is scheduled to visit the school on Thursday.
“The competition is fierce, “ noted Joel Medley, Director of the NC Office of Charter Schools, “It speaks a great deal to Franklin’s effort, commitment, and strategy to have received the Charter School Program funds.”
Board Chair, Danielle Moser says the ongoing support of the Glass Foundation contributed to the school winning the large federal grant. The Foundation purchased 13+ acres in Enka which is under construction as the school’s permanent site.
Media: If you would like to attend Congressman Meadow’s visit to Franklin on Thursday, Contact: Danielle Moser 828-329-4623 or email dmoser@thefsi.us
If you have been around Asheville for any period of time, you have surely heard of, if not visited the Hop Ice Cream Shop. As a matter of fact, this month they are turning 36 years old. Talk about about foodie landmark in the community; this is it! The Hop began back in 1978 when a guy from New York came through Asheville, loved it and decided to take an old gas station and make homemade, handmade, craft ice cream. He then sold the shop in the mid 80s, it passed through a few more hands, and a wonderful couple named Greg and Ashley took it over. Since then, and them; it has never been the same. Actually, Greg and Ashley worked for the 4th owner of The Hop; then through a series of events, ended up purchasing the business.
Greg was born in Berwick Pennsylvania, moved to California, and then to Kingsport Tennessee. He remembers going as a child to Asheville to visit the Biltmore Estate with his family, and the great memories they made. As a teenager, his family moved to the suburbs of Houston Texas, but he ended up coming back to Asheville to attend UNCA in 2000. In 2003, he began working for The Hop. Ashley was born in the suburbs of Houston Texas, moved to Russia at 10 years old for about 2 years, then back to Houston. She met Greg while she was in High School, and then moved to Asheville in 2003 to be with Greg. This love story has yet to be told! Let get back to business…
Greg was coaching at the time, and Ashley was the manager of the Hop. The owner decided he wanted to sell. Greg’s grandfather “Pop” has recently passed away at the time, and the family was in mourning and transition. Out of nowhere, Greg’s father Walt asked them “what do you think about buying The Hop?” It was a question that would change their lives forever. This was an investment in our community, a huge responsibility with accountability to their family, a life decision that they could not reverse. The answer was “Yes” and they began the loan process, a story in itself as it was right on the hinge of the last recession, and one of the last SBA loans given at the time. From December 2007 to August of 2008 it was up in the air. The loan finally came through and Asheville ice cream began to hike to the next level in quality, selection and community relationships. They started with 5 part-time employees, and have now grown to 30+ employees. They opened the Hop West in October 2010 and they are getting ready to celebrate their 4 year anniversary there.
But growth and the future is in the works right now as Greg and Ashley recently attained a new location that will be called The Hop Ice Creamery on 167 Haywood Rd – Suite 20; just a stones throw down from Short Street Cakes and across the street from where the new HOLE Hot Doughnuts in being constructed. I can already hear it… “Asheville’s Dessert District” or “Asheville’s Sweet Slope” as these are just a couple of the community themes that came to mind.
This new “Hop Spot” will simplify & increase productivity for both locations, allow them to increase their wholesale accounts, and provide their wholesale accounts with more volume. It will also enhance the customer experience and give Greg and Ashley the freedom to grow in many other directions. The location is ideal as it is a growing part of the booming West Asheville community. Some of their wholesale accounts include Katuah Market, UNCA, the Ice Cream Deck in Micahville, French Broad Rafting & Zip Lines, The Strand in Waynesville, Farmburger, Packs Tavern, Green Sage, and Sandy Bottom Trails.
The Hop is not going anywhere, but deepening their AVL roots, supporting the organic and homegrown scene, and growing their business naturally… as the opportunities arise from the hard work, team effort and relationship building that they have put forth. They will also have the ability to provide after-school tours for kids and families, showcasing the process, and tasting new ice creams freshly made right in front of them. A small bakery that complements ice cream may also be part of the future concept.
Greg, Ashley, and now also little Finn are staples in the Asheville community on both the business and personal side. If you have ever met them, you have met people with a community mindset and big hearts to back it up. The Hop Ice Creamery is simply the evidence, a big part of the evolution… their overall beautiful vision. And it all started with ice cream. Congratulations!!!
Asheville keeps getting featured in articles all across the Country. Now, with the big tourism influx of 2014, more and more posts are appearing on blogs, websites, and online news sites. So what is all of the excitement about? The Western North Carolina community is growing by leaps and bounds. Folks are moving here to improve their quality of life and to start living out loud. At the same time, economic development organizations are working on attracting larger companies that can provide work and decent wages for our residents, both old and new. Hopefully it will all balance out soon. But here are 15 articles featuring Asheville North Carolina that you may want to take a look at:
I changed the way I look at jewelry Monday night. I didn’t learn anything about measurements, techniques, or jewelry biz lingo really. I don’t remember the names of the gorgeous gems or stones I was tinkering with either. I didn’t want to know those things. However, when Asheville jewelry-maker, Nadine Fidelman invited me into her home, she taught me all I could ever hope to learn about why we choose to decorate ourselves the way we do.
At first glance jewelry is like looking out into a crowd of people. There are a lot of shapes, sizes, colors, and styles all running together into rainbow overload. The first thoughts are, ‘oh I see pretty things,’ and then we start searching for a focal point. It is in that search that we realize we’re being pulled towards certain things and we start to examine why. While I was zeroing in on a generally smooth black stone with a noticeable organic crack in the upper right corner I could overhear one of my side kicks talking about the jewelry.
“It’s not just beads, they’re individual pieces,” I heard my fellow playmate Kelly Allen offer.
At first I thought, ‘yeah, ok, there’s a lot of different jewelry here. I can see that.’ Then I took a breath and thought about that word individual. I realized what she meant, and that I wasn’t just looking at the pieces, I was meeting them. I went back to my black stone, noticing the gorgeous, crystal-esque inclusions the flaw revealed. I was in love. I thought of my own personality, how I like the rawness in life, and the beauty I find in truth. I also believe in fighting like hell and collecting battle scars…I thought of how hard it is being a writer and how far I still had to go in the world of manuscripts. I wanted that beautiful stone. I had found my connection.
Lorna’s Fave!
We moved the party to the carpet where the impossible not love, Nadine plopped right down with us, kicking her shoes off ready to dig in. She shared stories with us about where she had found inspiration for her work, and let her obvious passion for her trade seep out onto us. We started tossing necklaces and bracelets around, trimming ourselves in the jewelry like we did our mothers’ as children. We’d try a piece on in between sips of girly shelf white wine, and chat about what we’d chosen. I asked the other three girls what they thought of what they’d selected.
Nadine chatting with Kelly about healing stones
Kelly, who had remarked earlier on the individualism, was drawn to stones she knew to have healing qualities. As cancer survivor, officially in remission since January; she keeps her eyes peeled for items in nature than bode healing qualities. Her journey with her sickness, and attention to wellness has brought her upon her choices in jewelry. Out of those stones, one in particular jumped out at her.
“This one looks like a fishing lure,” she commented excitedly holding up the yellowish vertical stone,” like my Daddy used.” She set it down smiling. She had found her connection.
Whitney Thompson, a native Ashevillian piped up from the other side of the circle, holding up a gorgeous blue stone in a similar fashion. “This one reminded me of the sea,” she said. “It’s like when you’re little. I just wanted to take my flip-flops off. When I saw it I wanted to go to the beach and run around.”
Whitney explaining what she loved about the piece
Whitney’s stone actually provoked a childhood memory to surface, making her feel carefree again as she had in her most innocent years. Whitney had found her connection.
The youngest of the group, Hannah, a 16-year-old, chose a piece unlike the rest of us, without a stone. Her piece was raw, twisted sterling silver wired, manipulated by hand into an untamed yet simple set of earrings. I chuckled thinking how the piece was like being a teenager, beautiful, unsure which direction it was going, and not as simple as it appeared to be. They fit Hannah just perfectly, and hung daintily on her young ears. She had made her connection. I wonder if she knew…
Dainty Hannah
While I was pondering this Whitney was perusing the backside of a necklace, “you know, their backs are just as pretty and detailed as their fronts.”
Nadine explained to the group how this is one of her trademarks. I thought how much it made sense because there are different sides to women…many sides. They are sometimes tucked away against our own skins for only us to enjoy and sometimes decided to be displayed so people can see our normally hidden sides. Nadine told us she’d even been in public and saw her creation flipped over, showing them from the opposite sides. What self-expression.
I learned something Monday night. Jewelry isn’t just embellishment, it’s an embellishment of us. Often times who we are is in the tiny details of the things we choose to let represent us. We weren’t wearing jewelry, we were wearing little pieces of who we are. I thought I was going to just play dress-up, and I did to an extent. I just didn’t know I would be using Nadine’s art to dress up as myself.
If you want to make your connection with Jewelry by Nadine check out her collection at the Kress Emporium in downtown Asheville.
19 Patton Ave, Asheville, NC 28801
If you’d love your own play date with Nadine call her 828-654-0993 or email her at nfidelman@pobox.com
Have an interesting story? Contact AskAsheville’s Lorna Hollifield at lornalh@gmail .com 828-280-1799
