Posts by Ashley Thornton
Learning to be a Citizen: Water, River, and Community
By Emily Carolin For the 2017-2018 school year, Baylor launched an exciting set of transdisciplinary courses aimed toward the promotion of human flourishing and the development of innovative approaches to some of the world’s most complex challenges. Under the umbrella of the Social Innovation Collaborative (SIC), Baylor currently has teams of students and faculty collaborating…
Read MoreProsper Waco 2017: The Year of Progress & Productivity
By Christina Helmick Like any year, 2017 had its highs and lows. As we enter the holiday season, we choose to focus on the positive developments in Waco and look forward with excitement to the new year. You only have to drive around downtown to be reminded of how much Waco has grown in the…
Read MoreAct Locally Waco Blog – “Greatest Hits of 2017”
by Ashley Bean Thornton One of my favorite things to do in the world is edit the Act Locally Waco blog. This year the Act Locally Waco blog published 152 posts written by 111 different Wacoans. Topics ran the gamut from prejudice to planting a garden, from frisbee golf to financial planning, from gratitude to…
Read MoreCultivating A Child’s Gratitude
By Kimberly Trippodo Thanksgiving 2017 is in the books… even though the “official” day is past, this is still the season of giving and thankfulness. As a social worker, I consider Thanksgiving a mental wellness holiday, in which mindfulness, gratitude, and positive cognition are prioritized. I work in Special Education; and I am a parent…
Read MoreTami’s Big Do Over: And, Scene…
(Tami Nutall Jefferson, a married mother and grandmother, is going back to school and she has invited us all along to enjoy the ride. For more posts in this series, click here: Tami’s Big Do Over. – ABT ) by Tami Nutall Jefferson Lessons Learned The Fall 2017 semester is wrapping up, and the lessons…
Read MoreUnderstanding Health Care: Electronic Health Records and HIPPA
By Glenn Robinson Health care is among the most heavily regulated industries in America – virtually every aspect of the health care system is subject to government oversight. There are regulatory mechanisms to supervise the doctors and professionals who render care; the institutions in which care is provided, such as hospitals and clinics; the medications…
Read MoreBrook Avenue Elementary: Living into Excellence
By Hannah Rigg A neighborhood school. Each morning children are dropped off at the front entrance of Brook Avenue Elementary School and personally greeted by Brook Avenue staff as they make their way to their classrooms. Each afternoon, those same families are congregated outside of the school waiting to walk home with their children. This…
Read MoreWho is The Salvation Army of Waco?
By Major Anita Caldwell In 1890, William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army, wrote Darkest England and the Way Out. He envisioned a world where the poor and needy were provided a way out of their poverty. He was convinced that a cab horse was treated with a better standard of living than the…
Read MoreHOT P-20: College is what’s next
(The Heart of Texas P-20 Council includes representatives from K-12 education, higher education and employers. They meet regularly to help coordinate efforts to launch our young people into productive lives as workers and citizens. This post is one in a monthly series of posts intended to share information about the work of this important group…
Read MoreCollege Insights: Getting over that final hurdle
By Diego Loredo Finally, after coming to University of North Texas, I am close to graduating with a degree in public relations. I first attended UNT in 2014 and now I am set to graduate next semester in May. The time has seriously flown by and here are just a few things that I have…
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