Roll on up! LINC's Lights On Afterschool events bringing October fun

Pizza parties, Mad Science, bountiful home-grown meals, give-away books, cupcakes and some whip and nae-nae fitness dancing . . . LINC’s Lights On Afterschool is under way with many more community events to come during the week of Oct. 25–30.

LINC helps parents bring media attention to dangerous traffic at King Elementary

Parents and neighbors at Martin Luther King Elementary School — with LINC’s help — say they are just getting started in trying to protect their children from the dangerous traffic that rushes by their school.

Emotional day: LINC school families enjoy safe, joyful reunions

The promise of a new year, new friends, new games and educational adventures unfolded across some 40 LINC Caring Communities before- and after-school programs Monday in the Kansas City, Hickman Mills, Center, North Kansas City and Grandview school districts.

Making our Schoolyard Gardens grow; kids' Thanksgiving harvest dreams start here

July’s sun was mounting the sky toward a 100-plus-degree heat index. But Hartman Caring Communities Coordinator Martin Jackson mopped his head with a towel and put his thoughts on Thanksgiving. By then, he said, these beds of soil LINC staff were building with the Kansas City Community Gardens will have been planted, watered and nurtured by LINC’s after-school kids.

'Find your community'; In critical year ahead, schools want you back, welcomed and safe

It doesn't matter how well — or not — you and your child managed Covid’s hard time. A common message is brewing. Children, however much they struggled with online learning, will be advanced with their peers into the next grade. Everyone will recover together. Schools’ plea: Just come back.

Kansas City Public Schools' anti-suspension policy takes stand for equity, prosperity

The Kansas City Public Schools took a stand against historical injustice and the school-to-prison pipeline when its board voted to end discretionary suspensions of elementary school children Wednesday night.

The way out of violence: Give youthful courage and grace the reins

I believe we all know who truly has to make this happen – and it’s not us. As a place-holder name, I’m calling for a new generation of “peace ambassadors.” But I expect that the young people who are going to lead us – tweens, teenagers and 20-somethings – will give this campaign their own name. Their own power.

Reunited! The whole family is back for LINC's KCPS programs (and it feels so good)

Startled squeals turned into laughter. Children looked delightedly into the faces of all their friends in a spontaneous glow. Everyone together. Finally. No more classroom splits by A days and B days.

School bonds, levies win big; KC earnings tax triumphs; school board races tight

Bond issues, levies and the earnings tax won big, but many school board races ran tight. See how the final, unofficial totals came out in the April 6 election for our partner school districts.

Kansas City education leaders urge COVID vaccinations

Their districts’ neighborhoods are hard-hit by Covid, but “here we have an opportunity to do something about it,” said KCPS Superintendent Mark Bedell as he was vaccinated. “I’m doing my part to keep everyone safe,” said Center Superintendent Yolanda Cargile.

Updates: Students returning to classrooms as Covid cases fall, with new CDC guidance

t’s been a long road. That’s for sure. But continued declines in Covid-19 cases plus more aggressive advice from the Centers for Disease Control are opening the doors for Kansas City Public Schools, Hickman Mills and Center to bring students back into in-person classrooms in the weeks ahead. And other districts hope to bring more students into already-open buildings.

'What can I do?'; LINC rushes to aid families in devastating apartment fire

The overnight news footage, just days after Christmas, swept like the fire itself through LINC’s communities. A devastating fire had fully engulfed one of the large residences at the Waldo Heights Apartments in south Kansas City. Families needed help and LINC was ready.

Love adds up: Four days, a thousand families, 78,998 pounds of food

At times the wind came whipping cold. Other times a chilling drizzle coated the workers’ parkas and vests. But a partnership between Church of the Resurrection and LINC to deliver meals and other support to Kansas City families carried on regardless of sunshine or winter gloom because the needs of the people lining up in their cars did not change with the weather.

Church of the Resurrection, LINC join in holiday food distributions

Kansas City parent Tiffany Relves was in a state of mind of feeling “like there is no hope” when she got word of one of the Church of the Resurrection’s food drives with LINC. “We have been going through some very hard times this past year. This means everything to my family. This has truly been a blessing to me and my children’s life.”

KCPS to legislature: Pay teachers, help the underserved, be equitable

Kansas City Public Schools is determined to do its part to “re-imagine and rebuild” a district ready to emerge from Covid, its leaders said. But Jefferson City needs to help. “We have political road bumps we are going to have to get over.”

Calling all KC hands to rescue education system 'on verge of collapse'

The “frightening” expanse of unenrolled or disengaged children across the Kansas City area can be rounded into large numbers — or bared one-by-one. An enrollment and drop-out task force is issuing a call to educators, business leaders, policy makers and anyone else who wants to join in the work.

Harmony Project KC director wins Missouri's highest arts award

Laura Shultz, the executive director of Harmony Project KC, was named this week as an honoree in the Missouri Arts Council’s Missouri Arts Awards for 2021, regarded as “the state’s highest honor in the arts,”

LINC expands community efforts to bust pandemic's barriers for children and families

The mother’s needs came tumbling out like the insides of a dumped suitcase. This was going to take some doing — finding temporary storage, relief from utility bill debt in the thousands of dollars, and fulfilling her child’s prayer that her family would get a new home by her birthday.

Shake it up! Lights On Afterschool finds a new groove

No more was the pandemic going to hold back what LINC and its communities yearned to give and share. The fall weather came cool and clear, and LINC’s annual Lights On Afterschool events went outside to find a rush of parents, teachers and children ready to join the fun.

How many $ millions does KCPS lose in tax abatements? District wants you to know

The short answer? $80 million in potential tax revenue to the Kansas City Public Schools and more than 20 public charter schools has been diverted by tax abatement incentives to developers the past three years.