LINC, First book team up to send children home with three thousand new books

Three thousand and four, to be exact. LINC made sure children and their Caring Communities families had new books to take home for the holidays, continuing a collaboration with the non-profit First Book to help inspire a lifetime of reading.

Night English classes illuminate Hickman Mills' multi-cultural community

To get some idea of the demands on the Hickman Mills School District’s night English classes, consider this: When the district celebrated a multi-cultural night in November, the families that came represented 36 different nations.

Lincoln Prep educator with LINC ties wins 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year award

UPDATED: Video of award from the 15 and the Mahomies Foundation, and Patrick Mahomes. Kayla McClellan, who describes herself as “the ultimate hype woman” for her students, can now call herself a 2023 Missouri Regional Teacher of the Year.

'It's a special day at Morning Star'

‘Get your energy up!’ See what goes on as the LINC Morning Star Caring Communities team helps hundreds of neighboring families and individuals get ready for the Thanksgiving holiday. Check out the video and photo gallery.

Success stories: How LINC helps courageous youth rise from broken pasts

Teens who grew up in trauma, who drifted from foster home to foster home or came under the state’s care, reach that doorstep to adulthood aching over the same needs as other teens.

These are the spaces where LINC’s team of youth advocates do their work, bringing state resources to bear, acting with great care and creativity to give courageous youth like these hope and confidence — the chance they deserve.

Read some of their stories here.

'I AM a MAN!' New Black Archives photo exhibit stares civil rights movement straight in the eyes

They never age. The images, freshly hung on the walls of Kansas City’s Black Archives of Mid-America, 1722 E 17th Terrace, promise to make the sacrifices of the 1960s real to a new generation that still struggles with civil rights.

Watch: A shining Girls on the Run 5k day

The morning’s cold rain turned into a sprinkle and vanished altogether as crisp sunlight broke out over the 2022 Fall Girls on the Run 5K just as hundreds of girls, parents, siblings and coaches crowded to the starting line Saturday. Check out our video and photo gallery.

"A great, great man": LINC remembers "fearless" Calvin Wainright

His shoulders were as broad as a bear, radiating strength through his hands and legs — and yet Calvin Wainright stood even taller in the breach of the resilient Kansas City communities he served. The lives he touched, like the pictures of players, teams and coaches he taped to the walls of his LINC office, spanned beyond the visible horizon like a glassy sea.

Boom! LINC's Lights On Afterschool 2022 events are rocketing, now with video

Our annual Lights On Afterschool celebrations got off to a world-traveling start at Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy, painting and chili-eating at J.A. Rogers Elementary, rocket-fuel explosions at Warford, a fashion show at Faxon . . . and there is so much more throughout LINC’s Caring Communities. Check out our video and photo gallery.

Public hearings to begin on KCPS school closings

In phase four of the Kansas City Public Schools’ Blueprint 2030 plan for the future of the district this month, the district announced recommendations to close two high schools and eight elementary schools. Now comes the community’s chance to talk about it.

'Historic' decline in child poverty ties to LINC's Caring Communities legacy with FEC

There’s a reason, when President Bill Clinton spoke in Kansas City Sept. 10, 1996, that FEC Director Clyde McQueen sat at the President’s right and LINC President Gayle Hobbs sat at his left. “These people in Kansas City know what they are doing,” the President said. “It’s miraculous what they are doing.”

KCPS recommends closing two high schools, eight elementary schools

The Kansas City Public Schools moved into the final — and most emotional — stage of its Blueprint 2030 process Wednesday as it put names to the number of schools the administration is proposing be closed. Welcome to Phase Four.

Healthy families, healthy lives: Lights On Afterschool events to celebrate community strength

As we prepare our annual Lights On Afterschool events for our LINC Caring Communities, national surveys show what parents want — and get — from holistic after-school programs.

'This is our heart': Building schools of character

Character Counts is foundational. Speaking the program’s name invokes the six pillars of moral living that LINC’s team members learn and carry into their Caring Communities. It guides the lessons and meaningful moments they share with children in their classrooms every day.

Watch: Food, fun, football at LINC Family Night in Hickman Mills

Three hundred hot dogs. Six hundred balloons. After a couple years of Covid hiatus, LINC’s Family Night in Hickman Mills returned to Ruskin High School Sept. 30. Check out our video and our photo gallery.

'All Because You Matter'; KCPS urges everyone to stop and read

The Kansas City Public Schools community wants children, parents, caregivers, adults, community partners like LINC and others to pick up books and show universally that “KCPS Loves to Read.”

In one of Kansas City's hottest summers, thousands face brutal utility bills and shutoff threats

KCUR reports that thousands of Kansas City residents are struggling to pay rent and utility bills and at risk of being shut off. LINC reports that relief for families processed by LINC/Morning Star now exceeds $2.5 million.

LINC Commissioner Williams honored by Greater KC Chamber

The award is named for Athena, the Greek goddess who embodies strength, courage, wisdom, and enlightenment. Williams, a LINC Commissioner and former superintendent of the Hickman Mills School District, has given nearly 40 years in service of schools, children and teachers.

Watch the video: Back to school with LINC

Take a look at Melcher’s Million Fathers March, the first day at Hickman Mills’ new Sixth Grade Center, “Character Counts! at Belvidere, sunny greetings from Gladstone and Boone’s back-to-school picnic.

Welcome back! This is what Caring Communities look like

Yes, there will be plenty of all the creative fun that kids enjoy in LINC’s before- and after-school programs, but just as reliable are the broader supports LINC’s Caring Communities bring to the children, families and neighborhoods.