Kellogg Middle School to host Community Events Series

KELLOGG — Kellogg Middle School will be hosting the first of three events in their Community Events Series on Thursday evening inside the KMS library.

The series, which focuses on many aspects of Silver Valley life, was the brainchild of Kellogg School District After School Program director Scott Albrethsen, who put the series together as part of a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant.

The grant requires that the program hosts five different parent literacy events per year, with literacy meaning the parents simply get an opportunity to learn alongside their children.

The series will cover a myriad of topics, beginning with the History of the Silver Valley Remediation, followed by Youth Safety in a Digital World, and wrapping up with Family Health and Nutrition.

Panhandle Health programs manager Andy Helkey will be hosting this week’s presentation, which should be incredibly informative for locals looking to better understand the history surrounding the Bunker Hill Superfund Project.

“In this presentation, Andy will provide the history of the remediation project in the Silver Valley,” Albrethsen said. “Andy has a vast knowledge of the past remediation, current Superfund status and operations, and the potential future paths for the Silver Valley.”

The following presentations Youth Safety in a Digital World and Family Health and Nutrition will be hosted by Paul Farina and Loni Whiteman, and Emilee Kulin and Tisha Whatcott respectively.

Farina works in the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office assigned to the Idaho Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Whiteman is a Juvenile Probation Officer and Presentence Investigator for Kootenai County.

Kulin and Whatcott are Registered Dietitian/Nutritionists and owners of Simple Nutrition — Silver Valley Registered Dietician.

“I had the idea that these events might be more successful if we ran them as an event series rather than spreading them out throughout the year,” Albrethsen said. “We hope to make this a yearly event series and try to mix in a number of different topics and areas of concern for our parents.”

These presentations will begin Thursday, May 2, and continue on May 9 and 16, inside the Kellogg Middle School library at 5:30 p.m. beginning with Andy Helkey’s History of the Silver Valley Remediation.

For more information contact Albrethsen at 208-783-1311.