Farmers Bank opens new branch

Photo by Robin Hart/rhart@amnews.com

Farmers National Bank held a ribbon cutting ceremony at its newest branch on Garland Drive, located at the corner of the South Danvilly bypass and Hustonville Road Friday afternoon. The ribbon was cut by Greg Caudill, center, Chief Executive Officer, of Farmers National Bank as bank board members, staff and officials watch. This location will offer an innovative in-branch design to provide customers with a personal, one-on-one experience. Garland Drive branch will also have extended drive-thru hours of operation, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturdays, through Teller on Demand, the first technology of its kind in Danville. Through an ATM-like machine, customers can speak to a live Farmers National Bank teller who is located at the main office on Main Street, through video technology.

McDowell Place of Danville Passes State Survey with Zero Deficiencies

Ephraim McDowell Health

McDowell Place of Danville continues to provide excellent senior care as evidenced by a recent state survey. Surveyors from the Department of Aging and Independent Living conducted the survey on Oct. and found zero deficiencies.

The Department of Aging and Independent Living conducts bi-annual surveys to ensure facilities are in compliance with all statutes and regulations that govern assisted living communities in Kentucky. The reviewers make sure residents are happy, they are well cared for and safe. McDowell Place has not had a single deficiency in over eight years.

McDowell Place of Danville is a local business that has been serving residents for 17 years and continues to win statewide awards including Leadership in Assisted Living, Client Lifetime Achievement and Excellence in Civic Involvement. 

Guerrant guest speaker at Kiwanis

Guest speaker at Kiwanis this past week was Ben Guerrant, Executive Director of the Danville Boyle County Senior Citizens Center. He shared information about the center’s mission and activities, and helped us in our goals to further increase our support. 

For more information about the Danville Boyle County Senior Citizens Center, visit them at 569 Jean Dr, call (859) 236-2070, or email ben@afunplaceforseniors.org. Further information can be found at www.afunplaceforseniors.org or www.facebook.com/DanvilleBoyleCountySeniorCitizensInc/.

To learn more about Kiwanis Club of Danville – our opportunities for learning, fellowship and service to the Danville area – please comment or message us here. Also, feel free to email nicholsphilip3@gmail.com or robertc@stuartpowell.com.

What’s happening at Danville Independent School District

By DAVE FAIRCHILD

Danville Rotary

On Oct. 27, Dr. Keith Look, superintendent of the Danville Independent School District, spoke to Rotary members about what is happening in the district. He began by highlighting the board of education’s increased investment in a number of areas, including special education, gifted education, English language learners and athletics. Look pointed out that the investments came at no cost to the taxpayer. He noted, “When you talk about shrewd financial leadership while insuring that all kids learn the skills needed to succeed, our board of education deserves a huge round of applause.”

“Leadership at the school level shows significant impact as well. Danville High School, in a year’s time, has gone from a ‘needs improvement-focus school’ to a ‘distinguished school’ due to its growth under new principal and Danville alumnus Mrs. Haley Ralston,” Look said. “Since the end of the last school year, Danville High School has produced one national merit semi-finalist, two Governor’s School for the Arts participants, five Governor’s Scholars Program participants, two scholar-athletes of the year and more. The school’s forensics team and academic teams both had their highest national finishes in school history.”

“New initiatives this school year introduced students to American Sign Language and created a direct pathway to the medical field through the Allied Health program — both occurred at Danville High School,” Look said. “Meanwhile, one-to-one computing arrived at John W. Bate Middle School, with plans to accelerate throughout the district. One-to-one computing is designed to enhance the critical learning relationship that exists between teacher and student, giving the latter more means to demonstrate what she/he knows and is able to do.”

“Looking ahead, the Danville Schools asks support for its foundation’s annual fundraiser, Dancing with the Danville Stars,” Look said. “The evening of entertainment is set for (Saturday, Nov. 11). Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at danvilleschoolsfoundation.org.”

An invigorated Rotary audience peppered Dr. Look with questions regarding Kentucky pensions, connections to higher education, and trajectories for employment. His responses stressed the Danville Schools’ comprehensive approach to putting all students on a path to success.    

Dr. Look is a graduate of Centre College, with a doctorate of education from the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught in a Baltimore middle school, the Philadelphia public schools and Louisville. His focus before returning to Danville as superintendent was in the Council for Opportunity in Education, where he directed their efforts on innovative work to help low income students get into and graduate from college.

“All of us are subjected to a daily dose of reports of disheartening events in our country and around the world.  These happenings flavor what we do at school every day,” Look said. “It’s the job of all of us in the school system to help our students make sense of all this and thereby gain a better understanding of our world. We organize fundraising, food drives and clothing drives for natural disasters. When confronted with events like Sandy Hook shootings, we talk about school safety; when we heard about Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, we talked about diversity and respecting the rights of others; confronted with 58 concertgoers being killed at a music festival (in Las Vegas), we were all overwhelmed by the event, so we just tried to help the students become a little bit more inoculated about surviving in the present day world.”