New Assembly Program Addresses Bullying
Bullies, beware: A new school assembly program is aiming to stop you in your tracks. “What a Character: Bullying” is an hour-long presentation from Drama by George for students in grades K-6. The program teaches children how to recognize bullies, how to respond if a bully bothers them, and how small acts of kindness can make a big difference in the lives of their classmates.
Since its premiere this summer, “What a Character” has scheduled a dozen performances with Kentuckiana schools and organizations, reaching approximately 2,500 students. Veteran actors and educators George Halitzka and Zach Nord present this highly interactive, energetic dramatic program that demonstrates what bullying looks like, and how to stop it.
Bullying, which goes beyond ordinary teasing to become an ongoing pattern of physical or verbal intimidation, is an epidemic problem in American schools. The National PTA reports that almost one-third of all children have been bullied at school, and the website bullying.org estimates that a student is harassed every seven minutes on the playground.
Educators nationwide are recognizing the need for creative approaches to the problem, and dramatic programs can provide schools with a valuable resource for bullying-prevention.
“What a Character: Bullying” is available for bookings in Kentucky and Indiana schools. For more information, visit www.dramabygeorge.com/character, or call (502) 718-5090. Drama by George also offers character education programs on other topics (such as responsibility and honesty), as well as theater workshops for all ages.
Jamie’s 14k Cupcakes Now Open
Jamie’s 14k Cupcakes, which recently opened at 938 Baxter Avenue, is serving local and organic products, including its own baked goods and items from other businesses. Bakery items include cupcakes (regular, vegan and gluten-free), pies, push pops, cake truffles, marshmallow pops, cupcake bouquets, sheet cakes, cupcake cakes, plus specialty and wedding cakes. The bakery also offers Heine Brothers’ coffee, yerba mate tea, chai tea latte, Rooibee Red Tea, Elmwood Inn Fine Teas, real fruit smoothies, Izze sodas, coconut water and Horizon organic milk.
“As a member of Kentucky Proud we serve quality baked goods and try to keep as many of our ingredients local and organic as we can,” says owner Jamie Oller. As a member of Louisville Independent Business Alliance and Kentucky Proud, Jamie’s 14k Cupcakes helps support other local businesses by offering merchandise from Earthy Browns, Kilimanjaro, Rocko’s Rewards, Black Dog Candles, Naturally Horton’s and others.
Birthday and cupcake decorating parties are also available, and customers can purchase the bakery’s goods at select Heine Brothers’ Coffee locations as well as the Douglass Loop Farmers’ Market.
For more information, call (502) 635-1440 or visit jamies14kcupcakes.com.
PopCosmo Launches
In 2010, when Kim Gordon and daughter Chloe (then a freshman at Louisville Collegiate School) moved to Louisville from Florida, they couldn’t find enough online resources for cool things for teens (or teens and their parents) to do. So the mother-and-daughter team set out to build a website that would let teens in on fun secrets about their town, plus all the new trends. After nearly a year of development, PopCosmo (www.popcosmo.com) was launched.
The website features a twice-weekly e-newsletter with the latest teen trends in fashion, health, beauty, entertainment and tech, and includes games, polls and quotes, plus information about places considered “cool.” Teen events may also be submitted for consideration.
Kim Gordon, who handles the business end of the company, says there were no local e-newsletters for teens about the latest in everything. “We think we’ve built something that fills a void, because teens are flocking to our site to get the scoop on where to go around Louisville and what’s new online,” she says. The mother and daughter collaborate on the overall site, with Chloe overseeing the creative side. “I wanted something that would give girls my age a community all our own,” says Chloe. “Plus, I’m always looking for the new trends, and love finding and sharing them.”
Based in Louisville, the site is initially focused on the local community, but the Gordons plan to branch out into other cities within the next year.