By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
It’s almost time for full time school, and kids are a little excited, a little scared, a little regretful that summer looks to be over.
So KET partnered with the Kenton County Library in Covington, Read Ready Covington, and TANK for a party with a purpose over the weekend.
“We like to acquaint people with places in their community that they may not know about,” said Lauren Bennett, Communications Director for KET in Lexington. “We have a show on KET called Alma’s Way, where Alma takes little trips around her town, and has adventures.”
This is the first time that KET has offered the program in this area, but they have tried it in other cities. The character Alma lives in New York City and she uses public transportation, and people at KET thought it would be a good idea to encourage the use of public transportation in the city.
“If people take the new rider class today, they get a ticket for a ride on the TANK bus,” said Amanda Wright, who was organizing the event at the Covington Library. “TANK has been an amazing partner on this project, along with We Drive in Covington. This is from a grant from the Fred Rogers production company. That company is one of the producers of Alma’s Way.”
In the story of Alma’s Way, Alma’s aunt Tia is a conductor of an L train, so she has the opportunity to travel.
Outside the library the children had a space in the parking lot where they could draw with chalk or play with bubbles, which was very popular, and children were also given tickets for a free Kona ice, a treat that all ages love, especially in the summertime.
“Families can learn how to get around in their community to connect and discover local places together,” said Wright. “Also outside we have some TANK bus storytimes at 10:30, 11:30 and 12:30 in addition to the bubbles and chalk and Kona ice.”
Inside the library they had a costumed Alma who was in the Children’s Department and greeted the children and had their picture taken. If the children were shy around Alma, there was a photo booth where they could take their picture by themselves with plenty of accessories to make the photo memorable.
Representatives also had a family and community resource fair on the main level where people could visit booths located throughout the library so that they could get information to connect with local organizations, and discover community resources.
A helpful handout was given that connected the TANK bus stops with resources, such as career and employment services, which are at the Kentucky Career Center in Covington, and the Life Learning Center in Covington, and the Kentucky Career Center in Hebron, and then showed which bus people would take to get to each of those places.
Other resources included health services, such as mental health services on Madison Avenue in Covington, the Faith Community Pharmacy in Newport, HealthPoint Family Care in both Florence and Covington, or DCCH Center for Children and Families in Ft. Mitchell.
There was a resource help for housing, utility and rent assistance in Covington, Newport and Elsmere, and the paper showed what buses they could board to get to each place.
“We also have a goodie bag for each family that has a coloring book with crayons to color the pictures and solve the puzzles,” Wright said. “There are sunglasses, since the sun is out, and a book about Alma’s Friendship Club that kids can read, or parents can read to them.”
She said there was a sheet with all the characters from Alma’s Way that were able to be popped out and played with.
“This project is to get people thinking about places they can go in their city, as well as close by, where they can travel with their kids and find out what is there,” said Wright. “It is educational, and gives adults and children a way to orient themselves with their city. It is always a good thing to know about your city.”