Monthly Archives: October 2016

Students’ Sweat Equity Benefits City, Habitat

Posted on by

by Austin Hayslip
Courtesy of A-State Department of Media

After a year working with Habitat for Humanity, Jonesboro High School students are getting their hands dirty. ASU TV’s Austin Hayslip reports.

“I loved it, I love the whole idea of working with your classmates to work for a common goal, and that being building a house for a Jonesboro citizen,” said high school student Mark Havdala.

High school students are building houses, not completely on their own, but with the help of Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat has been working with the Jonesboro School District for over a year now. It is a cause Jonesboro High School student Mark Havdala said is worth donating time to.

“You are working, it is a visible and legitimate donation of your time and you actually see what you doing be put to work and the best part is an actual Jonesboro citizen will actually get that house,” he said.

Jonesboro Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Michael Sullivan said it doesn’t begin or end with a house. The students play a vital role in the organization.

“They volunteer, they educate, they fundraise and they advocate on behalf of Habitat for Humanity,” he said.

Students who spent months putting together floor plans will begin putting up walls in the coming weeks.

The house being built now is the first that the Jonesboro School District has helped with.

Assistant Superintendent Sue Castleberry said the school district is including almost every campus, giving each student an opportunity to help.

“Our news crews from math and science will come do some video work, so almost every campus will take some of the things,” she said. “The woodwork things, we’ll take that back to the art teachers at the elementary to paint.”

Castleberry said the students are actually teaching her things as well.

“Last year the students taught me how to know how to measure and actually cut siding,” she said.

Habitat for Humanity and JPS have created a relationship that’s benefiting the entire community.

Bicyclist Voices Safety Concerns

Posted on by

by Kirsten May
Courtesy of A-State Department of Media

There are a growing number of cyclists in Jonesboro, but there are still no roads with designated bike lanes in the city and some cyclists feel there are not many safe places to ride. ASU TV’s Kirsten May looked into what is being done in Jonesboro to make it more bike-friendly.

JONESBORO, Ark. — “We need to wrap our heads as a community around the concept of a bicycle being part of our transportation mix.”

Bill Smith is the marketing and communications director for Arkansas State University and he is a cyclist.

Many people in Jonesboro are students or work in town who are now using a bicycle as their main form of transportation, and he said he thinks the city needs to focus on helping them ride safer.

“Certainly I think that we could see a greater commitment to bicycle infrastructure in our town, a greater commitment to a plan for how that will be moved around town, and not just in a parks and (recreation) mode,” Smith said. “I think that’s the future and I think that’s what millennials want.”

Jonesboro Parks and Recreation director Wixon Huffstetler said bike safety is a priority for the city and they are working to improve it.

“You know, the new trail obviously at Craighead Forrest that we are building that’ll connect eventually to the greenway that’s in town and we’re definitely looking at bike lanes on the outskirts of Jonesboro and on the bigger roads that we can fit them on,” he said.

Huffstetler understands cyclists want more done on the roads and said the city is looking at how to make that work.

“It’s just that Jonesboro is so grown together on the inside of the city, inner city, that it’s hard to figure out how to put bike lanes in without having to buy property or acquire ride away and stuff like that, which is a long process,” he said.

He said the city is constantly looking for grants to help improve infrastructure for bicyclists.

Both Huffstetler and Smith agree the best thing is for both riders and drivers to be aware of their surroundings and obey all traffic laws.

***

Smith said cyclists fare best when they act like drivers and are predictable.

Smith is teaching a vehicular riding course that teaches experienced cyclists how to be safer when riding in traffic. He said to message the Arkansas State University Facebook page or email him if you are interested in taking the class.