Monthly Archives: November 2016

Program Combats Dyslexia

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by Kirsten May
Courtesy of A-State Department of Media

JONESBORO — City Youth Ministries is a non-profit organization that helps children in the community improve their academic achievement through a number of programs and events. And they’ve recently added to those programs. Kirsten May explains how they plan to improve student literacy.

City Youth Ministries Executive Director Denise Snider said studies show one in five people struggle with hearing sounds because of dyslexia.

Snider, a former teacher, is introducing the Orton Gillingham program called “Connections” to students at City Youth who fail a dyslexia screener.

The connections curriculum moves away from paper and pencil, and helps children learn the phonetic rules using tactile or 3-D objects. Being able to finally comprehend those rules and learn to read can help children with self-esteem issues related to school.

That confidence boost has been big for 6-year-old twins Sophia and Isabella Topalian.

Kimberly Topalian said her girls thrived while in a pilot classroom where Snider taught connections to first grade students.

She said she thinks the style of teaching used in connections would be beneficial to any child.
And thanks to a grant from Nucor-Yomata Steel, City Youth Ministries will now be able to offer it, free of charge, to more kids in need.

Snider said they are still doing the screeners right now, but hope to start teaching the curriculum by the end of the year.

Topalian said Brookland Elementary does not use connections in the classroom anymore, which is something her family is fighting to bring back. Right now, her girls continue going to private therapy to improve their reading.

Maintaining a Hospital: Behind the Scenes at NEA Baptist

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by Austin Hyslip

Courtesy of A-State Department of Media

550,000 square feet, over 150 beds — all taken care of by 14 guys.

“Those folks who keep the building up and running are as important as the doctors and the nurses and the other staff who are there,” patient Richard Carvell said.

He said without the people who keep NEA Baptist up and running, there would be no hospital.

“Well, the most important people in an institution like a hospital, a school are the janitors and the maintenance people,” he said.

NEA Baptist

NEA Baptist

NEA Baptist and its six stories feature a crew of 14 who work around the clock to make sure every patient is comfortable. Mark Ward, director of plant operations, said there’s a lot of things going on.

“We’re the guys who have to watch heating, cooling, water, sewer … everything that has to do with that basic function,” he said. “But then we also we also have those intricate functions of medical gases, electrical systems, pretty much any electrical system that has to do with medical equipment as well as just your normal outlets in the rooms and things like that.”

Ward said the job is never the same.

“We do everything from hanging a picture for someone in an office, to going up and checking what’s called isolation power monitors in an (operating room) suite to make sure that it’s safe providing power to that room,” he said.

NEA Baptist is prepared to handle multiple different healthcare situations. One thing most wouldn’t think of is an earthquake.

“This building is built under zone 4 earthquake standards,” he said.

All of pipes under NEA are built with braided line and sitting on rollers that allow the pipes to move without breaking. There are also shocks under all of the large appliances to allow them to absorb some of the shaking.

“The whole operation is a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week operation,” he said.

Ward and his team work every day to ensure the lights come on and the hospital is comfortable for every single guest.

Buy Asian Groceries Without the Trip

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Cashier Jay Chandler totals food costs for A-State International students. The Asian Food Market opened Nov. 1.

Cashier Jay Chandler totals food costs for A-State International students. The Asian Food Market opened at 2114 S. Caraway Road. (Photo by Myful Al Sarah)

by Myful Al Sarah
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO – Traveling far to buy authentic Asian groceries ends, as new grocery stores in town are at your convenience.

Asian Food Market opened officially Nov. 1. Arkansas State college of business graduate Qiufang Lin started her own business to help citizens who like Asian foods. Now they don’t need to spend money on gas to travel to Memphis, Little Rock or St. Louis only to buy their favorite food items.

“Mainly I am targeting Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Philippines, Vietnamese who live in Jonesboro as my customers. Even local Americans can find their favorite Asian snacks, spices, vegetables in my store,” Lin said.

A number of AState international students can now buy their home-food ingredients. Lin said she is giving a 5 percent discount to all AState students. She is selling different kinds of rice, noodles, tofu, spice and snacks including dumplings, and also fresh vegetables like bok choy and cabbage.

“I am still working on my inventory. Initially, the prices may seem a little bit higher, but it will get lower as soon as I am able to order in a bigger amount. I am also thinking of having a few Indian grocery items,” Lin said.

A-State students from India purchase Indian groceries from Quick Trip. (photo by Myful Al Sarah)

A-State students from India purchase Indian groceries from QuikTrip. The store is located at 613 W. Nettleton. (photo by Myful Al Sarah)

A QuikTrip convenience store started selling authentic Indian groceries like various types of spices and lentils, rice, flour, pickles, ghee and desi snacks.
Raksha Harikrishnan, the owner, said she had the idea of selling Indian groceries in Jonesboro and her husband helped her to make it real.

“I told my husband to get a truck. We both drove to Chicago and bought a number of common items. Within a weekend, we put stuff on the shelves with price tags,” Harikrishnan said. “We are not targeting only Indians. We are targeting everybody who loves Indian foods and it’s been steady since we started.”

Harikrishnan said she planned to get frozen food items like naan, samosa and paratha, which are very popular among locals.

“I am working on getting a freezer for the frozen items. As soon as I can manage it, you will be able to buy delicious Indian snacks,” she said. “We kept the prices similar to other places, which makes it more convenient on the budget as you don’t have to drive to other cities. For some items, it may be even less.”

The growing international students’ community felt more excited, as the shopping shuttle provided by AState’s International Student Services provides rides to these two stores.

Mallory Yarbrough, coordinator of International Student Services, said, “We have over 600 Asian students at A-State, which is almost three-fourths of our total international population. Some of them came to me and said they really want to be dropped off at these new stores. Since we have such a high population of Asian students, we might as well be accommodating and help them as much as we can. I hope it makes them feel more home, being able to go places they recognize the food.”

Growth Brings Jobs, Citizens

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by Austin Hyslip
Courtesy of A-State Department of Media

The town of Jonesboro is growing at an exponential rate. Big retail companies are moving in as well as new developments being built. Newk’s Eatery owner Wade Quinn said he has noticed the growth.

“Jonesboro is growing and they’re not a small town anymore, so with that comes opportunities,” he said.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the Jonesboro population has grown over 6,000 people in the last five years. Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce Cari White said it’s because people are able to find jobs in town.

“When you have people moving in to either go to school or work, whether it’s in the healthcare industry or our manufacturing industries, the housing market goes crazy as well as retail,” she said.

The market is booming and businesses are opening faster than ever. White said it’s all a domino effect.

White said another contributor is the town itself isn’t able to build large-scale buildings all on its own. The amount of workers that were needed to construct NEA Baptist caused quite the growth a couple of years ago.

“When your community gets the largest project in Arkansas being built in your community … when NEA was built, it was the No. 1 largest investment in Arkansas in one fell swoop. Now you’ve got to consider everybody who came in to work on that,” she said.

The future of Jonesboro is also on an upward trend. The Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce projects that the town will grow to around 75,000 people in 2017.