McCracken County School System kicked off its #STICKIT2COVID vaccination campaign last week. Paducah Public Schools, Community Christian Academy and St. Mary School System will start their vaccinations this week. Three school systems in Graves County started vaccinating last week however, half are deferring their inoculations to senior residents in the county. 

The COVID-19 vaccine is definitely the talk of the town. And we're talking about EVERY town. With the slower than expected rollout of the number or vaccines available, it's good to see our local school employees in western Kentucky getting vaccinated. I believe we're all ready to see some action and seeing pictures of the process is reassuring. 

McCracken County School employees received their vaccinations this past week. Baptist Health Paducah partnered with the school system to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.  To date, 650 doses of the Moderna vaccine were administered at two locations: McCracken County High School and the Reidland School gymnasium. Teachers, administrators, custodians, classified staff, substitute teachers, school volunteers, and board members got a chance to STOP the SPREAD. 

This week, Baptist Health plans to administer 350 doses of the Moderna vaccine to Paducah Public Schools staff, Community Christian Academy, and St. Mary School Systems. Vaccinations will take place on the campus of Paducah Tilghman High School at the Innovation Hub. 

Three schools in Graves County started vaccinations last week. As the Graves County Health Department started administering the shot, at least half of the school personnel deferred their inoculation to senior residents of the county. There were 700 vaccines allotted for school personnel and according to Graves County Health Department Director Noel Coplen only half were administered. 

The three schools include Graves County Schools, Mayfield Independent Schools, and Northside Baptist Christian Schools. Currently 1,400 seniors have been vaccinated in the county. More vaccines are expected in the next three weeks. Healthcare personnel and emergency personnel that received their shot in December are expected to receive the booster soon. 

As we wait for our turn to be vaccinated, its good to see the process working. Be it slower than expected, we hold out hope that the inoculations will beat COVID and relief is closer at hand. 

The theme for this year's local elections rallied on the contenders' ability to reroute spending or even save a buck or two. In Graves County, Kentucky, one election held this past fall is a direct result of this new focus of being cautious in spending taxpayer dollars. 

The Mayfield City Council elected two representatives who will take the place of former city council members, Phil Myers and Nate Cox. Newly-elected members are Lauren Carr and Johnny Jackson.

This will be Carr's first time to serve in an elected position. Currently, she writes grants as a project coordinator for the Graves County Agency for Substance Abuse Policy and Prevention or ASAP. She believes her skill as a grant writer will help the city receive more funding and in turn, save the city money. 

Jackson has previously served the city as councilman. He was prompted by friends and neighbors to jump back into politics to encourage being a good steward of money.

Being a good steward is more than just spending money. It's about applying it to things you care about and your neighbor cares about. Entrusting tax payer dollars to those that will spend it wisely and save where they can.  Jackson previously served on the city council for 16 years. The new city council members will be sworn in Monday, January 11, 2021. 

Graves County School Board has a new elected board member. Joni Goodman. She beat out long time chair and board member Jim Wurth in November's election. She will be sworn in on Thursday, January 7. Goodman said she's humbled and ran the race to answer God's call. She will join reelected board members Kenneth House and Ronnie Holmes. 
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Spring semester begins at West Kentucky Community and Technical College on January 11, 2021. Beginning Monday, January 4 through Friday, January 8, students will be able to register for classes if they haven't already done so. 

Students that postponed college in the fall due to the pandemic may be more  comfortable taking classes this spring. WKCTC has worked hard implementing safety measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

After all, safety is the first priority for students, faculty and staff and this spring semester will be no different. The semester will follow the same three-pronged approach as fall semester 2020. Following the safety guidelines set forth by the state of Kentucky, the Centers for Disease Control, and the WKCTC campus, this system promotes a safe and healthy way to learn. It's a combination of face-to-face classes, hybrid and virtual learning. 

Face-to-face classes will have a strong online element to the courses structure. By being prepared with a course that is 'COVID-19' ready, this will give students peace of mind knowing that courses can easily switch to online learning. Last fall, there were minimum disruptions on the campus due to COVID-19 infections. If students were asked to quarantine, it was handled on a class by class basis. Measures were in place for contact tracing and all seemed to go smoothly the entire semester.  

The second option for scheduling spring classes is the hybrid course. This course is approximately 50% online and 50% in a face-to-face setting. And, of course, there's the 100% online learning. 

Classes will be socially-distanced, as they were this past fall. Students and faculty will wear masks. With socially-distanced courses, there are fewer students in each classroom providing the utmost safety as we continue to wrestle with the pandemic. 

If finances are an issue, there's a new scholarship opportunity called Work Ready Kentucky (WRKS) that offers up to 60 hours of free tuition for anyone who hasn't earned an associates degree. The scholarship covers areas such as healthcare, manufacturing, business, IT, construction or skilled trades, and transportation and logistics. If you would like more information on the scholarship program there's a hotline number at 833-711-WRKS or go to the website at https://workreadykentucky.com/.