You may already know that I reside in the ‘burbs, or, perhaps more succinctly, the middle of nowhere. But what you might not know is that it hasn’t always been this way. I lived in Wichita for many years, and bought my first home in the booming metropolis of Derby, Kansas. And though I do love my rural life, sometimes I miss the relatively urban existence I once lived. I think that Derby is a very happy medium; it is outside the “big city”, but still …

This coming Final Friday, there is even more reason to celebrate the flourishing local music scene in ICT. True gentlemen about town, brothers James and John Beasley have been playing local venues for years, and have now produced their debut studio album, The Dust Covered Man.
Drawing off of the love of music instilled in them by their father, the brothers display harmonies that can only come from a lifetime of sharing rhymes, rhythms, and melodies. Presenting a unique blend of alternative acoustic folk music and old time country, Elliot …

I know that “adolescent literature” sounds like an oxymoron to many, and conjures up images of vampires and werewolves to most. However, I have the luxury of reading many such gems as part of my job description, and I have to tell you – there is significantly more to this genre than meets the eye.
Tales of teen angst are nearly universal; we’ve all felt broken, abused, or put upon at some time, and stories that cater to adolescents are rife with this type of familiar pain. But the …

I’m not going to say I sound like a genius all the time. I don’t know anything about technology, modern science, or theology. I can weigh in on politics and philosophy, but only because those only require offering an opinion, and I’m sure you all know by now I have plenty of those. However, as an English teacher, I am required to be well-read, and this has been my saving grace in many a conversation of the scholarly sort. True, it’s not every day that you find …

For me, like most who grew up in southcentral Kansas, Winfield has always just been… there. It had the necessities (Dillons, Walmart, JC Penney), and apart from that and the drug store, I never gave it a second look. However, now that I have returned to the area as an adult, I am seeing it with different eyes. Now I can recognize the beauty, the character, and… well, the things that are, quite frankly, out of place in this rural area.
Winfield is ranked #56 in the top 100 Small Towns …