Free is good: Kids can enjoy these sites in Johnson County and beyond through summer
The Johnson County Museum and Theatre in the Park are part of “Sunflower Summer,” which allows students from pre-K to 12th grade, and their parents, to enjoy 90 Kansas cultural sites for free.
Sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education, Sunflower Summer runs through Aug. 14. Students and their parents or guardians are allowed one free visit to each attraction.
“Visiting museums, viewing art, going to the theater and the like are great fun, but they are also incredible educational experiences,” Johnson County Museum Director Mary McMurray said in a news release. “They light sparks in kids’ minds, prompt them to ask why and how questions, and help them make connections.”
To get started, go to sunflowersummer.org and download the app to your phone. Follow the prompts to create an account as a parent/guardian, add your children, explore experiences and claim your tickets.
The Johnson County Museum is at 8788 Metcalf Ave. in Overland Park. Theatre in the Park OUTDOOR performs at Shawnee Mission Park, with a separate entrance at 7710 Renner Road in Shawnee.
Free mental health care in Olathe
The Olathe Public Schools Help Clinic is offering free mental health services this summer. They are open to all district students, staff and their families.
Individual, group and family sessions, up to 50 minutes long, are conducted by the district’s licensed mental health providers and interns in the Marriage and Family Therapy program from Friends University.
The program takes place from June 6 through July 28 at the Millcreek Learning Center, 300 E. Loula St. Services include:
▪ Individual mental health sessions
▪ Group mental health sessions for students
▪ Family therapy sessions
▪ Parent support groups
▪ Wellness groups for district staff members.
Individual and family therapy is limited to six sessions over the summer. Waiting lists will be kept when the schedule is full. To request an appointment or sign up for a group, find the link in the news announcement at olatheschools.org.
Protecting the monarch with milkweed
To provide a welcoming habitat for monarch butterflies, Merriam is giving away milkweed seed packets.
The National Wildlife Federation says eastern monarch populations have declined by 90% in recent years and western populations by 99%. The butterflies like to eat milkweed and prefer to lay their eggs in the plant.
Residents can pick up free seed packets and a pamphlet at Merriam City Hall at 9001 W. 62nd St., the Merriam Community Center at 6040 Slater St. or the public works facility at 6901 Knox St. The giveaway is part of the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge through the National Wildlife Federation, which commits communities to creating habitat for the butterfly and educating residents on how they can help.
Lenexa sweetens pot for city workers
Lenexa leaders have beefed up wages and benefits to attract and keep employees during this time of labor shortages and stiff competition for workers.
At the beginning of 2022, the city said in a news release, Lenexa had a “historic” 50 vacant full-time positions. Most were entry-level, critical jobs such as public safety, pool lifeguarding and maintenance of parks, streets and stormwater systems.
A pay and benefits study, completed late last year, found that Lenexa had fallen behind other comparable public organizations, making it difficult to recruit and retain staff.
In February, the city:
▪ Raised the minimum pay for full-time, non-safety employees to $15.41 per hour.
▪ Raised the minimum pay to $51,116 for new police officers and $46,751 for firefighters.
▪ Overall, pay went up 5.5% for non-safety employees and 3% to 16% for public safety employees.
▪ Part-time pay increased between 50 cents and $6.55 per hour.
Then, in early May, City Council members reviewed new benefit enhancements, including:
▪ Increased vacation time based on prior service and increased personal leave in the first year of employment.
▪ Free Rec Center memberships for employees and discounted memberships for family members.
▪ Six weeks of fully paid parental leave for each birth or adoption. Employees can take up to 12 weeks total and use other paid leave such sick time and vacation if available.
▪ Doubling of the bonus paid for referring successful job candidates. It’s now $1,000.
▪ Expanded bereavement leave to add aunt/uncle/niece/nephew and pregnancy loss to the definition of immediate family.
▪ Improvements to the retirement payout for sick leave.
In addition, Lenexa employees will receive bonuses for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bonuses of up to $2,500 will be given to those who served from April 1, 2020, through April 30, 2022, and are still on the payroll through June 17. Smaller amounts will be given to those who served less time with the city and those who work part time.
New industrial development
Johnson County Government and its partners broke ground May 17 for a new industrial development that’s expected to bring 4,200 permanent jobs over a decade to an area near the New Century AirCenter.
The New Century Commerce Center is a partnership involving the county, VanTrust Real Estate as the master developer and CBRE, which will handle the leasing.
The Johnson County Commission has approved the first phase of the development, consisting of two buildings, at the southwest corner of 159th Street and U.S. 56 Highway. VanTrust expects to complete the buildings in 2023, and $15 million worth of public infrastructure will be built to serve the New Century Commerce Center and the surrounding area.
“The supply of large industrial spaces in our market is very low due to accelerated online shopping habits, a corresponding jump in product returns that require additional storage space, and a shift from just in time (JIT) inventory management to greater stockpiling of goods,” Michael Mitchelson, senior vice-president at CBRE, said in a news release.
The New Century AirCenter and related developments are on the site of the former Olathe Naval Air Station, which was created during World War II and later acquired by the county.
Fulbright winner
Ross Acree of Shawnee is one of three University of Kansas students to receive prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Awards to study, conduct research and teach English abroad for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Acree is a 2021 KU graduate with a bachelor’s degree in global and international studies with a minor in intelligence and national security studies. He was selected for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship for Taiwan, becoming the first from KU to be assigned to that country.
New leadership program for Shawnee teens
Shawnee is launching a new leadership program for local high school students, who will learn more about the city and how it operates.
Students will meet from September 2022 through April 2023 on the second Wednesday night of the month, and they will also develop and complete their own community service projects. A concluding banquet is scheduled for April 26.
Applications for the program, found at cityofshawnee.org, are due by July 15. Go to the Parks & Recreation Department page and click on Future Leaders. Meeting topics also are listed there.
Johnson County celebrates Juneteenth
Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, is a holiday newly recognized by governments in Johnson County.
It recalls the events of June 19, 1865, when a Union general — two months after the Civil War ended — arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed the last African-Americans slaves in Texas that they were free.
Among the observances in Johnson County:
▪ Overland Park on June 11: A first-time Juneteenth event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center, 8788 Metcalf Ave.
“We will have something for every age to engage, discover and learn about this holiday through the medium of arts and culture,” Susan Mong, superintendent of culture for the Johnson County Park and Recreation District, said in a news release.
“For many of us, we are still learning what this holiday means in our country, and it is our hope that members of our community utilize this event as a way to grow in their understanding of Juneteenth and hopefully motivate them to attend other events here in Johnson County and at 18th and Vine.”
The date, more than a week before the actual holiday, was chosen to avoid conflicts with other Juneteenth events, to kick off a week of celebrations and to coincide with a quarterly free day at the Johnson County Museum.
Activities include free admission to the museum and brief tours of its REDLINED exhibit, which explores the history of housing segregation in the Kansas City area. Visitors also can hear about a Black family’s history in Johnson County, listen to and learn about jazz music, sample food from Black-owned businesses and experience both a community art project and a Walk and Read event from the Johnson County Library
▪ Prairie Village on June 18: The second annual Juneteenth Freedom Celebration in Prairie Village will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. in Harmon Park, 77th Place and Delmar Street. Visitors can enjoy live music, local vendors, food trucks and a poster contest for kids.
▪ Leawood on June 25: Allies for Racial Justice, a ministry partnership between St. James United Methodist Church in Kansas City and the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, will present a Juneteenth celebration at the Leawood church sanctuary, 5009 W 137th St. It’s titled “A Juneteenth Celebration: Building the Beloved Community,” with exhibits opening at 4 p.m., followed by the program at 5 p.m. with music, speakers from the clergy and voter information/registration.
This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Free is good: Kids can enjoy these sites in Johnson County and beyond through summer."