This week, a new roleplaying game gives folks in the workplace a chance to be a mythical Appalachian monster. Also, southeast Ohio’s Nelsonville Music Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary in June. We talk with the founder about what keeps people coming back. And, members of a Ukrainian Catholic church in Wheeling, West Virginia, make pierogies for their community every week. What makes them so good?
Home » WVPB Podcasts » In Appalachia, Elusive Mountain Lion Myths Abound & Hope Surrounds Tiny Homes Project in Schools
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In Appalachia, Elusive Mountain Lion Myths Abound & Hope Surrounds Tiny Homes Project in Schools
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This week on Inside Appalachia: wildlife experts agree the Eastern Mountain Lion is extinct. So why do so many people across Appalachia swear they’ve seen mountain lions? Have they? What did they really see? WMRA’s Andrew Jenner and Brent Finnegan explored the stories behind mountain lion sightings in the mountains of central Appalachia. What they found, made them question the expert opinion.
And we’ll hear how a school cooperative in coal country is changing how people think about education and their region’s future. As coal country looks for a new path forward, a few communities are looking to their public schools. Some school administrators are changing not just how they prepare students academically, but how they help those students meet economic and social challenges.
“Tiny House” Project Tackles Big Problems
We’ll also meet high school students in eastern Kentucky who are learning real life skills by building tiny homes.
In eastern Kentucky’s coal country, jobs are scarce and many people struggle with substandard housing. Some high school students think they can help tackle those big problems by building tiny houses. As part of the series, “Changing Course,” Benny Becker reports on a project called “Building It Forward” that has vocational students designing, building and selling tiny homes.
Credit Benny Becker/ Ohio Valley ReSource
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Tiny house built by students at Knott County Area Technology Center.
Also in this episode you’ll hear:
Second Chance: The Economic Case For Drug Treatment Over Jails
Burned By Coal: Coalfield Communities Facing Electricity Price Hikes
We had help producing Inside Appalachia this week from WMRA in Harrisonburg, Virginia, WMMT in Whitesburg, Kentucky, WKYU in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and the Ohio Valley ReSource. Music in today’s show was provided by Mike Hudson, Dinosaur Burps, Andy Agnew Jr. and Ben Townsend.
This week, a new roleplaying game gives folks in the workplace a chance to be a mythical Appalachian monster. Also, southeast Ohio’s Nelsonville Music Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary in June. We talk with the founder about what keeps people coming back. And, members of a Ukrainian Catholic church in Wheeling, West Virginia, make pierogies for their community every week. What makes them so good?
Monsters in the workplace? Maybe. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is developing a team building game using Appalachian cryptids like Bigfoot and the Flatwoods Monster. Inside Appalachia’s Mason Adams spoke with Jessica Hammer, associate professor and director of the university’s Center for Transformational Play, to learn more.
America’s foster care crisis is serious for nearly 400,000 kids who rely on the system. In the latest episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay looks into the shortage of licensed foster homes – and the wide range of agencies and nonprofit organizations who offer help navigating what can be a complicated system.
