Second Wave takes a Labor Day holiday break
Southwest Michigan's Second Wave will be observing the Labor Day holiday next week and will not publish Sept. 8.
Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo’s name is so distinctive strangers around the world have been known to break into song at hearing the name. With such a recognizable moniker you’d think Kalamazoo wouldn’t need nicknames, but through the years changing names have reflected the city’s refusal to stand still. The Zoo, Celery City and the Mall City are a few. The innovative thinking that brought downtown K’zoo the nation’s first pedestrian mall in 1959 continues to work today. Innovators have developed thriving life sciences, biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms. They build on the expertise of Kalamazoo’s universities. Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Davenport College all are centers of research, development and technology. They surround a downtown vibrating with condos, apartments and homegrown, top-notch restaurants. The universities are woven into the city’s social fabric and contribute to a cultural scene that Kalamazooans love to boast about. The Kalamazoo Symphony, Kalamazoo Institute of Art and a vibrant local theater community are a few of the offerings. Locals also love their festivals that fill the air with music and the scents of ethnic foods wafting over the Arcadia Festival grounds and the Kalamazoo River. Outdoor activities from biking on the Kal-Haven trail to disc golf and standard golf on a nationally-acclaimed course in Milham Park are the start of the city’s leisure side. Sports fans have competitive college teams, minor league baseball and hockey to follow. And it all comes with a Promise. All high school graduates who live in Kalamazoo qualify for a scholarship that pays 100 percent of their tuition at any public university or community college.
Mentorship program builds building trades managers
A firm belief that catching the interest of young people early drives the ACE mentorship program for architecture, construction and engineering, led locally by Skanska. Second Wave editor Kathy Jennings explores an example of how local companies are cooperating in an educational program to keep their industry's workforce growing.
Education reformer challenges community to save its children
Geoffrey Canada has a theory: If you want poor kids to be able to compete with their middle-class peers, you need to change their schools, neighborhoods, even the child-rearing practices of their parents. Second Wave editor Kathy Jennings shares the evidence suggesting nothing short of the nation's future may depend on it.
