Volume 3 | Issue 9 | January 2016
ART HEART
Special Section
n e m o W f o A I V A T VES 2016
FROM THE
From retail and food to health care and fitness, our annual Women of Vestavia feature is a chance to get to know some of the faces behind the success of many of the businesses in our area.
Top award recognizes Jamie Kolb’s teaching of Vestavia students
See page B9
Mentors at City Hall
By RACHEL BURCHFIELD At Vestavia Hills Elementary West, the bell to start the school day rings at 7:45 a.m. From then until the last bell of the day at 2:35 p.m., Jamie Kolb is going nonstop. “The classes are back-to-back with little breaks in between,” she said. “It’s fast-paced and the days fly. I look up, and it’s 2 p.m. and the last class leaves. It’s go as fast as you can go.” Kolb is the only art teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary West and sees 810 students come through her classroom, Room 118, every week. She teaches 42 art classes — 11 each for kindergartners and first-graders, and 10 each for second-graders and third-graders. “Teaching as many classes as I do is not common,” she said. “I teach more than anyone I
Vestavia Hills city employees take time to mentor middle school students through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.
See page A16
INSIDE Sponsors ..............A4 City .........................A6 Business .............. A10 School House ......A17
Community ........... B2 Sports ....................B4 Real Estate...........B17 Calendar ...............B18
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Jamie Kolb teaches art at Vestavia Hills Elementary West. She was recently named the Alabama Elementary Art Educator of the Year for 2015. Photo by Frank Couch.
YEAR IN PREVIEW
What’s in store for 2016? New retail, residential growth and road work By GRACE THORNTON
Pre-Sort Standard U.S. Postage PAID Memphis, TN Permit #830
See KOLB | page A23
The new Chick-fil-A restaurant opening on Highway 31 may be residents’ most anticipated new construction, but City Manager Jeff Downes said there are many more projects on the way this year.
FIRST QUARTER
► Sprouts Farmers Market, a grocery store specializing in fresh, healthy foods, will open on Highway 31. ► America’s First Federal Credit Union, which will
open its first Vestavia Hills location, will open on the site of the former library on U.S. 31. ► PT Orthodontics, which is currently under construction at the corner of Manor Brook Drive and Dolly Ridge Road, will open. ► Heights Dermatology, an established practice, will move to Cahaba Heights from the former Trinity Hospital area. ► A development of retail stores will open at the
See PREVIEW | page A20
MORE INSIDE: Retail rolls in ......................A20 Liberty Park boom ............ A21 Altadena residences ........ A21 Road work ahead ............. A22 City events........................... A22