Caribou County Caribou County, Idaho
October 17, 2024 | Vol. 1 No. 37
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NEWS IN BRIEF BYU-Idaho welcomes largest incoming class in university history
Shany Beaman (Head Start) and Cheryl Kimber (PBS) at the Soda Springs Library.
Beaman hosted a class for pre-school kids at the Grace Library last week.
Local educators work to promote early childhood learning
Over the last week, parents have been treated to a number of activities for pre-school aged kids. Shany Beaman, from Bear River Head Start, and Cheryl Kimber, Education Specialist with KISU-TV PBS in Southeast Idaho, have been coordinating on at least one event a month to promote the available services for children in the county. Shany held an activity day at the Grace Library last week, in which parents and children were treated to a lesson on pumpkins, and a number of other activities. Bear River Head Start serves a number of children and families all around the region, as does the PBS outreach program. As a result of occupying a similar circuit and area, the two educators decided to set up events that would allow them to combine their resources and attention and help as many people as possible with a variety of activities. Head start is a pre-school program that allows kids to get, well, a head start on their primary education. The program focuses on child development, parenting and attachment, nutrition and health, literacy, employability, and educational goals. Shany specifically works as a Home-Based Family Educator with Head Start, which focuses on “parents being a child’s first teacher.” She provides weekly visits to the home to provide parents and children with Head Start services while also providing social opportunities. The programs through Bear River Head Start are available in Cache, Box Elder, and Rich County in Utah, and Franklin,
Caribou, Oneida, Bear Lake, and South Bannock counties in Idaho. “Basically, I work with expectant mothers and anyone who has a child ages 0-3, which we call Early Head Start. I focus on really want ever the parents want. They are the ones who know their child best—they’re the primary educator, I’m just there for support,” Beaman says. “I bring in ideas. I teach about child development. So, if I notice something with their child that they have questions about, I can send them resources and connect them with service like Idaho Infants and Toddlers, or Speech services or whatever it might be. I help them find the resources. I teach them a lot about the typical development of children. We do screeners at the beginning of onboarding the child. If we see anything that is a little low on the screening, then we talk with the parents about what we can do and who we can go to for extra help.” According to Beaman, parents get to set goals, and that’s what she helps them to accomplish. “So, if they want their children to be talking more, I bring in toys oriented toward talking, and books. We sing a lot of songs, but it’s really parent led. I get to have fun and just show up and bring them toys and activities, and they get to pick what they’d like to do and what works with their family.” Beaman is on the move most days, with a service area that incorporates a large geographic area. While she lives in Caribou
County, she visits families all over the place, and that’s the benefit of using a home-based family educator. “We set appointments, and I work around a parent’s schedule. I drive to them. While it’s been nice weather, I’ve been meeting a lot of parents at the park where we can work on things like safety, or motor skills.” Head Start is grant funded and overseen by a federal board, who works with the providers to make sure everything is going well. Once a month or so, the students and families in a given area will have events that bring multiple families together for work on social skills and communication. “We have a lot of free play and free art. It’s a lot of fun!” Shany met Cheryl at a Head Start event, and the two realized that teaming up would make sense. “Activities are great, and so are teams,” Cheryl says. “I do outreach to libraries, home school groups, Head Start groups. My job is to bring resources and activities to communities in our area,” Kimber says. The two hosted a STEM day at the Soda Springs library on Monday. In addition to a course on coding, the main focus of the afternoon was a lesson that combined math skills with art and crafting. A group of pre-school aged kids practiced their counting skills by taking a number and telling everyone in the group what they had to LEARNING On Page 3
Slug Creek Fire currently being fought in Caribou County
Caribou-Targhee National Forest released an update stating: Fire crews responded to the Slug Creek Fire burning approximately 20 miles east of Soda Springs. Two hand crews, various air resources and 4 engines worked throughout the day keeping the fire to approximately 60 acres in size. Crews will be on scene again tomorrow (October 14) strengthening the line. Please use caution when recreating on your public lands and do not leave campfires unattended. Despite cooler evenings, vegetation is very dry and susceptible to fire growth. The fire was reported at 120 acres at its peak size on the 13th, but was revised to 58 acres on the second day of engagement. There were various reports about the cause of the fire, which was attributed to an unattended campfire at one point, and an errant spark from a hunting rifle at another. An official cause has not been released yet, but the fire is under control, according to the latest report. A fire in the Slug Creek area was first reported on October 13th.
IN THIS EDITION Artist Janel Williams.....................................Pg. 2 Community Notes........................................Pg. 4 Puzzles...........................................................Pg. 5
Looking Back................................................Pg. 7 Obituaries......................................................Pg. 9 Sports....................................................Pg. 10-12
According to East Idaho News, Fall 2024 semester at BYU-Idaho statistics show a total enrollment of 24,111 campus based students, which is an increase of approximately 3.4% from fall of 2023. 19,388 students are enrolled in face to face courses, and 4,723 are enrolled in online courses or internships. Approximately 21,000 students are living in Rexburg this semester. The campus based students consist of 11,849 males, and 12,262 females. The total number of married students is 5,068 which is about 21% of the total campus based student population. East Idaho News says, “Thanks to its innovative three-track system, in 2024, BYU-Idaho has served 33,836 campus-based students and through BYU-Pathway Worldwide, an additional 29,793 online students…BYU-Idaho continues to integrate its unique student and academic emphasis that includes: the teaching focus of its faculty, the opportunity to gather with other students who share common values, the university’s focus on real-world preparation and a high-value educational experience.”
Human skull found in Brigham City
A hunter that was searching for shed antlers found a human skull on a mountainside near Brigham City. According to the Brigham City Police Department, the shed hunter came across the skull on Friday September 27, 2024. The hunter took pictures of the skull and marked the location while contacting the police. Patrol officers and detectives confirmed it was a human skull before contacting the Office of Medical Examiners. They also requested help from the Rocky Mountain Search Dogs, a non-profit search and rescue organization. The Brigham City police said in a statement, “They are able to assist in several different situations, such as wilderness searches, tracking, water recovery, avalanche searches, urban searches, human remains, and other disaster searches…When contacted by a law enforcement agency they are able to respond any time, day or night, to any emergency.” After several hours of searching the dogs showed no hard indication of any other human remains. The police said the skull was sent to the Office of Medical Examiners and no further details were provided.
Four juvenile males escaped from St. Anthony Juvenile Corrections Center
The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office says they are still looking for one juvenile that escaped from the St. Anthony Juvenile Corrections Center. The other three boys have been caught. Originally they had thought two boys escaped, but 4 juveniles had left the facility on Sunday around 8 p.m. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho State Police, and the St. Anthony Police Department found three of the four that escaped the facility. Officers are still searching for a boy who was described as 5’8” and approximately 135 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing a grey sweater and blue jeans. Since he is a minor, no name has been released. A news release said on Monday, “Please continue to secure your buildings and vehicles. And please report any suspicious activity by calling 911 immediately”.