Lawrence County, population 45,518, is known as “Limestone Country” because of the stone terrain and active limestone industry found there. Caves, caverns, forests, and rivers make up much of the county, aside from its communities of Bedford and Mitchell. It is located 25 miles south of Bloomington.
The county demonstrated outstanding leadership and commitment to improving quality of life for its citizens through a variety of civic initiatives, and it was selected to be the pilot Sustaining Hoosier Community for the 2017-2018 academic year.
In partnership with Sustaining Hoosier Communities, Lawrence County identified sustainability projects for their community that intersected with a variety of disciplines and served a host of the community's needs. IU students and faculty worked with Lawrence County leaders on projects ranging from promoting dark skies in the Hoosier National Forest to reducing the rates of hypertension in Mitchell, IN.
Read the SHC executive summary for Lawrence County here. Check out the final reports and deliverables from all projects below.
Completed projects by the numbers
14projects
19,800hours
550students
Project spotlight: Sarah Murphy at Avoca Fish Hatchery
Description of the video:
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my name is Sarah Murphy I'm from Bedford
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Indiana and my major is outdoor
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recreation parts and human ecology so
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I'm taking integrated resource
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management with dr. James farmer so we
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are working on the iboga Fish Hatchery
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project with Lawrence County and so
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basically the DNR is decommissioning it
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so they're not gonna they don't want to
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manage it anymore
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so Lawrence County is considering taking
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it over for their community so as
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students we are basically creating
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proposals for Lawrence County because
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this is the first time they've really
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dealt with the projects like this um
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it's a really open slate as to what they
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want to do with this site so we're just
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providing ideas as to what they could do
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at this site that's gonna be
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economically sustainable as well as
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ecologically sustainable the biggest
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things I've learned it would be you have
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to look at the big picture when dealing
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with management strategy so not focusing
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on what you would like to do with this
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site but really knowing what the
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community can do with this isoh how they
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will use it separating yourself from the
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area and looking at the big picture for
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the community and the stakeholders
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involved being in the class that is
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closely involved in my community it's
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just it's really awesome it makes my
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major feel more tangible that I macula
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that I'm doing work that I could see in
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the future like oh I had a part in this
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so let's just I mean it's awesome and
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also we sent out a survey what people
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would like to see done with Avoca
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different ideas that we were bouncing
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around and we got over 700 answers I was
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like proud of my community that they
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actually cared what was gonna happen and
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that they took the time to be involved
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in our project a lot of people will want
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to go out to Colorado or Alaska and
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working like national parks which is
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great but also there's a lot to be done
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within the community
Sarah Murphy, a student in Professor James Farmer's SPH-O305: Integrative Resource Management, reflects on her experience as a native of Bedford, IN working with Lawrence County leaders to propose ways the Avoca Fish Hatchery can be preserved as a historical and cultural resource. The Avoca Fish Hatchery was built in the early 1800s, but the Indiana Department of Natural Resources decommissioned the hatchery after nearly 100 years of stocking Indiana's waters with fish so Professor Farmer's students worked with Lawrence County to distribute surveys to determine how the community wants to use the site. An overwhelming majority of the 700 responses the student-conducted survey generated concluded that the Avoca Fish Hatchery remains a beloved public space with the potential to become the social and economic hub it once was.
I was proud of my community, that they actually cared about what was going to happen and that they took the time to be involved in our project.
Sarah Murphy
Projects
Through a series of classes in social work, students researched and analyzed the social and legal issues of drug use, abuse, and addiction. The classes explored the impacts of drug use on individuals and families and examined best practices used in other communities as models for addressing drug use issues in the Lawrence County community.
These projects and courses are ongoing and are receiving additional support from the IU Center for Rural Engagement.
Community Partners John Plummer III, Juvenile Referee, Lawrence County Circuit Court Mike Branham, Sherriff, Lawrence County Nedra Fleetwood, Chief Probation Officer, Lawrence County
IU Instructors Kristin Hamre, School of Social Work John Keesler, School of Social Work
Project Courses SWK-S 502: Research Methods in Social Work, 20 graduates, fall 2017 SWK-S 505: Social Policy Analysis and Practice, 20 graduates, fall 2017
Final report in progress.
As part of Maurer School of Law's Access-to-Justice (A2J) Program, students worked with Lawrence County Circuit Court to assess the most pressing and unmet legal needs of Lawrence County's underserved populations. By researching the current legal services delivery systems, students helped recommend ways to improve the delivery of civil legal services to low-income Hoosiers in Lawrence County.
Current research is ongoing and is receiving additional support from the IU Center for Rural Engagement.
IU Instructor Victor Quintanilla, Maurer School of Law
Project Course LAW-B515: Project Management for Lawyers, 21 graduates, spring 2018
The decommissioned Avoca State Fish Hatchery is in the midst of transfer from Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources to the Lawrence County Community. The class spent the semester evaluating the site in order to propose a long-term vision and management plan for the historic, cultural resource. Students applied ecological and social theory and knowledge to the Avoca State Fish Hatchery Case, presenting the community with a variety of potential proposals to consider for the sustainable stewardship of the newly acquired resource.
Community Partner Barry Jeskewich, Director, Parks and Recreation
IU Instructor James Farmer, School of Public Health, Recreation, Parks and Tourism Studies
Both Bedford and Mitchell expressed the need for increasing community participation and outreach for their community gardens. Students created fundraising, marketing, and community engagement plans for the community gardens that tailored to the specific needs of the targeted age groups as identified by each community.
Community Partner Rachel Beyer, Lawrence County Community Wellness Coordinator
IU Instructor Deb Getz, School of Public Health, Applied Health Sciences
Project Course SPH-F 150: Intro to Life Span Development, 150 undergraduates, fall 2017
In addition to assessing the internal and external factors that affect issues of diversity in the City of Bedford, students conducted interviews and online surveys with Bedford students, parents, educators, and leaders to understand more fully Bedford residents’ attitudes, views, and perceptions of the diversity of their community. Mayor Shawna Girgis is in the process of initiating a Diversity Council to emphasize the importance of racial and cultural awareness and to foster a greater sense of diversity and inclusivity throughout Lawrence County.
Community Partner Shawna Girgis, Mayor of Bedford
IU Instructor Minjeong Kang, Media School
Project Course MSCH-R 428: Public Relations Planning and Research, 25 undergraduates, spring 2018
Bedford and Mitchell are planning to build city gateways that mark the entrances of these communities and celebrate their unique identities. Students from IU, led by professors from the School of Art and Design, learned about the community identities of both cities and presented gateway and logo designs for each community to reflect their unique attributes.
Community Partners Shawna Girgis, Mayor of Bedford JD England, Mayor of Mitchell Marla Jones, City of Bedford Director of Community and Business Development Mark Bryant, City of Mitchell Clerk-Treasurer
IU Instructors John Racek, School of Art and Design Jenny El-Shamy, School of Art and Design
Project Course SOAD-A 211: Cross-Disciplinary Workshop—Design for Social Impact, 25 undergraduates, fall 2017
Project teams utilized common national metrics for walkable and bicycle-friendly communities to provide a gap analysis for Bedford. Teams also researched best practices in Complete Streets policy and implementation and made specific recommendations for moving forward with aspects of the 2016 Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan.
Community Partner Dan Kirk, Director of Planning and Zoning, City of Bedford
IU Instructor Bill Brown, School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course SPEA-S 515: Sustainable Communities, 30 graduates, fall 2017
The City of Mitchell is in the early stages of planning a multi-use trail connecting Gus Grissom's boyhood home, the Gus Grissom Monument, and the Gus Grissom Memorial in Spring Mill State Park. A capstone team in the School of Informatics piloted a mobile application that would help monitor the use of this trail as well as allow visitors to locate specific trail markers on the application's interactive map and learn more about Gus Grissom at each stop.
The mobile app protoype is underoing revisions to prepare for hopeful deployment in 2018-2019.
Community Partner JD Mitchell, Mayor, City of Mitchell Allen Burris, Pastor, City of Mitchell Tonya Chastain, Lawrence County Tourism Commission
IU Instructor Bryce Himebaugh, School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering
Students assessed the feasibility of adjusting the current route of Highway 50 away from the downtown Bedford square. The class conducted a scoping study to analyze the impacts of an alternate corridor for the highway and the potential for business development in the downtown area.
Community Partner Dan Kirk, Director of Planning and Zoning, City of Bedford
IU Instructor Frank Nierzwicki, School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course SPEA-V 365: Urban Development and Planning, 40 undergraduates, spring 2018
To increase the number of visitors and their enjoyment of the forest, the Hoosier National Forest is pursuing Dark Sky designation for parts of the forest within Lawrence County. IU students developed prototypes of wireless light sensors and a web interface to track light pollution. The data from these systems will be used to satisfy the requirements for an ongoing application for the Hoosier National Forest to receive International Dark Sky designation.
Sensors and web interface are undergoing revisions for hopeful deployment in the 2018-2019 academic year.
Community Partner Andrea Crain, Public Affairs Officer, Hoosier National Forest
IU Instructor Bryce Himebaugh, School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering
Project Course CSCI-P 442: Digital Systems, 30 undergraduates, spring 2018
An important obstacle to entrepreneurship and small business start-ups is the availability of community-based workspace. In collaboration with the Bedford Chamber of Commerce, the class reimagined and redesigned the interior spaces of the historic Indiana Limestone Company headquarters in Bedford into an incubator workspace to attract and retain young entrepreneurs.
Community Partner Shance Sizemore, Director, Bedford Chamber of Commerce
IU Instructor Marlene Newman, School of Art and Design
In order to assist the Little Theatre retain its position as a vibrant part of the Bedford community, students created best practices for fund development, board development, community relations and audience development. The class investigated comparable local theatres and proposed strategic plans that included both business and artistic perspectives.
Community Partners Penny and Jack May, Little Theatre of Bedford
IU Instructor Ursula Kuhar, School of Public and Environmental Affairs Arts Administration Program
Project Course AADM-Y 650: Seminar in Arts Administration, 20 graduates, fall 2017
To address Mitchell's high rates of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, students used community-based participatory research and worked with Mitchell leaders to propose the What Moves You Mitchell? public health campaign. What Moves You Mitchell? encompasses proposed physical activity intervention programs, a host of educational materials for community-wide distribution, public health events, and trail-use and general health surveys assessing the needs of Mitchell residents to encourage physical activity and promote healthier lifestyles.
Students and community leaders are working on a 12-week physical activity program to be implemented in 2018-2019.
Community Partners JD Mitchell, Mayor, City of Mitchell Allen Burris, Resident, City of Mitchell Karin Dubois, Indiana Healthy Communities Liaison
IU Instructors Whitney Schlegel, College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology Jeanne Johnston, School of Public Health, Department of Kinesiology
Project Courses BIOL-P 451: Integrative Human Physiology, 50 undergraduates, fall 2017 SPH-K 553: Physical Activity in Health, 20 graduates, fall 2017 SPH-K 554: Seminar in Physical Activity and Wellness, 15 graduates, fall 2017 SPH-K 556: Physical Activity Assessment in Public Health, 30 graduates, spring 2018
IU students developed and led a personal financial health curriculum for middle school students participating in the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence County's Teen Center. The engaging curriculum was integrated in the Boys & Girls Club's existing Money Matters program and focused on issues of financial well-being and planning and developing a sense of community belonging and participation. The curriculum met specific principles set out in the Indiana Academic Standards (IAS).
Community Partners Larry Will, Retired, NSWC Crane Gene McCracken, Lawrence County Commissioner Christy Wintczak and Sarah Lee, Curriculum Directors, Bedford North Lawrence Schools Gary Conner, Superintendent, Bedford North Lawrence Schools
IU Instructor Deb Getz, School of Public Health, Applied Health Sciences
Project Courses SPH-F 180: Survey of Practice of Youth & Families, 150 undergraduates, spring 2018
