New opportunities for students to attend Fort Scott Community College on an athletic scholarship are here.

Woman’s golf and also men’s and women’s track and field programs will be offered in Fall 2018, according to Tom Havron, athletic director and dean of students, said.

“This is an opportunity for us to add to the student body and give students academic opportunities,” Havron said.

Ryan Pulsifer was hired as the new track and field coach.

“This is near and dear to my heart….I was a track and field coach for Neosho County Community College, Chanute,” Havron said.

“There is a possibility of using local talent on our team,” Havron said.
“Fort Scott High School has tremendous cross country and track teams. The local talent is  high.”

Track has potential to add 50 to 90 students to the student body, and up to 15 for golf, Havron said.

Jeff Tadtman, current head women’s basketball coach, is the new women’s golf coach.

“Tadtman has had some experience coaching golf in a previous position,” Havron said.

FSCC has already signed two high school students for this team and is aiming for eight, he said.

For college, women’s golf is played during  fall and spring semesters, Havron said.

“We were looking to add a woman’s sport,” Havron said. “Because of Title 9, it’s important to have things equal, to give opportunities to females.”

Havron said in addition to staff recruitment, people can apply for the athletic scholarships.

In addition to academics and sports, FSCC allows students opportunities to serve the community.

Havron said the athletic department prides itself on “producing a culture of community service.”

He cited such service as helping the middle school with several fundraisers, Beacon Adopt-A-Child, Angel Tree, reading programs at the elementary schools, line judges at the high school volleyball games, Upward Bound referees and shoe donations to a third-world country.

“We get multiple calls every month, people who need help,” Havron said. “The coaches are great to get this going.”

“In the past, Mercy Hospital Fort Scott has been able to accept Blue Cross/Blue Shield, but Mercy Hospital Joplin and Springfield were excluded,” said Tina Rockhold media spokesperson for Mercy Hospital said.

Kansas residents with Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s plan which are part of the Blue Card network now have access to Mercy Joplin doctors, hospitals, labs, imaging facilities and other health care services, effective January 1, 2018.

 Mercy Joplin and Springfield are now in-network with a number of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas health insurance plans.

“This is a tremendous benefit to our patients,” Rockhold said. “Because if they are transferred or need specialty care not offered here, they can now receive care in Joplin or if need be in Springfield.”

“In Springfield, for example,  there is a highly specialized pediatric service,” she said. “If needed patients could be treated there.”

Click here for a list of Blue Cross Blue Shield plans accepting Mercy providers.

Patients with the following plans will receive in-network privileges at Mercy Joplin: Blue Choice, Preferred Care, Preferred Care Blue, Pathway/Pathway X and Medicare Advantage.

Because of its efficient, quality care, Mercy recently was named one of the top five large health systems for the second year in a row by IBM Watson Health’s Truven Health Analytics.

In addition to quality care across the board, patients in these Blue Cross Blue Shield plans will have access to a variety of Mercy health care specialties in Joplin that include:

• Mercy hospitals located in Joplin, Carthage, and Springfield
• Mercy Kids Pediatric Specialist Outreach Clinics in Joplin, and a Mercy Children’s Hospital in Springfield with dozens of physician subspecialists including pediatric critical care, orthopedic, endocrinology and neurosurgery
• A neonatal intensive unit with private rooms that give families the space to participate in their child’s care
• First Hybrid Operating Room in Joplin for open heart and brain surgeries
• Advanced specialty services for cardiovascular, spine, bariatrics, neurology and many more

The full list of Blue Cross Blue Shield plans accepting Mercy providers follows:

Medical Networks

• Blue Access – PPO

• Blue Access Choice – PPO

• Blue Traditional

• Medicare Advantage HMO

• Medicare Advantage PPO

• Pathway

• Pathway X

Medical (Individual & Families)

• Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Gold Direct Access, a Multi-state Plan
• Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Silver Direct Access, a Multi-state Plan

• Blue Access Choice – S

• Bronze Pathway

• Bronze Pathway X

• Catastrophic Pathway

• Catastrophic Pathway X

• Gold Pathway

• Gold Pathway X

• Lumenos Plans (Blue Access Choice)

• Lumenos Plans (Blue Access)

• National PPO (Blue Card Basic)

• National PPO (Blue Card PPO)

• Silver Pathway

• Silver Pathway X

Medicare

• Anthem MediBlue (HMO)

• Anthem MediBlue (PPO)

• Anthem MediBlue Dual Advantage (HMO SNP)

• Anthem MediBlue Plus (HMO)

• Anthem MediBlue Preferred (PPO)

• Blue Medicare Advantage (PPO)

• Blue Medicare Rx (PDP) with Senior Rx Plus

• Blue Medicare Rx Plus (PDP)

• Blue Medicare Rx Premier (PDP)

• Blue Medicare Rx Value (PDP)

Federal Employee Program

• Federal Employee Program

International

• Blue Card Worldwide

Mercy, named one of the top five large U.S. health systems in 2017 by Truven, an IBM Watson Health company, serves millions annually. Mercy includes 44 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, more than 700 physician practices and outpatient facilities, 40,000 co-workers and more than 2,000 Mercy Clinic physicians in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Years in a Pennsylvania boarding school created a passion and vision for education for a local Fort Scottian.

Daniel Kerr’s experience altered him.

“It was a life-changing experience,” Kerr said.

Since that time Kerr has had an interest in developing a boarding school that would incorporate farming into the school curriculum and  has been working towards that vision and laying the groundwork.

“This is not a reform school,” Kerr said. ” This will be for kids of high character and goodwill. There is a fairly rigorous application process and an in-person interview with parents and prospective students.”

Thus plans were begun for constructing St. Martin’s Academy, a boys Catholic boarding school.

The Kerr Family Estate deeded to St. Martin’s Academy about five acres of land west of Fort Scott on Indian Road.

Daniel Kerr met with the bishop and vicar-general of the Catholic Diocese of Wichita to tell them of his vision.

“They are enthusiastic and have been supportive of our plans,” he said.

In October 2017 construction began of phase one, Theotokos Hall.

Kevin Klassen Construction, Kansas City, is the main contractor, Kerr said. The architect is Greg Madeen, Durango, CO, who does alternative energy construction and design.

This month the City of Fort Scott granted the school a land use permit.

Also this month, the footings for the first building were laid.

The footprint of the hall is 74 feet by 36 feet, with a full basement, first floor, and loft area, totaling over 6,000 square feet, Kerr said.

Theotokos Hall is the first and largest building and will be constructed of native oak timbers and stone.

“Overall, the school campus will be situated on five acres with access to 200 acres,” Kerr said. “We live on the property and built a house here. Kerr is married with children.

The school will be using passive solar and hope to have a windmill for electrical and also active solar, he said.

Theokotos Hall will serve the needs of the school for the first year before becoming the permanent dining hall and hearth. It is slated for completion in July 2018.

Eventually, there will be five separate buildings on the site.

By 2022 there is a plan to complete construction on the crowning feature of the campus, a  chapel made of native stone.

Patrick Whelan, who will be the new headmaster, has moved to Fort Scott with his family and has been working on the school’s curriculum development and educational compliance, along with recruiting students, Kerr said.

“We are blessed to be able to work together for about 15 months of preparation leading into the first academic year,” Kerr said.

“We’ll be applying for grants, benefactors, and financial partners interested in investing in a bold new adventure in education,” Kerr said.

Some upcoming events for St. Martin’s Academy:

Feb. 9 -10 the academy staff will be hosting the Third Annual Prairie Troubadour Conference in Fort Scott. This year’s topic is “Field and Family: Reflections on a Healthy Human Ecology”, according to information provided. To learn more and to purchase tickets http://prairietroubadour.org/

F.O.R.T Leadership Camp will be offered April 16-22, 2018 and again June 11-17, 2018 for boys ages 12-14. Cost is $500 per session. The young men will learn to build a fire, make a shelter, forage for food, race kayaks, serve mass and butcher a hog, according to information provided. Visit: SaintMartinsAcademy.org/#camp.

For more information view the academy’s website at http://www.saintmartinsacademy.org

Landmark Bank, located at the corner of Main and 23rd Streets is expanding space.

“This is to make it more inviting for the customer,” John Leek, South Branch Landmark manager said. “Our transaction volume is in the top three daily that Landmark has statewide.”

“I think there is a misconception that we are drive-through,” Leek said. “We open accounts. I do consumer loans as well.”

There are eight employees at the south branch location.

Leek said he is “excited” about the expansion and looks forward to the completion.

“We apologize for the mess,” he said.

The addition to the existing building measures 26 by 30 feet or 834 square feet.

Two offices, storage and enlarging the teller area and front lobby are part of the plan, according to Jim Daniels, Loyd Builders Inc. Daniels is the superintendent who was on site Wednesday.

Hornbuckle Framing LLC is a sub-contractor for Loyd Builders, Daniels said. The framing crew was working to frame the addition.

The expansion began about three weeks ago.

“We are hoping by the beginning of April, we will be done,” Daniels said.

Lobby hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Friday hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to noon.

Drive-through hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 8  a.m. to 2 p.m.

The bank’s phone number is 620-768-2374.