One, two, three, four.

Get my shoes then out the door.

Five I'm alive, six, seven, eight feelin' great.

Nine, gonna shine, life is good I'm doing fine.

Ten, Gonna do it right then do it again.

Yeah yeah.

I look up to the sky with all the beautiful color but, there's more than just for me so gonna share it with another.

I got to show, to give, let out, I want to sing and shout.

Take a look and see A beautiful morning that turns into beautiful evening.

And together make a beautiful life.

And if you want see, then come along with me.

That's right.

Hey I'm Irish Dave and welcome to Experience Michiana.

I'm here just outside of downtown South Bend.

And this wall behind me is a little bit of a clue as to what we're going to be chatting about a little bit later on on the show, but it is a cool thing for you to experience.

Kelsey is also going to be talking to a local author about a book called Water Wonderful World.

I like that pun.

But first we're heading out to do my favorite thing.

Go to an airport.

My happy place is an airplane hangar.

I absolutely love it.

And I'm here with Matt, who is somewhat of a humble but like local legend and a little bit of a way you've done some like, really cool things as a pilot, right?

Yeah.

I know we're here to talk about today, Indiana, but I want people we've got quite a while to talk, so I want people to understand a little bit about your background in aviation, too.

So how did you get into aviation?

I grew up out, in California on the eastern Sierra Nevada, out of nowhere.

And so, out there, there were no pilots.

So it was difficult for me to get into flying because I didn't know any pilots.

And that's kind of what inspired stay Indiana was just because, I kind of.

I was that kid that really was interested in aviation and just didn't know how to get into aviation.

Yeah.

So we're trying to help find pathways into that.

But it also from the other aspect of it made me very interested in backcountry flying as well, which is what you kind of hinted at.

So I have a model that doesn't backcountry flying as well.

So stay Indiana.

As somebody who got my pilot's license in Goshen in 2019, this area actually is rich in aviation resources, but it feels like it's just I mean, you can go to some of the airports here that should be thriving and there's just no activity going on.

And it's really sad to see because what and you're trying to really what, stay in the air and trying to break down those barriers.

Right.

For people.

Yeah.

So when we started looking at, different ideas, we were sitting in Oshkosh, which is the largest airshow in the world.

There's a group of us sitting there and, having a discussion and realizing there really wasn't much for local teams in aviation around our area, which is too bad.

You look at a lot of the organization stuff.

I'm usually the young guy, showing up.

Yeah.

I'm not that young, so I should not be.

No, no, I know what you're saying.

So I was like, we need to find some way to get the next generation involved.

Yeah.

So, actually, at Oshkosh, there was a group that had an airplane built.

An airplane built.

So we kind of stole their idea.

They were very nice to help us make sure we don't do the same mistakes that they've done.

Got us in contact with others that have done it as well.

So we can kind of use best practices to make sure we can get it right the first time.

We're closer to the right.

And the whole idea was, yeah, to get it more, families and more, students out into the, local aviation, a lot of people don't even realize, like, the Mishawaka Pilots Club even exists now.

It's great here.

Yeah, yeah, it's.

We gotta get grass strip and, little paved strip.

A lot of airplanes out here that come and go.

But, yeah, even in Elkhart and South Bend, there's, a lot of aviation there that people don't realize.

Small plane wise and so forth.

I'm guilty of this, too.

Is that.

Yes.

If I sit in the plane, I can fly it.

But also, I don't always know, like, I'm not a genius when it comes to I'm not an aircraft mechanic.

Understanding everything that's happening.

So I think this is a really clever way to also get teens and future aviators to really understand what's going on when they're flying and what's beneath.

It also, and can we see the plane that's out here?

So tell me a little bit.

It's a zenith 750 cruiser.

Yep.

This is the zenith 750 cruiser.

It's a light sport.

Is it?

It could be made of the light sport or, the normal experimental category.

Okay, so we're making it for the a little bit heavier use.

Yeah.

So skip the light, sport.

But you can make it for light sport instead.

It holds two people.

And then with full fuel, you're looking at just, with the higher gross weight, you can hold about 500 pounds.

Nice.

So two grown adults, or two smaller adults in some bags.

Yeah, yeah.

So I, I guess I feel I feel targeted right now, but I it's like every time I think about losing 6 pounds, I think I can get an extra gallon of fuel on there, like, you know, so, so why did you pick this airplane?

Is it obviously you can buy it as a kid.

Is it a bit like more affordable or what?

What's the reason?

So there's a lot of, things that went into it.

So as you're probably well aware, there's a lot of different type of planes that we could have picked from, initially we're looking at tail draggers because we were kind of like, well, we have a grass strip.

Nice to go back to kind of grass roots.

The problem is insurance companies don't like tail draggers.

So people that are aware if pilots just stop looping them after they land, you know.

So yeah, people, the pilots that ground loop them.

So, I think it's like less than 10% of pilots can fly tail draggers nowadays.

It's kind of a dying art form.

But because of that, the insurance, rates for more outrageous.

So we're like, we can't afford that.

So, as much as we like it, so we go towards the tricycle gear and then have the tricycle gear ideas.

The zenith is a very quick build, so, we don't lose the interest of the kids.

We don't want some big, long, build where they're working, hours and hours and hours on just one little spot, and they lose interest.

So it's nice and quick so you can see some progress go to keep their interest going.

And it's also, like you mentioned, very cheap.

So, very cheap.

Yeah.

For airplanes it's very cheap.

This is the first time I've ever been around, airplanes.

And I'm getting paid to be here today.

Normally, I lose a couple hundred bucks every time around them.

And if people watching want to get involved, support you if they have teens, as it's still open to people to be able to come out, or is that already structured with the schools or how?

Not.

So we are working on getting into more schools.

So we're currently at the South Bend schools, and then we're working on getting at the, Goshen schools, where it's an actual class at the CT class.

And then we also have an after school program that we do here at the Mishawaka Pilots Club.

Yeah.

After this build is done, which we should be flying it in August, we have plans to get another airplane to start doing again.

And we want to make this kind of perpetual, so we are already taking applications for new students, for the, the August to September timeframe.

We'll start the next one here.

So when they go to our website, it's, stay Indiana dot org to find more information about that.

What I enjoy about this program is, the build is easy to build.

It's preparing me for a real world experience.

Like, it's teaching me, with how the airplane works, fundamentally, where pieces go together, how piece of work together, like the wiring, the instruments, the rudder pedals, everything.

It's teaching me how to read blueprints.

And like I said earlier, it's preparing for, like, real world experiences, like, skill management, resource management, all that kind of stuff.

So after this, no matter if what career I want to go to, either like engineering or being a pilot or just an aircraft mechanic, already I would have like the fundamentals.

What I can do for that of the, definitely.

Especially after this, I was kind of asked first before trying this, but now that I have the all this experience behind me, I definitely know that I'm probably going to be a pilot.

But if that doesn't work out, I can still be like an aircraft mechanic.

Or I can, build airplanes as well.

So I am looking forward to buying this.

Flying this airplane is done because it's a very rewarding experience coming in here week after week, seeing all be put together, knowing that one day this thing is going to be in the air.

And I took part in making this.

So if people want to get more information, as you mentioned, stay indiana.org.

So what does day actually stand for?

It was for Stem and Aviation youth Indiana.

Okay.

And then we also wanted to make the point that you can actually stay right here in Indiana and be in aviation because, most people have this myth of aviation that you have to be living like in Chicago or LAX or, no, it's third of the cost here.

Yeah, yeah, a lot cheaper to live here.

But you can also live here and be an aviation.

Oh, for example, at the Mishawaka Pilots Club, we have several airline pilots that live right here.

Also aircraft mechanics that I live or, based right out of here.

So are actual pilot jobs in, our local area as well as mechanic jobs are doing it right here.

And if they want to move, they can.

But the idea is you can actually stay right here in Indiana and, do aviation.

But I love it here, and I love flying here.

And people talk about it all the time.

It's like, it's all flat and everything.

I was like, we have the most gorgeous sunrises.

The sunsets.

Well, there's loads of airports around the area.

You've got Lake Michigan, you know, to go up and explore.

You can go fly the Chicago skyline along the corridor there.

Like there's a lot of places to go.

Detroit.

I mean, if you really want to go around, I think this is a great place to be for general aviation.

Absolutely.

And if anybody gets a chance to do the skyline so those that aren't aware, yeah, you actually can fly just below the building line along the coast, by downtown Chicago.

It's a very popular roof.

Pilots.

Yeah, yeah.

And it always surprises a lot of people the first time we do it, but different view.

And so while it is fun, obviously for the kids and for you and all the adults involved, there's certifications and everything that they can get from it.

There is an actual education component.

So, part of my idea is to try to get them a jumpstart on a career in aviation, and that can be any part of, aviation.

So obviously with the build, the, most obvious one is maintenance.

So all the kids get put on youth, apprenticeship with an app that we have, and they log hours towards their A&P So they need about 3000 hours to get your A&P And starting next year, we're going to have online training for them to do their general part of their app so they'll get their first of the three tests done for their A&P certificate, which makes them hire well out of the school.

And then when we actually get the plane flying, we'll take the kids up.

And, as of December, the FAA is now starting a low, nonprofit like ours to allow us to strut on the plane with the students, even though it's a, amateur built plane.

And so they'll be able get some flight hours towards the pilots as well.

That's wonderful.

I mean, and trust me, that adds a lot of value.

I mean, whether kids realize it now, but even money wise, that's a lot of value.

But even just getting ahead of the game is a lot of value too.

So I love that.

Well, I can't wait to fly it.

Obviously, once there's an engine and wings and but no, this is great and I love that you're doing it.

And, as you said, as a teenager, I knew nobody that was into aviation.

That's why I got my license when I was 36.

Because it was, you know, one of those dreams that you think is somebody else's.

But you're out here making people realize that it's possible.

So thank you.

Thank you.

I'm here just outside of downtown South Bend, on here with April and Allie to talk about an artist talk and a mural walk.

So I've noticed in South Bend there is a lot of murals around.

So tell me a little bit about how many are there in the city, do you know or how many are around and.

Yeah.

And what exactly is going on.

Absolutely.

There are 17 unique murals all across downtown, South Bend.

So the 17 murals around the city, why are they even important to have I'm so glad you asked that.

They're actually part of a festival called Mural Mania.

This festival happens once a week during the summer, and it is the fourth year.

Mural mania is led by Alex Van Allen.

She's the artist and organizer, bringing different muralists from all over the US to make their mark around South Bend.

And so Allie, who is is open to as I just show up at a location and then walk around the city or how does that work?

Yeah.

So our event on Saturday, May is Older Americans Month.

So our goal is to make sure that older Americans are, involved in city events and feel welcome and feel like they can access all sorts of events and spaces.

So this event will take place in Howard Park.

And the idea is to hear from the artist, Alex Ann Allen, hear a little bit about her artistic process for inspiration.

And also, she's the organizer of Mural Mania.

So she gets together artists from all over the country to come to South Bend and beautify our city.

And I think it's important for people to, know, you know, who is behind all of that and also, to be able to see how they can walk to murals, on foot.

They don't have to drive.

You can go from Howard Park, to see a number of murals with, with just within a five minute walking distance, which, I think people might not know about.

So it's open to all ages.

But we do want to emphasize, that the, you know, that we want older, adults in South Bend to also feel welcome and engage.

I'm just wondering if you could, specify what older is, because I'm curious if I'm allowed to go or, you.

Well, first of all, it is open to all members of the public.

I want to get it on screen and exact age.

Okay.

Ali.

Well, the city's the city's age friendly initiative is really emphasizes all ages.

So a lot of times we think of something being family friendly as being open to younger people and children, but we also want to think about making spaces accessible to older people as well.

The the Who Counts says that's very subjective.

So, I think you can tell she works in politics for the mayor.

This is this is a great answer right now on screen.

I think we should have like, an, you know, the old Batman episodes where it just goes pow on screen.

I think you should do that with an age.

Yeah, well, generally AARP does say, 50 to 55 is sort of when you, when you become an older adult or when you get to Martins and they give you a senior know the senior discount might be a different age.

That's that's up to Martin.

No, no.

April, are there any that are your favorites?

I mean, you stand here and you look at them.

I mean, what is there to really look at?

I mean, why would people look at them?

Why would you go out and do this?

This is actually a really special location because we have five different murals.

Two of these are from the same artist Cameron Cameron board and the rest over here are by Brittany Efron.

And then the last one is Nico.

Nico, we'll wait here while you run down and check.

Oh, wait.

Yeah, it's actually okay.

Do you want me to actually go?

No.

I was like, I'll do it.

But yeah, it's a very special location.

We love that this has, like, different murals, like, all from, different artists.

And, we have a lot of different ones from around the city now, although this event is at Howard Park.

If you do want to see this, it's right beside Roselily, which is a local restaurant which, you know here as well, just outside of downtown South Bend.

So, Allie, what are their initiatives are going on to include?

Because a lot of older people start to get isolated.

And obviously this is a way to be part of a community as well.

Yeah.

Besides this or what time actually does this start on?

Yeah, yeah.

On Saturday this event starts at 10 a.m..

Okay.

And so we'll have the ability for people to even ask questions, with Alex Ann Allen.

So she'll give a short presentation and then we'll have a little bit of an interactive session ahead of going out for the for the walk with her.

In terms of other events that the city is doing, our venues, parks and our department actually does a lot of programing for older adults.

And so do a lot of the local organizations like beacon, Saint Joe health So I would just encourage people to, to interact with, websites.

We have an age friendly landing page at the City.

And we also have been passing out fliers at different events so people can, can get to know what's going on.

The city does a senior week every week through our venues, parks and arts department, and we also have senior aerobics, all sorts of different things, which, are available online at our, SBVPA website, which is parks.

Yeah, Venues Parks and Arts.

It's a lot of that days when you might when you said in an age friendly website, I just imagine the font is like 32 size 32, which will be perfect for my eyesight.

So so April again, why should why should people attend this?

Like, what is it about this that's so special?

There's one event.

I think it'll be really great to get people together, learn about the festival, and then also get engaged with the different create like, creative endeavors that the city is doing.

Alex is a wonderful person that is wanting to organize, especially for South Bend.

So we're grateful to have her and then also within downtown South Bend, to be able to be partners in this, the event will be a short presentation and then we'll go on a walk.

Like Allie was mentioning, a short walk.

So it'll be a nice way to engage with people of all ages and then get to see some artwork.

And I know that it's going to be a map as well, because obviously you're not going to take people to all 17 locations, but you want to leave them with that so they can do that in their own time.

Yeah, absolutely.

We'll have a map, highlighting the four different murals that we'll see around Howard Park.

That will be a five minute walk, but then we will also share the entire map, to be able to, be in a self-guided walk tour if people are interested to continue.

The map is also available in downtown South Bend.

Slash mural mania.

If the map is not a mural in itself, that was a waste of marketing opportunity.

What did you.

I don't know what.

No, I yeah, I just wanted to add that, you know, part of the initiative for Mural mania is also about beautifying our downtown.

So there is an element of, of welcoming people of all ages that has to do with just making a space more beautiful.

Downtown South Bend has really, really pushed the mural mania event and really pushed it through, and been a great leader on that front.

Alex and Alan has been an amazing organizer, and downtown South Bend has provided a lot of support.

And so we're really grateful for the partnership between the city, DTSB and Alex herself.

All right.

Well, thank you so much for showing me these lights and have a look at them.

I've driven by them a million times and never actually really looked at them, although I do love cardinals.

Yes, but thank you so much for being out here today.

Thank you for showing them and I hope lots of people show up.

So once again, when is the event?

Saturday, May 17th at 10 a.m. at Howard Park.

All right.

And if people want to get more details, I know it is online as well as you mentioned.

So there is a Facebook event.

Yes.

All right.

Just just get out of the house.

Stop staying home.

Great.

Joining us today is Joseth Howell, and she is an educator, scientist, writer, and college admissions consultant with a deep passion for helping students get into college, the college of their dreams through her work at Ivy essay and more.

And we're going to find out about that in just a little bit.

But the reason she's with us today is she's also an author who has recently released a new book, and that book is called Water Wonderful World.

Joseph, thank you so much for being with us.

Tell us about this book.

Thank you so much for having me on our program today.

What a wonderful world.

It's a fascinating, visually stimulating, fact filled book that engages readers, introduces them to the fascinating world and site of water and its importance in sustaining life and our ecosystem.

the book, let's find out a little bit more about you.

What is your background?

Why, this interest in water and, and writing a book about it.

Great.

question there.

So the rest of the book came out of my experience with homeschool, my children.

I homeschooled them.

I read read countless number of books, and I felt something was missing.

But I also knew I wanted to, at that point, contribute to the, you know, body of children's literature.

I wanted to book a science book that was not just filled with fun facts, but one that was experiential, like, I feel science goals it should be, should be more than just theories.

It's something that a reader can connect to.

It's it's best learned when it's when you can connect to it.

And so I decided to write about write write a book, I wrote it, I took a unique approach because I wrote it in Project Flair.

Water has a way of enabling readers connect with the material, and therefore enhancing comprehension and mastery of concepts.

But it also in a research shows that poetry also helps in our recollection of material recall of material and memory and memory.

So again, if we can connect to what we read, we're able been able to remember it and also apply it.

So that's how that topic, that's how it came about.

One thing I forgot to mention, I think it's interesting thing you'll find you'll find interesting here is, because the alliteration of the W's in that in the title, I is a playful nod to the World Wide Web.

The three W's there, and I feel like it ties everything together in a meaningful, modern way.

That's very cool.

And I think you're right that poetry does, tend to grab a hold of us and help us retain information and and retain feeling about things, and, so that's really cool that that's, the way that you chose to express stuff.

Now, I think some of your background, you have degrees from Columbia, University as well as Rutgers, and you're a scientist, so you have a wealth of information.

Is is that kind of the, direction of your education?

Water or other natural things?

So I'm a biochemist by training.

So in biochemistry, you studied the body.

Is that you look at how chemical reactions by work in upper in the school system.

And water again is very fundamental to that.

We are human life.

Human beings are 7% water our brains about.

So the majority of that is water.

So we it's, it's an indispensable compound, that it's integral to, to, to life.

And in our interaction with our ecosystems.

So we need the, the plants utilize, water through the process of photosynthesis to make food that we consume and that they need for energy, too.

And in that whole process for this, this this is this is oxygen that's important for us human beings to, you know, conduct, utilize and make in many compounds that our bodies need to sustain life.

So it's like at night, like I feel like training and the whole school experience educate as an educator as well.

Really?

Give me that confidence in writing this book.

Okay.

Now, let's get into the book a little bit more.

What are some of the themes that people will explore in the book?

And you've done a great job of not just having information, but, like you said, using poetry, but also some stunning visuals.

So, so how did you, get the visuals to go along with the information that you provide?

I felt, again, that pictures should complement the science that we read.

And I wanted to be able I wanted to showcase water in all these forms.

You know, I think look at the waterfalls, for instance.

And this fascinated, you know, you're all you can't help but being in awe of, of water and the nature and force of water.

So the what, what how like the pictures, I did a little research to determine what pictures would stand out and connect and wow.

Or read the reader, especially minds, you know, online read the book.

And that would help help once they have a the materials take more.

And so I have pictures of waterfalls or even a drop of water, under a leaf.

Water is a, you know, in water fountains or geysers.

Shoot it up high into the, up into into the sky.

So there were different ways that I manifested what I wanted to be manifested and showcased.

But I also think that water I also know so many other topics that we have.

I have the book is, what is the work talked about?

Water cycle.

Again, it's like I said earlier, water is involved in a lot of physical changes and reactions and chemical reactions that occur in nature all around us, whether it's change in the different state.

So the water cycle we have, you have water changing from a liquid state to the gas, a state that back to solid and liquid as snow in this part of the world, snow and rain.

And that whole cycle continues again in maintaining our ecosystem.

That's a physical change.

And and readers will find it fascinating.

Then but water also all the water involved in chemical changes and, and its chemical position been H2O.

So that book the book also talks about the chemical composition of water.

What we we, we readers will explore and find fascinating facts about water habitat.

Water sustains life in our, you know, in marine life, for instance, and marine plants that grow around water or in water.

So there are topics there.

But in in the geography, your readers will also find very fascinating facts around the world.

You know, again, I wrote this book with a global lens.

I get I feel water.

That's one sense that connects everyone, regardless of where you're you're live, where you're from or what.

Like you speak, it connects us.

So I want to I want to readers around the world, who can, you know, to be able to relate to it?

So it showcases how people use water, in different parts of the world.

For what?

It's enjoyment, recreation or different things that you do with.

What are your daily lives?

So that book.

So I think readers will find a geography, that it explores two very fascinating.

It has the book has an interesting fact, from every habitable continent.

So readers around the world will learn that want to learn something about where to live, but about other places in the world we live in a very, global village now.

So it's it's really important that we are connected and appreciate life around us.

Yeah.

Yeah, it really does.

So where can people get a copy?

People can find a book on my website w WW that Ivy essay and more forward slash products in WWW dot Ivy essay and more.com forward slash products and on Amazon as well.

Very good.

And we'll have a link to that on our website as well.

Real quickly here before, we run out of time.

One of the things is you're also a founder of, an organization that helps people prepare, their college essays so they can get into the school of their dreams.

Can you tell me a little bit about that organization, Ivy Essay and more?

Sure.

So I the essay and more, is an affirm that helps families work with families and students to help them build a compelling and, student profile so that they can go to whatever school they want to go to.

We work with students to not just help them build a solid academic, profile through your work, through, and just enabling them to quickly determine what kind of classes to take, how to do well, how to manage your time, how to stay organized, what activities, and to to to engage in, in school, how to leverage your summers to so I it has that's so I think is impactful and and lends to them being authentic in their application process.

Well Joseth thank you so much for one sharing the book with us but also sharing some time.

And they can find out more about, Ivy essay and more at your website and we'll have that on the screen as well and link to it on our website.

But thank you so much and best of luck with the new book.

Thank you so much, Kelsey.

really appreciate your time this morning.

Well this show was just missing Courtney and Kelly.

But they will, of course, be back on future shows.

That's it for me, Irish Dave.

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