8 I The Lovell Chronicle I August 13, 2015
BABYSITtiNG SAFETY
"It teaches them how
to keep themselves safe,"
said instructor Nick Lew-
is. "It teaches them things
like how to interview the
family beforehand and to
have a plan in advance to
deal with potentially dan-
gerous situations, like if
someone wants to drive
them home who has been
drinking."
Lewis, who has exten-
sive experience in law en-
forcement, said, though he
hadn't heard of the pro-
gram before, he is very im-
pressed with the depth of
knowledge it imparts to
the young participants.
Lewis and Renae Mill-
er will team-teach the
class. Though it is the first
time Lewis has taught the
course, Miller has taught it
in past years.
The program has
grown in popularity and
the course filled quick-
ly once it was announced.
Miller said they have al-
ready started a waiting list
for a second class and there
are already four names on
that list. A second session
has already been tenta-
tively scheduled for Aug.
20 to be held at Big Horn
Federal Bank, if there is
enough interest. The pro-
gram is open to teens and
pre-teens who are at least
11 years old. Miller said
she was really pleased to
see so many boys sign up
for the class this session
and encourages more boys
to sign ttp.
Students were giv-
en a workbook filled with
valuable information upon
completion of the course.
The book is designed to be
a quick reference in actual
babysitting situations.
"We give them the
workbook and encourage
them to take it with them
continued from page one
PAT~ CARPENTER
Ashlynn Fink receives her official Safe Sitter
certificate from program instructor Renae Miller at
the conclusion of a workshop held on Tuesday in
the Multipurpose room at the New Horizons Care
Center.
PATH CARPENTER
North Big Horn Hospital graduated a new group
of Safe Sitters on Tuesday including (back row, l-r)
Grace Shumway, Sariah Martin, Kailei Fink, John
Walker and Brian Walker (middle row, l-r) Rylie
Kannard, Taylin Boettcher, Alexis Layne, Riley
Dodd, Shaylee Bowers and Chevelle Jolley and
(front row, l-r) Alana Sorenson, Colette Sanders,
Kane Ferguson, Carysyn Weber and Ashlynn Fink.
when they are babysit-
ting," said Miller. "It gives
them something to refer to
as a resource, while they
are babysitting."
For more information
about the Safe Sitter pro-
gram visit www.safesit-
ter.org or call Lewis at
548-5284.
BY KYNLI SMITH
Thousands attended
the Big Horn County Fair
last week.
According to Big Horn
County Fair Manager, Van-
gi Hackney, the most at-
tended event at the fair was
the rodeo followed by the
demolition derby and the
pig wrestling.
"We had a great turn-
out," Hackney said. "We
had about 3,603 entrees
this year."
The biggest addition to
the fair this year was the
new multi-purpose build-
ing. The new building
opened its doors to different
4-H shows, as well as the
livestock sale and a dance.
Hackney said they were
originally worried about
the dust in the new build-
ing but there were no issues
with the building.
"Everything went on
schedule and according to
plan," said Jim Werner,
who is in charge of main-
tenance at the fairgrounds.
"We had no issues with the
new building. It was a real-
ly nice addition and well re-
ceived by everyone."
Lea Sorenson turns to 'new chapter' after
retiring as library aide in School District #1
BY BOB RODRIGUEZ
Lea Sorenson's 20-year
career as a library parapro-
fessional in Big Horn County
School District No. 1 speaks
volumes.
The Lovell resident, who
retired in May, feels that
she's "started the next chap-
ter" of her life and is enthu-
siastic about it. Sorenson
especially noted that she
will miss "the phenomenal
teachers" at Rocky Moun-
tain High School/Middle
School and "even-keeled"
Principal Tim Winland, but
"especially the kids them-
selves." She describes them
as outstanding people with
great intelligence and a will-
ingness to learn, adding that
"watching their progress" as
they accept responsibilities
and grow into adulthood is
spectacular.
Besides her work as li-
brary aide at the high school
she served as the student
council adviser. "Rocky
Mountain High is a great
place to end my career," she
said. She especially empha-
sized that a highlight of her
time in education is that,
"The class that graduated
this yealZ' is one with which
she was involved "for all but
three of the 13 years they
were in school, so it was just
a great place to finish." She
began working for the dis-
trict as a paraprofessional
in the special ed room at the
former Frannie-Deaver El-
ementary School and then
was hired as the library
paraprofessional for the
three elementary schools
then in the district. She
went to Rocky Mountain
High seven years ago.
Sorenson, who is from
Red Lodge, and her husband,
David, a building contractor
whose family has SE Inc.
in Deaver, raised their four
LEA SORENSON
children in Deaver, moving
there from Red Lodge when
the three oldest were in
school and the youngest was
1 year old. Then some three
years ago the couple relocat-
ed to Lovell. Recalling her
entry into library work two
decades ago she said, "Books
have always been a love of
mine and because I had the
time I decided to get a job,"
first substituting as a teach-
er in Deaver. At RMHS/MS
she enjoyed "little kids be-
cause they think you walk
on water," but she also thor-
oughly enjoyed the older
students even though "they
want you to sink in the wa-
ter," she said jokingly.
She stated that she has
always been a passionate
reader who enjoys non-fic-
tion, but biographies, as
well. However, she ex-
plained, "I read all genres
and, of course, in my work
I read and reviewed a lot
of children and young adult
literature." This is her first
summer in 20 years, she
said, that she is not search-
ing for books for her stu-
dents for the coming school
year. She added that among
her joys was talking about
books with the pupils. The
couple's four offspring are
all avid readers, she said,
and in fact their son, Lucas,
a banker in Denver, works
part time at the famous
Denver area book store, the
Tattered Cover.
Their youngest, Caitlyn,
is a senior at the University
of Wyoming and plans to be-
come a teacher. Their twins
are Heather, who earned a
humanities degree with an
emphasis in outdoor educa-
tion at UW and is working
in Lander, and Haley, who
works at North Big Horn
Hospital in Lovell and is
continuing her education
to earn a degree in health
education through MSU
Billings.
"The Rocky Mountain
staff is part of my family,"
said Sorenson, "and I miss
them terribly. They are won-
derful." For 15 years during
her time in the stacks she
worked with John Bernhis-
el and said that he "is abso-
lutely one of my favorite peo-
ple." As well, she stated that
he "will do a great job" tak-
ing over her duties now that
she's retired.
Sorenson will be a busy
retiree, as she plans to con-
tinue her reading avocation
plus growing flowers ("my
husband gardens for food")
and she "loves to cook plus
work on stained glass proj-
ects." She also plans •to keep
busy with family, as her hus-
band David's are in Deaver
and hers all live relatively
nearby. There are sisters in
nearby Warren and Great
Falls, Idaho, a brother m
Billings and her mother, a
retired judge in Joliet, Mont.
Regarding her "school
family," she said, "I will miss
them all, but look forward to
the holiday visits when some
come to our house. It'll be
different now, but in retire-
ment I'm looking foward to
my next adventure."
BY PATI'I CARPENTER
Whitney Dodd has been
promoted to the position of
victim witness coordinator
for the CARES organization
in Big Horn County. Dodd
began working for the orga-
nization as a victims advo-
cate in May of 2014. Dodd is
taking over the position for
Vicki Collingwood, who pre-
viously held the position.
In her new position,
Dodd will follow cases in
both district and circuit
court and occasionally in
municipal court. She offers
support throughout the le-
gal process. Sometimes that
support will include going
over options, at other times,
it could literally mean sit-
ting next to the victim in tho
courtroom or speaking
their behalf.
"We try to make ,suro
our victims are updated
their cases and know whero
they need to be and when,
said Dodd. "Sometimes with
the court system, that can bo
a long process, depending oil
what the crime is. If it's
aggravated assault, or some.-
thing like that, it can be
year and a half from start to
finish. So we try to help with
any services our clients need
during that process."
Dodd is part of a
four-member team at
CARES that includes Dodd,
two advocates and direc-
tor Leslie Hoffman. The
non-profit organization is
funded almost entirely by
grants. Though it mostly
serves victims of domestic
violence and sexual abuse,
it does serve victims of other
crimes, as well.
"We show people what
their options are and help
them navigate through the
system to get services," said
Dobb. "We don't tell our cli-
ents what to do. They make
their own decisions and
we're there to support those
decisions."
Dodd started her new
position on July 1. She said,
so far, she has spent most of
her time in the courtroom.
She said she attends liter-
ally all court arraignments,
oftentimes notifying vic-
tims afterward of the ser-
vices that are available to
them. She also coordinates
information with the courts,
county attorney, the victim
and other advocates.
Dodd worked previous-
ly as a social services aid
for the Department of Fam-
ily Services for around five
years. She has an associ-
ate's degree in criminal jus-
tice from Northwest College
and is eight classes away
from completing the require-
ments for a bachelor's de-
gree in criminal justice from
the University of Wyoming.
She also worked recently as
a part-time and relief dis-
patcher for the Lovell Police
Department for about
years.
As an advocate for
CARES for the past year,
Dodd helped connect victims
with services they need-
ed like the local food bank,
low-income housing, legal
and counseling referrals and
other services.
"Whitney has worked for
WHITNEY DODD
Cares for more than a year
and has come along very
well as an advocate," said
Director Leslie Hoffman.
"She is a huge team player,
and I appreciate the way she
takes initiative when help-
ing our clients and she is
just a great advocate all the
way around.
"When this came open
she was ready for the promo-
tion and I'm so glad we could
place her in this important
position. We are very fortu-
nate to have had her with us
already. It would have been
much more difficult to train
someone from the outside."
Dodd said she was also
pleased with the promotion
because she felt it allows her
to continue to do work that
makes a difference in peo-
ple's lives.
"I like what I do, I like
the people I work with and I
feel like I can make a differ-
ence," said Dodd.
Dodd said many of the
people she works with are
dealing with a traumatic
situation like domestic vi-
olence, sexual assault or
stalking. Oftentimes they
are in a position of having
to make decisions that will
have a big impact on their
lives.
"We're here to help
victims survive whatev-
er they're dealing with and
to get back on their feet
again," said Dodd. "That
might mean going to court
with them and walking with
them through the process,
getting counseling or what-
ever help they need."
She added, at times that
might include making re-
ally difficult decisions, like
whether or not to report a
crime.
"The big thing victims
need to know is that they
don't need to report a crime
in order to come in and get
services from us," said Dodd.
"The service is free and con-
fidential, and we can help
them with whatever their
decision is. For example, if
it's a sexual assault and the
person is not ready to report
it, we can help them by tak-
ing them up to the hospi-
tal for a rape kit, so, if they
choose to report it later, they
have that evidence.
"Right now one of the
most important things is to
let victims know that we're
out there and that CARES
is a safe place to talk about
their situation without be-
ing judged. I think it's im-
portant for people to have
someone they know is on
their side, who will work
with them."
Dodd said she finds it
very rewarding to help peo-
ple and to do work that ben-
efits the community. In ad-
dition to the satisfying work
she does helping her clients,
she said she hopes, through
the organization, to raise
community awareness about
the prevalence of crimes like
sexual assault and domestic
violence.
"I think sexual assault
and domestic violence is one
of those topics our society
has trouble dealing with,"
said Dodd. "It's ugly and no
one wants to deal with it and
people who are victims are
afraid to report it because
they are worried about what
other people will think.
"Whether our communi-
ty decides to stick their head
in the sand or not, this type
of violence is out there and
it is out there in Big Horn
County. The reality is we do
have problems with domes-
tic violence and we do have
problems with sexual as-
saults here. It's important
for victims to know we are
here to help, if they need it."
Dodd said some clients
come to CARES through re-
ferrals, some come into the
office, which is located at the
Lovell Police Department.
She said many are notified
of the services available to
them through the victim
witness coordinator's work
in court.
Dodd noted that it some-
times takes a victim of do-
mestic violence several
times before they are actu-
ally able to leave a bad situ-
ation. She said, though that
can be frustrating at times,
the advocates at CARES un-
derstand that big life-chang-
ing decisions don't come
easily.
"Sometimes they're not
ready and that's OK," said
Dodd. "We just want them
to know we are here if they
need our help. We're here to
help them figure out their
options. It's up to them to
make their own decisions.
We don't make decisions for
people or even encourage
them to make decisions one
way or another. If a domestic
violence victim chooses to go
back, we leave them alone.
We leave it up to them to
contact us again if they need
our help down the road."
Though CARES advo-
cates mostly work with vic-
tims of domestic and sexu-
al assault, their services are
available to all victims of
crime.
CARES has worked
closely with law enforcement
to help victims of domes-
tic, sexual and other forms
of violence for more than 25
years. In the fiscal year 2014,
CARES helped 240 victims
of crimes. Of those victims,
151 were female and 88 were
male. One gender was listed
as unknown. One hundred
forty-one of those victims
were in the 25-59 year-old
age group, 39 were under the
age of 17, 26 were ages 18-
24, and 34 were 60 years of
age or older.
CARES provides help
with everything from obtain-
ing legal protection orders
to emergency financial as-
sistance to the many victims
they serve.
For more information
call 307-548-2330.
All your 8ack2School
needs are here!
Pilot getter Pens ........... 3 pack: ..................... t.50
I =
, Standard Size Bed Pillow. ....................... 2PI0
D^P BlueStick Putty ....... . ............. . ..........
70ct Spiral Notebook
2-p0cket Portfolio .......... : ..................... s/+l
9 E:Main, Lovell,
