Get Ready for College at MALC

Mohave Accelerated Learning Center (MALC) is working harder than ever to prepare students for life after high school.

For several years, the school has offered a Dual Enrollment program in partnership with Mohave Community College (MCC) that allows students to take college courses on the high school campus while receiving high school and college credit. The program has been highly successful, with more than half of the 2019 graduating class leaving MALC with some college credit already under their belts. The school now offers more than 20 Dual Enrollment courses as part of their regular schedule.

Mohave Accelerated has also partnered with the Western Arizona Vocational Education (WAVE) Joint Technical District to help provide better vocational and technical education. Through the WAVE partnership, MALC students are able to take vocational courses at the local MCC campus after school hours at no cost. Last year, Mohave Accelerated students utilized the program to take courses in welding, automotive repair, business and the community colleges CNA program.

Additionally, MALC is partnering with WAVE to offer several Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses for the upcoming school year. Students will have the opportunity to receive specialized training from skilled instructors in several areas, including construction, business, and culinary arts. CTE classes provide students with marketable workforce skills and help prepare them for college courses in their field of interest.

Looking past their prep programs, they have worked diligently to create a great environment for a true quality education.

The school has invested heavily in technology with computer labs and screen projectors in nearly every classroom.Cloud-based tools like Microsoft Office 365 extend the learning process beyond the school hours and location. More importantly, MALC prides itself on building a highly qualified instructional staff with years of experience and a genuine love for teaching. Quite simply, Mohave Accelerated teachers care deeply about their students, and the school’s smaller class sizes allow them to give everyone the attention they need and deserve.

MALC has a lot to offer outside of the classroom as well. They are a member of the Arizona Interscholastic Association and offers a variety of interscholastic sports including: football, volleyball, golf, basketball, baseball and softball. In addition, a number of extracurricular clubs are available, such as Kiwanis Key Club, Rotary Interact Club, National Honor Society, Student Council, and more. Odyssey of the Mind, a club devoted to creative problem solving, competed against other schools in the spring to qualify for the World Finals. The school’s STEAM Club (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) took a trip this summer to Washington, D.C. and New York City, and the Travel Club plans a trip abroad each year.

If you’ve got a student in high school, chances are you’re already thinking about how to get them prepared for the next stage of life. Whether it’s a vocational career, community college, or a 4-year university, Mohave Accelerated Learning Center can help.

Call (928) 758-MALC or come by our main campus at 625 Marina Blvd. in Bullhead City.

Your Healthy Choices

The Bullhead Health Club and Paragon Physical Therapy and Rehab are two businesses with the same mission: “To keep the citizens of the Tri-State area fit, active, and pain free so that they are able to maintain the highest quality of life possible”. Even though the manner in which they accomplish these goals may vary, both organizations acknowledge the value of each other in keeping our community members healthy and doing the activities that they enjoy.

The Bullhead Health Club is owned by Don Walker. With a background in Exercise Physiology, Don has 33 years of experience developing exercise programs designed specifically around an individual’s physical limitations and fitness goals. With 2 locations, one in Bullhead City (in the Riverview Mall), and one in Fort Mohave (just north of Joy Lane), they specialize in all aspects of exercise and fitness, weight loss and conditioning programs. Recently, Bullhead Health Club has added $80,000 in state-of-the-art cardiovascular equipment which all provides new fantastic movements for the club members, with very little or no joint stress. Working with some of the industry’s best exercise equipment makes exercise more enjoyable and even fun! Changing the community’s health and wellness has been the club’s commitment for the last 17 years. Bullhead Health Club Strength and Conditioning is the fitness facility that changes people’s lives. A facility open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it’s a perfect fit for the person who wants to make real changes in their life. The staff is here to help by personalizing each and every one of their member’s needs.

Paragon Physical Therapy and Rehab is owned by Lori Petrik. Lori has been a licensed Physical Therapist for 25 years and 20 of those years have been spent treating citizens in this community. She specializes in treating pain and/or motion restrictions in the neck, back, and extremities whether caused by overuse, trauma, or the normal wear and tear associated with aging. For those experiencing joint pain or mobility issues, Physical Therapy is the place to start. Lori also has many years of experience treating neurological conditions such as stroke, Parkinson’s, and MS.
As a Physical Therapist, Lori strives to help patients regain pain-free movement which is crucial not only to their quality of life but also to their ability to earn a living or live independently. Along with Physical Therapy, Paragon also offers a Pulmonary Rehab program to benefit those suffering from respiratory issues such as COPD, Asthma, Emphysema, and Chronic Bronchitis. This program works to improve strength and endurance so that these individuals are able to walk and perform daily activities with decreased shortness of breath.

Both Don and Lori have come to trust each other’s professional background and skill in their respective field. A professional connection between Physical Therapists and Fitness Centers only makes sense. As Lori explains, “I stress to my patients that maintaining our bodies is a lifetime commitment. I always encourage them to continue their conditioning programs once they are discharged from Paragon at facilities such as the Bullhead Health Club. When I know which facility that they will be joining, I can talk with the trainers at these gyms to help design a program for this patient that will prevent re-injury and continue to progress them towards their goals”.

If being physically active throughout your life is important to you, let these businesses help you make this goal a reality. Combining the skills of these businesses offer members and patients more options, more professional care, and more results than ever before.

Contact Bullhead Health Club located at 2585 Miracle Mile, Suite 107 (in the Riverview Mall), or call 928-704-4610. Bullhead Health Club’s second location is located at 5401 Highway 95, Fort Mohave. Call 928-768- 1339.

Paragon Physical Therapy and Rehab located at 2350 Miracle Mile, Suite 370, call 928-444- 8168 or click www.paragonptandrehab.com.

Tri-State Community Healthcare

The newest addition to our medical staff brings more than two decades of experience to our patients Donna Kelly is currently employed full time as a Family Nurse Practitioner for Tri- State Community Healthcare Center of the Mohave Valley, AZ. Donna Kelly is an experienced Family Nurse Practitioner, board certified by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and currently licensed to practice in the states of California, Arizona, and Nevada. Donna Kelly, FNP began her career in nursing in 1990 as a Registered Nurse and has been a family nurse practitioner since 2015.

Donna is a certified Emergency Nurse with extensive experience in Emergency and Urgent Care. At the Community Health Center, Donna Kelly, FNP focuses on women’s health services. Donna Kelly, FNP is active in the community with the Shriner’s Children hospital and has volunteered for remote area medical clinics and international medical missions.

Tri-State Community Healthcare Center (TSCHC), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation (FQHC) in Tri-State area, has a 7- year history of providing culturally competent and age-appropriate medical, dental, and mental health services to low-income and medically underserved residents of California and Arizona.

TSCHC provides healthcare services on an open-access basis to families and individuals seeking health services. Services are provided regardless of race, group affiliation, age, gender, or the patient’s ability to pay. The patient is empowered with knowledge and resources that will allow them to take an active role in their health and make informed decisions about their well-being.

TSCHC’s service delivery approach is broad in scope, addressing the medical health, oral health, behavioral health, and social complexities encountered by general community residents through a range of primary care services, chronic care/disease management, case management, mental health, and referrals to dental care. The clinics are staffed with family practitioners, mid-level providers, laboratory specialists, patient education specialists, outreach staff, and clinical support staff sufficient to meeting the needs of each service area population.

TSCHC welcomes Medicare, Medicaid, CHDP, AHCCCS, TRICARE, Care1st and most Private Insurance. Our clinic also offers a sliding scale fee to patients based on family size and income. Uninsured and underinsured patients can benefit from financial assistance programs that are available for health situations you may be experiencing. If you have private or employer-based insurance, our clinic welcomes that too. If you obtain insurance while a patient at TSCHC, we would be happy to continue serving you. Tri-State Community Healthcare Center complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

Tri-State Community Healthcare Center provides free aids and services to people with disabilities to communicate effectively with our staff. Tri- State Community Healthcare Center provides free language assistance services to people whose primary language is not English.

Whether you are looking for a pediatrician, podiatry, a geriatric, a family medicine clinician, a family dentist or a behavioral health counselor – Tri-State Community Healthcare Center can be your “provider of choice” for your entire family. Schedule an appointment today by calling Needles, CA (760) 326-0222 or Mohave Valley, AZ (928) 768-7113.

FREE PATIENT TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE!!!

Gordy’s Auto Body

Nearly 30 Years Serving the Tri-State Area

Driven towards excellence and distinguished in service are just a few ways to describe Gordy’s Auto Body and the impact the business has made on our community. Beginning their journey in 1990, it is safe to say that James and Andrea Carpenter have been the pinnacle of automotive expertise throughout the Tri-State area.

When asked what it took to stay in business for so many years, James and Andrea had a few things to say. “Most importantly, surround yourself with good individuals, a team that holds you to your mission. We would not be where we are today without the strong team at Gordy’s Auto Body. They are the force behind the business and they embody our core beliefs,” James said.

Andrea went on to say, “The customer has always come first, our standards in service have always been the most important to us. To this day we will pick up customers, drop them off, and ensure they are updated through each step of their vehicle’s repair.”

Between the two of them, they have a combined 22 years of community service and appreciation for the town in which they love. James has served as a faithful Rotarian for nearly fifteen years. Andrea has given several years to organizations such as Kiwanis Club and Soroptimist International. Through all odds they have always recognized the importance of giving back to business and organizations that help our community to move forward to the future for our youth.

For nearly 30 years, Gordy’s Auto Body has aimed to surpass the industries standard of excellence. They have been recognized for their ICAR Gold Standard certifications and they are consistently praised through the Better Business Bureau. James stresses saying, “It is so important to have our customers know we strive to keep our facility up-to-date and always at the forefront of our industry.”

Gordy’s Auto Body has worked diligently to keep their equipment at the state of the art and their facility reputable. Year after year, Gordy’s Auto Body has served the community and its customers with an unparalleled dedication to excellence. As James has always said, “Quality is not expensive, it’s priceless!”

“We just want to say thank you to everyone in our community, on our team and the community who have stood beside us during the good times and the hard times. We would not have created the business we had always dreamed of if not for you. It has been a journey for us and we are so blessed to look back on all the fun memories we have made.” -James and Andrea Carpenter.

Gordy’s Auto Body is located at 3060 Highway 95. For any questions please call 928-763-5577.

Let The Adventures Begin!

There is a new recreation program growing at Desert Star Academy that allows all scholars of our community the opportunity to travel outside their comfort zone through different experiences and adventures, often by participating in outdoor recreational activities. In the last few months, this program, “Desert Star Adventures” helped scholars dive into new territory including a scavenger hunt through the Colorado River Nature Center, a historic railroad trail hike leading up to the Hoover Dam, and most recently, a guided tour of Mitchell Caverns in the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area in Essex, California.

On each excursion, scholars become educated about a new place and learn a new skill, and spend time outside of the traditional classroom environment. This allows their minds to expand and start to grasp how much is out there for them to learn, pushing them to grow and become more well-rounded leaders in society.  On their most recent trip to Mitchell Caverns on February 1st, a group of 24 scholars hiked deep within the caves for an educational tour. Scholars split into two groups to minimize the lasting human impact on the delicate cavern ecosystem. As each group made the 1.5 mile round trip hike through the caverns, the tour guide taught them all about the history, geology, and wildlife that live in the area. Scholars were encouraged to ask questions and engage with the tour guide to take as much away from the experience as possible.

This program is new to Desert Star Academy as of this school year, and most events have been open to scholars at Desert Star Middle School only. As the program expands, Desert Star wants to invite scholars throughout the community join in the adventure! When school ends there will be a summer fun program available to any scholars in the community who would like to participate. For younger scholars, there will be a K-5th grade program that brings scholars around different parts of the community and gives them activities to do each day. There will also be a separate program for middle school scholars from 6th-8th grade. These scholars will go hiking, see movies, attend classes in art and leadership, go bowling, take part in camping trips, and even more! The summer fun program for both age groups will run Monday – Thursday from June 3 until July 25. Early admission prices start at $125 for the summer if registered before April 1st, and $150 before May 15th. After that, the program will be $10 per day to participate. An additional small fee will be required to participate in field trips throughout the summer.

Desert Star Adventures will offer the chance to explore, learn and grow to every scholar in our community.

Desert Star Academy is located at 1530 E. Pinion Road in Fort Mohave, Arizona. For any questions please call 928-770-4523 or visit us online at desertstaracademy.org. Thank you for learning about us and Let The Adventures Begin!

Zounds Hearing Center

Hello, I am Lund Stucki, owner of Affordable Hearing Care. We have been in Mohave County serving you for over 15 years. We’re proud of that!

We offer all brands of hearing aids to suit individual needs. Our favorites are Zounds, Resound, Oticon, Unitron, and others. We are in our three offices every day to help you with your hearing aid needs. Our top priority is you, the customer. Our offices are in Kingman, Fort Mohave/Bullhead, and Lake Havasu City for better access to us. We are a family business and we just want to help you hear as well as you can. Of course, we want to keep you up-to-date on all new health concerns regarding your hearing.

A NEW HEALTH ALERT has been issued regarding untreated hearing loss. From the biggest and the best, we understand there is a much greater risk of Alzheimer and dementia, depression, falls, and even cardiovascular diseases. This comes from Johns Hopkins, Duke University, The Mayo Clinic, and other experts. There were numerous large studies over many years and the results were conclusive. The findings show for example that developing dementia with untreated hearing loss, increases your chances by 50%.

We can no longer take chances with our hearing so make it a priority to call today for your free exam.

Of course, we understand the biggest concern in getting hearing care is the costs associated with hearing aids. We’ve been working hard on that. We have hearing aids that can suit every budget. Let us help you find the solution. Often insurances are available and we can help you understand your benefits, as well as bill your insurance for you. Today can be the day.

One more caution, you’ll see all kinds of ads saying they can help you hear better for $20.00 or buy one get-one free, $149.00 like many mail order hearing aids. Ordering from the internet or offers of one size fits all. We have people come in every day wondering why they can’t hear with their mail order hearing aids. It’s always the same story like they can’t hear in noise or they can’t get them to stay in their ears. They can’t hear on the phone or can’t hear their wife or husband.

There are many reasons besides they didn’t get what they were promised. Above all, they can’t even get the hearing aid seller to help them. They don’t know where to turn which brings on constant frustration. Please, please don’t be fooled. Let us help before you waste your money.

Call or come by. We offer the lowest prices, the very best service, the most reasonable repairs, free cleaning, and we’re here in our offices every day to serve you. Let’s do this, but let’s do it the right way. I am Lund Stucki, owner of Affordable Hearing Care and we are here to serve you!

Integrative Medicine: The Future of Healthcare

Article by Christina Goldstein-Charbonneau, D.O.

The future of healthcare in America has arrived. It’s still in its early adoption stage. Think of smart phones in 2003 com-pared to 2018. Everyone has now adopted smart phones just like every-one will eventually adopt the future of healthcare –Integrative Medicine. Our cur-rent healthcare system is bro-ken and the repair, Integrative Medicine, is rapidly being embraced.

To understand why our healthcare system is broken, let me give you a little back-ground. Healthcare in America, even as recent as the early 1900’s, used to include prevention, self-care, reliance on the body’s capabilities to heal, nutrition, and mind-body connections. We got off course when pharmaceutical companies took over medical schools and Residencies. Did you know that pharmaceutical companies paid for all kinds of equipment, textbooks, and even “taught” medical students how to prescribe medicine? For the past 50-60 years we’ve been pumping out medical students who basically know how to 1) Prescribe medicine and 2) Perform surgeries. In hindsight, it makes no sense, yet, there we were accepting everything that was taught. We had no idea we were becoming pawns for megacorporations instead of being taught how to make people healthy.

The good news is, this is now in the process of being corrected and we have current generations of doctors now receiving training in Integrative Medicine:

• Prevention
• Nutrition
• Lifestyle
• Mind and Body
• Natural Remedies
• Non-Invasive intervention

These topics are used in conjunction with standard conventional medicine and the results are phenomenal. There is now hope for returning our suffering population back to health. I was what is called an “early adopter” of this new direction in healthcare. I went back to school in 2010 and obtained a Fellowship in Integrative Medicine from the University of Arizona. I learned how to combine my former conventional medical doctor training (Disease Management) with Integrative Medicine (Patient Centered Management.) Both conventional disease management and patient centered management are necessary in treating the whole person.

Sounds good, but what does this mean in practical terms for patients here? This means we can help you feel good, get healthy and literally reverse health issues you may have been told were irreversible. There are many modalities to choose from in restoring patients back to health. It’s my job to listen to the patient and under-stand the underlying causes of concern. My conventional training allows me to observe and treat symptoms to keep the patient out of danger. My Integrative Medicine training is then used to assist in restoring overall health and educating the patient about how to maintain the good health.

Like most everyone who spent practically two decades becoming a physician, we did so because we wanted to improve the lives of our patients. Finally, we physicians are now able to make even more of a difference through adopting Integrative Medicine.

For more information or to make an appointment please contact: All Wellness Medical Center, 2500 Canyon Rd., Bullhead City, AZ 928-704-4499.