The Oak Ridge High School Class of 2015 had its commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 28, on Blankenship Field. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
The Oak Ridge High School Class of 2015 had its commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 28, on Blankenship Field. Here are pictures by Julio Culiat, a contributor to Oak Ridge Today.
The Oak Ridge High School Class of 2015 had its commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 28, on Blankenship Field. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
Information from WYSH Radio
The Anderson County Board of Education on Tuesday voted to approve a revised budget that, if approved as is, would require the equivalent of a 22-cent property tax increase.
The amended proposal adopted during a special-called meeting Tuesday still asks for 4 percent pay raises for school employees—who have not seen significant salary increases in the past six years—as well as $178,000 to pay for needed school roof repairs and state-mandated upgrades to physical education facilities and $178,000 to start a new program under which students would receive an electronic tablet.
The revised budget proposal includes several cuts to the original proposal, which would have necessitated the equivalent of a 56-cent tax increase. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved a budget that would use $1.75 million from the school system’s fund balance and ask the city for about $650,000. The request for more money still has to be considered by the Oak Ridge City Council.
Note: This story was last updated at 11:12 a.m. May 27.
The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Tuesday approved a budget that would use $1.75 million from the school system’s fund balance and ask the city for about $650,000.
Those two actions would help Oak Ridge Schools cover a deficit of roughly $638,000 and meet a total of $1.75 million in other desired expenses, or “additional investment,” including:
Information from WYSH Radio
The Anderson County Board of Education will meet in a special-called session at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night (May 26) in the boardroom on the fifth floor of the Jolley Building in downtown Clinton.
The board is expected to discuss a compromise put forward by its Budget Committee to seek 2 percent raises for county teachers instead of the 4 percent raises they initially called for in budget negotiations. Funding just those raises at 4 percent would require the equivalent of a 23.5-cent property tax increase, which is highly unlikely to be approved by the Anderson County Commission.
Budget deliberations are continuing, and adjustments are still being made to the system’s proposal for the new fiscal year that begins July 1, including a reported $800,000 in cuts made last week by school officials.
Following this evening’s special-called meeting, BOE members are expected to meet with county commissioners to continue working on the fiscal blueprint for 2015-2016.
Oak Ridge Schools has posted its proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 on its website.
The May 13 budget proposal had a starting deficit of $807,890. That deficit was due to revenues not keeping up with expenditures, officials said.
There was an additional investment of $1.9 million requested. The biggest part of that, about $1 million, was for a proposed 3 percent cost of living adjustment with benefits. An extra $484,000 was requested for experience step increases with benefits.
There were also additional staff requests that were part of the $1.9 million “additional investment.” The staff requests would total about $363,000, including for a communications director and four technology-related positions. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge school officials will discuss renaming the Oak Ridge Alternative Program as the Secret City Academy during a meeting tonight (Tuesday, May 26).
Here’s the rationale, according to the meeting agenda for the Oak Ridge Board of Education: [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Board of Education will consider the proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 during a meeting tonight (Tuesday, May 26). It’s the first of two readings of the budget, and tonight’s meeting will include a public hearing.
Also tonight, the school board will consider balanced calendar options for the 2016-2017 school year. Three options have been presented. See the three options here: Oak Ridge Schools 2016-2017 Balanced Calendar, Oak Ridge Schools 2016-2017 Balanced Calendar B, and Oak Ridge Schools 2016-2017 Balanced Calendar B V2.
In other business tonight, the Board of Education will consider: [Read more…]
Jamie Lindsley, left, and Klara Proffen, right, students at Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, have been selected as regional winners in a national computer science competition for middle school girls. (Submitted photo)
Two students at Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge have been selected as regional winners in a national computer science competition for middle school girls.
The students, Jamie Lindsley and Klara Proffen, wanted to help patients overcome their anxiety before a MRI scan, so they developed a virtual reality MRI simulator for the national online ProjectCSGirls competition. This online competition promotes computer science among middle school girls and has attracted hundreds of students from around the United States who submit their projects, a press release said.
Lindsley and Proffen have been invited to attend the competition’s national awards gala in June in the Washington area, the press release said.
More on the competition is available here: www.projectcsgirls.com.
More on the project is available here: https://sites.google.com/site/mrisimulator/.
Eddie Anderson
Advanced Placement Chemistry students at Oak Ridge High School placed third in the nation in chemistry in the National Science League competition, the school’s Science Department said.
The students are in the AP Chemistry class taught by Eddie Anderson at ORHS.
The test was given to all AP Chemistry students, the Science Department said. [Read more…]
The Jefferson Middle School Atomic Eagles, a FIRST LEGO League team, are pictured above at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, from May 14-17. (Photo by Yvonne Dalschen)
The Atomic Eagles, a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) team from Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, received the Rising Star award at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on May 14-17.
This competition hosted 72 FLL teams from around the world. Thirteen different nations and 31 different states were represented.
The Rising Star award is given to the team that the judges notice and expect great things from in the future.
Thomas Proffen, the team mentor, received the second-place adult mentor award. This award goes to the mentor whose wisdom, guidance, and devotion are most clearly evident in the team’s discussion with the judges. He has been volunteering with the Atomic Eagles since 2013, when Lego League was restarted at Jefferson Middle School by coaches Janie and Harold Shanafield. Proffen is the director of the Neutron Data Analysis and Visualization Division in the Neutron Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Read more…]
Roane State art professor Bryan Wilkerson works with student Katie Stewart during the college’s dual credit ceramics class at Oak Ridge High School. (Submitted photo)
For now, Oak Ridge High School ceramics students create sculptures, bowls, and figures.
Maybe later, they’ll create new businesses, innovative products, and groundbreaking technology.
Either way, the process is the same. Start with mush—clay for the moment. Use creativity, problem-solving, and analysis to turn the mush into something special. That’s the lesson Roane State Community College art professor Bryan Wilkerson wants the Oak Ridge students to learn in his dual credit ceramics classes.
“I treat this no differently than all of my classes,” Wilkerson said. “I want them to come away with an understanding of techniques. I’m also trying to help them develop their own artistic direction, creative problem-solving, how to start with an idea and see it through to a finished piece.” [Read more…]
