Oak Ridge Today

Roane State partners with Bellevue University, grand opening set for Tuesday

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Roane State Community College Logo

Roane State associate degree graduates and those with 60 credit hours can obtain a bachelor’s degree in 18 months under an innovative new partnership between Roane State Community College and Bellevue University.

In the program, 100 percent of associate degree credits transfer to the fully accredited, non-profit, four-year university located in Bellevue, Nebraska. Credits aren’t lost, and classes don’t have to be retaken.

A grand opening celebration for Bellevue will be held on Tuesday, April 17 from
11 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Atrium at the Oak Ridge campus, which is at 701 Briarcliff Avenue. All are invited, a press release said.

Students who attend the grand opening will have the opportunity to enter to win one of two $1,000 grants. Free refreshments will be provided. [Read more…]

Former ambassador to discuss Syria at Roane State on Wednesday

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Margaret Scobey

Margaret Scobey

Former Ambassador Margaret Scobey will discuss Syria at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge on Wednesday. Her talk is titled “Syria: Challenges to U.S. and Regional Interests.”

The community lecture is sponsored jointly by ORICL (Oak Ridge Institute of Continued Learning) and Roane State. It is free and open to the public.

Scobey’s appearance will begin with a reception at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday in the Visitor’s Lobby of the Coffey/McNally Building, a press release said. Following the reception, Scobey will speak in the City Room, A-111, of the same building. After her presentation, Ambassador Scobey will respond to questions from the audience.

Scobey retired as career minister from the U.S. Foreign Service following a 32-year career, the press release said. She served as U.S. ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt from 2008 until July of 2011. Prior to that, she served as the U.S. ambassador to Syria from late 2003 until early 2005, when she was recalled in protest to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Her last assignment in the Foreign Service was as deputy commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. [Read more…]

JMS robotics team headed to world competition

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Three robotics teams from Jefferson Middle School competed in the FIRST Lego League East Tennessee State Championship at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville on February 10. The Atomic Eagles qualified to represent Jefferson Middle School and Tennessee at the FIRST LEGO World Championships in Houston this month. (Submitted photo)

Three robotics teams from Jefferson Middle School competed in the FIRST Lego League East Tennessee State Championship at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville on February 10. The Atomic Eagles qualified to represent Jefferson Middle School and Tennessee at the FIRST LEGO World Championships in Houston this month. (Submitted photo)

 

Three robotics teams from Jefferson Middle School competed in the FIRST Lego League East Tennessee State Championship at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville on February 10. The Atomic Eagles qualified to represent Jefferson Middle School and Tennessee at the FIRST LEGO World Championships in Houston this month.

To compete in the state championship, teams must first qualify at either the Knoxville, Nashville, Tullahoma, Bristol, or Johnson City competitions. The Atomic Eagles, JMS Master Builders, and Radioactive Brix all qualified in Knoxville on December 10, 2017, at Hardin Valley Academy.

At the East Tennessee Championship, the Radioactive Brix (team # 3131), including members Johnny Clark, Abby Ellis, Christopher Gorsuch, Roxanne Farahi, Eden Hatmaker, Wesley Hixson, Henry Landau, and Colby Lawson, finished the robot challenge game with a high score of 135. The team coach is Norma Franco and the team mentor is Justin Lawson. [Read more…]

Interested in teaching career? Go to Roane State Education Department’s open houses

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The Roane State Community College Education Department will host a pair of open houses April 24 and April 26 for those interested in pursuing careers in K-12 education.

Current students, incoming freshmen, and members of the community are welcome, said Stacie Bradshaw, associate professor of education.

One event will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, in Room 336 of the Goff Building on the Oak Ridge campus, 701 Briarcliff Avenue.

The second open house will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 26, in Room O-224 of the O’Brien Humanities Building on the Roane County Campus, 276 Patton Lane, Harriman. [Read more…]

Roane State forum on Wednesday will discuss learning, immersive technology such as virtual reality

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A HoloLens, worn here by Roane State director of EMS programs David Blevins, is one of the immersive learning technologies that will be discussed at an April 25 forum at Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus. (Submitted photo)

A HoloLens, worn here by Roane State director of EMS programs David Blevins, is one of the immersive learning technologies that will be discussed at an April 25 forum at Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus. (Submitted photo)

 

How immersive technology such as virtual reality can enhance learning will be the topic of Roane State Community College’s Social and Behavioral Sciences Forum on Wednesday, April 25, at the Oak Ridge campus at 701 Briarcliff Avenue.

Stephanie Shipley with Roane State’s Center for Teachings Arts and Technology will present the topic “Learning in 3D: Adding a New Dimension.” The forum will be from 3-4:30 p.m. in the City Room (A-111) of the Coffey-McNally Building.

A new generation of virtual reality headsets and software promises to revolutionize learning in the classroom, a press release said. During this presentation, participants will be introduced to concepts of virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality that will include important technological and educational considerations and implications in all learning environments.

Pedagogical concepts and principles will be discussed, as well as how immersive technologies can be utilized in specific courses and disciplines, the press release said. Additionally, this presentation will include a demonstration of various immersive technologies such as VR headset apps and the Microsoft HoloLens, the release said. [Read more…]

Chamber’s Primetime event is Thursday; public invited

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Participants at the Spring 2017 Primetime Fiesta event are pictured above. This year's Fiesta will be held on Thursday, April 19, 2018, from 4-6 p.m in the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Parking lot. The event is free and open to the public. (Submitted photo)

Participants at the Spring 2017 Primetime Fiesta event are pictured above. This year’s Fiesta will be held on Thursday, April 19, 2018, from 4-6 p.m in the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Parking lot. The event is free and open to the public. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Spring Primetime networking opportunity is Thursday, and the public is invited to attend, a press release said.

More than 45 Chamber-member organizations have already reserved exhibit space for the event, which is titled “Fiesta Primetime.” Primetime will be held under the tent in the parking lot of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce at 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Primetime is one of the Chamber’s biggest networking events of the year. There is no charge to attend. Anyone—Chamber member or not—is encouraged to attend, the press release said.

Primetime will from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, April 19. [Read more…]

United Way has annual meeting on Thursday

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United Way of Anderson County has its annual meeting in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

It’s scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, April 19, in the New Hope Center at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

“Please join us to celebrate an incredible year…Enjoy a complimentary breakfast, friendly company, some highlights from 2017,” a press release said. “We are so excited to showcase what we’ve accomplished this past year as well as some exciting plans for 2018!”

United Way said the community helped raised enough money last year to fund 43 agencies and more than 55 programs in Anderson County and Campbell County. [Read more…]

Roane State Playmakers to perform ‘Crimes of the Heart’ beginning April 13

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From left, Roane State students Shelby Stout, Courtney Briley, and Karmen Miller will perform in "Crimes of the Heart." (Submitted photo)

From left, Roane State students Shelby Stout, Courtney Briley, and Karmen Miller will perform in “Crimes of the Heart.” (Submitted photo)

 

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

The Roane State Playmakers will be presenting a Pulitzer prize-winning play, “Crimes of the Heart,” by Beth Henley, this month at the O’Brien Theatre on Roane State’s Roane County campus.

Director Jon Chemay called the play a “Southern Gothic Drama” in the vein of Tennessee Williams or Harper Lee. He said, “There are some heavy elements to this play, but they are presented with a sense of humor distinct to the southern family.”

The play takes place in the small town of Hazlehurst, Mississippi, where the three Magrath sisters await news about their grandfather, living out his final hours in the local hospital. One sister, unmarried at 30, faces diminishing martial prospects, another has returned home after a failed singing career, and the third sibling is out on bail after shooting her husband in the stomach.

Their troubles, grave and yet, somehow, hilarious, are highlighted by their priggish cousin, by one sister’s old flame, and by the awkward young lawyer who tries to keep the youngest sister out of jail while helpless not to fall in love with her. [Read more…]

Community Band Concert is Sunday at ORHS

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Kim Kasten plays "Star Dust" on the trumpet at a recent rehearsal of the Oak Ridge Community Band/Wind Ensemble. (Submitted photo)

Kim Kasten plays “Star Dust” on the trumpet at a recent rehearsal of the Oak Ridge Community Band/Wind Ensemble. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Community Band/Wind Ensemble has its last indoor concert of the 2017-2018 series on Sunday. It’s the “April Showers” show at Oak Ridge High School.

The concert starts at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center.

The summer season of outdoor concerts begins on Memorial Day, a press release said.

The Sunday performance promises to be exceptional, featuring a variety of songs including Hoagy Carmichael’s “Star Dust,” featuring trumpet soloist Kim Kasten; Leonard Bernstein’s “Highlights of West Side Story”; Alfred Reed’s exciting “Punchinello”; and James Curnow’s lovely “Cherry Tree” from his “Appalachian Dances,” the press release said. Other numbers on Sunday’s program will be Jean Sibelius’s “Finlandia,” John Clifford Heed’s “In Storm and Sunshine,” and Leroy Anderson’s “Belle of the Ball.” [Read more…]

Holocaust Remembrance Program is Sunday in Oak Ridge

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Mira Kimmelman

Mira Kimmelman

There will be a Holocaust Remembrance Program at the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge on Sunday.

It’s presented by the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge and the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. The Holocaust Remembrance Service is sponsored by the Oak Ridge Interfaith Partnership, and the public is encouraged to attend, a press release said. The City of Oak Ridge has proclaimed April 15 to be Holocaust Remembrance Day for 2018, the press release said.

The Holocaust Remembrance Program will be held from 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday in the Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge Sanctuary, which is at 101 West Madison Lane. There will be a candle lighting ceremony, songs, readings by members of both congregations, and prayers, the press release said. [Read more…]

Under way: Roane State Oak Ridge hosts Open House, Reconnect Ready

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RSCC Coffey McNally Building Oak Ridge

The Coffey/McNally Building is pictured at the Oak Ridge campus of Roane State Community College. (Photo by Roane State)

 

Prospective students of all ages are extended a cordial invitation to an Open House at the Oak Ridge campus of Roane State Community College, which is at 701 Briarcliff Avenue in Oak Ridge.

The event is being held on a Saturday, April 14, in the atrium of the campus’s Coffey-McNally Building. It began at 10:30 a.m. with check-in.

Jim McDaniel, director of student enrollment and recruitment, said the Open House is for “anyone who wants to go to college.”

Information about the admission process and financial aid scholarships will be available. Faculty members will be on hand to discuss the college’s academic programs. [Read more…]

ORFD swimmers rescue stranded canoeist

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Two Oak Ridge Fire Department swimmers rescued a man who had fallen out of a canoe near Clark Center Park in south Oak Ridge on Thursday afternoon, April 12, 2018, authorities said. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Fire Department)

Two Oak Ridge Fire Department swimmers rescued a man who had fallen out of a canoe near Clark Center Park in south Oak Ridge on Thursday afternoon, April 12, 2018, authorities said. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Fire Department)

 

Two Oak Ridge Fire Department swimmers rescued a man who had fallen out of a canoe near Clark Center Park in south Oak Ridge on Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

The man, who was not identified, cannot swim, but he was wearing a life jacket, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release Friday. He was hanging onto a fence post in the water after falling out of his canoe, but he was cold and could not get himself back into the overturned canoe or to the shore, the press release said.

The Oak Ridge 911 dispatch center had received a call that a canoe had overturned in the cove at the entrance to Clark Center Park at about 3:35 p.m. Thursday.

Oak Ridge Fire Department Captain Jason Benjamin has been training a crew of firefighters to become rescue swimmers during the past 24 months, and their training was put to the test on Thursday, the press release said. [Read more…]