Oak Ridge Today

Middle school students competing regionally for National Science Bowl finals

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Middle school students from Oak Ridge, Norris, and Oliver Springs are participating in an upcoming competition to determine what team will represent Tennessee in the middle school national finals of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s National Science Bowl.

The winner of the regional competition, scheduled for Feb. 1 at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge, will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the Office of Science’s National Science Bowl in late April.

The winner of the national competition will win prizes for the team members and their schools.

Here are the teams that are competing: [Read more…]

UT research finds link between alcohol use, not pot, and domestic violence

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

KNOXVILLE—Alcohol use is more likely than marijuana use to lead to violence between partners, according to studies done at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Research among college students found that men under the influence of alcohol are more likely to perpetrate physical, psychological, or sexual aggression against their partners than men under the influence of marijuana. Women, on the other hand, were more likely to be physically and psychologically aggressive under the influence of alcohol, but, unlike men, they were also more likely to be psychologically aggressive under the influence of marijuana.

The research has implications for domestic violence intervention and prevention programs. [Read more…]

School board to consider demolition of Blankenship visitor bleachers

Posted at
By 11 Comments

Visitor Bleachers at Blankenship Field

The Oak Ridge Board of Education on Monday will consider whether to demolish the visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field.

The visitor bleachers at Blankenship Field are no longer safe for fans, would cost too much to repair, and should be demolished immediately, a school official said this month.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education will consider the proposed demolition during a Monday evening meeting.

The visitor bleachers would be too much of a liability risk if they continue to be used, said Allen Thacker, maintenance and operations supervisor for Oak Ridge Schools. In addition, the main stairs from the dressing rooms to the field on the home side of Jack Armstrong Stadium/Blankenship Field are seriously aged and suffer from erosion. [Read more…]

Roane State offering iPad Basics workshop Jan. 30, Oak Ridge campus

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

If you received an iPad this holiday season and want to learn how to get the most out of it, then Roane State Community College has a workshop for you.

The college’s Community Outreach and Professional Training Department is offering an iPad Basics workshop on Thursday, Jan. 30, from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at the college’s Oak Ridge campus, 701 Briarcliff Ave.

The cost is $69 per person. [Read more…]

UT professor offers tips to help avoid, deal with flu season

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Paul Campbell Erwin

Paul Campbell Erwin

Forty states—including Tennessee—are already experiencing widespread and increasing influenza infections this season, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Paul Erwin, head of the Department of Public Health at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, offers three simple tips that can go a long way in protecting you from getting or spreading the flu:

  • Get vaccinated.

Erwin noted that flu vaccines are still available and effective. [Read more…]

DOE-ORO employees teach Woodland students the fun of math, science

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

DOE Environmental Management at Woodland STEM Night

Employees from the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management took part in Woodland Elementary’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) night on Thursday. (Photos by DOE/Lynn Freeny)

Employees from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management participated in Woodland Elementary’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, or STEM, night on Thursday. Employees volunteered to help students from kindergarten through fourth grade forge a love for math and science and realize the possibilities these disciplines offer.

“It’s rewarding any time you can participate in the education process,” said Jay Mullis, director of the Engineering, Safety, and Quality Division with DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. “These kids are in the stage when learning is new and fun, and it’s the perfect opportunity to lay a great foundation and appreciation of the sciences.”

The event involved numerous local sponsors and community groups that helped design and share fun, educational activities for students at Woodland Elementary in Oak Ridge. Kids had the opportunity to learn through robots, Legos, gummy bear catapults, astronomy, spaghetti and marshmallow tower-building competitions, and math code busters. Specifically, Environmental Management employees taught participants how to create their own lava lamps. [Read more…]

Principals appointed at Oak Ridge High, Jefferson Middle

Posted at
By 2 Comments

David Bryant

David Bryant

Phil Cox

Phil Cox

Interim principals at Oak Ridge High School and Jefferson Middle School have been named principals, Oak Ridge Schools announced Wednesday.

David Bryant, who has been interim principal at Oak Ridge High School, has been named principal, and Phillip Cox, interim principal at Jefferson Middle School, has been named principal at the middle school.

Bryant has been interim principal at the high school since July 2013. He was an assistant ORHS principal from 2006 to 2013, and before that, he was an administrator at the Alternative Program.

Bryant began his career with Oak Ridge Schools as a special education teacher in 1985. He has a bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and a master’s degree from Lincoln Memorial University. [Read more…]

ORNL, DOE, Roane State, Borchers to take part in STEM Night at Woodland

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Bruce Borchers

Bruce Borchers

Representatives from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Roane State Community College—as well as Superintendent Bruce Borchers—will take part in a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Night for students at Woodland Elementary School on Thursday.

The STEM Night for students is being hosted by the Woodland Parent Teacher Organization, a press release said. It will be in the school’s gymnasium. Borchers will kick off the event with opening comments at 5:15 p.m. Thursday.

A press release said Borchers is pursuing avenues to make Oak Ridge “the” premier STEM school district in the country. [Read more…]

Anderson County Schools closed Wednesday because of low temps, wind chill

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Anderson County Schools will be closed Wednesday because of extremely low temperatures and a predicted wind chill factor of zero or below, officials said.

Central Office employees will follow inclement weather procedures, a press release said.

Death by Chocolate event at Roane State to feature tasty treats, lecture by Bill Bass

Posted at
By 2 Comments

Bill Bass

Bill Bass

Enjoy an evening of delectable desserts from local chefs and a fascinating lecture by Body Farm founder Bill Bass at the Roane State Foundation’s Death by Chocolate fundraiser on Feb. 13.

The event will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 13, in the O’Brien Theatre at Roane State’s Roane County campus in Harriman. The chocolate tasting, featuring dozens of samples from area businesses, begins at 6 p.m. The lecture by Bass will start at 7 p.m. Proceeds from ticket sales will be used for student scholarships.

Bass founded the University of Tennessee’s Anthropological Research Facility, an outdoor laboratory dedicated to the study of human decomposition. The facility, often referred to as the “Body Farm,” was featured prominently in the novel “The Body Farm” by best-selling author Patricia Cornwell. [Read more…]

JMS briefly locked down as police search area for person with handgun

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Jefferson Middle School

Jefferson Middle School

Jefferson Middle School was briefly locked down early Thursday afternoon as police searched for a person armed with a handgun at a nearby business.

The Oak Ridge Police Department began searching for the person at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday after receiving information that the individual, who is not identified in a press release, had just left the Clinton area and might be on the way to the west end of Oak Ridge.

“Oak Ridge police personnel from the Patrol, Criminal Investigations, and Administration divisions immediately deployed throughout the city to locate the individual, and at approximately 12:52 p.m., information was received that the individual may have been in a vehicle in the Home Depot parking lot in Oak Ridge,” an ORPD press release said. “Oak Ridge police unmarked units identified a vehicle matching the description of the individual’s vehicle in the parking lot and requested the Jefferson Middle School initiate a lockdown, as it was nearby. [Read more…]

Borchers to discuss Oak Ridge Schools at Lunch with League

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Bruce Borchers

Bruce Borchers

Superintendent Bruce Borchers will discuss Oak Ridge Schools at Lunch with the League on Tuesday.

The meeting starts at noon Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Borchers will focus on the theme “Building on Excellence: Where we were, where we are, and where we are going.” He will highlight achievement data, changing demographics, and initiatives that will help Oak Ridge students be successful in the 21st Century, a press release said. [Read more…]