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Roane State, SL Tennessee starting apprenticeship program

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Tyra Copas, state apprenticeship director, workforce services, talks to local employers and educators about Tennessee’s initiative to boost apprenticeship programs during a question-and-answer session at Roane State Community College’s Clinton Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility. (Submitted photo)

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Roane State Community College is joining the state’s growing movement to better train new workers by sponsoring apprenticeship programs with area businesses and industries. The college is currently working with one of Anderson County’s biggest employers.

“We will be working with SL Tennessee and our Middle College students in mechatronics to develop programs of study and identify specific apprenticeship tasks,” said Kim Harris, the college’s director of workforce training and placement.

“We look forward to working closely with Roane State in starting the apprenticeship program,” said SL Tennessee Director Scott Laska. “We believe that this program will help solve our skills gap in our operation and provide meaningful career opportunities for the community.”

SL Tennessee, located in the Clinton Interstate 75 Industrial Park, manufactures automotive parts and is near Roane State’s Clinton Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility. The college’s classes in mechatronics—the engineering of electrical and mechanical systems—are offered there.

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Current risk of coronavirus is low, but schools, health dept. provide info

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The immediate risk of the coronavirus in the United States is believed to be low, but Oak Ridge Schools, Anderson County Schools, and the Anderson County Health Department are providing information to help respond to the emerging public health threat.

“Oak Ridge Schools is committed to keeping our students and staff safe and are currently working to determine the appropriate steps to address the potential coronavirus outbreak,” the school system said in a message sent to staff members on Friday afternoon. “We are communicating with the Anderson County Health Department to attain the latest information and recommendations from federal, state, and local authorities.”

Oak Ridge Schools said it will use that information to create a plan to keep students and staff safe.

“Staff, students, and parents will receive information regarding a coronavirus plan should the implementation of such action become necessary,” the message said.

The school system said it will communicate with students, staff, and parents about the importance of consistently practicing these recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

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UCOR accepting applications for education grants

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UCOR, a federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, is accepting applications for education grants between $500 and $1,000.

The grants will support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, projects.

The grant applications are open to public school teachers in eight counties: Anderson (including Oak Ridge and Clinton City schools), Campbell, Knox, Loudon, Morgan, Roane, Scott, and Union.

“Teachers in those counties are welcome to apply, but applications should focus on STEM,” a press release said. “For instance, a music teacher might apply for a grant for a math-related project within the field of music.”

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Snow fell in Oak Ridge on Thursday

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Snow falls in Oak Ridge outside the Joe L. Evins Federal Building on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Snow fell in Oak Ridge on Thursday morning, and the snow briefly accumulated before melting in the afternoon.

The snow and winter weather did not affect Oak Ridge Schools, but it did affect other school districts.

Anderson County Schools dismissed early Thursday and will be closed Friday due to the threat of ice and road conditions that could get worse. Two buses, Bus 48 and Bus 50, were unable to continue their routes past Briceville Elementary School on Thursday afternoon, and students were picked up from the building.

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Sponsored: Mattress fundraiser to benefit ORHS WildBand

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A mattress fundraiser on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020, will help the Oak Ridge High School WildBand.

A mattress fundraiser on Sunday will help the Oak Ridge High School WildBand.

The Second Annual Mattress Fundraiser is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, February 23, in the ORHS Food Court.

“If you are you looking to replace a bed in your home, now is the time,” a press release said. “For one day only, the High School Food Court will be transformed into a mattress showroom.”

There will be 30 different mattress styles on display in all sizes for customers to try, priced below retail, the press release said. Adjustable power bases, premium pillows, bed frames, and mattress protectors will be available as well. The brands—including Simmons Beautyrest, Southerland, Intellibed, and Wellsville—all come with full factory warranties, are made to order, and will be available 2-3 weeks after the fundraiser, the press release said. Delivery is available.

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Roane State Foundation wins $6,000 grant from CNS Y-12

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Making the grant presentation, from left, are Robert Keen, chair of the Y-12 Employment Investment Advisory Committee; Scott Niermann, executive director of the Roane State Foundation; Teresa Duncan, Roane State vice president of workforce development and director of the college’s Oak Ridge Branch Campus; Meghan Lovelace, committee secretary; Mike McClamroch, East Tennessee Foundation president and CEO; and Amy Wilson, CNS senior director of transformation. (Photo by Roane State Community College)

The Roane State Foundation has won a $6,000 grant from the CNS Y-12 Community Investment Fund to help adult students in the community college’s programs in computer science, cybersecurity, and mechatronics, a press release said.

CNS operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, and the contractor established the fund through the East Tennessee Foundation in 2014 as part of its commitment to Oak Ridge and the surrounding communities.

Officials said the grant will fund scholarships to help students pay for industry-recognized certifications. Those certifications are important tools for graduates to pair with their college degree to demonstrate to employers they have the skills and documentations that often allow graduates to earn higher wages when going to work, the press release said.

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Voting rights to be discussed Tuesday

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Katie A. Cahill
Katie A. Cahill

Voting rights will be discussed in Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

The speaker will be Katie A. Cahill, associate director of the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and director of the Leadership and Governance Program. Cahill has a courtesy post as an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Her Tuesday talk will be to the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge. Her talk is titled “Voting Rights, Laws and Trends: A Look Ahead to 2020,” a press release said.

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UT creative writing director to speak at Lunch 4 Literacy in Oak Ridge

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A creative writing director at the University of Tennessee will speak at Lunch 4 Literacy in Oak Ridge in March.

The popular annual event is co-sponsored by the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and the Altrusa International Club of Oak Ridge. It will be held at Oak Ridge High School at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 24.

This year, the award-winning speaker is Margaret Lazarus Dean, an associate professor and director of creative writing in the Department of English at the University of Tennessee. [Read more…]

Roane State graduate doing climate change research at ORNL

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Rachel Andrews, a graduate of Roane State, is shown in an Oak Ridge National Laboratory lab getting serum bottles ready for an incubation experiment. (Photo courtesy Lynn Freeny/U.S. Department of Energy)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

A recent Roane State Community College graduate is researching climate change and the microorganisms that contribute to it.

Rachel Andrews, a Morgan County resident who graduated from the community college in May 2019, is an intern at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She’s doing research with Christopher Schadt in the Biosciences Division at the lab.

They are investigating methane production in peat, which is formed by the partial decomposition of plants in wet, acidic conditions of bogs. Scientists say methane gas is one of the major contributors to a warming planet.

“We study the methanogens that live in peatland soil,” Andrews said in an emailed response to questions about her research. She said these microorganisms produce quite a bit of methane and carbon dioxide, also identified as a culprit in climate change.

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‘Brain Food’ pantry opens at Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus

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Brain Food Pantry Roane State 1
Sue Byrne, third from right, cuts the ribbon for the new Brain Food pantry, located in Roane State Community College’s Coffey/McNally Building in Oak Ridge. She is the assistant project manager for the First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge’s partnership to help stock the campus’s pantry. From left are Scott Niermann, executive director of the Roane State Foundation; Kristie Hopwood, agency relations coordinator for Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee; Kara Allen, an assistant manager of the Kroger Store in Oak Ridge; Melissa Eads, corporate affairs manager for the Kroger Nashville Division; Byrne; Karen Brunner, vice president of Roane State Institutional Effectiveness and Research; and Roane State President Chris Whaley. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

It’s a vexing, persistent problem nationally: food insecurity issues experienced by many college students. Roane State Community College is again doing something about it.

That’s the message delivered by Chris Whaley, president of the community college, during the formal opening of the Brain Food Pantry on the college’s Oak Ridge campus.

Some 40 percent of college students nationwide “struggle with hunger,” Whaley told the crowd attending the ribbon-cutting in the former Anderson Grille in the campus’s Coffey/McNally Building.

Making sure students—and their families—have proper and adequate nutrition “is as much a part of student success as what happens in the classroom,” said Karen Brunner, the college’s vice president of institutional effectiveness and research.

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UT professor with joint appointment at ORNL receives $1.7 million award

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David Mandrus
David Mandrus

A materials science professor in the University of Tennessee’s Tickle College of Engineering has received a five-year $1.7 million award from a leading scientific foundation for research in the emerging field of quantum materials.

David Mandrus, the Jerry and Kay Henry Endowed Professor, has a joint appointment at UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Mandrus’s work has been cited thousands of times, and he has earned several notable accolades for his part in advancing materials science, a press release said. In recognition of his work, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has named him an Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems  (EPiQS) Materials Synthesis Investigator.

“I’m honored to have again been selected by the Moore Foundation as someone whose work they have chosen to recognize,” Mandrus said. “Their support will help me further explore ideas and concepts related to quantum materials and the opportunities they make possible.”

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Volkswagen, UT, ORNL announce collaboration, innovation hub

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Volkswagen Group America Innovation North University Tennessee Research Park
Volkswagen Group of America will lease space in the Innovation North building on the UT Research Park campus. (Photo courtesy University of Tennessee)

Volkswagen Group of America, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Tennessee on Friday announced a collaboration to create Volkswagen’s first innovation hub in North America at the UT Research Park at Cherokee Farm.

“Working with the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a great opportunity to continue growing Volkswagen’s engineering footprint in the North American region,” said Wolfgang Demmelbauer-Ebner, executive vice president and chief engineering officer for Volkswagen’s North American region. “This hub, along with other research institutions here, is an integral part of Volkswagen’s global research and development efforts and can also directly contribute to vehicles in North America.”

The collaboration involves research opportunities for doctoral students and space in the Innovation North building at the UT Research Park at Cherokee Farm in Knoxville, a press release said. Initial work will focus on developing lighter vehicle components made from composite materials and the electrification of vehicles.

[Read more…]

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