Oak Ridge Today

ORHS Masquers to present ‘Clue’

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Oak Ridge High School Masquers, the school’s extracurricular drama program, will present “Clue” in three performances in November. (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge High School Masquers, the school’s extracurricular drama program, will present “Clue,” the murderously funny play based on the classic film, for three performances in November, a press release said.

Two evening performances are scheduled at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 11, and Saturday, November 13. An afternoon performance is scheduled at 2 p.m. Sunday, November 14.

The play will be performed in the Oak Ridge Performing Arts Center at ORHS.

“Seating is limited since we will be seating guests socially distanced by family groups,” the press release said. “Seating will be first come, first served.”

“Clue” is the story of a dinner party gone awry. Six guests are invited but told to use only the aliases assigned to them. When Colonel Mustard, Ms. Scarlett, Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock, Professor Plum, and Ms. White figure out they are all being blackmailed by their host, they are presented with a weapon and an option: pay the blackmailer or take the blackmailer out.

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UT-Battelle donation supports Roane State’s Middle College program

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Roane State Community College President Chris Whaley and Alan Icenhour, deputy director of operations for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, hold a replica of the $34,000 check that ORNL contractor UT-Battelle awarded the Roane State Foundation to help with college expenses for Roane State Middle College students. Also pictured is Roane State’s Interim Middle College Director Susan Pearson, Roane State Vice President for Student Learning Diane Ward, Roane State Foundation Executive Director Scott Niermann, Deborah Miller of Roane State’s Grants Development Office, Roane State Foundation Board Member Joy Goldberg, former ORNL Community Relations Manager Wade Creswell, Roane State Foundation Scholarship Specialist Pam Rudnitzki, and several RSCC Middle College students. (Photo submitted by Roane State)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

The tradition of funding scholarships for Middle College students enrolled in Roane State Community College’s innovative program is going strong and continues to help participants reach long-term goals.

A $34,000 annual contribution from UT-Battelle helps cover tuition and other costs for students from Roane County’s five high schools to attend Middle College. This year, 57 Roane County students are enrolled in the curriculum.

UT-Battelle is the contractor that manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory, located in Roane County, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. Middle College, now in its sixth year, is a two-year program for high-achieving high school students who want to get a head start on college.

High school juniors enrolled in Middle College take college courses at one of Roane State’s campuses in the mornings and return to their respective high schools in the afternoons. That way, they can graduate from high school at the same time they earn an associate degree from Roane State. Graduates can then transfer to other colleges and enroll as juniors.

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Street Painting Festival honors Scarboro 85, raises funds for Roane State scholarships

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The theme for the 2021 Street Painting Festival, “Honoring Scarboro 85,” recognized the first Black students from the former Scarboro School who integrated Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High on Sept. 6, 1955. The Honoring Scarboro 85 award went to the team of Dawn and Her Guys. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

The 2021 Street Painting Festival, hosted by the Noon Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, is in the books having raised more than $14,000 to help fund scholarships for Roane State Community College students in Anderson County.

Held in Oak Ridge’s Historic Jackson Square each October, the festival blends art, history, and community for a fun event in support of local students. Nearly $300,000 in scholarships issued by the nonprofit Roane State Foundation have been provided since the start of the festival in 1999, a press release said.

Festival sponsors make a tax-exempt donation to the Foundation, with levels ranging from $5,000 for Platinum down to $100 for Individual. Sponsors’ names are assigned to sidewalk squares upon which the artists then paint pictures with chalk. Materials and Chemistry Laboratory Inc. once again sponsored the event at the Platinum Level. 2021 marked the 20th consecutive year of festival sponsorship for the company.

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Trunk or Treat at Roane State is Thursday

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Trunk or Treat is at Roane State Community College on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. (Submitted photo)

The always popular Trunk or Treat event is back this year at Roane State Community College, scheduled for the evening of Thursday, October 28, a press release said.

Trunk or Treat festivities will begin at 5 p.m. and wrap up around 7 p.m., the press release said. College students, employees, and members of the community are welcome to attend. Admission is free.

The event will take place in the student parking lot next to the O’Brien Theatre on the Roane County campus, located at 276 Patton Lane in Harriman. Signage on campus will direct visitors where to go when they arrive.

Participants will be able to collect candy and other treats as they visit vehicles lined up in the parking area. Many event volunteers will be in costume.

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Roane State launches business ownership certificate

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There are always pitfalls and challenges when launching a new business, and Roane State has started a new program to help fledgling entrepreneurs succeed.

The Business Ownership Certificate is a two-semester program that focuses on the most common barriers to startup companies, said Roane State Community College Associate Professor Mike Farmer, the college’s business program director.

“Business owners need to both be experts in their field and be ready for the hidden challenges of ownership,” Farmer said. “They must handle finances, taxes, business regulations, employee management, human resources, and advertising.”

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RMS RamSat team to discuss cube satellite

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Robertsville Middle School students and mentors assembling the RamSat cube satellite. (Submitted photo)

ORION will welcome the Robertsville Middle School RamSat cube satellite team to a Zoom session on Wednesday evening, October 20.

The Robertsville Middle School CubeSat began its construction in the 2015-2016 school year after Robertsville became the first middle school selected by NASA’s Cube Sat Launch Initiative program. RamSat is a two-unit cube satellite, with dimensions of 20 centimeters by 10 centimeters by 10 centimeters. Its mission is to take pictures of the forests around Gatlinburg, which were destroyed by wildfire in 2016.

RamSat has an educational co-mission to develop a middle school STEM curriculum, a press release said. The mission has been designed and carried out by students, teachers, and mentors. The cube satellite has been dubbed RamSat for the school’s mascot.

The Wednesday Zoom session will start at 7 p.m. It is open to the public. [Read more…]

CNS contributes $100,000 in community grants to 17 nonprofits

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A Consolidated Nuclear Security Community Investment grant funded a therapist for Willow Brook Elementary School in Oak Ridge.  (Submitted photo)

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Awards recommended by Y-12 employees in 2021 focused on at-risk youth, food insecurity, mental health, and aid to frontline workers

Consolidated Nuclear Security, in partnership with East Tennessee Foundation, recently awarded 17 grants totaling $100,000 to nonprofit organizations in 10 East Tennessee counties: Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Hamblen, Knox, Monroe, Roane, Scott, and Sevier.

The CNS Employee Investment Advisory Committee at Y-12 National Security Complex reviewed dozens of grant proposals this year, conducted staff interviews, and made site visits before recommending funding based on the committee’s four focus areas for the year: at-risk youth, food insecurity, mental health, and aid to frontline workers.

With the latest round of community investment grants, Consolidated Nuclear Security topped $880,000 of investment in the East Tennessee community during the last five years, a press release said.

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ORHS teacher to discuss Harvard Case Method

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A social studies teacher at Oak Ridge High School will discuss the Harvard Law School case method and its teaching benefits during an online meeting at noon Tuesday, October 5.

Teacher Richard Alexander “Alex” Shaffer will be the speaker at the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge meeting. Shaffer has completed the training for and is teaching a course using the Harvard Case Method of teaching history, a press release said.

“The case method is proving to be effective in teaching high school students critical thinking skills, just what our future leaders will need,” the press release said.

The public is invited. The meeting is virtual in order to keep people safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. You don’t have to be a League member. For instruction on linking to the live presentation, contact lwvoakridge@gmail.com.

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Fall festival Saturday at Roane State

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Photo courtesy Roane State Community College

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Fall is the time for festivals, and there will be a free celebration of the season on Saturday, October 2, in front of Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge Branch Campus.

The event, scheduled to run from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday, is sponsored by Roane State’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges.

The formal name for the celebration is the PTK Fall Festival & Car Show, said Roane State Associate Professor Claudia Cummings, adviser for the local PTK chapter.

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Roane State grad now at ORNL, researching how to thwart vehicular cyberattacks

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Sam Hollifield (Submitted photo)

By Bob Fowler

Roane State staff writer

This Roane State Community College graduate now works at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, researching what he told an interviewer is “the cat-and-mouse game that is modern cybersecurity.”

Specifically, Samuel Hollifield Jr. is looking into ways to defend vehicles’ computer systems from being hacked. He’s a cybersecurity hardware engineer. “Never in my life would I think I’d have a job defending automotive networks,” he said.

His education at Roane State played a huge role in his career path, Hollifield said. “It sounds like a cliché, but Roane State, it changed my life,” he said. “I’m a huge cheerleader.”

A Kentucky native, Hollifield initially attended a community college there but had to withdraw as his late father’s health declined. Employed in the coal-mining industry and afflicted with black lung disease, his father died at age 56.

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Roane State’s Lab-in-a-Box program hits major milestone

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Brothers Henry Kitts, left, and William Kitts help educators Britini Carter, left, and Nicole Hood as they assemble a robotics kit that’s part of the Lab-in-a-Box program administered by Roane State Community College. (Submitted photo)

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

Students were teaching the teachers to assemble complex robots as the Lab-in-a-Box program developed by Roane State Community College reached a major landmark.

The occasion was the latest session of showing teachers from rural middle schools how to include the innovative kits to instruct their students in scientific principles of friction, fossils, and robotics.

“The more hands-on lessons students have, the more they can grasp the concept,” Rockwood Middle School teacher Bernard McMahon said.

The Lab-in-a-Box program evolved from an initiative 11 years ago by the East Tennessee Economic Council to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in rural schools.

Roane State has been deeply involved in the program from its start. Faculty members developed the three kits, and each summer they introduce the components – contained in large plastic boxes – to area teachers.

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Roane State graduate looks forward to career in journalism

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Kaleigh Jenkins

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

From the start, Kaleigh Jenkins knew Roane State Community College was right for her. After all, both parents attended Roane State and strongly encouraged her to consider the nearby community college.

“I thought going to a four-year school was not the right step for me,” the 20-year-old said.

So after graduating from Harriman High School, Jenkins enrolled at Roane State and hasn’t looked back. She graduated this summer and is looking forward to her future, which she hopes involves journalism.

She received an associate degree in mass communications and is enrolled this fall at University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where she’ll be pursuing a bachelor’s degree in communications.

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