Oak Ridge Today

Volunteers raising money for community playground at Robertsville Middle

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Robertsville Middle School

Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Schools)

Robertsville Middle School is in the process of building a community playground, and volunteers have scheduled a May 6 fundraiser that will feature food and music.

This playground will be available for use by all students but also will be built to accommodate the needs of the special education students. The playground will also be available after school and on the weekends for families in the community of the school and families in Oak Ridge.

Robertsville serves more than 700 students in grades 5-8 and presently has no playgrounds available.

“This truly will be a community playground, not only by those who use it, but by how it will be paid for,” a press release said.

The school is partnering with individuals, private businesses, and local companies to raise the $20,000 to build the playground, the safety chips, border around playground, and benches, the release said. RMS donated $4,500 to get the project started, and so far, more than $8,000 has been raised. [Read more…]

New co-requisite model at Roane State, other Tennessee community colleges receiving national recognition

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The Roane State Community College campus in Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photo by Roane State)

A new model that Roane State and all Tennessee community colleges are using to better progress students who need remedial support is receiving national attention.

Under the old model, students whose placement scores indicated they were not ready for college-level work had to pass a series of remedial courses before enrolling in college-level courses the next semester.

The remedial courses did not count toward a student’s degree. A student required to take multiple remedial courses could, for example, finish an entire semester of college as a full-time student without earning a single college credit toward their degree.

The new model, called co-requisite remediation, places under-prepared students directly into the college-level course, but requires learning support systems to help the students master course content and earn college credit in the same semester. [Read more…]

CORRECTED: Pre-registration for Oak Ridge Schools kindergarten is May 2-6

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Oak Ridge Schools will have pre-registration for kindergarten during the week of May 2-6. The pre-registration is scheduled from 8:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. at Glenwood, Linden, Willow Brook, and Woodland elementary schools.

This will be the beginning of a two-part registration process that will be completed just prior to school entrance this summer. If you have a child who will be 5 years old on or before August 15, 2016, you should pick up a registration packet the week of pre-registration from the school in the district of your residence. This packet will include information about the required physical examination and changes to the immunization requirements that are mandated by the State of Tennessee for entrance to school. [Read more…]

UT to host bullying expert from the UK on April 26

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Dieter Wolke

Dieter Wolke

KNOXVILLE—International bullying expert Dieter Wolke, a professor of developmental psychology and individual differences at the University of Warwick, in Coventry, England, will present “The Long Shadow Thrown by Bullying” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 26, at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Free and open to the public, the lecture is in Room 622 of the  Min H. Kao Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building, 1520 Middle Drive. Parking is available in the 11th Street parking garage.

The event is hosted by the Department of Child and Family Studies in UT’s College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.

Wolke will discuss bullying in schools and other settings, what it means for victims, and why it predicts long-term mental health problems. [Read more…]

Running for Office Workshop offered at Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce

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Bob Eby

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce is offering a workshop for anyone interested in running for local office on May 19 from 7-8 p.m. in the Joyce Conference Room at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, 1400 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The workshop is free and is open to the public.

Participants will learn about the process of running for office, gain helpful tips, and will have the opportunity to ask questions about what to expect.

The workshop will be conducted by Bob Eby. Eby has successfully run four campaigns over four decades and currently serves on the Oak Ridge Board of Education. He will share advice he has received from elected officials over the years as well as his own observations collected over the past 30 years. Eby will share his list of things you must do, the things to avoid, and things to consider in order to run a successful campaign. [Read more…]

Two ORHS seniors win Brad Sturm scholarships

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Sean Badurina, Mel Sturm, and Jade Lesher

Sean Badurina and Jade Lesher are winners of the Brad Sturm Memorial Scholarships established by businessman Mel Sturm (center). (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Schools)

 

Sean Badurina and Jade Lesher, two seniors at Oak Ridge High School, were selected by the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge as recipients of the Brad Sturm Memorial Scholarships for 2016.

Sean, who likes to build machines and take them apart to see how they work, said he plans to attend the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and major in mechanical engineering.

Jade, president of the ORHS drama club with eight years of theater experience and section leader in the marching band, plans to attend UT in Knoxville and major in political science.

To qualify for the scholarships, first established 40 years ago by 92-year-old businessman Mel Sturm, ORHS students this year had to read Larry Arnn’s 2015 book “Churchill’s Trial: Winston Churchill and the Salvation of Free Government.” [Read more…]

ORHS concert to feature JazzKats, Concert Band, Symphonic Band

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2015-16 All East Students

Oak Ridge High School 2015-16 All East Students are pictured above. (Submitted photo)

 

A Thursday night concert at Oak Ridge High School will feature award-winning ORHS groups performing in the community for the first time since Christmas.

Among the recent honors: The Oak Ridge High School Band placed 21 students through auditions into the ETSBOA All East Honors Bands. ETSBOA is the East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association.

A couple of the ORHS students were actually chosen on two different instruments, a press release said. Two in the group, Ryan Armstrong and Thomas Colburn, earned seats in All State as well.

“These outstanding students, along with the entire Symphonic and Concert Bands, also earned a superior rating (all 1s in performance and sight reading) at the State Concert Festival under the direction of Spence Milligan and Mike Spirko,” the press release said.

Now, the ORHS Band students and directors have invited the community to enjoy a diverse program of music on Thursday, April 21. A sample of some of the evening’s performances include Director Mike Spirko with the JazzKats opening on “Come Out Swingin’,” followed by the Concert Band performing “West Side Story.” [Read more…]

Roane State professor to discuss his Pluto flyby involvement

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Ted Stryk, ORICL lecturer

Ted Stryk

In July 2015, the world learned about the flyby of Pluto and its moons by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft.

Ted Stryk, associate professor of philosophy and English at Roane State Community College, is participating in the geology and geophysics investigation of Pluto and its moons for the New Horizons team.

He will discuss the latest findings and the story behind his involvement in probing the dwarf planet and its satellites as the next presenter in the Roane State–Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning Intergenerational Lecture Series. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Stryk will deliver his talk at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, in the City Room, A-111, in the Coffey-McNally Building at Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge Branch Campus on Briarcliff Avenue.

“The Pluto flyby occurred 50 years to the day after the first planet, Mars, was imaged close up by Mariner 4,” Stryk said. “The flyby marks the completion of the initial reconnaissance of our solar system as we saw it on the eve of the space age. [Read more…]

Sister City Support Organization selects middle school exchange delegates

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Sister City Support Organization and Oak Ridge Schools

Pictured above are back row, left to right, Myles Hebrard, Brion Fuson, Elijah Gardner, Julie Lee (RMS chaperone), Melissa Fox (JMS chaperone), Jakob Nussbaum, and Sarah Hammons; and front row, left to right, Madeline Davis, Lauryn Rouse, Savanna Rouse, Austin Mayes, Jayden Ellis, and Abby Hausladen. (Submitted photo)

 

The Sister City Support Organization in cooperation with Oak Ridge Schools has selected the delegates for the 2016 middle school exchange with the sister city, Naka-shi Japan. The 10 rising eighth-graders representing both Jefferson and Robertsville middle schools will be accompanied by two teacher/chaperones and Myles Hebrard, supervisor of special education of Oak Ridge Schools.

This is the 25th anniversary of the middle school exchange and the occasion will be celebrated in Naka-shi on July 5, 2016. Representatives from the Oak Ridge Schools, SCSO, Girl Scouts, and the City of Oak Ridge will travel to Naka with the student group in recognition of this milestone.

The SCSO and Oak Ridge schools will host a reciprocal celebration when the Naka students visit Oak Ridge in August.

The 2016 middle school delegates in cooperation with Time to Shine Car Wash are raising funds to help defray their travel expenses. Until the end of April, for any car wash patron using the SCSO code (8984) and purchasing the $20 special, Time to Shine contributes $10 to the students.

Jerralyn Luckmann is a contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

Oak Ridge students experience success at Southern Appalachian Science, Engineering Fair

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Gabe Vacliuc with Poster and Trophy

Oak Ridge High School student Gabe Vacaliuc earned first place for his project titled “dQCuts: Simplifying Molecular Dynamics Datasets Using Higher Order Statistical Signatures” under the mentorship of Arvind Ramanathan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Vacaliuc is pictured above with his poster and trophy at the Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair at the University of Tennessee earlier this month. (Submitted photo)

 

Seventeen research students from Oak Ridge High School competed in the 64th Annual Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair hosted at the University of Tennessee. The competition was held April 4-7 with the awards ceremony on Thursday evening. There were 52 Senior Division projects in competition.

All 17 students are a part of either the Experimental Scientific Research, or ESR, course or Math, Science, and Computer Science Thesis course at ORHS. The ESR course is led by Sharon Thomas and Thesis is led by Tammy Carneim and Jessica Williams.

Gabe Vacaliuc earned first place for his project titled “dQCuts: Simplifying Molecular Dynamics Datasets Using Higher Order Statistical Signatures” under the mentorship of Arvind Ramanathan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Along with a $1,000 scholarship and trophy, Vacaliuc will travel to Phoenix, Arizona, in May to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair.

“SASEF was a great experience because I was able to get substantial feedback in a professional setting,” Vacaliuc said. “I’m so grateful to SASEF for the opportunity to represent my school at ISEF in May.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge native, longtime Hollywood photographer George Holz to speak at UT

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George Holz

George Holz

 

Photographer George Holz—who was born in Oak Ridge, attended the University of Tennessee, and is known for his fashion and celebrity photographs—will return to UT to speak about his work at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14.

His talk will be in the auditorium of the UT College of Nursing at 1200 Volunteer Boulevard in Knoxville. It’s sponsored by the UT School of Journalism and Electronic Media, and it is free and open to the public.

Holz will be talking about his new book, “Holz Hollywood: 30 Years of Portraits.”

Holz was born and raised in Oak Ridge and attended UT for two years in the mid-1970s, working as a photographer for the Daily Beacon and the Volunteer Yearbook.

After attending UT, Holz graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and assisted for noted fashion photographer, Helmut Newton, who became his mentor. [Read more…]

Roane State Education Department to host open houses

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The Roane State Community College campus in Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photo by Roane State)

The Roane State Community College Education Department will host open houses this month for anyone interested in becoming a K-12 teacher.

An open house at the college’s Roane County campus, 276 Patton Lane in Harriman, will be held on Monday, April 18 at 6 p.m. Visitors will meet in Room 224 in the O’Brien Humanities Building.

An open house at the college’s Oak Ridge campus, 701 Briarcliff Ave., will be held on Tuesday, April 26 at 6 p.m. The event will be held in Room 336 in the Goff Health Sciences and Technology Building. [Read more…]