Oak Ridge Today

Application period for tuition, cross boundary apps for Oak Ridge Schools is April 6-24

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Oak Ridge Schools Logo

The application period for renewing or applying for tuition and cross boundary applications for the Oak Ridge Schools is April 6-24.

The approved applications are good for one year. If your child remains in good standing during that time period, you will not need to complete a cross boundary application for the upcoming school year.

If your child is exiting fourth grade or eighth grade, a new application will need to be completed for the middle school or high school. Notification will be sent to you regarding your child’s renewal status. [Read more…]

Divas for a Cure: Day of pampering supports Relay for Life, Cancer Society

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Divas for a Cure 2015

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Calling all divas! Get together your girlfriends, your daughters, your mothers, and grandmothers, and come out for a day of pampering!

We have all been touched by cancer in some way. Some have fought the battle personally, and others have watched loved ones and friends go through the fight.

The American Cancer Society is making great strides in finding a cure for this devastating disease. They have come a long way, but still have much to do. This is where you come in. We would like to invite you to our first event called Divas for a Cure. The event will support the Relay for Life of Oak Ridge, and it is presented by team Got Hope. [Read more…]

New one-megawatt solar array at Heritage Center can power 133 homes

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Powerhouse Six Solar Array Ribbon-cutting April 9, 2015

Company executives and city and federal officials celebrate a new one-megawatt solar array at Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge on Thursday with a ceremonial “plugging in.”

 

A new one-megawatt solar array at the Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge will provide enough clean energy to power 133 average-size homes per year, officials said.

Company and nonprofit executives joined city and federal officials for a ceremonial “plugging in” of the new Powerhouse Six photovoltaic solar array on Thursday.

The $1.8 million array has 3,268 solar modules, and it will be used to sell electric power to the Tennessee Valley Authority through the Oak Ridge Electric Department.

“We’re going live today,” said Gil Hough, renewable energy manager for RSI, or Restoration Services Inc., the Oak Ridge-based company that developed the array. [Read more…]

ORNL Climate Change Science Institute rep to discuss science, policy on Tuesday

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Benjamin L. Preston

Benjamin L. Preston

The deputy director of the Climate Change Science Institute at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss climate change science and policy during a Tuesday lunch lecture. The meeting is open to the public.

Ben Preston is deputy director of ORNL’s Climate Change Science Institute. His talk is titled “The State of Climate Change Science and Policy: Local to Global.”

The Friends of ORNL meeting starts with socializing and coffee at 11 a.m., lunch begins at 11:30 a.m., and the lecture starts at noon. A question-and-answer session is scheduled at 12:45 p.m., and the meeting adjourns at 1 p.m. A catered lunch by the Soup Kitchen will be available for $8. [Read more…]

U.S. scientists celebrate the restart of the Large Hadron Collider, which involves ORNL

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Note: Oak Ridge National Laboratory has led an eight-year upgrade of the electromagnetic calorimeter used for LHC’s experiment called ALICE  (for A Large Ion Collider Experiment). This detector measures the energies of high-energy electrons and gamma rays to learn more about the conditions of the early universe. Thomas M. Cormier leads the LHC Heavy Ion Group in ORNL’s Physics Division.

On Sunday, April 5, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator began its second act. After two years of upgrades and repairs, proton beams once again circulated around the Large Hadron Collider, located at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland.

With the collider back in action, the more than 1,700 U.S. scientists who work on LHC experiments are prepared to join thousands of their international colleagues to study the highest-energy particle collisions ever achieved in the laboratory.

These collisions—hundreds of millions of them every second—will lead scientists to new and unexplored realms of physics, and could yield extraordinary insights into the nature of the physical universe. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Schools 2020 Planning Committee meets Tuesday

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The next meeting of the Oak Ridge Schools 2020 Planning Committee will be Tuesday, April 14, at 1 p.m. in the School Administration Building.

“The Oak Ridge School District is committed to providing its students many opportunities and experiences through which to become aware of, explore, and plan for college and career,” a press release said. “In order to define our focus over the next five years, we are creating a five-year plan to be delivered to the Board of Education for consideration. Representatives from the business and industry community, parents, students, school staff, and board members have been selected to have an opportunity to provide input and serve on this committee.

Members include: [Read more…]

Frank, Gooch talk to Anderson County Tea Party on Tuesday

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Warren L. Gooch

Warren L. Gooch

The next monthly meeting of the Anderson County Tea Party will feature Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, at Clinton Church of God.

Frank and Gooch will discuss their goals for 2015 and the difficulties they see in reaching them, a press release said. [Read more…]

Roane State has open house in Oak Ridge on Thursday

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Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge will have an open house on Thursday, April 16. All are invited, a press release said.

The Oak Ridge campus is located at 701 Briarcliff Avenue.

Check-in will begin at 5:30 p.m., and the Open House will be held from 6-8 p.m. Prospective students will have opportunities to talk one-on-one with faculty and staff; to hear presentations on admissions, majors, dual enrollment and financial aid; and to tour the campus. [Read more…]

DA, public defender to discuss county justice system April 21

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

Tom Marshall

Tom Marshall

League of Women Voters celebrates 69th birthday

Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark and Public Defender Tom Marshall will discuss the current status of the county’s justice system during Lunch with the League on Tuesday, April 21.

After their presentation, the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge will celebrate its 69th birthday. Everyone is invited to stay after the meeting or come at 1 p.m. to celebrate with cake and social time, a press release said.

The presentation by Clark and Marshall is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Summer Camp registration began April 1

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Registration for the 2015 Summer Camp sponsored by the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department began on Wednesday, April 1. A link to ActiveNet online registration will be available at orrecparks.oakridgetn.gov.

Space is limited and the camp fills up quickly, so early registration is recommended. Online registration will be available 24/7 beginning at 8 a.m. April 1. Payment plans are available to online registrants only. All payments must be completed by June 1. Convenience fees will apply to all credit card payments and payment plans. Walk-in registration, for cash or check payment, will be available during regular Civic Center hours, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., beginning at 8 a.m. April 1. Walk-in registrants should complete an online profile/account before coming in to register. The staff will complete the registration at the front desk. [Read more…]

TN Promise students can earn community service hours in Roane State garden

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Promise Garden

Roane State student Georgette Boozer works in the college’s Community Garden near the main campus in Harriman. Tennessee Promise students are invited to work in the garden April 25 from 8 a.m.-noon to earn some of their required community service hours. (Submitted photo)

 

Tennessee Promise students can complete up to four hours of their required community service by working in Roane State’s Community Garden on April 25.

The college is hosting a special Tennessee Promise Day in the Community Garden from 8 a.m.-noon on Saturday, April 25. The garden is located near the college’s main campus in Harriman.

Half of the bounty from Roane State’s Community Garden is donated to local charities to help feed the needy. During the spring, help is needed to clear the garden for this year’s crop. [Read more…]

Guest column: Increasing personalized learning in Oak Ridge Schools

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By Oak Ridge Schools

We have all heard the phrase “going one-to-one,” but what is one-to-one all about? And why are Oak Ridge Schools interested in one-to-one?

The overall idea behind one-to-one is not about having specific devices; rather, it’s about providing personalized learning experiences to students aligned to the Seven Keys to College and Career Readiness in which students can collaborate, learn, reflect, and solve problems in ways that engage and motivate them. Highly effective teachers are essential in the development of personalized learning; they facilitate learning experiences both within their content area and spanning beyond the classroom and into the community. With personalized learning under the direction of highly effective teachers, student engagement increases, discipline problems decrease, attendance increases, and students become even more prepared for college and careers.

Most importantly, students who may not have access to technology due to financial or other considerations will have equal opportunities as their peers. [Read more…]