Oak Ridge Today





Roane State One Stop resumes in-person student services

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Part of the Oak Ridge branch campus of Roane State Community College is pictured above. (Photo by Roane State)

Roane State Community College’s One Stop offices at the Roane County and Oak Ridge campuses have now resumed in-person student services.

Success coaches were returning to all RSCC campuses this week on a mixed schedule, a press release said. When scheduling appointments with success coaches, students will be able to select from in-person and virtual meeting options.

One Stop staff at the Roane County and Oak Ridge campuses moved to virtual operations earlier this year due to COVID-19 protocols. In-person One Stop services remained available at RSCC satellite campuses during this time, the press release said.

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ORHS student wins first place at Tennessee Junior Science & Humanities Symposium

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Oak Ridge High School student Daniel Joy won first place at the Tennessee Junior Science and Humanities Symposium Poster Presentation Competition held virtually in March, the school system said in a press release.

The competition was March 4-5. Daniel, son of Ingrid Busch and Ken Joy, presented his poster, “Using Data Science to Explore Historical Trends and Predict Future Rates of COVID-19”. His research involved analyzing COVID-19 case rates around holidays using regression analysis. Dan worked with Chad Steed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory through the Math Thesis course at Oak Ridge High School, the press release said.

Jessica Williams, co-teacher of Math Thesis at ORHS, said: “We’re thrilled that (the University of Tennessee in Knoxville) was able to provide this opportunity to students this year. TJSHS is a unique opportunity for high school students to present their scientific research in a professional setting. We appreciate the support from our administration and the community to provide this course to our students.”

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Roane State partners with Y-12 to host second annual Cybersecurity Summer Camp

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Following a successful first year, Roane State Community College and Y-12 National Security Complex are announcing the second Cybersecurity Summer Camp. (Photo submitted by Roane State)

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Following a successful first year, Roane State Community College and Y-12 National Security Complex are announcing the second Cybersecurity Summer Camp.

Two sessions will be held this year, one in mid-June for high-school-aged students and another in July for middle-school-aged students. Registration will be available beginning on Monday, March 22.

Roane State partnered with Y-12 in this effort to inspire future workers and help them develop talents that can be used to protect the nation’s most valuable information, a press release said.

During the camp, students learn about digital forensics, IP (Internet protocol) scanning, data reconnaissance, and many other topics—all key components of Y-12’s cybersecurity program, the press release said.

Here are the 2021 camp dates:

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Ten COVID cases reported among students since Friday

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A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020. We have defined weeks as Wednesday-Tuesday. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. Note: Week 14 started Wednesday, Oct. 28, so it’s a partial week. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m. Oct. 29.

Ten COVID-19 cases have been reported among students in Oak Ridge Schools since Friday. That’s the highest number of cases reported in any seven-day period so far this school year.

The 10 new student cases were reported between Friday and Wednesday. Six of the cases were reported among students at Oak Ridge High School. It’s not clear yet if the surge is an anomaly or part of a trend.

There are currently 46 students and five staff members who are not allowed to attend school because they have been in close contact with someone at school who has been confirmed to have COVID-19, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said in response to questions Wednesday.

The surge in new cases has occurred as middle schools prepare to return to classes five days per week starting Monday.

Borchers has said about 80 percent of COVID-19 cases in the schools were due to activities outside of school. On Wednesday, he said 85.2 percent of the student cases in Oak Ridge Schools have been confirmed to be non-school related.

Borchers said the schools are not aware of any cases in which students or staff members have developed COVID-19 because they were in close contact with a person at school who was confirmed to be COVID-positive.

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Street Painting Festival Saturday helps fund Roane State scholarships

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The Street Painting Festival in Oak Ridge today (Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020) helps fund scholarships at Roane State Community College.

The Street Painting Festival in Oak Ridge today (Saturday, October 17) helps fund scholarships at Roane State Community College.

The theme for this year’s event is “HeART For Heroes.” The festival is being held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at historic Jackson Square in Oak Ridge. Chalking began at 8 a.m.

Materials and Chemistry Laboratory, Inc. (MCLinc) of Oak Ridge recently announced it is sponsoring the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge’s Street Painting Festival at the Platinum Level. The festival was launched in 2000, and this year’s event marks the 19th consecutive year that MCLinc has been a major contributor to the effort, a press release said. MCLinc is an applied research laboratory that provides analyses and consultation services in a wide assortment of fields, including environmental chemistry, industrial hygiene, and uranium chemistry.

Festival sponsors make a tax-exempt donation to the Roane State Foundation, providing funds for scholarships for Roane State students. Sponsorship levels include Platinum, or $5,000 and up; Gold, $2,500 to $4,999; Silver, $1,000 to $2,499; Bronze, $500 to $999; small business, $250 to $499; and individual, $100 to $249.

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After break, schools will continue mix of in-person, staggered schedules

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Bruce Borchers
Bruce Borchers

After fall break, Oak Ridge Schools will continue using in-person instruction for students from pre-kindergarten to fourth grade and staggered schedules for students in fifth grade to 12th grade, Superintendent Bruce Borchers said Tuesday.

The younger students have five days of in-person instruction per week, while the older students have staggered schedules: two days of in-person instruction and three days of online learning per week.

In a letter to staff members and families on Tuesday, Borchers said school staff and students have kept the spread of COVID-19 low during the first term using contact tracing, isolation, quarantine, and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; practicing good personal hygiene such as hand washing; maintaining physical distances and wearing face masks; and providing or being able to use hand sanitizing stations and clean facilities.

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Updated: ORHS principal leaving Oak Ridge, going to Greeneville

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Note: This story was updated at 10:20 a.m. Sept. 17.

Oak Ridge High School Principal Martin McDonald announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that he is leaving his job at ORHS and starting a new job at Greeneville High School in East Tennessee.

On Wednesday, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said McDonald will continue at ORHS through the end of the first term and will transition to his new role in Greeneville during the first weeks of October.

Neither McDonald nor Oak Ridge Schools said why the principal is leaving Oak Ridge.

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Updated: Oak Ridge Schools will have staggered classes at middle schools, high school

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Note: This story was updated at 2 p.m. July 24.

Oak Ridge Schools will now have staggered classes for students at its two middle schools and one high school. Those students will now attend classes two days per week and then have online classes the other three days.

Elementary school students will attend classes five days per week.

The new plan was unanimously approved by the Oak Ridge Board of Education during a 45-minute special meeting Thursday afternoon.

The plan had been presented to the school board by Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers.

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For members: RMS satellite scheduled to launch in September

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Peter Thornton, a researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, holds the cube satellite, or CubeSat, that will be completely built soon and was developed by Robertsville Middle School students with help from teachers and mentors. Named RamSat, the cube satellite is scheduled to launch from Virginia on a space station resupply mission on Sept. 7, 2020. Thornton is pictured above during a mentors meeting at RMS on Thursday, May 28. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The small cube satellite built by Robertsville Middle School students with help from teachers, mentors, and NASA is scheduled to launch on a resupply rocket to the International Space Station in September, and it could be deployed into orbit a few hundred miles above Earth in October.

Testing of the satellite and its components, including a battery test and vibration tests, was scheduled to start this week.

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First ORHS Middle College class at Roane State about to graduate

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Oak Ridge High School Roane State Community College Middle College 2020
Pictured is the first class of Roane State Middle College students from Oak Ridge High School. Seated from left are Aamariah Crow, Isabella Kelly, Chloe Mallett, Savannah Shropshire, Selena Sterling, and Christina Thomas. Standing from left are Caroline Webb, Katie Swigert, Haley Snyder, Jacob Wright, Shaelyn Deal, and Cameille Schubert. Not pictured: Cameron Malone and Marissa Colvais. (Photo courtesy Roane State Community College)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

One wants to be a doctor. Another, a lawyer involved in immigration cases. Two plan to become engineers, another wants to be involved in mission work, and one intends to work as an ultrasound technician.

They are among 14 Oak Ridge High School students who are members of the first Roane State Community College Middle College class, and they’re getting ready to graduate this spring, both from high school and college.

Although they have varying career goals, they have several things in common. They all say they have enjoyed their Middle College experiences, they’ve all been accepted to colleges and universities to continue their educations, and they’re fans of their advisor and English instructor, Assistant Roane State Professor Margaret “Maggie” Bouldin.

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Roane State hosts launch of ‘Dream It. Do It.’ competition

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Roane State Dream It Do It Oct. 14 2019
Roane State Community College hosts the 5th annual ‘Dream It. Do It.” competition launch at the Clinton Higher Education and Training facility on Oct. 14, 2019. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Roane State hosted the launch of the fifth annual “Dream It. Do It.” competition last week at the community college’s mechatronics campus in Clinton, and it is also providing judges for the months-long events.

Now in its fifth year, the unique student competition highlighting manufacturing careers is sponsored by Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, the contractor that operates the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, and the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce.

The event is held each October as part of the National Manufacturing Day celebration.

Chamber President Rick Meredith during the competition kickoff expressed appreciation for the college’s assistance. Gordon Williams, director of the mechatronics program in the Clinton Higher Education and Training facility, showed the students the various types of equipment used in mechatronics.

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State Building Commission approves design of TCAT campus in Anderson County

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An image shows what the Tennessee College of Applied Technology could look like in Anderson County. (Image courtesy state of Tennessee)

The Tennessee State Building Commission in Nashville on Thursday approved the early design phase of the new TCAT Knoxville Higher Education Center in Anderson County, a press release said.

The 47,603 square-foot technology training facility will be located in the city of Clinton. It will be a shared-use building for TCAT Knoxville and Roane State Community College dedicated to training students for the modern workforce, the press release said.

TCAT is the Tennessee College of Applied Technology.

Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, presided over the State Building Commission meeting approving the design and was integral in getting the project approved, the press release said.

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