Oak Ridge Today





‘Brain Food’ need increases as federal aid reduced

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Roane State Community College Brain Food volunteer Mariella Akers, left, with Sue Byrne from First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge, a sponsor for the pantry. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

“Brain Food,” the name of Roane State Community College’s pantry for students at the Oak Ridge Branch Campus, has seen a big increase in students taking advantage of the free service.

A reduction in federal assistance that went into effect in late September is seen as one of the reasons for the uptick, an official said.

At the Oak Ridge campus, between nine and 11 students were helped by Brain Food each week during the Spring 2021 semester, while that number jumped to 18 to 20 students in the fall.

Last year, more than 120 students were served. After tallying the reported members of each student’s household, pantry staffers estimate that a total of 373 people received assistance in 2021. Mariella Akers, Oak Ridge faculty secretary and Brain Food volunteer, added that 120 of those household members were children.

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Cook’s Comfort Systems donates heat, air unit to Oak Ridge Nursery School

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Cook’s Comfort Systems installs a heat and air conditioning unit at Oak Ridge Nursery School on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. From right are Lisa Shortridge, Oak Ridge Nursery School director, with her son Brennen; Jawrell Cook, owner of Cook’s Comfort Systems in Oak Ridge; lead installer Bryan Vick; and installer Louis Baillargeon with his son Lucas. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Cook’s Comfort Systems of Oak Ridge donated a heating and air-conditioning unit to Oak Ridge Nursery School, and workers installed it this month.

The donation, which included the labor of two workers, was valued at about $8,000, said Jawrell Cook, owner of Cook’s Comfort Systems on Union Valley Road in Oak Ridge.

“They need the help,” Cook said of Oak Ridge Nursery School. The pandemic has been difficult for many organizations, Cook said.

He said he had three sons attend Oak Ridge Nursery School more than 20 years ago, and one of his employees has a son at the nursery school now.

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Anderson County Higher Education Center opens

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The Anderson County Higher Education Center has opened on Frank L. Diggs Drive in Clinton. (Photo by Roane State Community College)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

The new Anderson County Higher Education Center “is an example of what should be happening” to spur workforce development, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee told a large crowd on Friday, December 10.

Gesturing to students in the back who will be attending classes at the center starting in January, Lee thanked them for “pursuing the path you’re pursuing.

“The private sector drives what we’re doing here,” Lee told attendees crowded into the spacious classroom where diesel powered technology will soon be taught.

In the planning and construction stages for years, the center will soon offer several Roane State Community College and Tennessee College of Applied Technology Knoxville classes.

It’s a 48,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility where more than 200 students will be enrolled. It cost $11 million, and SL Tennessee, an auto parts manufacturer next door, donated seven acres for the center, located on Frank L. Diggs Drive in the Clinton/I-75 Industrial Park.

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Shooting threat was a hoax, ORHS principal says

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Oak Ridge High School was on lockdown on Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, after administrators were made aware of a shooting threat posted on social media. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 6:10 p.m.

The shooting threat posted on Snapchat on Monday was a hoax, and there was never any malicious intent, Oak Ridge High School Principal Garfield Adams said in an email to families Tuesday evening.

Two students have been identified as being responsible for the threatening statement.

The City of Oak Ridge said the Oak Ridge Police Department has determined no weapons were ever involved, but charges are pending.

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Two juveniles identified in ORHS social media threat

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The Oak Ridge Police Department identified two juveniles Tuesday in connection to the shooting threat posted on social media that prompted a lockdown at Oak Ridge High School on Monday.

“Both juveniles admitted to making the threat,” the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release. “Throughout the course of the investigation, it has been determined that no weapon was ever involved. Charges are forthcoming.”

The press release did not identify the juveniles or the specific threat. On Monday, the city said it was a shooting threat.

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Updated: ORHS on lockdown after shooting threat

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Oak Ridge High School was on lockdown late Monday morning, Dec. 6, 2021, after administrators were made aware of a shooting threat posted on social media.

This story was last updated at 2:45 p.m.

Oak Ridge High School was on lockdown late Monday morning after administrators were made aware of a shooting threat posted on social media.

“ORHS is on a level 3 lockdown due to a shooting threat on social media,” City of Oak Ridge spokesperson Lauren Gray said. “The Oak Ridge Police Department is currently on scene investigating. Level 3 lockdown is a call for increased security when a situation inside or outside the building may have an impact on school. Students return to classrooms. All outside doors and classroom doors are locked and no one is permitted to enter or exit the building.

“We will release more information as it becomes available.”

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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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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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Oak Ridge school board approves mask mandate

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Oak Ridge school board member Angi Agle, right, proposed a mask mandate inside Oak Ridge school buildings, and her motion was seconded by board member Ben Stephens, left. The school board approved the mandate, which has a written opt-out per an executive order by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, in a 3-1 vote on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021.

Note: This story was last updated at 12 a.m.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education approved a mask mandate in a 3-1 vote on Monday.

The approval of the mask mandate, which is similar to a mandate at four Anderson County schools, occurred as the school system reported about 180 COVID-19 cases among students and staff members in less than three weeks. COVID cases have now been reported at all schools: the preschool, all four elementary schools, both middle schools, the high school, and Secret City Academy.

The mask mandate approved Monday will require masks indoors in school buildings unless the school system has received a written opt-out notice from a parent or guardian in compliance with an executive order issued by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee last week.

The Oak Ridge school year started Wednesday, July 28, with face masks being optional. However, as cases increased significantly in three schools, masks were required there. Those three schools were Jefferson Middle School, Robertsville Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School.

But when the governor announced his order last week, Oak Ridge Schools said it would no longer require masks. That changed with the mandate approved by the school board on Monday.

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More than 100 COVID cases in schools this year, most mild. Four staff members hospitalized during pandemic.

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This chart by Oak Ridge Schools shows the total and current number of COVID-19 cases by school and by student or staff on Monday, Aug. 16, 2021.

There have been more than 100 COVID-19 cases among students and staff members this school year, with most reporting mild symptoms, and a total of four staff hospitalizations reported since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oak Ridge Schools said Monday.

There have been no student or staff fatalities since the pandemic began, the school system said.

Monday morning, there were more than 200 students who were restricted from attending school. There were 109 cases of COVID among students and staff members on Monday evening, mostly among students. The largest number of COVID-19 cases is now at Robertsville Middle School. Until Friday, it had been at Willow Brook Elementary School.

Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said the source of exposure to COVID-19 varies.

“A high percentage of students are unable to identify the source of exposure, while others feel the source was a family member, family gathering, or friend,” Borchers said in a response to questions Monday.

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Masks will be required at JMS, RMS

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This graph shows the total number of COVID-19 in Oak Ridge Schools between Wednesday, Aug. 4, and Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. Twenty-one new cases were reported Friday. The number of cases this fiscal year increased 10 times in nine days, from nine to 90. Total cases include both current cases and recovered, and they include both student and staff cases. (Data from Oak Ridge Schools/Chart by Oak Ridge Today using Flourish)

Face masks will be required at Jefferson and Robertsville middle schools starting Monday as they each reported at least seven new COVID-19 cases since Thursday, and 21 new cases were reported in all Oak Ridge schools, including among students and staff members. Eighty-one new cases have been reported in the past 1.5 weeks.

There are now three Oak Ridge schools that require face masks: Jefferson Middle School, Robertsville Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School. Willow Brook, which had the first outbreak of COVID-19 cases, required face masks starting this past Monday.

Willow Brook still has the largest number of cases: 27. Nineteen of those are current student cases, and one is a current staff case. Willow Brook reported four new cases between Thursday and Friday.

Robertsville has the second-largest number of cases: 24. Twenty of those are current student cases, and one is a current staff case. Robertsville reported seven new cases between Thursday and Friday.

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69 COVID cases reported in Oak Ridge Schools

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This graph shows the total number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools between Wednesday, Aug. 4, and Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. The number of cases this fiscal year increased more than seven times in eight days, from nine to 69. Total cases include both current cases and recovered, and they include both student and staff cases. (Data from Oak Ridge Schools/Chart by Oak Ridge Today using Flourish)

Sixty-nine cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Oak Ridge Schools this fiscal year. Sixty of those cases have been reported in the past eight days, since Wednesday, August 4. Two dozen cases were reported in the past two days. Students have been back in school about two weeks.

Three schools have had more than 10 cases each, and one, Willow Brook Elementary School, has had more than 20. Willow Brook is the only school where face masks are required.

The largest number of cases is at Willow Brook, where 23 COVID cases have been reported. Some are no longer considered current. Current cases include 16 student infections and two staff member infections.

Robertsville Middle School has had the second-highest number of cases with 17 total. Thirteen are current student cases, and one is a current staff case.

Jefferson Middle School has the third-largest number of cases with 11 total. Ten of those are current student cases.

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