Oak Ridge Today

Education Foundation to award more than $90,000 in grants in April 26 ceremony

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A photo from a grant award last year for a 3D printer for Robertsville Middle School. (Submitted photo)

A photo from a grant award last year for a 3D printer for Robertsville Middle School. (Submitted photo)

 

In the final year of its “Making the Critical Difference” campaign, the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation will award more than $90,000 in grants to Oak Ridge teachers at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 26, a press release said.

Shirley Raines, president emeritus of the University of Memphis, will be the featured speaker, the press release said. She will give a talk titled, “Dreamers, Thinkers, Doers.”

The grants ceremony is open to the public, and it will be held in the Oak Ridge High School cafeteria beginning at 4 p.m. April 26.

Demonstrations and displays of some of the projects and technology funded by the Foundation will be given after the formal ceremony, the press release said. Light refreshments will be provided courtesy of Oak Ridge Utility District.

The 2017 grant recipients are as follows: [Read more…]

New principal named at Oak Ridge Preschool, administrative assistants at Linden, Glenwood

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Lisa Downard

Lisa Downard

Oak Ridge Schools have announced a new principal at the Preschool and new administrative assistants at Linden and Glenwood elementary schools.

Lisa Downard will be the new principal of Oak Ridge Schools Preschool. Downard has a bachelor’s degree in special education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. She earned her Ed.S. in instructional leadership from Lincoln Memorial University in 2014, a press release said. Downard was the assistant principal at Linden Elementary School for six years.

Heather Jenkins has been selected to become the new administrative assistant at Linden Elementary School. Jenkins has a bachelor’s degree from Tennessee Tech in elementary education and an master’s degree from Tennessee Tech in instructional leadership. Jenkins has taught at Linden for 11 years. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge one of 12 school districts to receive grants for summer reading programs

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On Friday, May 13, Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced the recipients of the 2016 Read to be Ready Summer Grant.

Earlier this year, in conjunction with the launch of the statewide Read to be Ready Campaign, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation gave a $1 million gift to the department to award for summer reading programs during the next three years. This spring, the department received more than 200 proposals and has selected 12 summer programs from across the state to receive funding, a press release said.

“With less than half of the state’s third-graders currently reading on grade level, we must approach reading in new and innovative ways,” McQueen said in the press release. “Read to be Ready summer grants will support individual communities as they tailor their approach to reading to meet the needs of the families they serve.”

Read to be Ready is a coordinated approach to move third-grade reading proficiency in Tennessee to 75 percent by 2025. The campaign seeks to raise awareness about the importance of reading, unite efforts to address the reading gap, highlight best practices, and build partnerships. Read to be Ready summer grants are designed to support students even after the last day of school, the press release said.

The awarded program recipients’ region, district, and director of the program are below: [Read more…]

Education Foundation to award $85,000 in grants at April 13 ceremony

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Jay Searcy

Jay Searcy

As part of its “Making the Critical Difference” campaign, the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation will award approximately $85,000 in grants to Oak Ridge teachers at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 13.

Jay Searcy, a national award-winning sports writer and Oak Ridge Class of 1952 alumnus, will be the featured speaker at the event sharing his talk entitled, “How to Improve Our Schools Without Knowing How.” The ceremony is open to the public and will be held in the Oak Ridge High School cafeteria beginning at 4 p.m. April 13. Demonstrations and displays of some of the projects and technology funded by the Foundation will be given after the formal ceremony. Light refreshments will be provided courtesy of Oak Ridge Utility District.

The 2016 grant recipients are as follows:

  • Oak Ridge Preschool—Margaret Johnston
  • Glenwood Elementary—Amelia Bell, Lauren Blair, and Gwen Harrell
  • Linden Elementary—Ginger Adams and Lisa Buckner
  • Willow Brook Elementary—Ashley Branson and Andrew McDonald
  • Woodland Elementary—Susie Carden, Kim Howard, Michael Martin, and Evan Parker
  • Jefferson Middle School—Jim Dodson, Emily Haverkamp, Heather Henderlight, Julie McCullough, Lexie Scott, and Brian Smith
  • Robertsville Middle School—David Goforth, Mariah Kidwell, Mardee Miller, and David Scott
  • Oak Ridge High School—Christina Henry, Spence Milligan, Vidal Moreno, Deanna Pickel, Sharon Thomas, and Will Waterson

[Read more…]

Glenwood librarian named Teacher of the Year by Oak Ridge Schools

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Amelia Bell

Amelia Bell

Amelia Bell, a librarian at Glenwood Elementary School, has been named Teacher of the Year for the Oak Ridge school system.

Oak Ridge Schools announced their pick on Tuesday.

Bell is a librarian with 20 years of teaching experience, a press release said. She is a member of the Glenwood Leadership Team and has presented at several conferences, including the Tennessee Afterschool Summer Symposium and the American Association of School Librarians National Conference. She has also served as a lecturer in the School of Information Science at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Schools announces three teachers of the year

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Oak Ridge Schools has announced three teachers of the year.

The three building-wide teachers of the year are:

  • Amelia Bell, Glenwood Elementary School;
  • Amy Fuqua, Linden Elementary School; and
  • Lisa Meidl, Willow Brook Elementary School.

In a press release, school officials said they will soon announce the selection of the system-wide Teacher of the Year, selected from one of these three candidates. [Read more…]