Oak Ridge Today

Jefferson Middle School students win map award

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Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Schools

Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Schools

 

Jefferson Middle School students Ian Bailey and Beatrice Shea were awarded second place in the Student Map—up to age 12 category at the Esri 2017 Users Conference Map Gallery.

The students selected their mapping project because their school is unique by having wooded and protected areas near it. They learned that these areas provide a habitat that is important to the local ecosystem. Jefferson Middle School has taken a strong interest in protecting these resources and has taken steps to add more habitats, creating a wetland, for example, and maintaining trails, eradicating invasive species, and providing bird boxes in the Cedar Barrens.

Their map, Cedar Barrens, is an online Story Map created using ArcGIS Online to display efforts to engage Jefferson Middle School students in their surroundings in a meaningful way. Students collected the locations shown on the map using GPS, added photos and text to explain each location. You can view their map at http://arcg.is/2g66cm1. [Read more…]

Jefferson Middle School teachers to represent Tennessee at National Geographic Society training

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Oak Ridge Schools Logo

The Tennessee Geographic Alliance has chosen Jefferson Middle School teachers Brian Smith and John Beard of Oak Ridge Schools to represent Tennessee at a special training session at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., from June 24-28.

The purpose of the Summer Institute is to train educators on the Geo-Inquiry Process, which involves the following phases:

  • Developing Scientific and Geographic Questions,
  • Acquiring Scientific and Geographic Information,
  • Organizing and Analyzing Scientific and Geographic Information,
  • Developing Scientific and Geographic Stories, and
  • Sharing Scientific and Geographic Stories.

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge teachers Jane Sasser, Brian Smith receive Outstanding Educator awards

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Jane Sasser, English teacher at Oak Ridge High School, and Brian Smith, history teacher at Jefferson Middle School, were two out of only six recipients from the entire state who received the Outstanding Educator Awards from Humanities Tennessee.

According to the Humanities Tennessee website, these awards were available for up to six full-time, third- to 12th-grade teachers in Tennessee who have demonstrated excellence in teaching the humanities. Since 1985, Humanities Tennessee has awarded almost $400,000 to 169 teachers in Tennessee.

Applicants for this award are expected to be skillful and dedicated teachers who exhibit expansive and in-depth knowledge of the subjects they teach, a press release said. They are to have the respect of students, parents, and co-workers, and have a record of active involvement in community activities and professional organizations, particularly those that promote the humanities.

Sasser and Smith will each receive a $2,000 fellowship to further their professional development in the humanities. Oak Ridge High School and Jefferson Middle School will each receive a $1,500 grant to be used for the purchase of humanities instructional materials or for student humanities projects. [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…]

Oak Ridge teacher to receive Geography Teacher of the Year Award

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Brian-Smith-Geography-Award-2016

Brian Smith, seventh-grade social studies teacher in Oak Ridge, will receive the 14th Tom and Stella Mullane Geography Teacher of the Year Award during the 2016 Tennessee Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference at the Cool Springs Marriott in Franklin on Friday, March 11. (Submitted photo)

 

An Oak Ridge teacher will receive a Mullane Geography Teacher of the Year Award in March.

Brian Smith, seventh-grade social studies teacher in Oak Ridge, will receive the 14th Tom and Stella Mullane Geography Teacher of the Year Award during the 2016 Tennessee Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference at the Cool Springs Marriott in Franklin on Friday, March 11.

The Mullane award is bestowed for superior achievement in the teaching of geography in the social studies in grades 7-12, a press release said. The award carries a $500 cash prize.

Smith has been informed that he will be this year’s recipient of the Mullane Teacher of the Year award for the outstanding work he does, ensuring that geography is a daily part of instruction in the Oak Ridge school system, the press release said. [Read more…]