Oak Ridge Today

Benita Albert to highlight Oak Ridge schools in Aug. 27 talk

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Benita Albert
Benita Albert

Noted educator Benita Albert will speak at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge on Tuesday, August 27.

The talk is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. in the City Room (A-111) of the Coffey-McNally Building.

Titled “SPECIAL (Students, Parents, Educators: A Community’s Incredible Alliance with Learning),” the talk will highlight the decades in the Oak Ridge public school system from the 1940s to the present, a press release said. Albert will cite exceptional teachers’ contributions, share candid student observations, and relate stories of alumni of Oak Ridge Schools who have become important world citizens, the release said.

[Read more…]

Jewelry Television (JTV) donates $5,000 for Roane State Foundation program

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JTV_donation_Web.jpg

Jewelry Television (JTV) donated $5,000 to support the Roane State Foundation’s Pay-It-Forward awards program. From left are Kirk Harris, Roane State director of Continuing Healthcare and Safety Education and director of the college’s Knox County Center for Health Sciences; R. Steve Walsh, senior vice president of global operations and logistics for JTV; Scott Niermann, executive director of the Roane State Foundation; Charles Wagner, vice chairman of JTV; and Chris Whaley, president of Roane State Community College. (Photo by Roane State)

 

Jewelry Television (JTV) donated $5,000 to support the Roane State Foundation’s Pay-It-Forward awards program.

Roane State Pay-It-Forward awards provide emergency aid to students to help them stay in school, including assistance with tuition or books for students near completion of their degrees, assistance for licensure/certification exam fees, and assistance to adult students who do not qualify for any state-funded tuition assistance programs, or whose aid has otherwise been exhausted.

Students who receive Pay-It-Forward scholarships agree to help future students in need at Roane State complete their education, once they are employed and able to give back, a press release said.

JTV is located next door to Roane State’s Knox County Center for Health Sciences, and leaders from both organizations consistently collaborate on ways to help Roane State students succeed. [Read more…]

Roane State students win bronze medals at SkillsUSA national competition

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Roane State Skills_usa Competition

Roane State Community College’s Cory Watson and Dylan Tipton (cybersecurity) and Kevin Spakes (programming) won bronze medals in the SkillsUSA national competition this summer. From left are Spakes, Watson, professor George Meghabghab, and Tipton. (Photo by Roane State)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Competing for the first time on a national stage, three Roane State Community College students won two bronze medals at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference.

Kevin Spakes, who graduated in May and had a full-time internship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, won his honor for programming, while Cory Watson and Dylan Tipton took home the bronze for cybersecurity.

Watson also interned full-time at ORNL after his graduation in May, while Tipton is a rising sophomore at Roane State.

The 2019 National SkillsUSA conference was held in June in Louisville, Kentucky, and some 6,500 students from across the country competed. [Read more…]

Roane State’s Technology Building renamed for Sen. Ken Yager

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Roane State Community College Technology Building

The Technology Building at Roane State Community College’s main campus in Harriman has been renamed in honor of Tennessee Sen. Ken Yager. (Photo by Roane State)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

One of the first buildings constructed on Roane State Community College’s Roane County campus has been renamed in honor of a lifelong public servant who is now a state senator.

The Tennessee Board of Regents has approved the community college’s request to rename the 41-year-old Technology Building the Ken Yager Building.

“Senator Yager has been an advocate for Roane State students for many years, as Roane County Executive, as a Roane State faculty member and dean, and now as a member of the Tennessee General Assembly,” Roane State President Chris Whaley said. [Read more…]

Enrich your life through ORICL

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Submitted

What is ORICL? It is the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning, and it is sponsored by Roane State Community College. It is open to people of all backgrounds and educational levels who reside in Oak Ridge, Clinton, Norris, Rocky Top, Knoxville, and the surrounding areas. ORICL offers programs to appeal to many different interests. Membership is $100 for a full year, consisting of three terms beginning in September; $80 for two terms beginning in February; and $45 for the summer term only.

Learn more about ORICL at https://www.roanestate.edu/?8465-ORICL-Oak-Ridge-Institute-for-Continued-Learning. Call the ORICL office at (865) 481-8222 to ask questions or to request a catalog. Online registration began on August 6, and paper registrations are being accepted starting August 7. [Read more…]

Tamke-Allan Observatory has public stargazing Saturday

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Linda Fippin
Linda Fippin

Tamke-Allan Observatory at Roane State Community College continues its Summer Public Stargazing with an examination of light and light pollution on Saturday, August 3.

The gates open at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and a public lecture will be presented at 8 p.m. by guest lecturer and retired clinical researcher Linda Fippin.

“For the vast majority of human history, nighttime lighting was limited to the hearth fire,” a press release said. “As villages, towns, and eventually cities developed, lighting was still limited to oil lamps and candles. Gas lighting was not invented until the late 18th century, and electric street lights have only been in use for about 140 years. Nighttime lighting has many benefits, but excessive and inappropriate use has led to light pollution, which not only has negative effects on people, quality of life, and the natural environment, but also wastes energy resources. This talk will cover a brief history of nighttime lighting, the effects of light pollution, and what can be done to lessen them.”

[Read more…]

Roane State student, 43, ‘happy to go to college,’ thanks to Reconnect grant

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Earl Davis

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Shortly after his 40th birthday, Morgan County resident Earl Davis had an epiphany.

“Looking ahead 20 years, I didn’t see myself with a pitchfork in my hands doing heavy labor,” the Lancing resident said. In the past, he worked at a chicken farm and as a prison guard.

So Davis, who graduated from Wartburg Central High School in 1994, started saving his money to pay for college tuition.

“Then I found out about the Reconnect program,” he said. That’s the state’s grant program where adults can attend a community college tuition-free. [Read more…]

Celebrate 50th anniversary of moon landing

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Julie Rhyne

Tamke-Allan Observatory will begin its summer public stargazing with a 50th anniversary celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing on Saturday, July 6. The gates will open at 7:30 p.m., and a public lecture will be presented at 8 p.m. by guest lecturer Julie Rhyne, a press release said.

July marks the 50th anniversary of landing humans on the moon, the press release said. NASA’s Project Apollo, the program developed to land people on the moon, represented the “remarkable efforts of engineers, scientists, and many various industries around the country working together to accomplish one of the greatest feats in human history,” the press release said.

It said the July 6 presentation will provide an overview of the spacecraft and the Apollo missions. There will be pictures and memorabilia, moon globes, and hands-on learning about the Saturn V rocket that launched men to the moon, the release said.

[Read more…]

Roane State students serve, learn in Costa Rica and Panama

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Students in the World Cultures and Serving Learning class taught by Dave Rath and Cody Miller gather around the more than 500 pounds of school supplies, toiletries, and clothing collected for impoverished children in Costa Rica and Panama. From left: Gracie May, Chloe Pierce, Jason Wasilewski, Stephanie Anderson, Jan Joyal, Earl Davis, Lexie Perotti, Amber Meter, Lizet Palacios, Tamara Richardson, April Brannon, Apolonia Garcia, Alyssa McCullah, Jocelyn Middleton, Cody Miller, and kneeling, Dave Rath. (Photo by Roane State Community College)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Roane State faculty Dave Rath and Cody Miller faced an ironic dilemma.

They had more contributions for impoverished children in Costa Rica and Panama than they had space set aside to fly down to those Central American countries.

“We’ll find a way,” Rath vowed. “Before we leave your hard work in Tennessee, we’ll find a way,” he told their students.

Rath and Miller and 14 students in their World Cultures and Service Learning class recently packed up large cardboard boxes of shoes, toothbrushes, school supplies, and a myriad of other items to transport to remote areas of the two countries during the trip, May 8-17.

This year’s supply drive was the biggest yet, Rath said. [Read more…]

Roane State student artists display work, earn honors

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Pictured are three of the winners of Roane State’s annual Juried Student Art show. From left: Steve Williams, best of show; Talitha Chafin, second place; and Archie Clark, honorable mention. (Photo by Roane State Community College)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, and other mixed media work showcasing the artists’ talents, imaginations, and creative visions were on display during Roane State’s 2019 Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition.

Stunning black-and-white photos, a solargram revealing the sun’s path through the sky over the course of months, and a giant wire spider dangling from a wall were among those judged by an artist who has exhibited internationally.

The 31 selections were on display in April in the O’Brien Art Gallery, located on the college’s main campus in Roane County.

“This is a great opportunity for students to get practice with submitting and exhibiting in a juried exhibition that culminates with a celebration of their hard work over the past year,” Roane State Art Professor Stacy Jacobs said. [Read more…]

Roane State alumnus shared experiences with environmental health technology students

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UCOR Radiological Protection Manager Rodney Bauman, left, and Roane State graduate Brad Ross, the UCOR field radiological project manager, recently spoke to the college’s Environmental Health Technology class. (Submitted photo)

A Roane State Community College graduate returned to his alma mater and spoke to students in associate professor Dan Hyder’s Safety and Emergency Response class.

UCOR field radiological protection manager Brad Ross was joined by the contractor’s radiological protection manager, Rodney Bauman, for the talk at Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus.

“They spoke to my class about the field of health physics,” Hyder said. “They discussed the risks associated with radiation, the different types of careers and working environments, the history of the field, the positives of working in health physics, and how to prepare for a career and obtain employment.”

Ross is a graduate of Roane State’s environmental health technology program, and he has worked more than 25 years in health physics in Oak Ridge, Hyder said. [Read more…]

Western Carolina standout named assistant women’s basketball coach at Roane State

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Angel Allen

Angel Allen, a recent Western Carolina University graduate and four-year player for the Catamounts, has been named assistant women’s basketball coach at Roane State Community College.

Allen joins the staff of first-year coach Jason Taylor, a Roane State alumnus who took over the program in May.

Allen, from Murfreesboro, attended Blackman High School and was a two-time girls’ AAA state champion (2014 and 2015) and a one-time ESPN, Maxpreps, and USA Today national champion (2014). [Read more…]