Oak Ridge Today

Roane State’s Stephens honored for her work

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DeAnna Stephens

Roane State Community College assistant professor of English DeAnna Stephens earned two honors this spring.

Stephens won the poetry competition at the Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival.

She also received first place in the fiction category at the Tennessee Mountain Writers Conference Awards Banquet.

Stephens said she was very excited when informed in mid-March that she was a finalist in the Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival. Before she won, Stephens said she hadn’t planned to attend the event.

Things changed, especially since the recognition included a $1,000 prize, a free pass to the festival, and the opportunity to read her poems to an appreciative audience, a press release said. [Read more…]

Golf tournament in Oak Ridge will support Roane State team

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Roane State golfer and now graduate Hunter Clark (Submitted photo)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

The second annual Roane State Community College Golf Team Fundraiser Tournament will be held Monday, July 1, at Oak Ridge Country Club.

All proceeds will go to assist the college’s golf team with various expenses, including team travel costs and equipment. The event will begin with lunch at 11:30 p.m. followed by a shotgun start at 1 p.m.

Thirteen teams participated in the first tournament last year, “and we’re hoping to have at least 20 teams this year,” said Roane State Foundation Development Specialist Lauren Barber. [Read more…]

Roane State receives $496,888 grant to enhance distance learning

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Students at Roane State’s Scott County campus take a class using Zoom technology. A nearly half-million-dollar federal grant will allow Roane State to expand its use of Zoom technology to give students more access to classes.

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Roane State Community College has received a $496,888 federal grant to improve distance learning opportunities at three of the community college’s most rural campuses.

For the 2018-19 academic year, Roane State invested in Zoom video conferencing technology to replace legacy interactive video systems at each of its campuses. The Zoom technology allows the college to broadcast a class from one campus to students at other locations. Rather than travel to a campus for a course, students can stay close to home and participate through live interactive video.

The Zoom technology, with its 360-degree cameras, created a more natural classroom experience than the college’s previous distance learning system. Classes taught via Zoom can be easily viewed live on any device, and content can be seamlessly uploaded online for students to access on demand. [Read more…]

Roane State alumnus Jason Taylor named head women’s basketball coach

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Jason Taylor

Jason Taylor, the all-time winningest coach in Anderson University men’s basketball history and a Roane State Community College alumnus, has been named Roane State’s new head women’s basketball coach, a press release said.

“I am so grateful for this opportunity and feel very blessed to be back at Roane State,” Taylor said. “Roane State means a lot to me and the mentorship and friendship of Coach Randy Nesbit has been instrumental in my life.”

A Clarkrange native, Taylor played for Nesbit at Roane State from 1997-1999 before he transferred to NCAA Division I Jacksonville State University. He served as Roane State assistant coach from 2001-2003 and was an assistant at Anderson University in South Carolina from 2003-2006. [Read more…]

Sign up for Roane State’s boys basketball camp

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Randy Nesbit

Roane State Community College men’s basketball head coach Randy Nesbit will conduct his annual basketball camp at the Roane County campus gym in Harriman June 24-27 from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. each day.

It is open to players from age 8 to rising high school seniors, a press release said. Special emphasis will be placed on shooting mechanics, dribbling and passing skills, driving, and finishing footwork in a progressive fashion that will add new elements to an experienced high school player’s game, and set up learning pathways for very young players. [Read more…]

Learn about civil rights movement in lecture by Booker at Roane State

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Robert Booker

Robert J. Booker, local civil rights historian and Knoxville News Sentinel columnist, will present a talk titled “100 Years of the Civil Rights Movement” on Thursday, May 23, at 3 p.m. in the City Room at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge.

A Knoxville native, Booker is a graduate of Knoxville College, where he initiated and led the Sit-in Movement to desegregate lunch counters and movie theaters in Knoxville, a press release said. He was the first African American representing Knox County to be elected to the state legislature, where he served three terms, the press release said. He was administrative assistant to the Knoxville mayor for seven years and was executive director of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center for 17 years. He has also held positions on the State Civil Service Commission and the Tennessee Committee on Humanities. [Read more…]

Try out for Roane State golf team June 3 at Oak Ridge Country Club

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Roane State Golf

Tryouts for the Roane State Community College golf team will be held Monday, June 3, at Oak Ridge Country Club, Coach Chris Griffin said.

After a decades-long hiatus, Griffin in late 2017 took on the mission of resurrecting the squad, which recently wrapped up its inaugural season, a press release said.

Graduating high school seniors and Roane State students interested in trying out for the team should contact Griffin at griffincv@roanestate.edu or (865) 898-0043.

“What an opportunity this is for area golfers to be able to compete on a collegiate level while obtaining a two-year degree tuition-free,” Griffin said in the press release. “My primary goal is to bring young men and women together to have fun and make life-long friendships.” [Read more…]

Roane State graduation set for May 3-4

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David Bunch

Roane State Community College will hold commencement ceremonies on May 3-4.

The ceremonies, to be held in the gym on the Roane County campus in Harriman, will be equal in presentation.

Friday, May 3, 2019—2 p.m. [Read more…]

Sign up for summer term at ORICL

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Catalogs are now available for the summer term at ORICL (Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning). Online registration opens on April 23, and the summer term runs from June 3 through August 2. Registrations may be submitted in paper format as well. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to select from almost 70 interesting, informative, and/or entertaining classes and three special activities.

To take advantage of these outstanding offerings, one must join ORICL as a dues-paying member. The fee for membership is $100 for a full year of fall, winter/spring, and summer terms beginning in September; $80 for two terms beginning in January; and $45 for the summer term only. If you are already a member of ORICL for the 2018-19 session, there are no fees due. If you are new to ORICL, the fee will be $45 for the summer term.

What is ORICL? ORICL is a continuing education opportunity for seniors, retirees, and anyone else who is able to fit the classes into his/her schedule of activities. ORICL is sponsored by Roane State Community College, and most classes are held at the Oak Ridge campus of RSCC. The courses offer varying content and appeal to people from all backgrounds and educational levels. ORICL is learning, for the fun of learning, taught by people who love to teach to people who appreciate gaining new information, a press release said.

“There is no pressure; there are no tests,” the press release said.

[Read more…]

Thanks to Tennessee Reconnect grant, school bus driver pursuing her dream to become a teacher

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Gioconda "Gio" Duran

Gioconda “Gio” Duran

 

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

This school bus driver is hitting the books in between routes in her quest to become a teacher.

Gioconda “Gio” Duran, 44, is a Tennessee Reconnect student at Roane State Community College. Thanks to the Tennessee Reconnect grant, eligible adults can now attend Roane State tuition-free.

Duran said Tennessee Reconnect “is a big reason why I wanted to go back to school.”

Her 19-year-old son, John Duran Jr., is also enrolled with scholarships at the college’s Roane County campus. [Read more…]

Unique partnership helps Y-12 employee Chris Borum pursue a new path

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Chris Borum

Chris Borum

 

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Chris Borum, for more than 16 years a security guard at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, said it was time for a change.

As the years passed, he worried he might not be able to meet rigorous annual physical qualifications for his job at the nuclear weapons facility.

Borum, a Kingston resident, said he wanted to stay at Y-12 and eventually retire from there, “but I wanted to leave on my own terms.”

So when a job posting for a material handler was posted on the Y-12’s Intranet, he went for it. [Read more…]

Learn about Roane State’s new Chemical Engineering Technology program

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Roane State Community College students taking chemical engineering technology course practice in the lab at the college’s Oak Ridge campus. An information session about the new program will be held on Thursday, March 28, 2019, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Oak Ridge campus at 701 Briarcliff Ave. (Submitted photo)

Roane State Community College students taking chemical engineering technology course practice in the lab at the college’s Oak Ridge campus. An information session about the new program will be held on Thursday, March 28, 2019, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Oak Ridge campus at 701 Briarcliff Ave. (Submitted photo)

 

An information session about Roane State Community College’s new two-year Associate of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering Technology will be held on Thursday, March 28, from 5:30-7 p.m. at the college’s Oak Ridge campus, which is at 701 Briarcliff Avenue.

Check-in will be held in the lobby of the Goff Health Sciences and Technology Building. The event is free and open to the public, a press release said.

Established with the assistance of UCOR, CNS, Tate and Lyle, and additional partners, Roane State’s chemical engineering technology program trains students to work as chemical operators. A chemical operator monitors, controls, and troubleshoots automated chemical processes. [Read more…]