http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/jul/31/student-scores-plunge-in-new-test/ and 

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/jul/30/tough-education-standards-set/

Gov. Bredesen was in town recently to talk about the changes and what it means for all Tennessee students. You can read about it here: http://www.thedailytimes.com/article/20100722/NEWS/307229996

Please stay up on this very important issue, and if you have any questions, please let us know.

The series starts June 9 and ends July 14. Registration deadline is May 21. For more information and the registration form, click here: 2010 Flier Lunch and Learn Registration. Here’s an at-a-glance calendar of the programs: 2010 Lunch and Learn Calendar. We hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity.

To review survey results from 2009, please click here:2009_Senior Survey Results

Students from Heritage and William Blount high schools wait to hear who has won in the competition.

About 30 students from the two schools were put through the paces of demonstrating different skill sets and then had to take a written test. After a pizza lunch, prizes were awarded to students receiving the highest scores. Airgas provided the prizes and made sure that every student received at least a door prize.

Prizes lined up on the table

 Tennessee Sen. Doug Overbey and Blount County Commissioner Steve Samples stopped by to congratulate the students. Heritage High School won the overall competition. 

State Sen. Doug Overbey talks to the students before the winners are announced.

DCS owner Chris Combs said that different businesses sent volunteers to help judge the welding competition.

 “It’s a neat collaboration of small and large businesses,” Combs said. “It provides an opportunity to see what a welding career would look like and encourages them to consider a welding career.”

State Sen. Doug Overbey listens as DCS Electronics owner Chris Combs talks about the days events.

Students talk to someone in the hair styling business.

A representative from DENSO talks to students.

Eighth graders from Heritage, Union Grove, Carpenters and Eagleton middle schools and Maryville Christian School participated in the event.

Career Day gave students an opportunity to interact with professionals from all walks of life in private industry as well as from government, military and nonprofit fields. Students were required to fill out a form on several careers by asking the representative questions such as level of education needed, types of additional training required and expected entry level salaries. The students were also able to ask their own questions, which hopefully gave them some idea about the career to evaluate it for their own interest.

In addition, Heritage High School seniors also set up booths to encourage students in construction and agriculture.

Heritage High School seniors watch as an eighth grader hammers a nail.

Heritage High School senior Johnna Davis shows off Maggie the calf.

William Blount High School Ninth Grade Academy Assistant Principal Cassandra Dowd waits to greet students.

It was a great opportunity for BEI to encourage students to stay in school and pursue their dreams.

Blount Education Initiative Director Bonny Millard has the opportunity to talk to students about BEI and about the importance of staying in high school.

The school system is always looking to expand their offerings so if your company would be interested in participating next year, call Jane Morton, supervisor of grades 6-12, at 984.1212.

Community members visit the site in November to see the campus' progress.

The two-story, 70,000-square-foot building has space for the college’s new Nursing program, as well as for science and computer labs and classrooms, including one for distance education. Faculty and administrative offices and a manufacturing training center, physical education facility, 100-seat auditorium, library, and student lounge are all part of the design.

The new campus has 600 parking spaces and can accommodate 1,500 students. More than 1,800 students from Blount County are enrolled at Pellissippi State. Plans for a walking trail, amphitheater and courtyard with a fountain also are on the board.

Funding for the $22 million state-of-the-art campus comes from the state, sale of the old Blount County Center property in Alcoa and private donations generated through Connecting Communities, Changing Lives Major Gifts Campaign. The fundraising effort, conducted by the Foundation, has earmarked the Blount County Campus as one of the college’s top priorities.

The campaign goal is a minimum of $2 million. Gifts and pledges to date are $1,855,240. 

The college broke ground in May 2008 on the 39.5-acre site, located at 2731 W. Lamar Alexander Parkway (U.S. Highway 321) in Friendsville. The college marked progress on construction with a “Raise the Roof” celebration on Nov. 6. More than 130 people signed a final truss for the building and then watched as a crane lifted it into place.

“This is just a great day,” Allen Edwards, Pellissippi State president, told the attendees. “This facility would not be a reality without the tremendous support of our state and local officials. They have been battling for us to get the money for this project, and I thank all of you. I thank each and everyone who has supported this. Your donations have made this possible.”

Pellissippi State President Allen Edwards talks to visitors in November about what the new campus will have to offer students.

Pellissippi State students performed for the crowd.

Candidates participating in the forum included Nashville businessman Ward Cammack (Democrat); Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam (Republican); former Tennessee House of Representatives Majority Leader Kim McMillan (Democrat); and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp (Republican).

Among a host of issues posed to the candidates, the economic impact of Tennessee’s long-time public education standing arose as a key point of concern.  Several candidates cited the competitive difficulty of recruiting desirable business and industry to Tennessee, given the state’s national reputation for having a lower-educated workforce.

The candidates also spoke to the recent release of the Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) report on raising Tennessee’s educational standing to first place among Southeastern states.  Various candidates voiced either optimism or guardedness about the state’s realistic ability to achieve such an aggressive improvement within five years, as called upon by SCORE.

The purpose of the BEI forum was to explore the topic of “Making Education Tennessee’s Top Priority: The Roles of State Government, Local Governments and all Tennessee Citizens” among gubernatorial candidates.

BEI’s leadership cited the success of the event in bringing educational issues to the forefront of the community – not just in Blount County but also throughout East Tennessee and hopefully statewide.

“With more than 250 people attending the event and many more viewing it via Knoxville’s WBIR-10News2 live broadcast, the forum successfully brought educational issues to the forefront throughout our regional community,” said BEI Executive Director Bonny Millard.

If you didn’t get down to Last Friday Art Walk this past weekend (Sept. 25), you missed a wonderful reading by the Alcoa High School students of English teacher Kelly Wallace. Not only did the students read selections from the book, but they also offered some interpretation of different aspects of the book based on their classroom discussions.

Alcoa High School English teacher Kelly Wallace explains some of the book’s themes and how the students are grouped. Wallace said out of 42 students, 40 students loved the book, and that she plans to use it for future classes.

While AHS students were reading, Spanish III students from Maryville High School Spanish teacher Deb Lamine’s class worked with younger children to create Hispanic crafts including worry dolls made from clothes pins. The children had a great time as evidenced by rounds of giggling.

Alcoa High School senior Taylor Crosby, a member of the school’s tech team, videotaped the entire event to be shown on Alcoa School System’s Channel 3, Charter Communictions. Thanks Taylor!

Check back soon for additional photos of The Big Read activities.