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The picture in the window Wendy Smith has found the most exquisite love story to delight even the least sentimental among us. Don’t believe it?
Read Wendy’s story on page A-8
Miracle Maker
Do not call the Paul L. Kelley Volunteer Academy an alternative school if you’re within earshot of principal Kim Towe, who will politely set you straight: “We are a nontraditional school, and we value the fact that we work with our students individually. And we value the fact that they are on a non-traditional learning plan.” See page A-11
Old Vols hang together Marvin West looks for good things to say about Tennessee football: “I keep going back to old Volunteers. They do not disappoint. “Through the years, they keep caring about each other. They hang together like lodge brothers. In sad times, including those that end in heartbreak, they pick each other up as they once did on the field.”
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See Marvin’s story on page A-5
NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Meet the principal Parents and students who are zoned to attend the new school located in the Northshore Town Center in August of 2013 are invited to meet principal Susan Davis at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, at West Valley Middle School, 9118 George Williams Road. Davis previously served as principal at Cedar Bluff Elementary School. The school board approved a “grandfather” transfer to permit rising 5th-grade students and their currently enrolled siblings (to include rising kindergarten siblings of 5th graders) to apply to remain at their current school. The deadline to request such a transfer is Feb. 18. Details at knoxschools.org.
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By Betty Bean One of the classic Maria Compere stories is that, after receiving a sternly-worded communication about a state road crew prematurely cutting down a million daffodils on Pellissippi Parkway, a governor of Tennessee (maybe Sundquist, maybe Bredesen – her wrath was non-partisan) put down an order that there would be no mowing during daffodil season until Maria said it was OK. Her name was Maria de la Luz Compere – Maria of the Light, translated literally – and, as has been said so many times recently, she was indeed a force of nature. When she died last month at age 97, this tiny human dynamo was still making plans, still hatching ideas, and left behind hundreds of friends and thousands of admirers who wish they could do something to show how much she meant to them. Well, there is. Buy some bulbs. Plant some flowers. Compere, who lived in Knoxville for 57 years, was responsible for planting 2 million daffodils along Pellissippi Parkway and was the driving force behind Knoxville Green’s annual spring bulb sale (she and husband Edgar founded Knoxville Green). Plans for the sale were well underway before her death on Jan. 24, and her daughter Suzy and devoted friend Larry Silverstein are determined that it will go on. “We’re going to continue her work, and we’ve got almost 80,000 daffodil bulbs that need to get into the ground,” Silverstein said. “So we will definitely have a sale. We’re looking at locations, and in the next week or two we will definitely have a sale. So stay tuned for an announcement.”
More on A-3
Maria Compere at a recent bulb sale File photo by S. Clark
The Pellissippi daffodils were not the only Compere project, just the most visible. Her obituary lists more: Knoxville Green’s donating more than $100,000 worth of bulbs and trees annually to the community: helping create an outdoor classroom and landscaping for the Laura Cansler Boys and Girls Club; chairing a garden club group that provided outdoor recreational facilities for the blind and disabled; working with the East Tennessee Community Design Center to de-
The face of school technology By Wendy Smith Instead of doing chemistry homework, Chris Kleinschmidt, a sophomore at the L&N STEM Academy, listens to an online lecture by teacher Glenn Arnold each evening. Then, during class time, Arnold answers questions and helps students work through problems. It’s called a flipped classroom, and it’s becoming more common across the country, Arnold said. Students are more likely to struggle with homework, so he’s available while they’re doing it. They can listen to the 15-minute lecture when it’s most convenient for them. “It’s shifted the responsibility to their hands,” he said, and it’s possible because every student at the STEM Academy is equipped with an iPad. Arnold was one of several teachers who brought students and examples of school technology to the State of the Schools presen-
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West High student Indiana Laine (center) shows A.L. Lotts Elementary School assistant principal Missy Beltran data collected from a dual range force sensor. West High physics teacher Joe Foy (right) brought students to demonstrate school technology following last week’s State of the Schools address. Photo by Wendy Smith tation at Powell High School last week. Much of it was in the form of computers and software. But West High School physics teacher Joe Foy brought gadgets, including a dual range force sensor. Senior Indiana Laine said the sensor measures simple harmonic motion. Working
with such equipment leads to a deeper understanding than learning from a book, she said. Austin-East math teacher Greg Allen demonstrated software that allows for individualized learning in his Algegra I class. The class goes to the computer lab three times a week, where students take
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velop the wheelchair-accessible Serendipity Trail at Ijams Nature Center; helping create a “healing garden” for cancer patients at the UT Medical Center Cancer Institute; and most recently, working with Knox County to develop a greenhouse and horticulture program for female inmates at the detention facility. Some of her work was done through Ossoli Circle, of which she was a member. Former city greenways coordinator Donna Young was another loyal friend. She and Silverstein took on a task this year when Maria was too ill to deliver lunch and snacks to the state prison inmates on the bulbplanting crew. “She had done that all on her own,” Young said. “She would get them fried chicken from Kroger, and it was the best food they got to eat. “She was so thoughtful and kind and was always trying to do the right thing. “To me, she always made the right choice, the forgiving choice. Her family founded Monterey, and
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February 11, 2013
Maria Compere’s work will go on
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a pre-test to determine what they need to work on. As they work independently, he monitors their progress. Hardin Valley Academy business teacher Vivian West demonstrated Edmodo, a social media platform that allows teachers to post agendas and assignments, and allows students to turn in assignments and ask questions. Students like it because it mimics the world they live in, she said. Sophomore Kane Smith says Edmodo makes school easier. Email is awkward, he said, and posting questions on Edmodo helps everyone in the class. Dr. Jim McIntyre wants to put a computer in the hands of every student and teacher at 10 schools during the next budget year. It’s a step back from the ambitious five-year program for all schools presented, but not funded, last year. But it’s a step forward in equipping our kids for real world life and careers.
Fugate, Deakins spar on security By Sandra Clark No member of the school board opposes school security, but there is a nuanced willingness to spend money to recheck schools that already have been inspected. At last week’s workshop, board members Thomas Deakins (Hardin Valley Academy) and Kim Sepesi (Powell Middle) pushed hard for inspections at every school, while Lynne Fugate and Karen Carson leaned toward taking time to make a plan. Fugate got an affirmative answer to her question: “Just a few months ago you checked each school and what was found (wrong) was fi xed?” Carson suggested a random sampling to see if problems exist in schools other than HVA and Powell Middle, two schools on which the Public Building Authority was project manager. Sepesi then asked that To page 4
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