Bearden Shopper-News 060816

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VOL. 10 NO. 23

www.ShopperNewsNow.com |

BUZZ

June 8, 2016

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Art that makes a difference

Bearden Rotary gives scholarship This week The Rotary Guy talks about a hard-working and talented student who will join the University of Tennessee’s Pride of the Southland Marching Band in the fall – Kaleb Emmert. Kaleb recently graduated from West High School and a few days ago the Rotary Club of Bearden honored him with its Bob Ely-Art Pickle $2,500 scholarship. Ely and Pickle were both District 6780 Governors and members of Bearden Rotary.

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Read Tom King on page A-11

Gill vs. Staples??? Betty Bean profiles Democratic nominee Evelyn Gill from District 1, only to learn that Rick Staples, the man Gill beat 1704-1507 in the primary, might jump into the race as a write-in candidate. The Republican nominee is Michael Covington. It could get crowded in District 1.

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Erika and Austin Allen look at circus diorama books created by John Hughes at the Side-by-Side reception and silent auction at Bennett Galleries. Hughes is a student apprentice of UT School of Art professor Beauvais Lyons.

By Wendy Smith

Read Betty Bean on page A-5

Bennett Galleries buzzed with activity on First Friday as the community flocked to a reception and silent auction that was the culmination of this year’s Sideby-Side Visual Arts Apprentice Program. The Community School of the Arts offers the program, which

Take One ministry Of the thousands of men and women who are released from Tennessee prisons each year, nearly half will find themselves behind bars again within three years, state officials say. But the new Take One program by the Tennessee Department of Correction aims to reduce that number by partnering with faith-based groups and non-profits to help those recently released from prison make their way back into society.

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Tinkerers, knitters, bakers, carvers, illustrators, programmers, cultivators and all kinds of makers will display and demonstrate their creations at Pellissippi State Community College’s second annual MakerPalooza 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, June 18, in the Megalab of PSCC’s Strawberry Plains Campus. The event is free and open to all. “Makerpalooza celebrates

Read J.J. Stambaugh on page A-7

Envision Art Gallery is pleased to introduce West Virginia artist Mark H. Cline to the Knoxville art scene. Cline’s works will be displayed June 10 through July 8 at Envision Art Gallery, 4050 Sutherland Avenue. This is his first exhibit in the Knoxville area. Meet the artist while enjoying live music, wine, beer, punch and refreshments from 5-8 p.m. Friday, June 10.

ADVERTISING SALES (865) 342-6084 ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Amy Lutheran Patty Fecco | Beverly Holland CIRCULATION (865) 342-6200 shoppercirc@ShopperNewsNow.com

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STEAM – science, technology, engineering, art and math – education and the National Day of Making,� said Sarah Graham, a planner of the event and a completion coach of the Southeastern Education and Economic Leadership Consortium grant at Pellissippi State. “We’re excited to host a variety of makers this year from farmers to welders to knitters and every-

By Betty Bean Two weeks ago, Amber Rountree, who served on a task force that studied disparities in academic performances among Knox County students, told her school board colleagues there’s something badly wrong with the state’s funding formula for education. “You need to be talking to your state legislators about the fact that the BEP (Basic Education Plan) is broken, and our kids are not getting what they need,� said Rountree, who said that working on the task force taught her that most student disparities are caused by poverty, regardless of ethnicity or disability. “We all have to come together as a community. We have to all reach out to come up with a solution.� When asked to elaborate, Rountree said Knox County Schools’ greatest need is for additional so-

(865) 218-WEST (9378) NEWS (865) 661-8777 news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sandra Clark | Wendy Smith

by Wendy Smith

thing in between,� she added. The inaugural Makerpalooza last year was well-attended and featured a variety of technical and craft creations and their makers. Seth Giles, advanced manufacturing master lab technician in the Megalab and co-planner of Makerpalooza, said, “Makerpalooza creates an environment that rewards accomplishment – after

all, who doesn’t want to show off their creations? – and also shares information with other makers on how to achieve a task or complete a project, as well as on how a creator arrived at his or her solution.� Makerpalooza 2.0 is sponsored by Pellissippi State’s Engineering and Media Technologies department. Info: pstcc.edu/emt/ makerpalooza

Rountree calls state funding formula ‘broken’

Learn more on page A-10

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Recent Fulton High School graduate Sarah Emory and artist Robin Surber pose with “Cut Flowers,� a collaborative piece they created for the Side-by-Side auction. They’ve worked together for five years. Photos

‘MakerPalooza’ set for PSCC Megalab

Artist Mark Cline comes to town

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enables students to work alongside professional artists in their studios. This is the 20th year of the program. Some of the pieces in the auction were created collaboratively, while others were created by students and artists independently.

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Rountree

Brooks

cial workers and guidance counselors. She said these positions have never been adequately funded by the BEP, which was created by the Education Improvement Act of 1992 to settle a lawsuit filed by a group of small school systems that challenged the way the state distributed money between urban and rural school districts. The BEP was updated in 2007 (becoming BEP 2.0), but leaders of the state’s larger school systems complain that the state has simply shifted the burden for paying

for education to urban districts like Knox County. Periodically, lawmakers consider bills requiring the state to fully fund the BEP, but those measures invariably get punted to a summer study committee black hole. Rountree said many of the “enhancements� included in the BEP 2.0 reforms have never been fully funded – guidance counselors and social workers among them. “Whatever money (Gov. Bill) Haslam put forth this past year hasn’t enhanced that area.� She said Moreland Heights Elementary School shares a social worker with Pleasant Ridge Elementary. “That’s one person trying to meet the needs of 800-plus students,� she said. “I don’t think there’s a perfect solution, but the way we’re doing it now is obviously not working. We’re at the bottom of the barrel with educational

funding, and I’m not sure how anyone in the state can rah-rah the virtues of the BEP.� Rountree said she feels “a lack of connection with representatives at the state level – like when Bill Dunn was trying to push his voucher bill through, saying he had a letter from the school board, when in reality it was a letter from (board chair) Doug Harris. The majority of the board did not support Dunn’s bill. And the conversations I’ve had with Harry (Brooks), I’m not sure he thinks the BEP needs to be fi xed.� Brooks, who chairs the House Education Administration and Planning Committee and served on a task force convened by Gov. Bill Haslam to work on finding more money for education, said that state government has worked hard To page A-3

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