GOVERNMENT/POLITICS A4 | OUR COLUMNISTS A6-7 | YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS A9-13 | BUSINESS A14-15 | HEALTH & LIFESTYLES SECTION B
A great community newspaper.
VOL. 50, NO. 43
halls / fountain city
OCTOBER 24, 2011
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Marching with Martin He’s marched with MLK, met with RFK and even had Jimmy Carter read his book (above). Sandra Clark literally ran into Bill Willis in Fountain City Park and later sat down with him to hear his fascinating tale. See story on page A-6
Wallace on the Wall Longtime Halls guy and Central High grad Billy Wallace is being inducted into the Central High Wall of Fame on Nov. 12. Jim Tumblin finds out about the famous Blue Hole on Billy’s family’s farm and learns that Billy’s cousin is actress Mary Costa. See story on page A-3
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Booker is state Teacher of the Year By Betty Bean and Jake Mabe Central High School English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher Byron A. Booker was named Tennessee Teacher of the Year last Thursday night at the annual banquet in Nashville. “I am honored, honored, to stand before you this evening to accept this recognition as the 2012 Tennessee Teacher of the Year,” Booker said in his acceptance speech. “In doing so, I accept on behalf of my family, Knox Central High School, my community of Knoxville, my profession of teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and most of all, my 40 English Language Learners who at this very hour better be completing their compare/contrast essays for homework tomorrow.” In naming Booker the ShopperNews’ Teacher of the Year in 2009, Betty Bean wrote about Booker’s actions following the 2008 shooting at Central High School: “(On) Aug. 21, 2008, Central High School was rocked when 10th grader Ryan McDonald was gunned down in the cafeteria by another student who calmly put his gun away and walked away. Among the witnesses to the killing were international students in Byron Booker’s English as
Central High School English as Second Language teacher Byron Booker was named Tennessee Teacher of the Year last Thursday night. File photo by Ruth White a Second Language (ESL) classes. Some of them had been forced to leave their home countries to escape violence. All of them were terrified. “Their teacher knew his kids were traumatized, and he knew that he must respond. Nine months later, the ESL Yearbook, written and
produced by the students, describes ‘A Day We Will Never Forget.’ ” The students wrote: “Many of the ELLs (English Language Learners) were eating breakfast in the commons that morning. They screamed, they followed directions of teachers in the area,
and they found a safe place. Many of them stayed in the library meeting with Mr. Booker. Later that day, Mr. Booker drove to their houses to check on the students. The next day they stayed in the ESL room. The ELLs had a time to talk about what they saw. There were some interpreters there to help them.” What happened Aug. 21 caused Booker to try a new approach to teaching. “Following the shooting, I threw out all classroom rules,” Booker said in 2009. “Instead, I created three maxims: 1. We are a team; 2. We do the right thing; 3. We use order in everything we do. “I put those on the wall, and when we started the day, I would have them recite that as a class.” “Byron Booker gives unstintingly of his time, his energy and his personal resources – and then he gives some more,” Bean wrote. “The students in his classes are from 15 different countries, and he has made it his job to see to it that their time at Central High School prepares them for the challenges and the opportunities they will face in the USA. In Booker’s class, his students have found a safe place.”
HonorAir opens guardian program to students FEATURED COLUMNIST VICTOR ASHE
The gloves are off! Victor Ashe says the Knoxville mayor’s race has entered the hard-hitting phase. See column on page A-4
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Flights take veterans to D.C. By Jake Mabe Eddie Mannis told the Halls Business and Professional Association at Beaver Brook Country Club last week that serving as a guardian on an HonorAir Knoxville flight is an experience one will never forget. Now, that opportunity is being expanded to include high school students. Volunteer guardians are assigned to three or four veterans on the daylong flights, which take World War II and Korean War era veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit the war and military memorials and Arlington National Cemetery. Since the first flight was held in 2007, Mannis says more than 1,250 World War II and Korean War vets have participated in the flights. The program was founded and established by Mannis’s Prestige Cleaners.
Mannis told the B&P last week that high school students ages 17 and older will now be able to apply to become a guardian. A maximum of four students will be selected to participate in each flight. Students must have parental permission, complete an online application which can be found at ht t p://w w w.honorairk nox v ille. com and submit an essay of 200 words or less explaining why they want to be a guardian. The next flight is April 18. Mannis says the goal at this point is continue to serve as many Korean War veterans as possible, but added that eventually taking Vietnam veterans is a long-term goal. HonorAir Knoxville founder and chair Eddie Mannis shares a laugh with World The HonorAir Knoxville flights War II vet and HonorAir booster Sam Hardman (seated) and Regal Entertain- are the longest-running of their ment vice president of film marketing Ted Hatfield at the Halls B&P meeting at kind and serve veterans throughBeaver Brook last week. Photo by Jake Mabe out East Tennessee. Mannis says 38 other metropolitan areas have Up until now, guardians have an application process and make a also started similar flights. typically been adults who complete $400 contribution to the program. For more info, call 938-7701.
‘I didn’t take the job to go through the motions’ Cuonzo Martin speaks to local civic clubs
4509 Doris Circle 37918 (865) 922-4136 news@ShopperNewsNow.com ads@ShopperNewsNow.com EDITOR Larry Van Guilder lvgknox@mindspring.com ADVERTISING SALES Patty Fecco fecco@ShopperNewsNow.com Brandi Davis DavisB@ShopperNewsNow.com Shopper-News is a member of KNS Media Group, published weekly at 4509 Doris Circle, Knoxville, TN, and distributed to 27,825 homes in Halls, Gibbs and Fountain City.
TITAN A SELF-STORAGE
By Jake Mabe Cuonzo Martin wants his team to know one thing really quickly. When he talks about discipline, he doesn’t mean control. He says it’s another form of love. The new UT men’s basketball coach told a joint meeting of the Northside Kiwanis Club and Downtown Sertoma Club at The Foundry UT men’s basketball coach Cuonzo Martin spoke to a joint meeting of the Northside Kiwanis Club and Downtown Sertoma Club at The Foundry last week. File photo by Sandra Clark
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last week that his team will be focused on effort, team togetherness, team toughness and, yep, discipline. “But when you explain it (discipline), they respond better to that.” Martin says he and his staff stress doing the right things off the court, stuff like getting up early and making an 8 a.m. class on time. He says it’s all about building long-term relationships. Team togetherness might mean a night at the bowling alley or eating dinner together. Often, he says, they don’t even talk about basketball. Team toughness isn’t just the physical “train like a boxer” mindset that Martin says is his approach, but “also the mental part.”
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“Being on time, working hard, maximize your time during a threehour practice. You do that, then you put together a good week, and then you become a good ball player. Then you become a good team when you have four or five guys doing that.” Martin says the next phase for his team is to learn how to battle and compete against one another. He tells them they will get to sort out who becomes the starting five by how they compete and practice. He says he didn’t take the job to go through the motions. “My goal is for us to be the last team standing. We’ve got a tough schedule but it’s a great schedule. “You put your head down and work ’til the sun sets.”