NORTH / EAST VOL. 3 NO. 6 NEIGHBORHOOD BUZZ
Magnet showcase Thursday at SMG
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February 11, 2015
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PSCC opens support center at Magnolia Avenue Campus
Wonder what all the excitement’s about at Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Academy? Come see for yourself at the magnet showcase from 4:30 until 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12. Several community members are sponsoring after-school clubs, including Shopper-News with our “soonto-be-famous” newspaper club. Carol Springer has produced a slide show to illustrate this year’s guests and speakers. Ruth White has visited various clubs and filed a report on page 8 inside. Hope to see everyone there. It’s easier to create a community school when the community comes out. – S. Clark
IN THIS ISSUE Level playing field for students? Unexpected barriers awaited the Austin-East Robotics Team when they applied to participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition, an international program that challenges talented high schoolers to solve high-tech science and engineering problems.
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See Bill Dockery’s story on page 4
Mayors Madeline Rogero and Tim Burchett were honored by the Tennessee Board of Regents Feb. 6 at Pellissippi State Community College’s Magnolia Avenue campus. Pictured are (front) Anthony Wise, PSCC president; Rogero; Burchett; Larry Cox, former member of Knoxville City Council; (back) council member Duane Grieve, Trustee Ed Shouse and council member George Wallace. Photo by Ruth White Pellissippi State Community College has opened the Center for Student and Community Engagement at the Magnolia Avenue Campus. The center provides a onestop resource for student support
Welcome to the new guys: VFL To the new guys who signed up to be Volunteers: Welcome and be advised that Tennessee football is forever – unless you fail miserably, embarrass us something awful or just plain quit. Tennessee fans never forget. Your obituary will mention that you are an old Vol and whether you made all-SEC.
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Read Marvin West on page 4
Meet the toreador Bass-baritone Ryan Kuster thinks that most people can relate to George Bizet’s opera “Carmen,” which is being performed by the Knoxville Opera Company this weekend. “For one thing, people will recognize the music. Most people know a lot more of ‘Carmen’ than they think they do. And the story is compelling. There’s no real hero. It’s very human – there’s not a clear moment where you say, ‘Oh, this is the person that I root for.’”
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See Carol Shane’s story on page 7
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services, including financial aid, advising, counseling, tutoring, service-learning, and safety and security. “Life sometimes gets in the way of academic success,” said Rosalyn Tillman, campus dean. “The goal
of the center is to provide every service we can to help our students overcome those distractions and roadblocks to success. Everything we do, we do so they can focus on school.” Tillman was joined for the
Aaron Maddox is new principal at Corryton Aaron Maddox is the interim principal at Corryton Elementary School, replacing Jamie Snyder, who will become dean of academics for the new Emerald Academy charter school. Maddox joined Aaron Maddox Knox County Schools in 1995 as a teacher at Fountain City Elementary School
grand opening by L. Anthony Wise Jr., Pellissippi State president, as well as representatives from the Tennessee Board of Regents, Knox County and the city of Knoxville. To page 3
Don’t be scared of Friday the 13th ■ North Knoxville Business and Professional Association will meet at 7:45 a.m. Friday, Feb. 13, at the Haslam Family Club University of the Boys and Girls Club, 407 Caswell Ave. Markus Jackson, vice president of operations for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, will speak. ■ Sand Branch United Methodist Church will host a Valentine’s party from 6-8 p.m. Friday with a potluck dinner, soup and salad, and music and games. The church is at 2301 Thorn Grove Pike. ■ KnowHow Knoxville is celebrating the conjunction of “Love & Horror” with a program that will include costumes, karaoke and live music. The program will hosted by Paulk & Co., 510 Williams St., from 5-10 p.m. Friday.
and also served as teacher at Copper Ridge. He entered administration in 2009 when he was appointed as an assistant principal at Cedar Bluff Elementary School and has served as an assistant principal at Dogwood Elementary since 2012. Maddox holds a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Tennessee, a master’s in education from UT and an education specialist degree in administration and supervision from LMU.
Love, love me do
By Sherri Gardner Howell
I have bad news for greeting card companies, restaurants and florists. When it comes to filling hearts with love on Valentine’s Day, you have some heavy competition that you will never beat. Elementary schools. My sweet husband, who groans like all men when February rolls around, has presented me with some very lovely cards, beautiful flowers and delicious dinners for Valentine’s Days through the years. Nothing can compare, however, to the Popsicle sticks picture frame with crayon red hearts on all sides and a second-grade photo of our younger son grinning from ear to ear. The scrawled “I love you Mommy” on the back completes the heart-tug. And then there is the plaster of Paris handprint from our firstborn
when he was 5 with a teacher-assisted poem on the back: “Here’s my hand on Valentine’s Day; Hold me close as I grow and play.” Even now, in the midst of trying to declutter, I can’t part with the schoolmade Valentine’s Day cards. I have been away from elementary schools so long that I don’t even know what’s “allowed” anymore as far as giving Valentines to classmates. I remember my own Valentine’s Days at school, however. Who knew so much could be read into the size and sentiment on silly “tear on the dotted line” Valentines? Yes, class lists were sent home with proper admonishments for every child to provide a card for every other child and that no additional “gifts” could be brought to school, unless there was one for everyone. And, yes, we followed all the
rules in my small town in the 1960s. But that doesn’t mean each chipper “Barbie says: You’re the grooviest” or Yogi Bear’s “I can’t BEAR to be without you” we received wasn’t analyzed, dissected and conclusions drawn. I knew Greg Hart loved me after Valentine’s Day in fourth grade. Greg and I both bought The Beatles Valentine’s pack to pass out in our classroom that year. We both gave each other the same card: the largest one in the pack with all FOUR Beatles on it and the sentiment: “Love, Love Me Do. Happy Valentine’s Day.” I knew it was true love. I, personally, had spent almost an hour deciding between that card and the “All You Need Is Love” smaller card for Greg. It was destiny. (Destiny took an ugly turn the next year when Greg threw me
over after I won Miss Lexington Junior First Princess. He immediately declared his love for Teresa Smith, who won queen. He moved out of town shortly thereafter, but I had nothing to do with that.) Unfortunately for adult men and women today, all this competition from elementary school crushes and children’s handprints doesn’t take the pressure off for Valentine’s Day. We all love to be loved, and we love to be reminded that we are loved. The point, of course, is to look inside the heart of whoever it is you love. You’ll find the right “gift” in whatever brings that smile to his or her face. And if you just can’t figure it out, call an elementary school teacher.
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