Powell/Norwood Shopper-News 111214

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POWELL/NORWOOD VOL. 53 NO. 45

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IN THIS ISSUE Powell High hosts community Powell High School teachers, administrators and a ton of students packed the gym last Thursday for the school’s second annual community engagement event. Principal Nathan Langlois said Powell High is “a traditional school with some brand new things.”

Read the story on A-3

New nest for West Marvin West has a new home in Shopper-News. Look for his column each week on pages 4-5. This week he talks about Kentucky: “Kentucky, brave and daring, sends word that it will show up Saturday at Neyland Stadium. “The Wildcats have seen the Joshua Dobbs Show. ... They know how hard A.J. Johnson hits and what Derek Barnett does to those he catches. “The Big Blue seems unaffected, totally resistive to intimidation. There has been no mention of opting out.”

Read Marvin West on A-4

Read, read, read What’s former principal Nancy Maland up to? Last week she was with the Shopper’s newspaper club at Sarah Moore Greene Academy saying, “Read, read, read.”

Read about it on A-8

Aubrey’s grilled salmon tacos Our mystery diner has discovered a rare treat: “When I first heard of “fish tacos,” I was confused. Being “a little bit country,” I couldn’t see stuffing bits of fried catfish into a hard taco shell and covering them with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese.

Read “Plate It” on A-11

Students at Powell High School will have an opportunity to have their work auctioned off, thanks to Morning Pointe of Powell. The event will be held 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, at the center, 7700 Dannaher Drive in Powell. The exhibit will feature art created by residents at Morning Pointe and local artists and the work of PHS students in the Art I, Advanced Art 3D and photography classes. Read the story on A-9

7049 Maynardville Pike 37918 (865) 922-4136 NEWS news@ShopperNewsNow.com Sandra Clark | Cindy Taylor ADVERTISING SALES ads@ShopperNewsNow.com Shannon Carey Jim Brannon | Tony Cranmore Patty Fecco | Wendy O’Dell

November 12, 2014

Enhance Powell calls Saturday cleanup By Sandra Clark The committee of the Powell Business and Professional Association that is working to beautify Powell has called a community cleanup day, meeting at 9 a.m. at Bojangle’s on Emory Road at Brickyard. Laura Bailey promises to bring her Bobcat. The group’s final meeting of 2014 will be 4:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, at Realty Executives Associates. At last week’s meeting, Kim

Severance said Knox County Schools CTE supervisor Don Lawson supports a construction trades project for PHS students to rennovate the old garage on county-owned land into a large picnic pavilion for community use. Dr. Donald Wegener said the Tennessee Chiropractic Association, of which he is a past president, has contacted him about donating a bench in memory of his son, Travis Wegener, who died unexpectedly.

The committee identified a concrete pad in Powell Station Park, and Wegener will notify the association. The committee discussed a footbridge over Beaver Creek, to benefit students of The Crown College, but someone pointed out that won’t help much without pedestrian access from the new Powell Drive to Emory Road. Student member Laura Connaster said the county bridge on Brickyard Road is unsafe for pe-

destrians. She has used it when walking to school. So Chuck Denney contacted Dwight Van de Vate, a Powell resident who is director of Engineering and Public Works for Knox County. Van de Vate agreed to attend the group’s Nov. 20 meeting. Lee Robbins discussed “uneconomic remnants” of land between Powell Drive and Beaver Creek, and he suggested a walking trail on the Crown College side of the creek under the power lines.

Ijams opens pet welcome station Ijams Nature Center, complete with over 12 miles of trails, is a great greenspace for walking pets. Now, with the support of PetSafe, a new pet welcome station will provide enhanced enjoyment for the furry park visitors. Ijams and PetSafe invite visitors and their special pets to a grand opening at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, at the Visitor Center Plaza. A number of community pet partners will attend, including Small Breed Rescue with little pups who will be up for adoption. The Pet Welcome Station is part of a series of improvements Ijams has made in 2014 to enhance visitor orientation and enjoyment on the Visitor Center Plaza. Recent additions also include wildlife interpretation, information kiosks and custom-designed art installations by local artisans. The Pet Welcome Station features a handy water fountain as well as hitching posts to secure dogs while visitors step into the Visitor Center for a trail map or a quick snack. Funding has been provided by PetSafe, the largest manufacturer of electronic pet training products in the U.S. PetSafe is committed to helping Knoxville become the most pet-friendly city in America.

Noweta Garden Club members Lana McMullen, Margaret Trammell and Barbara Oran check their calendars. Plans for the group’s 2015 season are on page A-3. Photo by Cindy Taylor

Noweta colors Powell By Cindy Taylor After new officers were elected, the Noweta Garden Club was ready to jump into 2015, but the first order of business was to take time to enjoy the colors of the season. Club members made their yearly excursion to the Smokies in

October for a visit to Little Greenbrier School. The hairpin turns through Wears Valley raised a few eyebrows among Noweta passengers, but driver Carole Whited earned points for safely traversing the curves. For the November meeting,

Cove Lake State Park and lunch from Rickard Ridge BBQ were on the menu. New officers were elected for the coming year. Judy Eubanks will act as president for 2015. First vice president is RoweTo page A-3

McIntyre gets a mentor By Betty Bean

PHS student art on exhibit

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At the tag end of the superintendent’s report during the November school board workshop, James McIntyre announced that Rod Paige, who served as Secretary of Education under George W. Bush, is his new mentor. “The former U.S. Secretary of Education was here in Knoxville last Friday, and I had the privilege of spending a few hours with him,” McIntyre said. “I’d been introduced to him through one of my professional networks, and he’s agreed to serve as sort of an informal mentor and executive coach for me. I believe his insights and wisdom will be pretty valuable to my continued professional growth … This is a great opportunity for me, and I’m pretty excited about that.”

Analysis There is no cost to Knox County Schools. “Dr. McIntyre and Dr. Paige were connected by the Broad Center, and it is our understanding

Rod Paige and James McIntyre

Photo

from KCS Twitter

that they will cover the expenses of Dr. Paige’s engagement,” Melissa Ogden, KCS director of public affairs, said in response to a question. Teachers in the audience, who were stripped of tenure and collective-bargaining rights and left with something called PECCA (Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act) by the state Legislature in 2011, should be forgiven if they don’t share his enthusiasm. PECCA required the school board to meet with teachers’ rep-

resentatives to discuss a limited list of matters including salaries, benefits, insurance and leave. The board delegated its powers to McIntyre, who was in no hurry to comply with this toothless law, and KCS failed to reach an agreement with the weakened Knox County Education Association by Nov. 1, leaving teachers without even the weak protections afforded by the new law. So what does that have to do with McIntyre’s new mentor? This: To say that the 81-year-old Paige is not a proponent of teachers’ rights is like saying Babe Ruth was a pretty fair hitter. One of his best-known pronouncements was to brand the country’s largest teachers union, the National Education Association, “a terrorist organization.” Prior to landing the job with the Bush administration, Paige (who is part of the “executive” faculty of the Broad Center for Superintendents) served as superintendent of the Houston Independent School District for eight years and boasted a too-good-to-be-true record of improved student achievement

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in inner-city high schools, featuring sky-high graduation rates and dropout rates of nearly zero. One of the ways he achieved this unbelievable result was to do away with tenure for principals and put them on one-year contracts that could be terminated without cause if they failed, or to reward them with lavish bonuses if they succeeded. The result? A whole lot of cheating, uncovered after Paige was long gone. KCEA president Tanya T. Coats was in the audience when McIntyre announced that Paige would be mentoring him. At the end of the meeting, she protested that the administration is misinterpreting the rules governing the selection of the teachers’ bargaining agent by attempting to reopen the process to give other organizations a second chance to apply since KCEA was the only applicant that has complied with the terms set by the Legislature. McIntyre smiled and said he’d be looking into that. Teachers better hope he isn’t calling Rod Paige for advice.

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