Home school conference to be held at Tusculum College

Heritage Home Scholars will host a regional home-school conference at Tusculum College on Monday, May 16, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The goal of the day is to promote college readiness and provide valuable information to current and prospective homeschoolers. There will be a variety of home-school related vendors, including education materials and textbooks.

“We are sponsoring this conference to provide support and resources for home-schooling families in the Greene County region. This free conference is open to all home-schoolers and prospective home-school families,” said Jennifer Jenkins, coordinator for the conference. She added that there will also be vendors on site with used home-school curricula, as well as speakers on various home-school related topics.

Informational sessions will be provided on topics such as financial aid information related to Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation, how to prepare for college and navigate the application process and home schooling through high school, which will be presented by Taylor.

Special guests from HomeLife Academy will be in attendance and available to answer questions regarding home schooling in Tennessee. They will also be presenting sessions on “How Does Your Child Learn Best” and “Homeschool Organization.” They will present on organizational methods for homeschooling as well as different methods of homeschooling and the resources available. Conference attendees will be offered a 20 percent discount by HomeLife Academy for umbrella school registration.

Other topics of discussion will include the Hope Scholarship, preparation for high school, what high school credits can be received, graduation requirements, college admission requirements, duel enrollment, testing, beginning a resume, Eta Sigma Alpha National Homeschool Society, the different extracurricular activities available, as well as athletics, beneficial items and driving courses. Visit Heritage Home Scholar’s website at www.heritagehomescholars.org for a schedule of speakers.

Tusculum College, which is hosting and supporting the event, will have a table setup at this event, as will Walters State Community College and East Tennessee State University.

Heritage Home Scholars is a nonprofit corporation formed in 2014 in Greeneville. HHS is a home-school support group that operates a co-op that meets on Mondays from August through April, with more than 120 families participating.

The purpose of HHS is to serve and support Christian home-schooling families. This includes families who are anticipating home schooling, families who are currently home schooling one or more children and families who may no longer be home schooling but are still interested in ministering to home-schooling families. For more information contact the HHS by email at heritagehomescholars@gmail.com.

 

Students gain financial literacy

On Saturday, April 16, the students in Tusculum’s SSS/ARCHES programs set sail on a sunset voyage of financial literacy. Participants had the opportunity to attend the informative session while aboard the Tennessee River Company boat the STAR of Knoxville. Gary Stuart of Ed Financial presented ways for students to become financially savvy.

After seeing many sites, enjoying a delicious meal and music on the riverboat, students learned how “not to sink” into financial hardships during and after college.

For more information on joining ARCHES please visit our website http://www3.tusculum.edu/adult/sss/arches-program/.

Class of 1966 to be special guests on campus during Spring Commencement weekend

Members of the Class of 1966 will be in the spotlight next weekend as they reunite on campus to celebrate their 50th anniversary year.

Special events are planned on both May 6 and 7 to bring the newest Golden Pioneers back together on campus to mark this milestone for the Class of 1966.

The Golden Pioneer celebrations occur during the spring commencement weekend and include recognition and social celebration, that includes a reception at the President’s House.

Donning a golden cap and gown, each participant is presenting a commemorative medallion and be recognized by for their dedication and loyalty to the College for the past 50 years. The class members participate in the Commencement processional and will be recognized during the ceremony from the podium.

Below is the agenda for the Golden Pioneers for May 2016 Commencement:

 

Friday, May 6

3 – 5 p.m. – Tours of Tusculum

5 to 6 p.m. – Reception with Dr. Nancy B. Moody and Mr. Tom F. Moody at the President’s house with Medallion Ceremony

6:30 p.m. – Dinner at The Brumley’s Restaurant in the General Morgan Inn (Dutch Treat)

 

Saturday, May 7

8:30 a.m. – Breakfast in the Pioneer Perk, Niswonger Commons

10 a.m. – Commencement Ceremony, Pioneer Arena, Niswonger Commons

Following Commencement – Golden Pioneer Luncheon in the Pioneer Perk

Members of the Class of 1966 can register for these events by visiting this page.

 

Tusculum event coming to D.C. area soon

If you will be in the Washington, D. C. area next week, make plans to attend the upcoming alumni event on Tuesday, May 3. Alumni are invited to visit with Tusculum President Nancy B. Moody and learn about all the exciting developments at the College, including the construction progress for the new center for science and math (above).

Alumni will gather at 7 p.m at The Atrium inside the Crystal Gateway Marriott (1700 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Arlington, VA 2202).  Meals will be Dutch treat. Please RSVP to the Office of Alumni Relations at 423.636.7303, 800.729.0256 ext. 5303 or bsell@tusculum.edu.

Tusculum alum referees in NCAA women’s basketball championship

Beverly Roberts

When the University of Connecticut defeated Syracuse University, on Tuesday, April 5, during the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship game, a Tusculum College alumna was right in the middle of the action.

Beverly Roberts ’90 was selected to serve as one of the game officials at this year’s Women’s Final Four, held in Indianapolis. Roberts was one of the three referees working the national title game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, shown on ESPN.

Serving as referee in big games is not new for the Kingsport native. She officiated the 2008 NCAA Final Four in Tampa, FL, and has worked in 10 consecutive NCAA tournaments. This was her first national championship game. Roberts officiates women’s games in the Big Ten, Big 12, Missouri Valley Conference, Southeastern Conference and Conference USA.

Officiating runs in the family. Beverly’s father, Garry Roberts, is a basketball official in the South Atlantic Conference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

’50s

Rev. Don Wright ’53 has just finished serving as temporary pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Dearborn, MI. He has filled in for more than a year as the church searched for a new pastor. Don is Pastor Emeritus of this church and this was his third time to minister to the congregation. With his 57 years of service, the Presbytery continues to use his service to assist churches in need. Don met his wife Dorothy (Jaynes) ’54 at Tusculum and they married on his graduation day. The Wrights live near their daughter Debbie. Their oldest son, Alan, owns a software company in California; their middle son Doug is compliance officer for an investment company, and their youngest son Dean is vice president of MGM.

 

’90s

Brian Click ’99 of Greeneville, TN, has realized a longtime dream with the opening of Cornerstone Wealth Management Group with partner Chris O’Dell. The new business will offer such services as comprehensive financial management, from 401(k)s, IRAs and retirement preparation to college planning and investments, as well as some insurance services. Click has been a certified financial planner for 17 years. As part of the new business, the partners took a vacant building that had been the location of a popular locally owned store, renovating it and returning it to useful life in the community.

 

’00s

Jeremy Parrott ’00 has been named the new head coach of the Bearden Bulldogs boy’s basketball program in Knoxville, TN. Jeremy had taught  history and driver’s education courses at Cherokee High School in Rogersville, TN, as well as served 15 years as the head boy’s basketball coach there. He is the longest tenured head basketball coach and his teams have recorded the most consecutive winning seasons in school history. Jeremy has served as the chairman of the Basketball Coaches for the Intermountain Athletic Conference since 2006. He was voted Coach of the Year in District II AAA in 2006-07 and was chosen Lakeway Area Coach of the Year in 2011-12. That year, his team made it to the state tournament, the only team to ever do so at Cherokee.

 

 

 

 

’40s

Elizabeth Taylor Duggins ’41 of Greeneville, TN, passed away April 17, 2016. Mrs. Duggins was a lifelong resident of Greeneville and Tusculum and a retired educator who served both the Greeneville and Greene County school systems. Mrs. Duggins began her career working in a two-room school in the Sinking Springs community. She was known as a champion of troubled students and a favorite English teacher and counselor to generations. Always ready to listen with equal measures of caring and humor, Mrs. Duggins was sought out both by students and parents as well as other adults who showed up at her back door under the cover of darkness looking for a sympathetic ear and wise council. She could not get enough of the beauty of Greene County and the Unaka Mountains, and after she gave up driving was always ready for a ride in the countryside or nearby mountains. Her survivors include sister and Tusculum alumna Marjorie Bright ’59.

 

’60s

Delia Swain Acuff ’60 of Greeneville, TN, passed away March 31, 2016. Mrs. Acuff was retired teacher and principal of Greeneville Middle School. She was a member of Tusculum Baptist Church. Mrs. Acuff was a member of the Retired Teachers Association and the Greene County Democrat Party. She had a desire to travel, having visited all 50 states. She also traveled around the world. In the 1970s, she went India and Poland, trips that were sponsored by the State of Tennessee.Mrs. Acuff devoted her time to the Alliance for Mental Health and was affiliated with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health) and TAMI (Tennessee Alliance on Mental Health). She was instrumental in establishing the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Greene County. In addition to traveling, she also enjoyed her flower gardens, sewing, politics and cats.

 

Tony M. Seay Jr. ’66 of Mosheim, TN, passed away on April 24, 2016. Mr. Seay was a career educator, having taught at Mosheim Elementary School.

’80s

The Rev. Dr. Roy E. Blakeburn ’84 of Greeneville, TN, passed away April 14, 2016. Dr. Blakeburn served 54 years as an ordained Cumberland Presbyterian minister, with 35 of those years in Greeneville. He also served churches in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee. Dr. Blakeburn served the church in other capacities including associate secretary of the Board of Home Missions, General Assembly commissioner, moderator of the General Assembly, stated clerk of the General Assembly and co-chair of the Committee to Revise the Confession of Faith of 1984. Dr. Blakeburn was the author of two study books: “The Presence, the People, and the Journey,” and “The Holy Spirit Comes Through the Word,” as well as several articles for “The Cumberland Presbyterian” magazine and the “Missionary Messenger.” He published two books of his selected sermons: “God, Gabriel and the Cannonball” and “Faithful Living Outside the Box.”

 

’90s

Sherri Lee Taylor ’99 of Greeneville, TN, passed away April 4, 2016. Ms. Taylor worked for the U.S. Postal Service. She was a member of First Christian Church and a member of Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Lodge No. 1653.

 

Faculty

William Thomas “Bill” Brimer of Chuckey, TN, who was a professor of mathematics at Tusculum, passed away of pancreatic cancer on April 8, 2016, at his home surrounded by loved ones. Mr. Brimer formerly taught and coached wrestling, football and track at Greeneville High School, Tennessee High School and Morristown West High School. He also served as the minister of music at Tusculum Baptist Church, where he was a member.  His final days included visits from hundreds of friends, family, wrestlers, former students, and colleagues thanking him for the impact of his humble, yet powerful influence upon their lives. In keeping with his life’s work, among his last words were; “Keep making a difference in people’s lives.”

Friends

Loyce “Sue” C. Raber of Colonial Heights, TN, passed away on April 5, 2016, after an an extended illness. Mrs. Raber was the wife of Dr. Donald R. Raber H’13, who serves on the Tusculum College Board of Trustees. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Mrs. Raber had lived in Kingsport since 1981. She was a loving homemaker and long term officer of Aldebaran Financial. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Loyce and August Ritzler Scholarship Fund, Tusculum College, 60 Shiloh Road, Greeneville, Tennessee 37743, which the Rabers established and named in honor of Mrs. Raber’s parents.

Students contribute ‘Up to Us’ prize money to College

A team of students from Tusculum College was awarded fifth place in the fourth annual Up to Us campus competition. The group of seniors has decided to contribute the prize money the team received to the College

During the annual School of Business Banquet in late April, the team members presented more than $2,000 to Tusculum President Nancy B. Moody as a contribution to the Tusculum First Scholarship. The Tusculum First Scholarship was established by the 2015 graduating seniors as their class gift to help future students achieve their educational goals as others had helped them achieve their goals. The class of 2016 also donated its class gift to the Tusculum First Scholarship.

The team members included Michael Fernando, Haylee Reed, Leon Seiz, David Siegle and Jonas Winklemann.

Members of the Up to Us team present Dr. Nancy B. Moody,Tusculum president, with its prize money during the School of Business Banquet on April 26.

Up to Us is a project coordinated by Net Impact, working in partnership with the Peter. G. Petersen Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative. The organization provides an opportunity to college students to educate their peers on issues stemming from the national debt, giving students the chance to speak up and make an impact on the nation’s long-term fiscal and economic health.

During the 2016 Up to Us campaign, 230 students on 53 teams in 28 states worked on their individual campuses to engage other students in understanding the national debt through in-person outreach, events and activities on campus.

“It’s been a rewarding experience,” said Michael Fernando, a senior Tusculum College student from Sri Lanka majoring in accounting, general management and economics and international business, who headed the effort at Tusculum College. “After we were invited to participate in Up to Us, such a prestigious competition, I knew we would have to give it all we had. We had a great team, and I am glad that we were as successful as we were.”

According to Fernando, Tusculum College participated in the campaign from October 22, 2015 through February 21, 2016, launching weeks of creative, non-partisan and thought-provoking campus campaigns to raise awareness of the impact of America’s long-term national debt.

The Tusculum College team led some innovative campaign strategies, including a TED Talk style forum regarding the national debt, he said. Students participated in the project “Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees,” during which they made signs detailing how they cared about the national debt and hung them around trees on the Greeneville campus and even made special announcements during a basketball game.

As part of their award, the team will also be awarded a cash prize, which they have chosen to donate to Tusculum College. The team leaders from the top 10 teams have also been invited to Washington, D.C. to attend the Peter G. Peterson Foundation’s 2016 Fiscal Summit; they will meet with economists and national political leaders to discuss the national debt and its impact on millennials. Fernando also traveled to the University of California, Berkeley to the Clinton Global Initiative University conference in early April where the winning teams were recognized by former President Bill Clinton.

Teams from the 2016 Up to Us campaign were assessed by a panel of judges that included several elite business executives and Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation.

For more information on the Up to Us initiative, visit www.itsuptous.org.

 

By Madilyn Elliott, senior journalism and professional writing major from Hampton

Tusculum College student Matt Pierce receives fellowship for research project

Tusculum student Matt Pierce has been awarded a research fellowship for his achievements in the Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program at East Tennessee State University.

Pierce, a senior creative writing and political science major from Elizabethton, served as a McNair scholar this past summer, and having completed the program, applied and received the advanced research fellowship to further efforts on the research proposal he developed during the summer program.

The preliminary research proposal he developed last summer earned him the advanced research fellowship that will enable him to continue the research. Ideally, the project would be a direct follow-up of the summer proposal; however, Pierce simplified the project to something more personal for his academic year research.

Matt Pierce

The summer McNair program at ETSU allows first-generation undergraduates who meet income requirements to participate in graduate-level research to better prepare them for graduate school. During the summer of 2016, Pierce developed an idea of analyzing the correlation of language skills, particularly the English language, and how those skills affect an individual’s idea of social power.

“My hypothesis was that people who had less developed language skills would be less able to conceive themselves as having agency, so they were less able to imagine themselves as having control over their own lives because their language skills were less developed. If you don’t have power over your own language, you’re going to have to rely on other people to create your narrative for you,” said Pierce

“Ultimately what I decided to do was to investigate the presence and significance of Appalachian English in Carter County, which is where I’m from,” said Pierce. “I found some research that looked into the affect on students’ experience in classrooms and on standardized testing when they speak nonstandard English, which is what really sparked this direction of the project. Usually it has a negative impact, and speakers of dialect—of Appalachian English, in particular—tend to internalize the negative stereotypes about themselves from cultural signals they receive. I wanted to build this narrative of what Appalachian English is in Carter County.”

For his research, Pierce created four focus groups divided by age: under 18, 19-39, 40-59, and 60 years and over. He found participants from local high schools, churches, and businesses. Each group, which contained 6-8 people apiece, would answer a survey that contained socioeconomic questions, religious questions, and questions about how they thought their language intersected with their social identity.

Pierce interviewed the groups and collected data on what common experiences people in the same age group shared, as well as their attitude towards that group identity, and then compared the answers between the age groups.

“I just wanted to see how, in this community this dialect was still alive, what it looked like and what that meant,” said Pierce. “I wanted the people of this community to have a chance to create the narrative themselves about what it means to be speakers of this dialect. I didn’t want to take data from them, I wanted them to be able to say in their own words, what it meant to them.”

Pierce was also awarded the Tennessee Association of Special Programs’ Adult-Learner Scholarship, which Pierce won through his association with the Student Support Services TRIO program on campus at Tusculum College. The scholarship asked that applicants write an essay on how TRIO programs helped the student succeed. Pierce was nominated by the Tusculum College staff of Student Support Services in recognition of his success in his undergraduate program, according to David Smith, director of the Student Support Services.

“I think I was able to win because of the true support and the thankfulness and gratefulness I have for the people that work at SSS,” said Pierce. “They do so much for us, especially for those of us that really engage and develop relationships with them. They helped me navigate the more bureaucratic aspects of college that, as a first-generation student, I wouldn’t have had the wherewithal to deal with on my own.”

 

By Madilyn Elliott, a senior journalism and professional writing major from Hampton

 

Tusculum Band Program returns to the stage Thursday, April 28 for spring concert

After performing outdoors for the recent Old Oak Festival, the Tusculum College Band program will return to more familiar environs for its annual spring concert on Thursday, April 28.

The Concert Band, Jazz Band and Handbell Choir will be performing in the Band Program’s final concert on campus for the 2015-16 academic year in the auditorium in the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building. The concert, which begins at 7 p.m., is free and open to the public.

The Old Oak Festival served as an appetizer for the Spring Concert as extended sets by the Jazz Band and Handbell Choir featured some of the pieces they will be performing next Thursday while members of the Concert Band showed their skill and versatility during “Conduct Us,” a popular part of the Old Oak Festival that allows festival goers to try their hand at conducting the band.

After successful performances at the recent Old Oak Festival, the Tusculum College Concert Band (above), Jazz Band and Handbell Choir will be returning to the stage on campus for the spring concert on April 28. (Tusculum College photo)

Thursday’s performance will feature a variety of musical styles in the repertoire of the Concert Band, including the always popular “Phantom of the Opera” and the classic “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.” The Concert Band will also be performing “Into the Clouds,” “Perthshire Majesty,” “Lightning Field” and “Billboard March.”

Toes promise to be tapping during the Jazz Band’s performance, which will feature favorites such as “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” made famous by Duke Ellington, the Glen Miller signature tune, “Pennsylvania 6-5000,” and “September,” a hit for Earth, Wind & Fire. The Jazz Band’s set will also include the Big Band classic, “Big Noise from Winnetka;” “When I Fall in Love,” which won a Grammy in 1996 for the “duet” version by Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole, and “Life Without You.”

The Handbell Choir’s performance will provide a taste of secular, Latin, popular and classical music with a twist. The choir will be performing “Pie Jesu,” “Sway,” “The Pink Panther Theme” and “PDQ Bells.”

The band program began in 2010 with the formation of a pep band and has grown to include the Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band, Handbell Choir and various small ensembles.

Tusculum student Jennie Frost wins scholarship to workshop in France

Tusculum College student Jennie Frost has received a scholarship to attend a creative writing workshop in Auvillar, France.

Frost will leave in mid-May to attend the Auvillar Writers’ Workshop. She was introduced to the workshop through Marilyn Kallet, the director of creative writing at the University of Tennessee, who suggested she apply.

Jennie Frost

Frost’s scholarship entry was selected from the dozens of students at the University of Tennessee and other universities who applied.

The week-long workshop is titled, “O Taste and See: Writing the Senses in Deep France.” The workshop will focus on poetry writing that celebrates the sensory joys of being in Southwest France and will include a wide variety of cultural immersion experiences.

“This will be a wonderful opportunity for me, one that I could not have possibly come across without the skills and practice I have picked up from the creative writing program at Tusculum College,” said Frost.

Frost, a senior creative writing major from Friendsville who will graduate in December, added, “I can say positively that I have been given something at Tusculum College that I could not find anywhere else.”

Frost is this year’s winner of the Curtis-Owen Literature Prize for Fiction and will have poetry published later this month in the “Anomaly Literary Journal.” Two additional poems have been selected for publication by the Kudzu Literary Magazine, an Appalachian journal.

 

Hodge named 2016 Lifelong Learner Award from the East Tennessee College Alliance

Tusculum student Amy Hodge was recently received the Lifelong Learner Award from the East Tennessee College Alliance. The Alliance hosted the annual Lifelong Learning awards ceremony and luncheon at the Foundry on the World’s Fair Site in Knoxville.

From left are Stephanie Langley, Amy Hodge and Shannon Brown

Hodge, a student member of Tusculum College’s ARCHES program, received the award after being nominated by Stephanie Langley, associate director of Student Support Services. Hodge is a native of Knox County and will be graduating from the Graduate and Professional Studies program with a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education.

Founded in 1992, the ETCA is a consortium of eleven colleges and universities committed to the presentation and delivery of post-secondary educational programs and opportunities for non-traditional working adults. For more information on ARCHES please visit the website at http://www3.tusculum.edu/adult/sss/arches-program/.

 

Stream Clean-up of College Creek

On Wednesday, April 13, 29 biology/service-learning students from Tusculum College participated in a stream clean-up of College Creek and the Paul E. Hayden Educational Wetland. The Hayden Wetland is a man-made, stormwater wetland that filters out nutrients and pollutants, catches stormwater runoff and litter and helps clean the water before it goes into College Creek. The event was hosted by the Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance.

Students were divided into two groups, with half cleaning the creek section near the Doak House Museum and half removing debris and litter from the wetland area and along the creek between Gilland Street and Shiloh Road. Water from College Creek eventually drains into the Nolichucky River.

With College Creek being 1 of 58 impaired tributaries flowing into the Nolichucky, it is critical for members of the community to practice environmental stewardship. Students also learned about how to save on water and energy consumption in their daily lives.

Pizza, drinks, t-shirts and rakes were provided by a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency grant. Gloves and trash bags were provided by a Tennessee Valley Authority Community Clean-up grant and through Keep Greene Beautiful. For more information on adopting a local stream in your area, please contact Appalachia CARES/AmeriCorps Member Kristen Lane at mnwa.tn@gmail.com.

 

By Kristen Lane ’14

 

 

Tusculum students participate in clean-up

 

Tusculum receives grant for nursing simulation lab expansion

Tusculum College’s nursing program has been awarded a $116,159 grant from the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation for expansion of the nursing simulation lab.

Grant funds will be used to expand the nursing programs simulation laboratory by adding an infant and a pediatric simulator for infant and pediatric nursing training.

According to Michelle Arbogast, associate director of foundation and donor relations, the purpose of this grant is to educate nursing students in practical clinical exercises without causing any harm to patients.

“It will provide an alternative to the pediatric clinical experience,” said Dr. Lois Ewen, dean of the School of Nursing, Health Sciences and Human Services and professor of nursing. “Simulation allows students an opportunity to make clinical decisions and see the consequences of those decisions. We all learn from our mistakes. With simulation, students can learn from their mistakes without harming a patient.”

The infant and pediatric simulators join two adult simulators purchased through a previous grant from the BCBS and the Tennessee Health Foundation in spring 2013.

The simulation lab provides opportunities for other academic programs at Tusculum, such as physiology courses in the science and physical education departments and the athletic training program, as well as other health care organizations in the Greeneville community.

Dr. Ewen said, “We open the lab for our community partners, which enhances the health of our community as a whole.”

 

From left, Michelle Arbogast, associate director of foundation and donor relations; Heather Patchett, vice president of institutional advancement; Dr. Jerry Ward, trustee; Jane Brown, nursing faculty; Dr. Nancy B. Moody, president Dawn Abel, manager of community relations and foundations for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation; Dr. Linda Garrett, assistant dean of nursing; Dr. Lois Ewen, dean of nursing, and Tammy Albright, chief nursing officer, Takoma Regional Hospital.