Outstanding Community Service

Wendell Smith, Ketron Elementary

 

Achievement Above and Beyond Expectation in

Job Requirements/Certification

Katie Campbell, Emmett Elementary

Vinette Christian, Sullivan Central

Richard Coffey, Sullivan North

Suzanne Demming, Sullivan North

Ashley Gearing, Bluff City Elementary

Marian Graham, Mary Hughes

Diane Griffin, Akard Service Center

Wally Ketron, Maintenance

Bridgett Luttrell, Sullivan Central

Rebecca Mason, Mary Hughes

Robin McClellan, Central Office

Tammie McCracken, Miller Perry

Linda Cupp, Miller Perry

Rose Mary Ford, Miller Perry

Christi Stout, Miller Perry

Linda Musser, Maintenance

Sheri Nelson, Sullivan East

Allyson Raines, Sullivan Central

Bo Shadden, Central Office

Cindy Torbett, Colonial Heights

Jenny Trivett, Emmett Elementary

Kona White-Henson, Sullivan Central

Brian Winchell, Indian Springs

  

  

Mrs. Eden Buchanan of Emmett Elementary was awarded a $3,699.90 check courtesy of CenturyLink's Teacher and Technology Grant Program. These grants are "designed to help fund projects that advance success through the innovative use of technology." Mrs. Buchanan applied for the grant in December of 2014 and was awarded her check April 24, 2015 in a surprise visit by two CenturyLink representatives. Mrs. Buchanan will be using the funds to purchase supplies for her Robotic Engineering Project. She plans to use the project to teach students how to write and revise programs for robots using math and science. Once the robots are programmed, students will complete challenges during their Related Arts STEM class. Mrs. Buchanan would like to thank CenturyLink for the opportunity to advance her students in STEM.

 

  

Emmett Elementary was very honored to host a visit from Commissioner McQueen and the Sullivan County Leadership Team on April 27.  Commissioner McQueen visited classrooms and took time to visit with students and teachers.  This was a very memorable experience for our students and we are very proud of the way they represented Sullivan County!

 

 

 

  

Students at Indian Springs Elementary School have spent 12 weeks training to run a 3K for Fast Feet for Faith under the coaching of Rebecca Templeton, Brian Winchell, Brandy Nothnagel, and Brittany Ivanich. This was a program set up to support an awesome 3rd grade student who is bravely fighting cancer. Last week the students completed the final 3K run and did an amazing job!

 

 

 

  

 

 

  

  

Ms. Sybert's Kindergarten class at Ketron celebrated Earth day with lots of activities. First by reading  If I Ran The Rainforest, and writing their opinion of how to help save the rainforest and illustrating what they wrote. Then they painted coffee filters with watercolors to resemble the Earth, traced and colored their hands and glued them to a paper stating "The Earth Is In Our Hands", talking about their role in caring for the Earth. They also planted impatiens in recycled fruit cups to later be transplanted at our homes, sang songs about recycling and watched a Peppa Pig video.
 

 

  

On Friday, May 8, Colonial Heights Middle School hosted the local chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America; five veterans spoke to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders during a morning assembly at the school.  Each of the men, members of different branches of the U.S. military, told of his experiences during the war and brought mementos from his time served.  The educational experience culminated in a moving video tribute to those who died during the conflict that was Vietnam.

 

 

 

  

This is Coach McMeans' Colonial Heights Middle School STEM class taking pictures, videos and learning how to fly their new apple drone. The bottom picture is 8th grade students power sanding their penny hockey boards while the other students take pictures of them with the apple drone.

  

Congratulations to Amanda Maine, a freshman at Sullivan Central High, who placed first in the Eastman Black History oratorical contest.  Amanda received $500 for her essay and speech on African American contributions to STEM.  Amanda presented her essay on Dr. Mae Jemison at a luncheon on April 29 at Eastman Lodge to a crowd of Eastman executives, employees,school administrators, students, and parents.   Also, congratulations to Hannah Ramsey, John Weaver, and Jordan Osborne who placed in the top 15 essays.  Students from Sullivan Central, Tennessee High, Dobyns-Bennet, D-B Excel, and Science Hill participated in the contest.

 

  

On Friday May 1, 2015 Rebecca Lesnak, Zoe Bevins, Savannah Hillman and Michaela Glenn of Central High School attended Digigirlz conference at the Kingsport Center for Higher Education. DigiGirlz is a conference established by Microsoft to encourage females to enter the technology field. Eastman and Microsoft partner once a year to offer girls this opportunity to learn about professions within the high-tech industry and to talk with women current in those careers. Girls are also provided with information about choosing colleges that best suite their interest and career planning.

 

Rebecca Lesnak said, "The DigiGirls conference was much different than I had expected. I was pleasantly surprised to find the field of technology interesting and sometimes fun. The conference was entertaining, and I enjoyed talking to the mentors." Zoe also agreed that the conference was valuable and said, " Personally, going to the DigiGirlz conference was one of the most enjoyable events that I have taken part in throughout the last year of school. It was a new experience and I learned a lot from participating in the event."

 

Ginger Shackelford, Sherrie Spiegler and Becky Smith in the Business/Technology department are faculty members that have supported this conference throughout the yeas and also attend with the girls.

 

 

 

  

The English department at Sullivan Central High School strives to challenge students with rigorous tasks with creative twists. Students from Mrs. Burke's English 10 class learned about themes evident in the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Students then were asked to create "blackout poems". The goal with blackout poetry is to literally blackout nearly all of the words on a page of text creating a poem with the select few words left on the page. The students were given a page from a random book with the goal of pulling out themes such as racism, need for compassion, and morality that are evident in Lee's classic novel. Several students set the bar high by creating a picture on the page that reflected back to the theme that their poem displayed.

 

 

 

  

Sullivan Central Personal Finance students have gained another tool to help them grow in their financial literacy knowledge. United Southeast Federal Credit Union is now sponsoring over 200 Central High School students in the Banzai program. The Banzai program teaches financial literacy through online life scenarios. The program teaches students to budget money and track spending in each category of their budget. The students must balance their checking account, pay bills, and transfer money from accounts. After completion of the program, each student was awarded a certificate. The students enjoyed the online simulation and the activity included that allowed them to practice staying on budget and choosing how they would spend the money they earned.

  

  

1st Place Winners in Global Business. Team Members: Jacob Maine, Rebecca Lesnak, and Luke Martin

 

Nine Cadets from Sullivan North Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps recently traveled to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach Florida to participate in the annual National Academic Brain Brawl competition. Twenty Four schools from across the country competed in the event; Sullivan North was knocked out during the fourth round.  While in Daytona Beach the cadets visited the Ponce de Leon Inlet lighthouse museum and learned how lighthouses work and the role they played on the East Coast during World War Two in spotting German submarines. The Cadets also toured the Naval Air Station (NAS) DeLand museum where they learned the importance the NAS played in training Navy flight crews in the PBO Ventura, PB4Y Privateer, SBD Dauntless and the Avenger from museum guide Mr. Harold Bradeen. Cadets also had the opportunity to visit the Marine Science museum, where various types of Sea Turtles are rehabilitated from injurious they received from eating trash, being caught in old fishing tackle and hit from boat propellers.