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ISSUE 27 VOLUME 26
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FARRAGUT, TENNESSEE
THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014
Howe takes top teacher honors ■
ALAN SLOAN asloan@farragutpress.com
The mere mention of Leslie Howe’s name triggered an enthusiast response from Tess Waibel, Farragut High School senior, speaking about one of her favorites teachers. Taking an advanced placement calculus AB course under Howe last fall, “I cannot think of a better teacher. One of
Farragut’s finest,” Waibel said about Howe, an FHS computer science and calculus teacher who has been named Knox County Schools’ High School Teacher of the Year. Howe was recognized during the annual KSC Teacher of the Year Celebration Tuesday, Feb. 25, in Crowne Plaza hotel, downtown Knoxville. “I love her,” Waibel added. “One thing that kind of made me see something dif-
ferent in Ms. Howe is that she is a teacher that will bend over backwards to help any student. I could never think of a day that she missed class or school.” As for creating ways to make learning easier in her class, “She would tell us acronyms and tell us stories. I’m more of a visual learner, so she did a lot of ways to incorporate thinking visually,” Waibel said. “And she related math to a lot of life stories. That kind of helped me picture it
HVA leads way in VOMS ■
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See SHAMROCK on Page 2A
See TDOT on Page 4A
Shamrock Ball fills FHS Commons ■
tcheek@farragutpress.com
Farragut and surrounding area fathers and daughters shared special moments at the Shamrock Ball Saturday, March 8, at Farragut High School. The annual dance was sponsored Farragut Kiwanis Club and town of Farragut. “As I was walking up [to Farragut High School], I was thinking about my prom when I was in high school, and the next time I came, I came with my oldest daughter, which is very special,” Shawn Raines of Farragut said. Raines attended with his 7-year-old daughter, Maggie. “We missed it last year, so we made it a point to come this year,” Raines
asloan@farragutpress.com
added. “We just found out about [the dance],” Jeff Preston of Farragut said. He brought his 5-year-old daughter, Grace. “I’m thrilled and excited about being here with my daughter,” Preston said. Tanya Alles, Farragut Kiwanis Club president, said Shamrock Ball proceeds benefit East Tennessee Children’s Hospital and Kiwanis International Eliminate program. “I feel really good about [being at the dance],” Julie Matheny, 8, said. As her father was in flight school in Afghanistan, she attended the event with her grandfather, Albert Russo, a Kiwanis member. Russo was helping at
Tammy Cheek
Kate and father, Ken Franqui, kick up their heels during Farragut Kiwanis Club and town of Farragut’s annual Shamrock Ball Saturday, March 8, in Farragut High School Commons.
TAMMY CHEEK
ALAN SLOAN
Two men claiming to represent Britton Bridge, LLC workers were on Fox Den Country Club grounds last week to challenge a guest: Tennessee Department of Transportation commissioner John Schroer. The men distributed a pamphlet alleging unsafe bridge working conditions, including Henley Bridge, which stated Schroer had refused to meet with bridge workers. Though Schroer found himself challenged on the issue while serving as keynote speaker for Farragut West Knox Chamber of Commerce quarter-annual Breakfast Speaker Series, a handful of FWKCC members and visitors hearing Schroer said they came away impressed. Two audience members questioned Schroer on the bridge safety issue — one accusing the commissioner of “refusing to meet with workers on the Henley Street Bridge project,” during the Tuesday morning, March 4, Chamber event. Schroer said he’s met with bridge worker representatives “on two occasions … and have addressed their concerns,” adding, “We’ve implemented safety procedures.” He added that bridge safety issues fall “more under a TOCEA requirement than a TDOT requirement.” Don Ball, president of BMC Office Technology and FWKCC vice chair, said he was impressed “with how well Tennessee is positioned as far as its monies and how it spends it.” That stems in part from Schroer saying Tennessee is ranked “second in infrastructure in the nation by CNBC,” adding the state “is one of only four states in the nation that has no transportation debt.” Schroer also said 91 percent of TDOT dollars go toward projects, and just 2 percent to administrative costs. John Turley, prominent local developer, praised Schroer in front of the audience for “TDOT’s investment in Region I [East Tennessee]. We’ve all benefited from it. A great example is Campbell Station and the extension of it, the widening of it. …” Schroer said that since Gov. Bill Haslam has taken office, “TDOT has invested
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See SERC on Page 2A
See HOWE on Page 2A
Schroer keynotes FWKCC breakfast
ALAN SLOAN
With its background check procedure now in place at no cost to potential school volunteers, Knox County Schools is advocating parent and professional volunteer opportunities through its website. Hardin Valley Academy is leading the way, early on, in taking advantage of KCS Volunteer Opportunity Management System according to Scott Bacon, KCS director of business partners. Bacon visited Farragut Schools Education Relations Committee to spell out details during SERC’s Tuesday, Feb. 4, meeting in Town Hall. “We started that roughly two years ago online,” Bacon said about the knoxschools.org site (click Volunteer Registration on left side of page). “We looked at some things other school districts were doing. “Teachers would be able to go on their and post opportunities, and any of us as citizens … could go on and then look at those opportunities, or just simply say, ‘I’m willing to volunteer,’” Bacon added. However, teachers “are not using it to this point,” Bacon added, though he stressed that many teachers have misunderstood the need for volunteers to have background checks completed, a process that only began “right before the holidays.” For volunteers who would be supervised by a teacher or administrator, “We’ve changed into a four-tiered system, so that volunteers who want to come into schools in certain segments don’t have to have a background check,” Bacon said. For example, “A speaker comes in that has expertise in science or electrical engineering or health care-related fields, and present to Farragut or Hardin Valley, no” background check is needed,” Bacon said. “One-on-one or overnight” situations involving volunteers and students, labeled “mentoring” by Bacon, would require a background check, he added. “We do now have procedures in place for principals to be able to follow.”
better in my head.” Senior Akshay Soni was in Howe’s computer science class his junior year. “There’s no other teacher like Ms. Howe,” Soni said. “The amount of excitement she brings to teaching, like every single day. “And how she conveys the ideas that she’s supposed to teach. There’s no one
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