Superintendent discusses next year’s Hamilton County Schools budget with Commission
Commission discusses proposed electric vehicle resolution
School Superintendent Statement on Armed Teachers bill
Murray County authorities charge 2 people with meth trafficking
MURRAY COUNTY, Ga. (WDEF) — Murray County narcotic investigators arrested two people recently in a drug bust.
Authorities executed a search warrant at a house located at 696 Peden Road in Murray County.
There, investigators found 11 ounces of meth, 83 grams of Xanax pills, one shotgun and numerous drug related objects.
They then arrested Priscilla Ridgeley of Nashville and Jason Brown of Crandall, Georgia.
Ridgeley and Brown face the following charges.
- Trafficking in methamphetamine
- Intent to distribute methamphetamine
- Possession of methamphetamine
- Possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony
- Intent to distribute a schedule IV controlled substance (Xanax)
- Possession of a schedule IV controlled substance (Xanax)
Federal Judge refuses to stop Catoosa Republican primary candidates
ROME, Ga. (WDEF) – It looks like the Republican Primary will go on next week in Catoosa County with four candidates listed as Republicans.
A federal judge has rejected a legal injunction to pull them off the ballot, because the local party did not qualify them as Republicans.
For weeks, the Catoosa County Republican Party has battled in court to withdraw the names of Larry Black, Steven Henry, Jeffrey Long and Vanita Hullander from the primary ballot, even though several had been elected as Republicans before.
The party had also asked election officials to add a pair of ballot questions for the election that Georgia election officials rejected.
The Secretary of State said those questions violated the rule of campaigning against candidates on the ballot.
The two questions were:
1. Do you think anti-Trump Democrats should be able to get a court order to force the elections board to qualify them as Republican candidates for office?
2. Did you know that Steven Henry, Vanita Hullander, Jeff Long, and Larry Black were not approved to run as Republicans by the Republican Party?
Judge William Ray, II ruled against the injunction and against putting the two questions on the ballot.
The legal battle isn’t over just yet.
The Catoosa Republicans still have challenges alive before the Georgia Supreme Court and the Catoosa County Superior Court, but those rulings will probably not happen before the actual election.
You can read the judge’s ruling here.
... Continue ReadingChattanooga first responders conduct rescue drill at Incline
Golden Apple Award: Julie Kirby Jones, Gordon Lee High School
Goldon Apple Award: Julie Kirby Jones, Gordon Lee High School
Chattanooga homeless encampment homicide suspect arrested
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Chattanooga Police have made an arrest in the homicide that happened Saturday at a homeless encampment.
Officers arrested 29-year-old Craig Lamont Jeffries.
Saturday morning, CPD found 40-year-old Jonathan McClellan dead from a gunshot wound at the camp on Bonny Oaks Drive.
They say a separate incident happened earlier that day on Gunbarrel Road, in which Jeffries was swinging a metal pipe at another victim.
The victim was able to take away the pipe, but Jeffries then began shooting at him.
Later that day, McClellan and his girlfriend were at the homeless camp when the second victim arrived.
They told the second victim that Jeffries was currently at the camp, so the three victims ran away in an attempt to hide.
At that point, Jeffries began shooting at them.
Officers say that is when he shot and killed McClellan.
Jeffries now faces several charges, including first degree murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
3 Finalists named for Cleveland Director of Schools
Spring events around the Chattanooga area
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — From carnivals and barbecues to spring markets, there is plenty going on the next few months around the scenic city. With spring and warm temperatures finally here, many people are ready to get out and enjoy it.
Sometimes though, it’s hard to keep up with all that is going on.
So, here is a list of upcoming spring events in and around the Chattanooga area.
April
April 11-21 – Spring Carnival at Northgate Mall. Event times vary by day.
April 20, 27 – Chattanooga River Market from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in front of the TN Aquarium.
April 23-28 – Cornbread Festival Carnival at 221 S Cedar Ave. in South Pittsburg. Event times vary by day.
April 26-28 – Chattanooga Seafood Bash at Coolidge Park. Event times vary by day.
April 26-27 – Polk County Ramp Tramp Festival, at 4-H Camp McCroy 1058 Hwy 30 in Reliance, TN. Event times vary by day.
April 27 – Decatur Spring Around the Square from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 365 Abel Avenue.
April 27 – Picnic at the Post at Barnhardt Circle in Fort Oglethorpe, GA, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
April 27-28 – National Cornbread Festival at 221 S Cedar Ave. in South Pittsburg. Event times vary by day.
April 30 – Running of the Chihuahuas at First Horizon Pavilion, beginning at 12:30 p.m.
May
May 4 – Spring City Blooms Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Front St. in Spring City, TN.
May 4 – Memories of Mayberry in Valley Head, Alabama from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
May 4 – Red Bank Jubilee at 3817 Redding Rd. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
May 4 – Louder Together Music Festival from 2 to 10 p.m. at Burr Performing Arts Park in Dalton, GA.
May 4-5 – Chattanooga Taco Festival at Camp Jordan in East Ridge. Event times vary by day.
May 5 – Strawberry Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1801 Reggie White Blvd. in Chattanooga.
May 6-11 – Strawberry Festival in downtown Dayton, Tennessee. There are different events each day.
May 9-19 – Thrillville Fair at Camp Jordan Park in East Ridge, TN. Event times vary by day.
May 11 – Dolly Days in Ringgold from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
May 11 – Big Pig Festival from 11:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the First Horizon Pavilion in Chattanooga.
May 13-19 – Chattanooga Pizza Week 2024.
May 17 – Food Truck Friday in Red Bank from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 3817 Redding Road.
May 18 – Down Home Days in downtown Chickamauga from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m.
May 24 – Nightfall in Chattanooga happens each Friday until August 30, starting at 7 p.m. Located at Miller Park and Miller Plaza.
May 24-25 – 1890 Days in Downtown Ringgold, GA. Event times vary by day.
We will continue updating this list as we find more events.
Scrap yard fire covers downtown Chattanooga with smoke
WATCH:
News 12 employee Russell Stroud sent in an elevated video of the fire from near the scrap yard.
SEE MORE:
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — There was a large fire at a scrap metal recycling center near Downtown Chattanooga on Tuesday afternoon.
HCEMS crews were on stand-by as the Chattanooga Fire Department battled the fire.
It was located at W. 19th Street, close to Riverfront Parkway.
A public safety alert went out to those in the Chattanooga area around 3:40 p.m. warning people to limit their exposure to the smoke in the area.
There were several piles of scrap metal burning at PSC Metals, according to the Chattanooga Fire Department.
CFD said there were no buildings involved. The original call of the fire came in just after 2 p.m.
First responders transported one CFD firefighter to the hospital. The firefighter received heat-related injuries from battling the blaze, according to the fire department. He was working in a bucket on a ladder when he received the injuries.
The injured firefighter has since been released from the hospital.
Weather Update: Wednesday – April 24, 2024
| ||||
Wednesday: Partly sunny. Mild. Highs: mid 70’s. Winds: W 5-10 mph early…becoming NW around 10 mph.
Overnight: Partly cloudy. Cool. Lows: lower 50’s. Winds: NE 5-10 mph.
Thursday: Cloud/Sun Mix, Warmer. Highs: mid/high 70’s. Winds: NE veering S @ 5-10 MPH.
Overnight: Mostly cloudy. Mild. Lows: Mid 50’s. Winds: SE @ 5 MPH.
| ||||
The temperature swings are in “full swing” as we move into the middle of the spring season. Temperatures were well above normal through much of last week, with no dips in the jet stream bringing us some of that still chilly, Canadian air. We will have another day with below normal temperatures to start the work week, with lows in the lower 40’s and highs in the mid to upper 60’s today. Beginning Tuesday, we will be returning to those most pleasant, temperature regimes with lows not too far from 50 degrees and highs remaining in the 70’s, through the rest of the work week. The weekend will be slightly warmer, with lows back in the 60’s and highs in the low to mid 80’s.
Concerning the other elements of the weather forecast, including chances for rain, it appears that most of the News12 viewing area will remain dry this week, despite the passage of a cold front on Wednesday and a warm front Friday into Saturday. Frontal boundaries always have the potential to generate precipitation, but there are times when moisture is limited in advance of these air mass boundaries. This will be the case on Wednesday, as a ridge of high pressure will stick around on Monday and Tuesday over the southeastern United States. The ridge will be so expansive that it will extend from the eastern Seaboard west through the lower Mississippi Valley, through Tuesday night. When these areas of high pressure extend well west through the western Gulf of Mexico into eastern Texas, they limit the amount of moisture that would be advancing north off those warm, gulf waters if these lower atmospheric high pressure systems were not in place. Additionally, fronts generate the strongest atmospheric lift when the air on each side of the boundary collides from nearly opposite directions such as, a northwest wind behind a cold front pushing into warmer air moving from the south or southeast. In meteorological terminology, this is called “convergence”. Convergence along the boundary on Wednesday will be a bit weaker, as winds just ahead of the cold front will be from a more westerly direction; almost due west according to some of the higher resolution, meso-scale computer models.
Therefore, when that cold front builds south across the News12 viewing area on Wednesday, we may see an increase in cloud cover without much, if any rainfall. When the warm front advances north across the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachian region on Friday, precipitation may be limited once again due to the strength of persistent, low level ridging over the southeastern U.S. and the more westward track of a late week, storm system across the northern Plains and western Great Lakes. Of course, a more westward tracking storm system, such as this late week system which will be associated with a surface low pressure center which crosses the Mississippi River well north, near Minneapolis, may not result in much rainfall over the eastern half of the nation. Alternatively, a storm system with a low pressure center which moves along a path where it crosses the Mississippi River near Memphis, or even farther north near St. Louis, on its way northeast through the eastern Great Lakes, would generate better moisture advection and atmospheric lifting over the eastern U.S., thus providing a better chance for rain across the Tennessee Valley and the beautiful city of Chattanooga.
Stay tuned to our forecasts throughout the week to keep track of any significant changes. We are not doing too badly on precipitation amounts as we move into the middle part of the spring season. Our annual deficit is only around one to two inches however, the rate of evaporation keeps increasing as we move further into the warm season. We may approach a deficit of nearly three inches by early next week, if we remain dry. We will likely have several periods of frontal convection as we move through the month of May. It certainly would be nice to advance through the hot summer months with a rainfall surplus!
| ||||
National Drought Summary for April 18, 2024
Summary
Moderate to heavy rain amounts fell across parts of the Southeast and Northeast this week, leading to localized improvements to ongoing drought and abnormal dryness in the Southeast, and mostly unchanged conditions in the Northeast, aside from western New York, which missed out on the heavier precipitation and saw minor degradations.
The central third of the contiguous U.S. saw a mix of improvements and degradations, based on where heavier precipitation did or did not fall and where dry and windy conditions continued. Parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, the Michigan Lower Peninsula, southern Missouri and southeast Kansas saw improving conditions after heavier rains fell there. Meanwhile, moderate drought expanded in northwest Missouri and portions of west-central Wisconsin, Minnesota, northwest Iowa, the far southern Michigan Upper Peninsula and far northeast Wisconsin. Much of Texas remained the same, with a few degradations in the southeast corner and several degradations in central and southern Texas where long-term drought conditions are still causing impacts. Recent dryness and warm and windy weather in northwest Oklahoma and the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles led to abnormal dryness developing there.
Short-term dryness and high evaporative demand led to large areas of degrading conditions in northeast Wyoming, while west-central Wyoming, north-central Colorado, northeast Utah, western Montana, and the northern Idaho Panhandle all saw areas of improvement due to lower evaporative demand and improving snowpack recently. In Hawaii, an active trade wind pattern continued, leading to some improvements on the windward (northeast) slopes of the Big Island and Kauai, while a small area of moderate drought developed on the leeward (southwest) portion of Kauai. In Puerto Rico, a few improvements were made where recent rainfall has improved streamflows and crop stress, and lessened rainfall deficits and raised reservoir levels.
No changes were made to the Drought Monitor this week in Alaska.
– NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu
Got #weatherpix to share for our @WestShoreHome #WeatherWindow #PictureOfTheDay? E-mail them to [email protected].
| ||||
Make sure you & your family stay in touch with us. Remember the Storm Team 12 app can always bring you the latest weather alerts for your location as well as Titan Radar. Download it for free from your app store – just search “WDEF Weather”.
The best time to prepare for severe weather is when nothing weather-wise is going on. Learn more about programming your weather alert radio with WDEF-TV News 12.
Who can participate?
This is a community project. Everyone can help, young, old, and in-between. The only requirements are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how weather can affect and impact our lives.
What will our volunteer observers be doing?
Each time a rain, hail or snow storm crosses your area, volunteers take measurements of precipitation from as many locations as possible (see equipment). These precipitation reports are then recorded on our Web site www.cocorahs.org. The data are then displayed and organized for many of our end users to analyze and apply to daily situations ranging from water resource analysis and severe storm warnings to neighbors comparing how much rain fell in their backyards.
Who uses CoCoRaHS?
CoCoRaHS is used by a wide variety of organizations and individuals. The National Weather Service, other meteorologists, hydrologists, emergency managers, city utilities (water supply, water conservation, storm water), insurance adjusters, USDA, engineers, mosquito control, ranchers and farmers, outdoor & recreation interests, teachers, students, and neighbors in the community are just some examples of those who visit our Web site and use our data.
https://cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=application
IF YOU’D LIKE A WDEF NEWS 12 METEOROLOGIST TO VISIT WITH YOUR SCHOOL, PLEASE FILL OUT THE FORM BELOW.
Weather Update: Tuesday – April 23, 2024
| ||||
Tuesday: Sunny. Mild. Highs: mid 70’s. Winds: S 10-15, G20 mph.
Overnight: Increasing clouds. Cool. Lows: lower 50’s. Winds: SW 5-10 mph.
Wednesday: Partly sunny. Mild. Highs: mid 70’s. Winds: W 5-10 mph early…becoming NW around 10 mph.
Overnight: Partly cloudy. Cool. Lows: lower 50’s. Winds: NE 5-10 mph.
Thursday: Cloud/Sun Mix, Warmer. Highs: mid/high 70’s. Winds: NE veering S @ 5-10 MPH.
Overnight: Mostly cloudy. Mild. Lows: Mid 50’s. Winds: SE @ 5 MPH.
| ||||
The temperature swings are in “full swing” as we move into the middle of the spring season. Temperatures were well above normal through much of last week, with no dips in the jet stream bringing us some of that still chilly, Canadian air. We will have another day with below normal temperatures to start the work week, with lows in the lower 40’s and highs in the mid to upper 60’s today. Beginning Tuesday, we will be returning to those most pleasant, temperature regimes with lows not too far from 50 degrees and highs remaining in the 70’s, through the rest of the work week. The weekend will be slightly warmer, with lows back in the 60’s and highs in the low to mid 80’s.
Concerning the other elements of the weather forecast, including chances for rain, it appears that most of the News12 viewing area will remain dry this week, despite the passage of a cold front on Wednesday and a warm front Friday into Saturday. Frontal boundaries always have the potential to generate precipitation, but there are times when moisture is limited in advance of these air mass boundaries. This will be the case on Wednesday, as a ridge of high pressure will stick around on Monday and Tuesday over the southeastern United States. The ridge will be so expansive that it will extend from the eastern Seaboard west through the lower Mississippi Valley, through Tuesday night. When these areas of high pressure extend well west through the western Gulf of Mexico into eastern Texas, they limit the amount of moisture that would be advancing north off those warm, gulf waters if these lower atmospheric high pressure systems were not in place. Additionally, fronts generate the strongest atmospheric lift when the air on each side of the boundary collides from nearly opposite directions such as, a northwest wind behind a cold front pushing into warmer air moving from the south or southeast. In meteorological terminology, this is called “convergence”. Convergence along the boundary on Wednesday will be a bit weaker, as winds just ahead of the cold front will be from a more westerly direction; almost due west according to some of the higher resolution, meso-scale computer models.
Therefore, when that cold front builds south across the News12 viewing area on Wednesday, we may see an increase in cloud cover without much, if any rainfall. When the warm front advances north across the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachian region on Friday, precipitation may be limited once again due to the strength of persistent, low level ridging over the southeastern U.S. and the more westward track of a late week, storm system across the northern Plains and western Great Lakes. Of course, a more westward tracking storm system, such as this late week system which will be associated with a surface low pressure center which crosses the Mississippi River well north, near Minneapolis, may not result in much rainfall over the eastern half of the nation. Alternatively, a storm system with a low pressure center which moves along a path where it crosses the Mississippi River near Memphis, or even farther north near St. Louis, on its way northeast through the eastern Great Lakes, would generate better moisture advection and atmospheric lifting over the eastern U.S., thus providing a better chance for rain across the Tennessee Valley and the beautiful city of Chattanooga.
Stay tuned to our forecasts throughout the week to keep track of any significant changes. We are not doing too badly on precipitation amounts as we move into the middle part of the spring season. Our annual deficit is only around one to two inches however, the rate of evaporation keeps increasing as we move further into the warm season. We may approach a deficit of nearly three inches by early next week, if we remain dry. We will likely have several periods of frontal convection as we move through the month of May. It certainly would be nice to advance through the hot summer months with a rainfall surplus!
| ||||
National Drought Summary for April 18, 2024
Summary
Moderate to heavy rain amounts fell across parts of the Southeast and Northeast this week, leading to localized improvements to ongoing drought and abnormal dryness in the Southeast, and mostly unchanged conditions in the Northeast, aside from western New York, which missed out on the heavier precipitation and saw minor degradations.
The central third of the contiguous U.S. saw a mix of improvements and degradations, based on where heavier precipitation did or did not fall and where dry and windy conditions continued. Parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, the Michigan Lower Peninsula, southern Missouri and southeast Kansas saw improving conditions after heavier rains fell there. Meanwhile, moderate drought expanded in northwest Missouri and portions of west-central Wisconsin, Minnesota, northwest Iowa, the far southern Michigan Upper Peninsula and far northeast Wisconsin. Much of Texas remained the same, with a few degradations in the southeast corner and several degradations in central and southern Texas where long-term drought conditions are still causing impacts. Recent dryness and warm and windy weather in northwest Oklahoma and the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles led to abnormal dryness developing there.
Short-term dryness and high evaporative demand led to large areas of degrading conditions in northeast Wyoming, while west-central Wyoming, north-central Colorado, northeast Utah, western Montana, and the northern Idaho Panhandle all saw areas of improvement due to lower evaporative demand and improving snowpack recently. In Hawaii, an active trade wind pattern continued, leading to some improvements on the windward (northeast) slopes of the Big Island and Kauai, while a small area of moderate drought developed on the leeward (southwest) portion of Kauai. In Puerto Rico, a few improvements were made where recent rainfall has improved streamflows and crop stress, and lessened rainfall deficits and raised reservoir levels.
No changes were made to the Drought Monitor this week in Alaska.
– NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu
Got #weatherpix to share for our @WestShoreHome #WeatherWindow #PictureOfTheDay? E-mail them to [email protected].
| ||||
Make sure you & your family stay in touch with us. Remember the Storm Team 12 app can always bring you the latest weather alerts for your location as well as Titan Radar. Download it for free from your app store – just search “WDEF Weather”.
The best time to prepare for severe weather is when nothing weather-wise is going on. Learn more about programming your weather alert radio with WDEF-TV News 12.
Who can participate?
This is a community project. Everyone can help, young, old, and in-between. The only requirements are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how weather can affect and impact our lives.
What will our volunteer observers be doing?
Each time a rain, hail or snow storm crosses your area, volunteers take measurements of precipitation from as many locations as possible (see equipment). These precipitation reports are then recorded on our Web site www.cocorahs.org. The data are then displayed and organized for many of our end users to analyze and apply to daily situations ranging from water resource analysis and severe storm warnings to neighbors comparing how much rain fell in their backyards.
Who uses CoCoRaHS?
CoCoRaHS is used by a wide variety of organizations and individuals. The National Weather Service, other meteorologists, hydrologists, emergency managers, city utilities (water supply, water conservation, storm water), insurance adjusters, USDA, engineers, mosquito control, ranchers and farmers, outdoor & recreation interests, teachers, students, and neighbors in the community are just some examples of those who visit our Web site and use our data.
https://cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=application
IF YOU’D LIKE A WDEF NEWS 12 METEOROLOGIST TO VISIT WITH YOUR SCHOOL, PLEASE FILL OUT THE FORM BELOW.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day happening this Saturday
Decatur and Spring City get Tennessee Downtowns grants
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WDEF) – Two more towns in our area have been chosen for a makeover as part of the Tennessee Downtowns program.
The Department of Economic and Community Development created the Tennessee Downtowns program to help rural communities improve their look.
The state picked a dozen communities this year, including Decatur and Spring City in southeast Tennessee.
They must have a downtown area dating back more than 50 years to qualify.
The towns agree to redevelop them according to Main Street guidelines.
Decatur and Spring City will get a $15,000 grant, plus training for their community leaders on the Main Street approach.
Copperhill, Ducktown, Dunlap, Etowah, Jasper, Pikeville, South Pittsburg and Tracy City have all taken part in the Tennessee Downtowns program in the past.
“The investments we make in rural Tennessee benefit all Tennesseans, and the Tennessee Downtowns program allows us to equip some of our most rural communities with the tools needed to better develop and revitalize their downtown districts,” said TNECD Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter. “I congratulate the 12 communities participating in the latest round of the program and look forward to seeing how their downtowns flourish and attract new growth in the years to come.”
Hamilton County Schools assistant nutrition director fired, indicted for theft
HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) — The former assistant director of the Hamilton County Schools Department of School Nutrition (HCSN) has been indicted for theft.
Andrew Woodbury, 44, was arrested on Monday, April 22, 2024. This follows a Hamilton County grand jury indictment in February 2024.
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office records show he was charged with theft, forgery, misrepresenting information to a state auditor and official misconduct.
The comptroller’s office said between October 2021 and February 2022, Woodbury was selling HCSN surplus property through an online government and educational marketplace. He did so without approval.
Woodbury profited just over $2,300 from the theft. However, HCSN officials valued the property at $12,374.68.
That is because, according to the comptroller, Woodbury undervalued the assets.
Therefore, the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury said he misappropriated more than $12,000 in HCSN funds.
Additionally, Woodbury took items out of a HCSN dumpster and sold those items through the marketplace as well.
Hamilton County Schools suspended Woodbury in February 2022. They officially terminated him in April 2022.
Lookout Mountain Incline Railway to reopen April 24
What’s Right With Our Schools: University High
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Hamilton County Schools and UTC have teamed to put equity into action! University School serves as a college pipeline for kids who might not have considered a four-year university education. It’s an inclusive example of what’s right with our schools.
Arielle Garcia-Hayes is the Principal University High.
She says, “University High is a program School through Hamilton County Schools. Under the Umbrella of the Workforce Development College Schools network. The program is 2 years, we accept uh Juniors and then they’ll go into their senior years.”
Dante Williams from the Howard School says, “It’s repairing me so when I go to college. It’ll feel easier and it won’t feel like it’s just a brand-new experience, and I just feel overwhelmed about it.”
Arielle Garcia-Hayes adds, “We represent 10 different high schools right now. We give them an opportunity at something non-traditional and allow them to finish their High School career while starting their Collegiate career.”
Laurn Mack from Tyner says, “I wanted more for myself. I wanted um another experience. I wanted to see like what else was out there; what else could I do.”
Arielle Garcia-Hayes chips in, ” It’s so important for students to begin getting acclimated to college life, especially for the students that we serve. Over half of our population will be first college generation graduates. So, what we’re doing is we’re breaking those barriers, um and getting them the exposure that they need to explore. What they could foresee themselves doing, and what career that they could have.”
Brooklyn Wilkins from Howard says, “I wanted to get started on my career early. Um I didn’t want to spend all my life in school. So, I wanted to kind of get some of it done now, because I just didn’t really like the idea of being in school for a very long time after I just finished. I definitely still want to do college, but I just want to get some of that time knocked out.”
Arielle Garcia-Hayes says, “The dual enrollment Grant allows us to uh give students access to college coursework. And what’s really exciting about University High is that, we are on UTC’s campus. And so they get UTC college credits. So that’s a major university that they can use those credits anywhere they want to go after they graduate from high school.”
Malik Childress from Brainerd says, ” It does take away that fear, because going into college, now have experience. Being on a college campus, I know what it’s like to be around older people, being in a college class how to take notes in a college class, talking to my professor, emailing my professor, and just good communication all around.”
Arielle Garcia-Hayes concludes, “College isn’t for everybody. We want to show them the possibilities that it can be for anybody. And that they deserve to be here just like anybody else. Um in the beginning they were so nervous about being on a college campus, but the students have really done an amazing job. Um acclimating themselves to the campus life. So, when they become freshmen one year when they go to a university it’s not going to be anything new. They’re going to understand where the bursar’s office is. They’re going to understand how college classes work. They deep dive into their syllabi so that they understand it they have to figure out what days are exam days, use scantrons and go pick up blue books. And these are all things that they’ve experienced here that won’t be something new for them especially since they don’t come from generations of college graduates.”
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