Education Foundation to Pursue Goal of $ Million for Public Schools Endowment
News from Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kay Brookshire, 865-483-4644, or Lila Metcalf, 865-241-3667
The campaign to raise $4 million for an ongoing endowment for Oak Ridge public schools began today with an anonymous donor's contribution of $12,000 recognizing the teaching achievements of Oak Ridge High School's advanced placement course teachers.
"The new Oak Ridge High School is critically needed and a significant symbol of Oak Ridge's commitment to education, but without the teachers and the programs, the building would not mean as much as it does," said Pat Postma, who chairs the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation fund drive. She announced today that the Education Foundation will begin the endowment campaign now that it has met the $8 million goal to support the renovation and rebuilding of Oak Ridge High School.
As the Education Foundation conducts the next phase of its fund drive for the endowment, it will also engage the community in looking at the future of education here and at how the endowment fund can have an impact beyond awarding grants to individual teachers.
"If there is anything this community supports broadly, it is education," Postma said. "We really want to get more of a sense from the community and from teachers and school administrators throughout the district about a vision for education in Oak Ridge and whether there is something that we as a foundation can do."
Pete Craven, who serves on the Education Foundation board as a representative from the business community, said a successful endowment drive could result in as much as $300,000 a year for educational programs and for leveraging other funds for educational improvements.
The AP teachers said they were pleased to hear that a former student, the anonymous donor, recognized them with the contribution to the Education Foundation. The advanced placement classes and teachers are among the reasons Oak Ridge's public schools have been recognized and ranked nationally by such publications as Newsweek and Expansion Management magazines.
The advanced placement classes offer college level courses to high school students, helping students gain an edge in college preparation, stand out in the college admissions process and broaden intellectual horizons, according to the College Board. Many of the 23 teachers offering AP classes at Oak Ridge High School do more than teach the classes. Now, 10 AP teachers serve as consultants to the AP Program for the College Board, teaching other teachers in summer programs, and many serve as graders for tests in the AP Program.
Nita Ganguly, AP environmental science teacher, was among 20 teachers from across the country invited to Dartmouth by the College Board to develop the AP environmental science course of study.
Benita Albert and Phyllis Hillis, AP calculus teachers, authored a lab book, "Calculus Calculator Labs," published in 2005. The two teachers have designed and field tested calculator labs for use with AP calculus classes since 1995. With students reporting that the labs were helpful in preparation for the AP exams and with teachers at AP summer institutes requesting a book on the labs, the two teachers resolved to polish their work and publish it.
"With the AP Program, you have teachers willing to invest an enormous amount of time, to stay on top of the subject matter, to find out what needs to be done in terms of change and adjustment," said Cassandra Osborne, AP history teacher. "The students are so invested in learning. They want to do well."
The AP teachers say they continue to learn and grow from each other and from their experiences in teaching other AP teachers throughout the country. They take pleasure in watching young minds work and in raising the level of sophistication in their own AP classes.
"Most AP courses demonstrate that learning can be fun. That's one of the reasons we are teachers," said Carol Yoakley-Terrell, AP English teacher. "I think we are students ourselves. We model that. We have that love and curiosity of learning."
"They see that you are enjoying yourself and having fun. It makes it easier for them to learn. They know you want to be here," Ganguly added.
Don Luther, AP history and European history teacher, said he sees a strong sense of AP heritage at work in Oak Ridge High School. "These AP courses have been here a long time, the students' parents have taken the courses, and they remember their experiences," he said.
Oak Ridge High School was one of the first high schools in Tennessee to enter the College Board's Advanced Placement Program. The first AP calculus class was offered at ORHS in 1962, only seven years after the College Board AP Program started, Albert said.
Oak Ridge High School now offers a College Board-endorsed Summer Institute for Advanced Placement Teachers, sponsored by the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation. The non-profit foundation, founded in 2000, provides funds beyond public tax dollars for education, raising funds through grants and private donations to invest in enhanced educational programming, innovative technology, and state-of-the-art facilities for teachers and students.