8-year-old's artwork earns display at Kennedy Center, on national tour

By ANDY HUMBLES • Staff Writer (Tennessean) • May 21, 2008

Good evening all. Tonight I decided to forget all the bad things going on all around us and find some great Human Interest Stories. This story really got to me and made me think about how much we can all really learn from children..I hope you enjoy as much as I did...And Alexandria Congrats!! Congrats also to Elizabeth for her contribution!



Alexandria Williams, 8, is a student at Tennessee School for the Blind in Donelson.

About the group

VSA arts is an international organization that helps people with disabilities learn through participation and enjoy the arts.

VSA stands for:•

Vision of an inclusive community.
• Strength through shared resources.
• Artistic expression that unites us all.


Alexandria Williams, an 8-year-old student at Tennessee School for the Blind in Donelson, wears almost a permanent smile.

"Just a fun student,'' teacher Ginger Bell said about Lexie, as most call her.

But the smile on Alexandria's face resonated joy a little deeper when she talked about the way she feels now that her artwork is part of an exclusive national tour.

"I like to make art,'' Alexandria said, the tone and smile more convincing than the words.

Alexandria loves to draw, said her mom, Taronda Williams. But it was a drum and mallet that she made as part of an art project in which different artists came to the school to work with students earlier this year.

VSA arts was the group leading the project, and Alexandria's work was one of two pieces to be selected for a chance to be exhibited at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Alexandria's work was chosen for that exhibition, then it was picked as the Tennessee representative for a 2-year-national tour as an extension Kennedy Center exhibit. Alexandria was one of 10 artists from the exhibit to receive an expenses-paid trip, with an adult chaperone, to be honored May 20 at a reception on Capitol Hill.

"When they called, I thought she had drawn something, because that's all she does in her room,'' Taronda Williams said. "When they said it was something she made, it just blew my mind.''

VSA sent several artists to work with 47 School for the Blind students at different times after receiving a grant from CVS Pharmacy, said Doug Walker, assistant technology specialist at the school and a VSA board member.

Sessions included:

• Art, in which students did a mosaic of different elements.

• Auditory art, in which students made drums and mallets or rain sticks.

• Drumming sessions that emphasized music and rhythms.

• Performing arts, working with the school's Junior Forensics team.

Different students participated in different sessions, Walker said.

Alexandria's entry was part of the auditory art session under teacher Yvette Parish.

"The color of the fabric, along with the feathers and the beads and all those things, just flowed together,'' Walker said of the project.

Alexandria is legally blind, with 20-200 vision with correction, her mom said. Alexandria was born with glaucoma and cataracts. Doctors prepared parents Taronda and Doug Williams, saying Alexandria may be totally blind. Both parents plan to go to Washington, Taronda said.

School for the Blind student Elizabeth Harden, 15, also had her mosaic picked for submission to the Kennedy Center.

VSA chose two pieces for submission from Tennessee. Each state and the District of Columbia had one piece chosen for the national tour out of about 300 submissions.

Valedictorians and salutatorians-Congratualtions

Valedictorians and salutatorians By SUZANNE NORMAND BLACKWOOD • Staff Writer • May 14, 2008 Each year, high school graduation is a stressful time, both for students and for school officials. But it's also a sentimental time and a rewarding time. Below, a high school guidance counselor and two graduating seniors talk about the experience of graduation. ANTIOCH HIGH SCHOOL "It's all pretty amazing," said Antioch High School valedictorian Mary Anne Hagan, about graduation. The best part, though, is "seeing all my friends accomplish their goals," she said. Shandie Potts, the school's salutatorian, said she would miss the individualized attention she received in high school. She said she was fortunate to have "small classes" and "teachers that were nice and helped you get through things." Antioch High School will have its graduation at 7 p.m. Friday, May 16, at 7 p.m. at Belmont University's Curb Center. Valedictorian: Mary Anne Hagan GPA: 4.0 College: Vanderbilt University Area of study: Secondary education and English Salutatorian: Shandie Potts GPA: 3.9 College: Plans to attend Motlow State Community College and transfer from there Area of study: Business and art NASHVILLE SCHOOL OF THE ARTS "It's a very hectic time, but usually very rewarding when it's over," said Steve Brown, guidance counselor at Nashville School of the Arts. At the last minute, Brown ended up filling in for senior guidance counselor Amy Flajnik, who is on maternity leave. "Everybody's worried about final grades," Brown said. "Some are applying for scholarships . . . nervous about getting accepted into college. "It comes down to the wire." Nashville School of the Arts will have its graduation at 7 p.m. today, May 14, at the Grand Ole Opry House. Rebekah Horton GPA: 100.07 College: Middle Tennessee State University Major: Music Salutatorian: Caitlin Kelly GPA: 98.67 College: Hampshire College in Massachusetts Major: Undeclared

80-year-old chef turns students into pros

Larry McCormack / The Tennessean (Photigrapher)

Chef Mary Campbell, center, shows some carving and decorating tips to culinary arts students Salvador Mota, right, and Luke Abscon at Glencliff High School.

Glencliff culinary arts program only high school program in Tennessee with accreditation
By SUZANNE NORMAND BLACKWOOD • Staff Writer (Tennessean) • May 14, 2008

SOUTH NASHVILLE — As Glencliff High School culinary arts student Helbin Shemssulldin rushed toward the dining room, thoughts rushed through her head about what she had to do.
"Oh my gosh, hurry up. Set the tables," she thought to herself. The students were supposed to be preparing a brunch for Metro's Teacher of the Year nominees. But a misunderstanding over the time meant the teachers arrived early, and students had to quickly prepare breakfast instead of brunch.

Although stressful, such an experience is close to what students can expect in the real world of culinary arts. And it's the real world for which Chef Mary Campbell, the school's culinary arts instructor, tries to prepare her students.

Campbell, 80, is an honorary member of the Academy of Chefs, a certified culinary arts educator and certified culinary cuisine chef. She founded the Glencliff program 23 years ago.
"I've always liked working with young people," she said. "These kids make me stay young."
On the wall in the dining room, which is set up to resemble a tearoom, are awards and certificates of accomplishment the program has received throughout the years. More awards and certificates occupy a display case.

The program, which was accredited in January by the American Culinary Federation, also recently began having events for outside guests. One event involved a luncheon in which state employees, community leaders and representatives from the restaurant industry offered critiques of the food and service.

"It's my way of finding out if the students are doing the job they need to be doing," Campbell said.

Chef keeps her eyes peeled

The students will cater a luncheon later this month for a group from Vanderbilt University. Often, said Campbell, the school also has visits from other high schools, which send representatives so they can learn about starting their own programs.
Next year, the Glencliff program will expand when the school converts to "small learning communities." It's the only high school in Tennessee to receive accreditation, an honor generally reserved for colleges, Campbell said.

"I just want my class to be the best class in Metro if I'm going to teach it," the chef said.
Campbell said she holds her students to high professional standards.
"Chef knows when we do something wrong," said senior Beyan Omer, adding it's not easy to hide things from her.

Beyan said her experience in the program has been challenging, and she's learned that serving is as much as a challenge as cooking. That's because you have to keep the orders straight, added Helbin.

"Basically, it's just like a restaurant," Beyan said.

Some enter profession

Campbell said she often sees great improvement in her students when they return from summer break. It's as if she's seeing "a whole new student."

"What they heard sunk in, and it takes form," she said, adding many practice what they learned throughout the summer.

Some of Campbell's former students have gone on to have culinary arts careers. Ryan Rucker, for example, is one of the executive sous chefs at the Capitol Grille in Chicago. Joseph Garrett is a chef at the Belle Meade Country Club, she said.

But even if they don't go on to establish careers as chefs, Campbell said she hopes their experience in the program will lead to a lifelong love of cooking. Also, she said, she hopes it helped make their experience at Glencliff a positive one. Campbell said many students have told her that if it weren't for the culinary arts program, they probably would have dropped out of school.

Helbin and Beyan, both of who were born in Turkey and have families from Kurdistan, said they don't plan to pursue culinary careers.

But they do hope to use their skills to cook foods from their native country, as well as new dishes they were exposed to through the program at Glencliff.

"Cooking is fun, because you can always be creative," Helbin said.

Valedictorians and salutatorians

GLENCLIFF HIGH SCHOOL In 2006, it was Joseph Mikhail. Last year, it was Demiana Abdallah. This year, it's Ann Hanna. For three years in a row, Glencliff High School's salutatorians have been students from Egypt. Demiana's family came here because of religious persecution. Ann said her family, which came to the U.S. in 2004, simply came for better opportunities. Ann's family is Coptic, as is Demiana's. In fact, the girls are friends and they both attend St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church on McMurray Drive. Ann's sister, Mira Hanna, is a junior at Glencliff. Ann said she's hoping Mira will break from tradition next year and be the school's valedictorian instead of salutatorian. Glencliff High School will have its graduation at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Valedictorian: Andrew Lo GPA: 3.97 College: Middle Tennessee State University Salutatorian: Ann Hanna GPA: 3.93 College: University of the South, Sewanee LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL As tension grew stronger toward the end of the school year, the Class of 2008 at Lighthouse Christian School was still left wondering about who would be its valedictorian and salutatorian. The announcement came just a week before graduation. And the winners are … Sarah Rodriguez-Sawao and Shannon Dennis, respectively. Sarah plans to study forensic science in college, and Shannon is trying to decide between nursing and theater as a major. Lighthouse Christian School will have its graduation at 7 p.m. Friday, May 16, in the school's auditorium. Valedictorian: Sarah Rodriguez-Sawao GPA: 4.0 College: University of Mississippi Salutatorian: Shannon Dennis GPA: 3.94 College: Lipscomb University EZELL-HARDING CHRISTIAN SCHOOL Each year at graduation, a school's list of honors goes far beyond its valedictorian and salutatorian. A student may be a National Merit Scholar or a Ned McWherter scholar, for example. That was certainly the case this year at Ezell-Harding Christian School. Not only is the school's salutatorian, Kara Beaty, a National Merit Scholar, but so is senior Todd Osborne. Todd is also a Ned McWherter scholar. The Ned McWherter scholarship is offered to high school seniors who have high school GPAs of at least 3.5 and have scored in the top 5 percent on the SAT or the ACT. National Merit Scholars are chosen based on their scores on the PSAT/MNSQT as well as on academic record, leadership, school recommendation and an essay. Ezell-Harding Christian School will have its graduation at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 24, at the school. Valedictorian: Kara Beaty GPA: 4.0 College: Harding University Salutatorian: Danielle Schlappi GPA: 4.0 College: University of Tennessee-Knoxville

Metro, state work to correct schools

Meeting addresses district's deficient status By NATALIA MIELCZAREK • Staff Writer (Tennessean) • May 4, 2008 How much will the Metro Nashville school district allocate next year to boost achievement among special education students? What will the system do about professional development for its 5,000-plus teachers and principals? Connie Smith, executive director of accountability for the state Department of Education, told the Metro school board and administrators Saturday that they must address these and other issues if they want to succeed. She suggested they use these questions as guidelines to tailor the district's proposed $614.1 million budget and target funding at areas of deficiency under a federal education law, including reading and math. The 75,000-student district's in terim director Chris Henson said he welcomed the state's help. "We're very open to the state's suggestions, and we've been working closely with the state," he said. "Changes have been made; we've totally reorganized our federal programs office. There's no hesitancy on our part. We're looking at things differently." Smith is scheduled to meet with the school board June 7 to go over the proposed budget allocations and see whether the district has taken into account her recommendations. Only then, Smith told the group, will the district get off an unflattering list of failing systems under the federal No Child Left Behind law. The school board is ex pected to present its proposed budget to Metro Council June 9. 'You can't have inertia' "We want to see targeted funds to meet the priorities that have been identified. That's what will get you off the list," Smith said. "My mission is to make this public school system competitive with any private school. This summer big plans need to be made for next year. You can't have inertia." Smith said she wasn't sure whether the sense of urgency about the seriousness of Metro's predicament under No Child Left Behind has been communicated across the district. She also said she expected some staff reassignments next academic year to ensure that competent people are in charge of appropriate duties. Metro and Robertson County last summer moved into so-called "corrective action" status under the No Child Left Behind law for not showing enough progress among pockets of students for four consecutive years. Some already speculate Metro will miss this year's achievement because the goals are higher than last year's expectations. If that happens, Metro would receive more directives from the state about its daily operations, including use of funding. It would also have to prepare a plan for alternative governance of the district and possibly face a state takeover. Board seeks direction Several school board members asked Smith specific questions regarding future im provement: how to effectively schedule professional development or how to ensure that the new superintendent — most likely to be selected this fall — will hit the ground running. "I agree with you, Dr. Smith, that principals create a climate for the school, and I'm glad you say we need that kind of professional development," board member Ed Kindall said. "The culture in our schools that comes down from principals is key, and that we're going to treat every child the same, that they all can learn. Some of these things are not about money. They're about how we think."