Greene County Democrat

Tag: stem

  • School Board approves expenditures for student services including after-school tutorial, STEM, College and Career Readiness and TEAMS

    School board members receive Certificates of Completion from the Alabama Association of School Boards in recognition of successfully completing all School Board Governance Improvement Act training requirements for 2023-2024. L to R: Board members Robert Davis, Carrie Dancy, Board President Leo Branch, Vice President Veronica Richardson, Board member Brandon Merriweather and Superintendent Dr. Corey Jones.

    The Greene County Board of Education met in regular session, Monday, October 21, 2024 with all board members present. The board’s preliminary activities included roll call, welcome to visitors and approval of the various minutes including called meetings for Budget Hearings I and II; September 16 regular meeting and September 20 called meeting.
    Superintendent t Dr, Corey Jones report began with the statement that there were no COVID cases reported at the schools since the last board meeting. He also gave positive news updates on student and community activities at each district school including guest speakers, PTA meetings, students participation in WOW activities as well as students visits to various HBCU’s ( Historically Black Colleges and Universities) in Alabama. He noted that similar visits are scheduled for HBCU’s in Mississippi.
    The board approved the following personnel service items recommended by Superintendent Jones.
    * Additional Service Contracts 2024 – 2025 for the following employees at Greene County High School: (Separate Contract): Zaddrick Smith, Assistant Football Coach; Lorissa Holder, Assistant Girls Basketball Coach; Quentin Walton, Baseball Coach.
    * Stipend in amount of $1,500 for services rendered, attendance/participation in the Black Belt STEM Institute Program and implementing the program at Greene County High School and Robert Brown Middle School for the following teachers: (Funding: UWA Black Belt STEM Institute): Krystal Flantroy – GCHS; Nashondra Ruffin – RBMS.
    * Greene County School District After-School Tutorial Program 2024-2025 for the following at a rate of $30 per hour for teachers, $25 per hour for aids, and $22 per hour for bus drivers (2 hours per day):
    Eutaw Primary School – Shelia Tillman – Kindergarten; Ms. Pamela Pasteur – 1st Grade; Montoya Binion – 2nd Grade; Keisha Williams – 3rd Grade – Accountability Grade Level; LaShaun Henley – 3rd Grade – Accountability Grade Level; Gwendolyn Webb – Aide; Carla Durrett – Lead Teacher/Coach.
    Robert Brown Middle School – Demetris Lyles – 4th Grade and 5th Grade; Ashley Binion Lilly– 4th Grade and 5th Grade; Naomi Cyrus – 6th – 8th Grade; Felecia Smith – Lead Teacher/Coach; Raven Bryant – Special Services.
    Greene County High School – Janice Askew – Lead Teacher; Drenda Morton – Aide; Tura Edwards – English/Science; Tameshia Porter – Reading/English; Angela Harkness – Special Services; Dutchess Jones – Math; Patricia Maiden – History.
    * Permission to pay the following for any approved College and Career Readiness (CCR) activities for fiscal year 2024-2025. May include after-hours Career Readiness Indicators (CRI) study sessions, ACT Prep workshops, college/industry visits, etc.: Paula Calligan, Tomora Morris, Shamyra Jones, LaMonica Little, Patricia Rhone, Tamika Thompson, Angela White, Tweila Morris, Teresa Atkins, Andrea Perry, Tura Edwards, Tamesha Porter, Janice Askew, Jaqueline Raby, Kirin Greene.
    * TEAMS Contracts 2024 – 25 for the following: Funding: ALSDE: Dutchess Jones – GCHS, Math (1 Year Contract); Dena Jordan – RBMS, Math (1 Year Contract); Krystal Flantroy – GCHS, Science (1 Year Contract); Lorissa Holder – GCHS, Science(1 Year Contract); Nashondra Ruffin – RBMS. Science (1 Year Contract); Talicia Williams – RBMS, Math (1 Year Contract); Kaneeda Coleman – GCHS, Math (Year 3, Expires June 30, 2027).
    The administrative items approved by the board included the following.
    * MOA between Greene County Board of Education and Alabama A&M University Graduation Social Work Program to host social work internships.
    * Contract between the Greene County Board of Education and Druid City Basketball Official Association for basketball officials for the 2024 – 2025 school year at GCHS.
    * Contract between the Greene County Board of Education and West Central Officials Association for football officials for the 2024 – 2025 school year at RBMS.
    * 2.5% raise for support staff, effective October 1, 2024.
    * Updated support staff salary schedule to reflect 2.5% increase.
    * Out of state and overnight field trip request for Ms. Lamonica Little and select students to travel and participate in a Mississippi HBCU College Tour on November 13 – 14, 2024 (CCR Grant Funds).
    * Contract between Greene County Board of Education and Zachary Rutledge to do Welding Enrichment on the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month (CCR Grant Funds).
    * Lowest bid submitted by W.H. Thomas Oil for gas and diesel for the 2024 – 2025 school year.
    * Lowest bid submitted by Pruett Oil Company for motor oil products for the 2024 – 2025 school year.
    * Retention bonus for bus drivers in the amount of $1,500 to remain a bus driver for the school district for a period of two years.
    * Payment of all bills, claims, and payroll.
    Mental Health Coordinator salary in the amount of $40,000.
    The Financial Snapshot for the previous month was not presented at this meeting since the CSFO and the financial team are preparing the financial closeout reports for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024.

  • 100 Black Men,  General Motors encourage young people to pursue stem careers

    By Brelaun Douglas (NNPA/DTU Fellow, Atlanta Voice)

    Cadillac 30th Anniversary 100 Black Men Convention
    A young participant shares his art work during a workshop titled ““Bringing STEM Education to Life,” at the 30th Anniversary 100 Black Men Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. (Todd Burford/Cadillac)

     

    In an effort to boost minority participation in science and technology, 100 Black Men of America recently hosted a panel discussion with representatives from General Motors to encourage young minorities to think outside the box when it comes to their career paths.

    This summer, 100 Black Men of America, an organization dedicated to educating and empowering African American youth, held their annual conference in Atlanta, Ga., that focused on topics like civic engagement and managing money. The event also included a panel discussion titled, “Bringing STEM Education to Life,” a workshop geared towards getting youth interested in science, technology, engineering and math fields, commonly known as “STEM.”
    Panel members included Sherwin Prior, managing director for General Motors Ventures; Tobin Williams, executive director of human resources and corporate staff for General Motors; and Aaron Richardson, senior manager for IT development for General Motors who discussed how STEM was involved in something young boys often love: cars.
    “[Technology] is absolutely essential. Over 33 years, the company that I work for [has become] a very different company,” said Williams. “Thirty-three years ago it was primarily a manufacturing company. Three years ago it was primarily a finance company and today it’s pretty much a software company. We are continuously looking for individuals who have the capability in software. There is a blending in terms of the software skill capability between engineering and computer science.”
    Prior agreed, stating that STEM is all about “ thinkers and problem solvers” and that the panelists were some of the people who drive the technology behind cars.
    The panelists also talked about the challenges that the young people may face in an industry or career path where most people don’t look like them.
    In 2012-2013, Black males accounted for just 8.7 percent of the people who earned degrees in STEM fields, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
    “Opportunities are rarely convenient,” said Richardson. “They’re often disguised in something that seems like, ‘oh, I got to do this,’ or ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do that.’ It’s always disguised in challenge. So I challenge you to think about that as you think about how you want to continue your learning in the STEM area to think about the sacrifices that you have to make that will ultimately lead to significant benefits in the long term.”
    Prior also told the youth not to be discouraged by the lack of diversity in STEM fields.
    “It’s about changing the narrative,” he said. “Don’t believe that African Americans aren’t doing phenomenal fantastic things. They just aren’t talked about in the media like they should be.”
    After the discussion, participants lined up to ask the panelists questions about how the technology in the cars worked and about the science and engineering that goes into building the cars. Questions included things such as what is the future of jobs for workers when more and more jobs are becoming automated, how safe the vehicle is and what the future of the technologic capabilities of the car looked like.
    Participants were then invited to draw their own cars and decide what type of technology, old or new, the cars would include. The young men designed everything from cars that could hover and drive themselves to cars that could be unlocked with a fingerprint rather than a key.
    The crowd was populated with young, Black boys, mainly middle and high school-aged, from across the nation including 13-year-old Noel Towson, who finds the 100 Black Men beneficial to him.
    Towson, along with five other young men from the South Bend, Ind., chapter, came to the conference with his chaperone Eldridge Lewis Chism Jr., who is also a 100 Black Men member. Chism has been involved with the organization for years and found the conference and panel beneficial because it gave the young men “new thoughts and new ideals and hopefully provide[d] them an opportunity.”
    “My mom took me to the ‘100 Black Men’ the first time,” said Towson. “I liked what they taught us, the life lessons and how to better prepare ourselves for the future, so I just stuck with it.”
    Brelaun Douglas is a 2016 NNPA “Discover The Unexpected” (DTU) journalism fellow at the Atlanta Voice. The DTU journalism fellowship program is sponsored by Chevrolet. Check out more stories by the fellows by following the hashtag #DiscoverTheUnexpected on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about the program at nnpa.org/dtu.