An Etowah High School teacher died Sunday after battling several medical issues, officials said, and students have planned for a memorial at the school for him tonight.

The memorial for Coach Keith Roddy will be at 7 p.m. at the Alumni Plaza outside of the Etowah auditorium, and those who attend are encouraged to wear orange in honor of the teachers love of the University of Tennessee.

Roddy, hired by the Cherokee School District in August 1999, was teaching science this school year, said School District spokeswoman Barbara Jacoby.

Principal Keith Ball said Roddy always looked out for his students.

He taught and coached football at Cherokee High School, Woodstock High School and Etowah High School.Over the past three years, Mr. Roddy did not coach football at Etowah, but instead focused on teaching new subjects in science, and supported our at-risk students in our Summer Bridge program, Ball said. Keith always offered a helping hand to his colleagues and was loved by his students.

The funeral will take place at Anthonys Funeral Home in Hartsville, Tennessee, but the local, student-led memorial is set for tonight.

A candlelight vigil and balloon release are planned to remember Roddy at the event.

In addition, students in the Etowah Video Broadcasting Program are planning to record messages during the memorial to create a video dedicated to Roddys memory. Students, both past and present, friends and colleagues are invited to participate to celebrate Roddys life and contributions, organizers said.

The Etowah Newspaper will also pay tribute to the teacher, with a special dedication page in the next issue.

Etowah High School is at 6565 Putnam Ford Road in Woodstock.

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Memorial for Etowah teacher tonight

The Alumni Association has announced the recipients of this years winter awards.

The Zimmerman Award went to John Mateczun, the Bernard S. Rodey Award went to Garrett Sheldon, the winner of the Erna S. Fergusson Award is Michelle Coons, and the Faculty Teaching Award went to Steven McLaughlin.

The Alumni Association presents awards seasonally to alums who have dedicated their lives to making the world a better place.

(The recipients) are all stellar individuals. They have made contributions in the military, healthcare, education and banking. Their contributions have really made them stand out, said Jane Algermissen, unit 1 administrator at the Alumni Relations Office.

Mateczun, who obtained his Bachelor of University Studies in 1973 and his medical degree in 1978, is receiving the Zimmerman Award for having made a significant contribution which has brought fame to UNM and to the state.

After 38 years of service in the Navy, Mateczun retired in 2012 with the rank of vice admiral, according to the Alumni Associations website. During his last four years on duty he oversaw the most complex Base Realignment and Closure project in the history of the Department of Defense. He also worked on the merging of the National Naval Medical Center into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the largest military medical center in the country, according to the website.

The Bernard S. Rodey Award recognizes those who have displayed significant leadership efforts in the field of education. This years winner, Sheldon (Bachelor of Arts, 1977), has published 10 books on political theory and political theology and is the John Morton Beaty Professor of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Virginia College at Wise, according to the Associations website. He has also worked as a visiting professor at Oxford University, the University of Vienna and Trinity College, Dublin.

Michelle Coons (Bachelor of Business Administration, 1983) will receive the Erna S. Fergusson Award for accomplishments and commitment to UNM. She has served as the National Alumni Association President and the chair of the Anderson School of Management Foundation and is currently a member of the UNM Hospital Board, according to the website. She is expected to become chair of the UNM Foundation Board in July.

Steven McLaughlin is a Regents Professor and chair of the department of emergency medicine. He will be presented with the Faculty Teaching Award, which recognizes outstanding teaching and service to students. He ran the emergency medical residency program for seven years and is recognized nationally as one of the experts in simulation-based education for emergency medicine, according to the website.

The recipients for these awards are selected by a committee of 10 alumni out of a pool of nominees submitted to the Alumni Associations website, Algermissen said.

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Alumni award winners announced

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Newswise BIRMINGHAM, Ala. University of Alabama at Birmingham Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Professor Robert Cerfolio, M.D., has formed a partnership with Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery, Alabama, to assist and support students interested in pursuing a career in medicine.

As part of this initiative, students at Sidney Lanier will participate in webinars with Cerfolio and other UAB faculty, staff and students to hear the latest research strategies and literature and gain access to mentors and other resources that introduce them to the broad field of medicine. UABs Office of Undergraduate Admissions also is partnering with the surgery division to provide follow-up services regarding the college-admission process, financial aid and strategies for success.

Cerfolio, chief of Thoracic Surgery and the James H. Estes Family Lung Center Research Endowed Chair in UABs School of Medicine, will speak at 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13, at Sidney Lanier and will spend the day meeting teachers and students and touring the academic and athletic facilities.

This is an exciting and unique opportunity for me personally to be involved with Sidney Lanier Principal Antonio Williams and his wonderful faculty, staff and, of course, students, which is what this is all about, Cerfolio said. I believe there are opportunities in front of us every day, and most of us miss them. We sometimes fail to recognize these events, the very minute they happen, as a chance to grow, get better and improve ourselves. Career opportunities are available as well, and through hard work and the drive for personal excellence, they can be maximized. Life is full of opportunity, and true and diligent preparation done every day will enable these students to capitalize on their future opportunities.

The partnership will include the use of technology to provide supplemental materials for science courses at Sidney Lanier, and Cerfolio along with other UAB faculty, staff and students will consult and advise on efficiency and excellence in student performance.

Williams cast a vision to Reclaim the Castle a longtime affectionate term for the school when he was hired this past year as principal of his alma mater. Williams views this partnership with UAB as a crucial part of that mission.

To have someone as successful as Dr. Cerfolio willing to take time out of his busy schedule to come into Lanier and help us change the culture is outstanding, Williams said. We are always happy anytime we can expose our students to new ideas and different world-views.

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UAB Surgeon Partners with Principal to Promote Excellence at Historic Alabama High School

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Monday, Jan. 12, 2015 marks the first day of class for 85 students from across the country who enrolled in the nations first hybrid on-campus/online program at an ABA-approved law school.

The aspiring lawyers are medical doctors, college professors, bankers, baggage handlers, mothers, and fathers, from 31 states and two countries. They range in age from 22 to 67. At least 35 have advanced degrees including 14 MBA degrees, five medical doctors, and three Ph.D. degrees. Forty-five percent of the students are women and 19 percent are people of color.

The new enrollment option builds on the law schools tradition of innovation by combining the best of face-to-face instruction with the best of digital learning. Students are able to attend courses from anywhere in the world.

The innovative program enables people to attend law school who cannot be on campus to participate in a traditional full-time or part-time schedule, says President and Dean Eric Janus.

Brooke Baker, a student from New Mexico shares, I appreciate this opportunity to pursue a J.D. from a well-respected law school without having to uproot my family or disrupt my career. I am excited to be part of this innovative and historically important milestone in legal education.

William Mitchell is the first law school to ask for and receive ABA approval for a hybrid enrollment option. The part-time, four-year, hybrid program is offered alongside the traditional full-time and part-time J.D. programs.

Weve learned that when implemented thoughtfully, courses blending face-to-face and online instruction offer students the best of both worlds, Janus said. By embracing e-learning technologies, professors expand their teaching repertoire, fostering greater creativity, engagement and flexibility in learning, while also preparing students to use technology they will encounter in practice.

The hybrid program has a clear and carefully designed curricular focus. Students visit campus nine times during the four years. The first and third semester start with an on-campus preparatory week where students work alongside faculty and each semester concludes with an on-campus Capstone week. Students in this unique program also have the opportunity to complete externships in their communities under the supervision of practicing attorneys.

More information about William Mitchell College of Law and the new hybrid enrollment option can be found at http://www.wmitchell.edu/hybridoption.

About William Mitchell College of Law William Mitchell College of Law was founded in 1900 to provide an accessible, practical legal education rooted in the real-world needs of lawyers, the legal profession, and the community. Today, it is home to the top-ranked clinical program in the region; robust externship and mentoring programs; faculty who are teachers, scholars, and practitioners; and a large, proud, and supportive alumni base. Accredited in 1943, Mitchell is the only ABA-approved law school to offer three distinct enrollment options: full time, part time, and a new on-campus/online hybrid option. For more information, visit http://www.wmitchell.edu.

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First Class of On-Campus, Online Law Students Matriculate to William Mitchell College of Law

The Yale School of Art (YSA) launches its 2015 season at the 32 Edgewood Avenue Gallery with Side Show, an exhibition devoted to the believe it or not world of the American sideshow, in which display of the abnormal and bizarre was the focus of the event. On view Jan. 13Mar. 20, 2015, the exhibition is free and open to the public TuesdaysSundays from noon to 6 p.m.

Side Show presents more than 50 works by 29 artists including Diane Arbus, Otto Dix, John Waters, and Riva Lehrer ranging from the mid-18th century to the present. The show includes original sideshow banners, props, promotional cards, photographs, historical ephemera, and works of art inspired by circus and carnival culture from the Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG), Yale Medical School Library, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the International Center of Photography, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and private collections.

Side Show joins an array of television programs, Broadway shows, and books in recent popular culture highlighting showmanship of the exceptional. While some works in the exhibition celebrate the offbeat, taboo world of the sideshow, others explore issues ranging from racism to misogyny to politics to a society obsessed with superficial values, as well as the attitude toward those with disabilities.

The sideshow celebrates the human spirit's ability to overcome any and all challenges, and the acts performed there proved that nothing is impossible, said performer and collector Todd Robbins, who is contributing a folk sculpture from his collection to the exhibition.

Traditionally, a sideshow was a secondary production associated with a mainstream carnival or circus, offering spectacles in a makeshift tent. The popular 10-in-1 format included 10 acts in one show for one ticket. The sideshows would feature people born with physical oddities, such as bearded women or conjoined twins; death-defying acts such as sword-swallowing or fire-breathing; and exotic animals. A final, extra act not advertised on the outside, called the blow-off, could be viewed for an additional fee.

They were a fad of popular entertainment for the masses looking to forget their worries and cares and fears and problems, said Lisa Kereszi 00 M.F.A., critic and director of undergraduate studies in art at the YSA, and curator of the exhibition. They were not unlike the proliferation of reality television today, the Honey Boo-Boos and the various Housewives, or the afternoon talk shows of the eighties and nineties, like Sally Jesse and Geraldo.

Side Show ends with a wink and a nod to the blow-off. After seeing the main show, visitors can walk down a side gallery to view historical sideshow banners. They are confronted with a velvet curtain and a sign warning of the graphic nature of what they are about to see. According to exhibition organizers, the final ding, to use carny lingo, it is not to be missed.

A complementary exhibition, Teratology: The Science and History of Human Monstrosity, will be on view Jan. 22May 15 at Yales Cushing Medical Library, which is lending three works to the School of Art show. Located at 333 Cedar St., the librarys exhibition includes more than 40 books, prints, and broadsides. It is also free and open to the public.

In addition, an exhibition opening in January at the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, Connecticut Coney Island: Visions of Americas Dreamland, 1861-2008 has been organized by Robin Jaffee Frank, former YUAG senior associate curator of American paintings and sculpture. Kereszi, who consulted on the Wadsworth exhibition, will have her own work featured in the Hartford show.

Side Show has been made possible at Yale by an anonymous donor, with support from the Hayden Fund for Arts and Ideas. An opening lecture by Ricky Jay, magician, collector, and historian, will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 5:30 p.m. at 36 Edgewood Ave., Rm. 204. The talk will be followed by a reception at the 32 Edgewood Avenue Gallery 6:308:30 p.m., with sideshow acts Johnny Fox and The Great Fredini, as well as a performance piece by Mat Fraser and Julie Atlas Muz.

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Step right up and see the Side Show at the Yale School of Art

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January 10th, 2015 9:45 am by Rick Wagner

GREENEVILLE Five Northeast Tennessee high school seniors have been selected to joint the Niswonger Scholars program, according to a foundation news release.

The Niswonger foundation, founded by Greeneville, Tennessee businessman and philanthropist Scott M. Niswonger, has selected the five. There are already 20 Niswonger Scholars, with the newly selected students for 2015 bringing the total to 25. The Foundation also has 52 alumni of the program.

The five new scholars are Courtney Johnson, Gatlinburg Pittman High School; Morgan Thomas, Science Hill High School; Zachary Ward, Volunteer High School; Matthew Widener, David Crockett High School and Trenton Yount, Hancock County High School.

The foundation's guiding philosophy of "Learn, Earn and Return" is firmly embedded in the Niswonger Scholars program, according to the news release.

The program takes the brightest young leaders in Northeast Tennessee, provides them the opportunity to attend the college or university that will best prepare them for their chosen career and supplements that education with four years of leadership development activities.

The plan is to see Niswonger Scholars come back to the region with not only strong earning potential, but an entrepreneurial spirit and overwhelming desire to return their talents and energy to this region. The goal is that at the end of their experience as Niswonger Scholars, they will embody the values most important to the mission of the Foundation: exceptional leadership ability, exemplary personal character, and a strong commitment to building community.

The new scholars are:

Morgan Alexandra Thomas, a student at Science Hill High School. She has maintained a 4.0 grade point average. She serves as junior varsity women's soccer assistant, SHHS Youth Ambassador, Student Government representative and is a member of Mu Alpha Theta. She enjoys volunteering with Rotary Wheel, Girls on the Run, Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church and Second Harvest Food Bank. Her desire is to become a pharmacist. She is the daughter of Robert and Beth Thomas of Johnson City.

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Five Northeast Tennessee high school seniors named Niswonger scholars

McCauley is PASR volunteer of year

Judith Gatto McCauley was honored by the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees as Volunteer of the Year during a luncheon program led by association president Nancy McDonald, and attended by family and friends.

A retired elementary teacher, Judith spent 44 years teaching third and fourth grade students in Dunmore, retiring as head teacher in charge of 120 third grade students and six faculty members at the Elementary Center.

Judith is a 16-year Retired Senior Volunteer Program pen pal who corresponds with a Scranton School District student. A Life Member of St. Josephs Auxiliary, she has volunteered at Community Medical Center Mercy Hospital Gift Shops.

She assists on Bereavement Luncheons and at Divine Mercy Churchs fair bake sale booth and is a member of the Century Club.

Active in the Marywood Alumni Association, she served as president of the Marywood Northeast Alumni Club. She is a member of the Marywood Alumni Planning Board which is preparing the 2015 celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Marywood University.

Marywood alumni, including Dolly Reilly Densevich, Eleanor Deviney, JoAnn Magnotta Ligorio, Joan Ratchford Lloyd, Marlene Parks, Annette Maldonato Profera and Betty Lou Luvender Zapp, were among those honoring her at the luncheon.

Also on hand was Kim Grochowski Marchese who Judith has been assisting as she prepared for the opening of Building the Kingdom of God, a religious gift store at Dunmore Corners.

Dunmore educators joining in included Peg Hart and Judith Spinelli, and Alice ODonnell Foley , a retired Dunmore Elementary teacher who was last years PASR Volunteer of the Year.

Global volunteers

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Namedropper, Jan. 8, 2014

Alumni reunions are usually just gaiety and revelry. But not all are so.

Last year, when old students of the Malabar chapter of the Sainik School at Kazhakuttam in Thiruvananthapuram gathered for their annual celebrations, they used the opportunity to pay something back to society.

They chanced upon a news report on the plight of Rema, a budding poet living with her tuberculosis-inflicted father in a makeshift shack in a water-logged region, at Pallikkara, Payyoli here.

With most of the alumni doing well in life, they decided to fund a housing project for the girl and her aged father.

On Saturday, Rema and her father moved into their dream home, bidding goodbye to the shack. They received the keys of the house called Aadima to mean the beginning from Hari Ashwin, 12, from Beypore, who joined the Sainik School this academic year.

Rema, who is physically challenged due to medical negligence from childhood, had passed Class X and had also won prizes in poetry. Like any other young girl, she too dreamt of higher studies, a job, and a happy life. But her poor father could not send her to college, Ramesh Babu, Project Director, Nirdesh, said.

The girl was left with nothing after her father partitioned his 7 cents of land among his five children. Without a place to live, Rema was forced to sleep on verandas, under hospital beds, in bus stand, and in front of shops.

Over a period of time, she was able to purchase a 3-cent plot in a waterlogged area.

Meantime, she applied for government funds under Indira Awaas Yojana to build a house on the plot. The first instalment of Rs.60,000 she received was used up to fill up the waterlogged plot.

She would get another Rs. 40,000. But that would not even fetch a room.

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Sainik school alumni to the rescue of homeless girl

The Ottawa community's love affair with Ottawa Township High School's notable alumni will be conducted this year on Valentine's Day, Saturday, Feb. 14.

That evening, a banquet and ceremony will be at the school to honor the nine individuals who will be installed into the OTHS Hall of Fame. Additionally, inductees will be introduced at the OTHS basketball game the prior evening.

The Hall of Fame was established in 2006 by the OTHS District 140 Educational Foundation, Inc. The focus of the Hall of Fame is to recognize excellence in achievement while a high school student, after leaving OTHS, or a combination of both.

Further, honorees may or may not have attended Ottawa High but were significant and accomplished contributors to OTHS. Also considered are OTHS teams or groups.

As a result of a nomination and selection process, the inductees are:

George Willy: Willy served OTHS from 1942-1967 as a faculty member and administrator. He became assistant principal, serving under Principal MacRae Shannon in 1954 while continuing to teach an advanced wood shop class.

During his tenure as an administrator, the titles of the assistant principal and principal were changed to principal and superintendent, respectively. He delayed his retirement to serve for two years as interim superintendent following the death of Superintendent Shannon.

Willy attended the Nebraska State Teachers College at Peru, Neb., earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1924. In 1941, he received a masters degree from the University of Nebraska. He played football in high school and his skills drew the attention of a local businessman who offered to pay for his tuition, books and fees if he would attend the Nebraska State Teachers College and play football there.

As he began his career in 1924, first as a teacher and later as principal in Wilber, Neb., he continued playing football in Nebraskas semi-professional, barnstorming leagues in the 1920s and 1930s.

Val Van der Meer: Van der Meer was one of the founders of the OTHS Booster Club and was a longtime and avid supporter of the school, its students and its athletic programs. He also was committed to the people of Ottawa and the surrounding community. He was instrumental in helping former students and others find employment in the area, taking a special and personal interest in each one. He was committed to sportsmanship and citizenship, regardless of school or community affiliation. For many years he attended all of the OTHS athletic events, both home and away.

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OTHS 2015 Hall of Fame inductees announced

COMMUNITY NOTES: Omnitrans to introduce discounted fare for vets, more School sets alumni soccer game

SAN JACINTO The fifth annual Alumni Soccer Game at San Jacinto High School is set for Saturday at Tiger Stadium. The girl's game will kick off at 11 a.m. followed by the boy's game immediately after.

Alumni players wishing to play in the games will have to register and sign a waver on the day of the event. Gates will open at 9 a.m., and music and food will be available.

The school is at 500 Idyllwild Dr.

Information: 951-654-7374 or wguzman@sanjacinto.k12.ca.us

Staff report

LOMA LINDA The VA Loma Linda Healthcare System will introduce Omnitrans new discounted fare for Veterans on Monday. A ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. followed by an information fair from through 4 p.m.

The event will be held at the main entrance of the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Medical Center, 11201 Benton St., Loma Linda.

The county will be providing free ID Cards for Veterans during the event.

Information: Wendy Williams, 909-379-7151, Jim Rich, 909-583-6193 or omnitrans.org.

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COMMUNITY NOTES: Omnitrans to introduce discounted fare for vets, more