A Slice of the PIE

by Scott Bacon
Supervisor of Business Partnerships

March 13, 2006
In what could be described as David Armstrong's worst brain cramp, he has agreed to post a regular article about community involvement with our schools on the Knox County Schools website. The idea for such an article is not a bad one, it's simply the thought of giving me a free flowing column that should scare him to death. Dave is not only the school district's webmaster (and creator of a truly wonderful website), he's also very interested in providing timely information about the school system through the web. So, until Dave and/or Russ Oaks pull the plug, here we go....

 We have all enjoyed the new buzz (no pun intended) around the University of Tennessee men's basketball program over the past few months. A new attitude and winning ways have created a Big Orange wave across our community. Back in October, before big wins and big crowds, and certainly before we knew what was to come, UT Athletic Department officials were working with us to plan School Nights with the Knox County School System. These special game events for our schools allowed our school families to go to a designated game, with great group rate ticket prices, and enjoy a fun evening together. But most importantly, the men's basketball program recognized fifteen students from each school at halftime for showing great character through the Character Counts program.

We have witnessed a fairytale season unfold on the court for the Vols basketball program, and throughout the year we have seen a championship community involvement effort on the part of Coach Pearl and the UT Athletic Department team. You can't spell involvement without VOL ... maybe Steve Spurrier needs to hear that one!

 Several months ago, I received one of those unexpected phone calls from a community member expressing a desire to make grant funds available to our schools. When Jason Hughes from ADC Communications contacted me, I didn't know Jason or anything about his employer. I learned from Jason about ADC's role as a subcontractor for BellSouth, and I also learned that he had made a contact with their corporate foundation office in Minnesota about a possible $5,000 grant for science programs for Knox County Schools.

You might be thinking that this isn't unusual, because people apply for grants from corporate entities everyday. However, in this case it is unusual, because Knoxville is not one of the approved areas for support from the ADC Foundation. Jason Hughes saw a need and searched for a way he could make a difference. Here's the good news: thanks to the internal request from Jason, we have received the $5,000 grant. A new SMART Board and projector will soon be in a classroom at South-Doyle Middle School, as well as one at Northwest Middle School, due to Jason's commitment. In addition, a new computer will soon show up in the South-Doyle High School science department from the grant funding.

Heroes for young people sometimes wear sweaty suits on the sidelines, and other times they look like you and me as they do their work in our communities. Jason Hughes has probably never thought about his contribution being compared to those made by the men's basketball coach at the University of Tennessee. But when you look at it closely, in each case what you see is one person making a commitment to give their very best to the community and to the young people that will one day lead it.