WHAT ROANE COUNTY NEEDS IS MORE INVOLVED YOUNG PEOPLE!

I introduced my son Corey Mashburn, Harriman High School's Guidance Counselor, to Megan Anderson, the new Princess Theatre Manager, Friday.  They seemed to hit it off right away and began discussing Corey's memories of the Princess, what the Princess wants to offer area schools, and generally what the Princess will mean to our children that want a career in the arts, media, and communication.

But, all I could think about how much Roane County needs young people like this!  While listening to their youthful ideas from these two "go-getters", I was thinking "how do we get young people involved".  We need their youth, their ideas, their determination, and new vision of the future so much!

Megan and Corey talked about getting together with the other area counselors, and interested teachers, to brainstorm ideas for classes and hands-on involvement.  They think that the high schools could offer "dual enrollment" credit courses in partnership with Roane State, which would be wonderful for everyone involved.  These courses would be in the catalog under THEATRE.

That's it, we need to find ways to get them together and let them think out of the box with their young minds.  I'm afraid we may have become to set in our ways to see past the past and into the future!

The Princess Dream is to make the Princess a unique educational tool that will prepare students who are interested in stage, sound, film, television, radio...all of the "media/theatre arts".  The Princess, and the Channel 15 studio, will be a hands-on tool students can use as they do class study.

Did you know that Harriman doesn't have a drama class or club?  I found that so sad.  The Princess will be able to stir up interest again in the arts in all our schools.  Not only could those interested students act in a play, they could also learn to do the stage preparation, the direction, the producing, the lighting, the sound, and how to record the performances on film for broadcast.  Man, how I could have gone for something like that when I was in high school!

My suggestion to any parent or student reading this post is GO to your school's guidance counselor, or any teacher, and tell them you are interested in pursuing your interest in the arts!  And how much your school offering such classes would mean to you.

Dual credit courses could be available to any student scoring a 19 on the ACT test.  The PLAN test is given during a students sophomore year, as a preliminary to the real ACT given the junior year.  Therefore, a student could be potentially be eligible for the "dual enrollment" courses for the last three years of high school!

The English portion of the test is probably the portion in which a 19 will be required.  It's seems to be the best fit anyway.

Even if a student fails to make a 19 in that area of the tests, they could still pay Roane State for the courses.  But, if the grade is made, then it's all free!

Going to a community 2-year college program next year may even become more possible for more Roane County students.  A new program call tnAchieves will provide up to $3,000 dollars annually for tuition to students who meet the criteria and maintain a 2.0 GPA.  This is on top of any Lottery Scholarship and/or PAL grant monies!

All this simply means, that you may be able to go to Roane State FREE!  So, look into it today!

Oh yes, everyone needs to see how they can get involved at the Princess too!  If you would like to volunteer, contact Wilma Mullins right away!