Cookeville - In the News

In the News

Students compete in rocket launch
Forty-one teams of high school students descended on Nashville Tech's Cookeville campus on Tuesday to see who could make their homemade two-liter bottle rocket go the highest and stay up the longest.
Teams from Cookeville High School, Upperman High School and Daniel One home school got a chance to see what made the difference in whose rocket was the best.
"Having good fins, nose cone and parachute are all keys to making it work right," said Bill Pardue, an instructor at Nashville Tech. "Filling it up with too much water or too little water doesn't work well either."
Pardue said the way the bottle rocket launching system works is by filling a two-liter bottle with water and adding about 120 psi of pressure to shoot it off.
Nashville Tech professor Tim Dean built the launcher and automatic controller for the bottle rockets used by the students on Tuesday, but Pardue said anyone could build a simpler system at home using a bike pump.
Nashville Tech held the event in order to encourage more students to pursue careers in math, science and technology.
And students certainly seemed interested as they prepared their rockets for launch and waited anxiously to see how well or not so well they would do.
Even students whose rockets didn't travel high enough in the air to qualify for the Tuesday afternoon tournament seemed excited about the chance to try out their skills.
"It was excellent to work on," one Cookeville High School student said. "I got timed at 6.8 seconds and 10.2. I don't think I got the 75 feet."
The 41 teams shooting rockets in Tuesday morning's qualifying round had to shoot their rocket at least 75 feet to qualify for the 16 spots available in the final tournament.
Cookeville High School teacher Karolyn Thacker, who teachers drafting and auto cad classes, said her students enjoyed putting some of their skills to work.
"The kids had a good time designing them and shooting them off," she said. "I'm proud of them. It's good to see them have fun doing something for school."
Thacker said while her students don't get graded on how well they do in the competition, they do receive a grade on the rocket itself and the teamwork involved in designing it.
However, winners of the competition received a little something extra for the success of their bottle rockets.
Upperman High School students Andy Hamlet, Trent King and Curtis Herron received a first place prize of $150.
UHS students Hollie Harris and Alyssa Goff received a second place prize of $120. Cookeville High School student Adam Lafever received a third place prize of $90, and UHS students Brent Clemons and Casey Thomas received a fourth place prize of $60. Prizes were provided by First National Bank of the Cumberlands.
Nashville Tech officials said they are also having a summer science program to help inspire an interest in science among younger students.
The Summer Science Spectacular is open to students who will be in the fourth, fifth or sixth grade in the fall and will be held July 10-12, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Students who participate in that program will be shooting off rockets as well. They will also compete in an egg drop competition, learn self defense from the Cookeville Police Department and learn about science and technology from TTU.
The cost of the three-day camp is $60 for supplies and is open to the first 40 students. Registration is open through June 20. To register, call Sharon Dyer at (931) 520-0551, extension 102.
—Cookeville Herald-Citizen May 17, 2007

Award ceremony at NSCC
Several awards were presented during a reception held May 6 at the Cookeville campus of Nashville State Community College in honor of the 2007 graduating class.
Dennis Tenant, director of the Cookeville campus of NSCC, presents awards to Larry Manier, Student of the Year in Electrical Engineering Technology; and Wilma Yott, Student of the Year in Office Administration. Joining the presentation is Joan Christopher, assistant director.
—Cookeville Herald-Citizen May 17, 2007

Nashville State to offer programs for local high school students

COOKEVILLE -- In an effort to bridge the gap between high school, community college and the work place, Nashville State Cookeville Campus has introduced an early college program for high school students that will be offered at NSCC, beginning with the 2007 fall semester.
The program will be available to seniors at Cookeville High School, Upperman High School and Monterey High School, with the primary focus to increase the exposure of electrical engineering technology to high school students.
"We can enhance the high school curriculum through what we can offer," said Dennis Tennant, director of the Cookeville Campus of Nashville State Community College. "As a former high school principal, my justification is that sometimes you couldn't offer a class for two or three people, and with this program, students can come over here and take a class like this.
"Through this program, we can take four or five students from Cookeville High, Monterey High and Upperman. We're 20 minutes away from all these schools, and we can run a class. So it really expands the high school curriculum.
"We are looking at running two classes a semester--seven hours a semester-- with one three-hour class and one four-hour class. So it would be possible for a high school student to complete 14 hours of junior college credit classes by the time they graduate high school."
Students do not have to be currently in a high school vocational program in order to take the classes at NSCC which include Intro to Engineering Technology, Electric Circuits, Electric Circuits Lab, Digital Electronics, Digital Electronics Lab, Transformers and Rotating Machines and Transformers and Rotating Machines Lab.
"If they have had Algebra II and they have a scored 19 on their ACT, they can automatically get in," noted Tennant. "If they want to take the classes and they are lacking in one of the areas, I can do a case by case study."
"We want to bridge the gap between the high schools and technical college as far as what we are doing and what we can offer. We want to help that program to stay in the high school curriculum," he added.
"The partnership between Putnam County Schools and Nashville State Community College affords high school students the opportunity to take courses that can lead to high-tech, high wage occupations in local industry," said Don Sadler, director of Career and Technical Education for Putnam County schools.
"These courses also provide a strong foundation for students who continue on to major in engineering or industrial technology at a four-year college. Mr. Tennant is to be commended for reaching out to high school students who have the desire to go the extra mile by enrolling in these dual credit courses."
In addition to earning extra credits, preparing students with skills to enter the workforce is another objective of the program, according to Tennant.
"It is a good program and will enhance the quality of good employees who will go into the workforce. We want to students to go from this community college to the workforce and be a better employee for the work force," stressed Tennant.
"For us, it really goes back to why the school was set up originally and with how higher level technicians are trained," said Rick Larsen, president of Flexial.
"These individuals who finish the program can get in back of a machine we use, and when something goes wrong, they can fix it. When high school students can get a base or background as a higher level technician -- before they even finish high school -- that is great. We recognized this back a few years ago in manufacturing, and this program is focusing on meeting that need."
Tennant said the program will also benefit those who decide to continue their education at a university.
"Another thing we looked at is how we could help Tennessee Tech with what we were doing with engineering type classes. We want students to be able to go from this college to Tennessee Tech and its engineering program and be a better student."
Lottery funds will cover one class per semester for dual enrollment. Students who sign up for the program will have to take all the classes offered and will be responsible for fees not covered by lottery funds.
"We're working on a foundation now with the possibility that the foundation will cover other classes," said Tennant.
Students interested in the program may contact their school's guidance counselor for enrollment information. Tennant will be meeting with high school counselors during senior registration and will be available to answer students' questions. Parents and students may also contact NSCC at (931)520-0551 for more information.
"We're just extremely excited to get this program off and going," said Tennant. "It's a program that's good for the Upper Cumberland."

—Cookeville Herald-Citizen January 20, 2007

Old City Lake passes water analysis
Special to the Herald-Citizen

Nashville State's Director Dennis Tennant, Biology instructor Trisha Johnson and her students spent a recent afternoon out of the classroom. They went to Cookeville's Old City Lake to practice what they learned about stream ecology.
Adopt-A-Stream is a program that volunteers throughout the country participate in on a regular basis to help monitor water supply. The program uses chemical and biological testing to monitor the health of streams.
The biological part of this program uses macroinvertebrates to determine if the stream is in excellent, good, fair or in poor condition.
In order to find these critters, they wade through the stream turning over rocks and using nets to dip out leaves and mud.
The macroinvertebrates are good indicators of the health of the stream because they derive their oxygen from the water, and they are not very mobile.
The group found a very diverse number of macroinvertebrates, which indicated that the stream that flows into Old City Lake was in good health.

Nashville State Tech instructor receives PH. D from TTU

Tim Dean, associate professor at the Nashville State Community College Cookeville Campus, recently earned a Ph.D from Tennessee Tech. He began full-time with NSCC in August 1995. He teaches classes in Electrical Engineering Technology, Computer Technology, and Physics.

Tim received his BS (1992), MS (1995), and PhD (2004) degrees in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Tech University.

He serves as the advisor for all Cookeville Computer Technology students.

Tim and his wife Lisa live in Cookeville with their 4 children, Betsy (11), Benjamin (9), Christopher (8), and Jonathan (5).

He enjoys teaching Sunday school at Christ's Community Church, coaching soccer, woodworking, and vegetable gardening.

—Cookeville Herald Citizen May 15, 2005

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		In the News Students compete in rocket launch Forty-one teams of high school students descended on Nashville Tech's Cookeville campus on Tuesday to see who could make their homemade two-liter bottle rocket go the highest and stay up the longest. Teams from Cookeville High School, Upperman High School and Daniel One home school got a chance to see what made the difference in whose rocket was the best. "Having good fins, nose cone and parachute are all keys to making it work right," said Bill Pardue, an instructor at Nashville Tech. "Filling it up with too much water or too little water doesn't work well either." Pardue said the way the bottle rocket launching system works is by filling a two-liter bottle with water and adding about 120 psi of pressure to shoot it off. Nashville Tech professor Tim Dean built the launcher and automatic controller for the bottle rockets used by the students on Tuesday, but Pardue said anyone could build a simpler system at home using a bike pump. Nashville Tech held the event in order to encourage more students to pursue careers in math, science and technology. And students certainly seemed interested as they prepared their rockets for launch and waited anxiously to see how well or not so well they would do. Even students whose rockets didn't travel high enough in the air to qualify for the Tuesday afternoon tournament seemed excited about the chance to try out their skills. "It was excellent to work on," one Cookeville High School student said. "I got timed at 6.8 seconds and 10.2. I don't think I got the 75 feet." The 41 teams shooting rockets in Tuesday morning's qualifying round had to shoot their rocket at least 75 feet to qualify for the 16 spots available in the final tournament. Cookeville High School teacher Karolyn Thacker, who teachers drafting and auto cad classes, said her students enjoyed putting some of their skills to work. "The kids had a good time designing them and shooting them off," she said. "I'm proud of them. It's good to see them have fun doing something for school." Thacker said while her students don't get graded on how well they do in the competition, they do receive a grade on the rocket itself and the teamwork involved in designing it. However, winners of the competition received a little something extra for the success of their bottle rockets. Upperman High School students Andy Hamlet, Trent King and Curtis Herron received a first place prize of $150. UHS students Hollie Harris and Alyssa Goff received a second place prize of $120. Cookeville High School student Adam Lafever received a third place prize of $90, and UHS students Brent Clemons and Casey Thomas received a fourth place prize of $60. Prizes were provided by First National Bank of the Cumberlands. Nashville Tech officials said they are also having a summer science program to help inspire an interest in science among younger students. The Summer Science Spectacular is open to students who will be in the fourth, fifth or sixth grade in the fall and will be held July 10-12, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Students who participate in that program will be shooting off rockets as well. They will also compete in an egg drop competition, learn self defense from the Cookeville Police Department and learn about science and technology from TTU. The cost of the three-day camp is $60 for supplies and is open to the first 40 students. Registration is open through June 20. To register, call Sharon Dyer at (931) 520-0551, extension 102. —Cookeville Herald-Citizen May 17, 2007 Award ceremony at NSCC Several awards were presented during a reception held May 6 at the Cookeville campus of Nashville State Community College in honor of the 2007 graduating class. Dennis Tenant, director of the Cookeville campus of NSCC, presents awards to Larry Manier, Student of the Year in Electrical Engineering Technology; and Wilma Yott, Student of the Year in Office Administration. Joining the presentation is Joan Christopher, assistant director. —Cookeville Herald-Citizen May 17, 2007 Nashville State to offer programs for local high school students COOKEVILLE -- In an effort to bridge the gap between high school, community college and the work place, Nashville State Cookeville Campus has introduced an early college program for high school students that will be offered at NSCC, beginning with the 2007 fall semester. The program will be available to seniors at Cookeville High School, Upperman High School and Monterey High School, with the primary focus to increase the exposure of electrical engineering technology to high school students. "We can enhance the high school curriculum through what we can offer," said Dennis Tennant, director of the Cookeville Campus of Nashville State Community College. "As a former high school principal, my justification is that sometimes you couldn't offer a class for two or three people, and with this program, students can come over here and take a class like this. "Through this program, we can take four or five students from Cookeville High, Monterey High and Upperman. We're 20 minutes away from all these schools, and we can run a class. So it really expands the high school curriculum. "We are looking at running two classes a semester--seven hours a semester-- with one three-hour class and one four-hour class. So it would be possible for a high school student to complete 14 hours of junior college credit classes by the time they graduate high school." Students do not have to be currently in a high school vocational program in order to take the classes at NSCC which include Intro to Engineering Technology, Electric Circuits, Electric Circuits Lab, Digital Electronics, Digital Electronics Lab, Transformers and Rotating Machines and Transformers and Rotating Machines Lab. "If they have had Algebra II and they have a scored 19 on their ACT, they can automatically get in," noted Tennant. "If they want to take the classes and they are lacking in one of the areas, I can do a case by case study." "We want to bridge the gap between the high schools and technical college as far as what we are doing and what we can offer. We want to help that program to stay in the high school curriculum," he added. "The partnership between Putnam County Schools and Nashville State Community College affords high school students the opportunity to take courses that can lead to high-tech, high wage occupations in local industry," said Don Sadler, director of Career and Technical Education for Putnam County schools. "These courses also provide a strong foundation for students who continue on to major in engineering or industrial technology at a four-year college. Mr. Tennant is to be commended for reaching out to high school students who have the desire to go the extra mile by enrolling in these dual credit courses." In addition to earning extra credits, preparing students with skills to enter the workforce is another objective of the program, according to Tennant. "It is a good program and will enhance the quality of good employees who will go into the workforce. We want to students to go from this community college to the workforce and be a better employee for the work force," stressed Tennant. "For us, it really goes back to why the school was set up originally and with how higher level technicians are trained," said Rick Larsen, president of Flexial. "These individuals who finish the program can get in back of a machine we use, and when something goes wrong, they can fix it. When high school students can get a base or background as a higher level technician -- before they even finish high school -- that is great. We recognized this back a few years ago in manufacturing, and this program is focusing on meeting that need." Tennant said the program will also benefit those who decide to continue their education at a university. "Another thing we looked at is how we could help Tennessee Tech with what we were doing with engineering type classes. We want students to be able to go from this college to Tennessee Tech and its engineering program and be a better student." Lottery funds will cover one class per semester for dual enrollment. Students who sign up for the program will have to take all the classes offered and will be responsible for fees not covered by lottery funds. "We're working on a foundation now with the possibility that the foundation will cover other classes," said Tennant. Students interested in the program may contact their school's guidance counselor for enrollment information. Tennant will be meeting with high school counselors during senior registration and will be available to answer students' questions. Parents and students may also contact NSCC at (931)520-0551 for more information. "We're just extremely excited to get this program off and going," said Tennant. "It's a program that's good for the Upper Cumberland." —Cookeville Herald-Citizen January 20, 2007 Old City Lake passes water analysis Special to the Herald-Citizen Nashville State's Director Dennis Tennant, Biology instructor Trisha Johnson and her students spent a recent afternoon out of the classroom. They went to Cookeville's Old City Lake to practice what they learned about stream ecology. Adopt-A-Stream is a program that volunteers throughout the country participate in on a regular basis to help monitor water supply. The program uses chemical and biological testing to monitor the health of streams. The biological part of this program uses macroinvertebrates to determine if the stream is in excellent, good, fair or in poor condition. In order to find these critters, they wade through the stream turning over rocks and using nets to dip out leaves and mud. The macroinvertebrates are good indicators of the health of the stream because they derive their oxygen from the water, and they are not very mobile. The group found a very diverse number of macroinvertebrates, which indicated that the stream that flows into Old City Lake was in good health. Nashville State Tech instructor receives PH. D from TTU Tim Dean, associate professor at the Nashville State Community College Cookeville Campus, recently earned a Ph.D from Tennessee Tech. He began full-time with NSCC in August 1995. He teaches classes in Electrical Engineering Technology, Computer Technology, and Physics. Tim received his BS (1992), MS (1995), and PhD (2004) degrees in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Tech University. He serves as the advisor for all Cookeville Computer Technology students. Tim and his wife Lisa live in Cookeville with their 4 children, Betsy (11), Benjamin (9), Christopher (8), and Jonathan (5). He enjoys teaching Sunday school at Christ's Community Church, coaching soccer, woodworking, and vegetable gardening. —Cookeville Herald Citizen May 15, 2005 [Return to Cookeville Homepage]