What’s Right With Our Schools: Catoosa Kids Day
CATOOSA COUNTY, GA (WDEF) - The back-to-school countdown continues. Parents are racing to get their kids everything they need for the first day. They recently got a helping…
Andrew Harrison
Articles
What’s Right With Our Schools: Team Mentoring Incorporated
CHATTANOOGA, TN (WDEF) - Summer Camps can be fun, but they are also good places to learn. Team Mentoring Incorporated aims teach kids the skills they need…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Chattanooga Charter School for Excellence
CHATTANOOGA, TN (WDEF) - From academics to athletics the Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence is growing strong! This year they've added the eleventh grade. We'll stroll the…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Battlefield Academy Pollinator
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - Battle Academy students are taking learning to new heights. Their rooftop garden is now home to a variety of native plants. That's attracting birds, butterflies and other pollinators. That's an environmentally friendly example of what's right…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Alpine Crest Surviving and Thriving
RED BANK, Tenn. (WDEF) - Although some people want to see Alpine Crest Elementary consolidated, it's still accepting new students. Supporters say it's a magical place…
Driving Our Economy Forward: Havenly Showers
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - A really good shower can clean the body and revitalize the spirit. If you've ever wanted to transform your old tub into an oasis of tranquility,…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Catoosa Career Academy Graduation
CATOOSA COUNTY, Ga. (WDEF) - Graduation days are always a time for celebration. Catoosa Career Academy recently graduated its first class. Many of them are ready to…
What’s Right With Our Schools: BASF Tech Academy
CHATTANOOGA, TN (WDEF) - In Hamilton County, some rising high school juniors and seniors are jump starting their technical and craft careers this Summer. BASF's Tech Academy…
What’s Right with Our Schools: Aerial Drone Championships at UTC
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - Middle schoolers from 22 states recently touched down at UTC to for the Aerial Drone Championships. They learned lessons in programming, teamwork…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Hixson JROTC
HIXSON, Tenn. (WDEF) - The Air Force Junior ROTC is celebrating 50 years at Hixson High School. That's five decades of students learning priceless lessons in citizenship and serving…
What’s Right With Our Schools: East Brainerd Elementary International Day
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - The great American melting pot is alive and cooking at East Brainerd Elementary School. Students with roots in nearly 20 different countries go to school there. News 12 was invited to their recent International Fest. It's…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Heritage Middle Teacher Appreciation Week
CATOOSA COUNTY, GA (WDEF) - It's always a good idea to let teachers know just how much you appreciate them. The good folks at Heritage Middle…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Catoosa County Reality U
CATOOSA COUNTY, Ga. (WDEF) - Learning financial literacy at a young age can really pay off in the long run. Catoosa County students recently got a crash course in dollars and cents through a program called Reality U. That's a…
Golden Apple Award: Sarah Dodson, Lake Forest Middle School
CLEVELAND, Tenn. (WDEF) - Kindness, patience and understanding are always on the syllabus for Sarah Dodson's class at Lake Forest Middle. She has been described as, "the…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Whitwell Middle School Piano Lab
WHITWELL, Tenn. (WDEF) - Imagine a room with 24 middle school students all playing piano. That could get a little noisy, right? You'd think so, but…
Golden Apple Award: Julie Kirby Jones, Gordon Lee High School
CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. (WDEF) - Julie Kirby Jones is a work-based learning teacher for Chickamauga City Schools. She places students in jobs that align with their goals and aspirations. She's great at it. She's also a full-time media specialist. She's great…
What’s Right With Our Schools: University High
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - Hamilton County Schools and UTC have teamed to put equity into action! University School serves as a college pipeline for kids who might not have…
Golden Apple Award: Abigail Guarneiri East Ridge High School
EAST RIDGE, Tenn. (WDEF) - The best teachers have a knack for inspiring their students. Abigail Guarneiri brings love and compassion to her classroom every day at East Ridge High School. So, we decided to bring her this week's Golden…
Golden Apple Award: Robin Campbell, Hopewell Elementary School
CLEVELAND, Tenn. (WDEF) - The best teachers genuinely care for their students. Kids can tell. That's certainly the case in Robin Campbell's 4th grade class at Hopewell Elementary School. For always giving 100%, we decided to give Ms. Campbell this…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Tyner Commitment to Graduation Day
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - Visualization can be a useful tool when you're trying to reach a goal. Freshmen at Tyner Academy got to look three years…
Golden Apple Award: Jennifer Ellis, STEM School Chattanooga
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - Teaching is a family tradition for Jennifer Ellis. Lessons learned from her mother's 40 years in the classroom gave Jennifer a gift for explaining…
What’s Right with Our Schools: 3rd Graders Visit Catoosa County College and Career Academy
RINGGOLD, Ga. (WDEF) - Academics and Career Prep are side by side at The Catoosa County College and Career Academy. Students can…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Self Contained Class Prom at Central High
HARRISON, Tenn. (WDEF) - Prom Season is upon us! Late last week, the community came together to give students in self-contained classes an enchanted…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Brotherhood Brunch at Chatt State
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - Men of any age can have hard time talking about their mental health, but there are people who will listen. That was the takeaway for students from Brainerd, Howard and Tyner at the 5th annual Brotherhood…
Golden Apple Award: McKenzie Hutcherson, Lookout Valley Middle High
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - There is an old adage that great things come to those who wait. McKenzie Hutcherson might be the exception to that rule. Although she is a new teacher at Lookout Valley, she is already doing great…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Hamilton County Virtual Schools
HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) - During the pandemic, most parents became familiar with virtual school. For some students, the virtual environment is still the best place for them to learn. Hamilton County has a program that helps kids learn at…
Golden Apple Award: Jami Thomason, Ocoee Middle School
CLEVELAND, Tenn. (WDEF) - Good teachers are good listeners. Pair that with kindness and a healthy respect for others, and you get a great learning environment. That's just…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Landon Thomas and Virtual Learning
HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) - A Hamilton County boy is tops in Tennessee in a competition put on by tech giant Samsung. Virtual learning is a perfect fit for Landon Thomas. That's a timely example for what's right with our…
Golden Apple Award: Jensen Floyd, Chickamauga Elementary
CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. (WDEF) - Teaching is in Jensen Floyd's blood. She followed her father's footsteps into the classroom, and students at Chickamauga Elementary are so happy that she did.…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Ridgeland High School FBLA
ROSSVILLE, Ga. (WDEF) - High School students in Georgia are learning how to become the business leaders of tomorrow. Lessons in employability and entrepreneurship are sowing the…
Golden Apple Award: Hannah Wilson, Soddy Daisy High School
SODDY DAISY, Tenn. (WDEF) - The written word comes to life in Hannah Wilson's 9th grade English class at Soddy Daisy. Her lessons are structured, to be sure, but there is a healthy dose of kindness mixed in. All that…
What’s Right With Our Schools: East Ridge Elementary STEAM Night
EAST RIDGE, Tenn. (WDEF) - Try to think of a subject doesn't fit into science, technology, engineering, art or math. STEAM really is everywhere. East Ridge…
Golden Apple Award: Nina East, Hixson High School
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - For students, teachers change from year to year, but the school secretary is a constant. A good secretary can make the whole educational process more pleasant and efficient. We paid a visit to Hixson High to…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Tyner Academy Pathways
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - Tyner students are finding success in the classroom through their new pathways program. Hamilton County Educators have been working across our community to identify…
Golden Apple Award: Ridgeland High School’s Peter Davis
ROSSVILLE, Ga. (WDEF) - The best teachers prepare their students for success after graduation. Peter Davis has been building solid futures for a long time at Ridgeland High…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Dade County High School Spirit
TRENTON, Ga. (WDEF) - Imagine what a go-pro camera could pick up in the student section during a high school football game. Our friends at Dade…
Golden Apple Award: East Lake Elementary, Patricia Adkins
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) - Third grade math means multiplication tables, rounding and fractions. A teacher at East Lake Elementary has dedicated her career to helping students always find the right answer. That earned Patricia Adkins the Golden Apple Award. [blox_vms…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Rossville Middle School Reach Scholarship
ROSSVILLE, Ga. (WDEF) - Imagine earning college scholarship money in the 8th grade! Some very smart students are doing just that in Georgia. That kind of…
What’s Right With Our Schools: Cloud Springs Reading Gains
ROSSVILLE, Ga. (WDEF) - Cloud Springs Elementary School recently welcomed Georgia Superintendent Richard Woods to campus. That visit came after third graders increased their reading scores by more than 20 percent! A strong foundation in reading is a rock-solid example…
Golden Apple Award: Liz Stanfield, Boynton Elementary
RINNGOLD, Ga. (WDEF) - At Boynton Elementary, Liz Stanfield has a gift for making sure each one of her students believes that they are just as smart, capable and worthy as anybody else. One parent calls her a light in…