Class of 2024: Cap and gown pickups begin April 15 at the Harriman and Oak Ridge bookstores. Bookstore hours are 8am-4:30pm ET Monday-Thursday. Visit the commencement ceremony webpage for additional info.
Carlie Love, left, and Halie Vinsant, lifelong friends, are seeking degrees in early childhood education and are enrolled at Roane State’s Campbell County campus.
Feb. 21, 2017
By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer
LAFOLETTE – Lifelong friends Carlie Love and Halie Vinsant are also on the same career path, seeking degrees in early childhood education and taking classes at Roane State’s campus in Campbell County.
They’ve completed their first semester at the LaFollette campus, and both give their Roane State experience good grades.
“It makes you want to come to school,” said Vinsant, 18, who graduated from Campbell County High School last spring. “You feel welcome. You’re not just another face in a classroom.”
Love, 19, who received her high school degree from the smaller Cumberland Gap High School, says the LaFollette campus is close to her home, and she likes its size. With the HOPE Scholarship and Tennessee Promise grant programs, she said “you can get a degree without going into debt.”
The shift from high school to college was “a little bumpy at first,” Vinsant admitted. “Time management is something you have to have,” Love added.
Pictured are three of the 10 Campbell County High School students in the Middle College program at Roane State Community College’s campus in LaFollette. From left: Colby Cox, Alexis Galyon and Cassie Kohlmeyer.
Pausing before heading back to Campbell County High were three of the school’s 10 participants in Roane State’s inaugural Middle College program in LaFollette.
The students take college courses in the morning before returning to the high school for classes. They’re planning to receive associate degrees from Roane State at the same time they graduate from high school.
Colby Cox, 17, from a farming family, wants to get a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science. Alexis Galyon, 16, plans to enroll in a premed program at a university. Cassie Kohlmeyer, also 16, is aiming for a university degree in early education.
The Middle College program is “definitely challenging but rewarding,” Cassie said. “Everyone is really helpful.”
“Our teachers will stay and help us during their office hours,” Alexis said.
The Roane State Campbell County Wheeler Building, with a scenic view of the Cumberland Mountain through floor-to-ceiling windows in the community room, was built in 2006, campus director Tracy Powers said.
The 18,000-square-foot building features 10 classrooms, including a computer lab, geology lab and two interactive classrooms. About 400 students on average attend each semester, Powers said.
The campus offers mainly general education classes, she said. “You can take all classes toward a transfer degree in elementary education or general studies.”
Classes leading to associate degrees in business administration, paralegal studies and contemporary management are also available, Powers said.
There will soon be a major addition to the Campbell County campus. A 4,400-square-foot multipurpose science lab is scheduled to be completed by fall 2018, she said. The lab will be for anatomy and physiology courses as well as classes in biology and chemistry.
State senator Ken Yager and state representative Dennis Powers last summer announced approval by the State Building Commission of the $1.1 million addition.
Roane State Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, ethnicity or national origin, sex, disability, age, status as protected veteran or any other class protected by Federal or State laws and regulation and by Tennessee board of Regents policies with respect to employment, programs, and activities. View full non-discrimination policy.
