Hamilton County students have access to free audiobooks
Middle and high school students in Hamilton County now have free access to more than 80 books through a partnership with Audible, an audio and e-book distributor.
The Student Technology Program provides 18,000 students in grades 8-12 and their English Language Arts teachers with a free audible account.
Many of the free titles available provide captions for readers and a feature enabling readers to follow along with text as they listen to the audio. Students can click on words to see definitions, Wikipedia entries and access translations into more than 20 languages to help improve reading comprehension.
Students also have access to the Audible program outside of school and earn 12 free credits, which they can use to download 12 titles from the Audible catalog of more than 450,000 titles.
"I like to both listen to the book and read along while using the Audible app," said Julia Murphy, a freshman at East Hamilton School, in a statement. "The app helps me to analyze better the book we are reading for class."
Volkswagen Academy accepting applications for Fall 2020
The Volkswagen Academy is hosting an open house on Jan. 30 from 5-7 p.m. for students and families interested in the high school and apprenticeship programs offered on-site at Volkswagen.
Students interested in working hands-on with robot cars and other technology are encouraged to apply.
Volkswagen's Robotronics Technology Expert apprenticeship programs are two-year programs that combine academics with training to prepare for a career at Volkswagen Chattanooga.
The on-site high school program, Mechatronics Akademie, allows high school junior and seniors to complete their education at the state-of-the-art Volkswagen Academy and prepares graduates to take the next step into the Volkswagen Apprenticeship program.
Both programs are accepting applications for Fall 2020 and will accept on-site applications at the open house on Jan. 30.
The event will take place at 7469 Volkswagen Drive, Chattanooga.
Georgia State Board of Education appoints leadership
Georgia's State Board of Education selected a new slate of officers last month and appointed Scott Sweeney, of the 6th Congressional District, as board chairman and Jason Downey, of the 8th Congressional District, as vice chairman.
Scott Sweeney is a senior business advisor for InPrime Legal, a business law firm, and previously served eight years on the Cobb County Board of Education. He is a member of Georgia's Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) Business & Advisory Committee, the Cobb Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee and is a former president of the Georgia Education Committee.
Jason Downey was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp as the 8th Congressional District's member of the State Board of Education in April 2019, and previously served on the Macon-Bibb County Board of Education from 2013 to 2017.
"I look forward to working with Scott and Jason to pursue continued improvements in Georgia's K-12 public schools and expanded opportunities for our students," said state school Superintendent Richard Woods in a statement. "They are both upstanding individuals with strong experience in education governance, and Georgia's students will benefit from their leadership."
Lee University to host annual Senior Honors Concert
Lee University's Senior Honors Concert will take place Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the Squires Recital Hall, located in Lee's Humanities Center.
"The Senior Honors Concert is an annual event that allows us to celebrate some of our most talented senior undergraduate musical performers," said Douglas Warner, director of applied studies in music, in a news release. "Throughout the last several years, these outstanding students have demonstrated superior performance, earning the respect of the faculty."
Student performers are selected by faculty members. Expected performers include Libby Clark, Taylor Cooper, Jesse Crabtree, Sam Dodge, Gabrielle Flannery, Ashley Garner, Olivia Fuehne, Chloe Hamlin, James Hoskins, Chiaoyu Lin, Cassandra Rod, Kaylee Smith and Kendall Stones.
The students will perform works by Jacob Gade, Franz Schubert, Igor Stravinsky, Guiseppe Verdi, and Vaughn Williams, among others.
The event is free and open to the public.
If you have news about local schools you'd like included in Class Notes, email Meghan Mangrum at mmangrum@timesfreepress.com.