The Memphis Police Department (MPD) is aware of threats circulating on social media targeted towards schools in the area. While officers and Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS) are investigating threats, the schools have been placed on soft lockdown per MPD.
Officer Christopher Williams of MPD said no injuries have been reported at this time and instructed media to reach out to MSCS for additional information.
Memphis Shelby County Schools posted a statement to their social media pages that they were aware of these threats.
“As a precautionary measure, please do not go to your child’s school as law enforcement is actively investigating,” the statement said. MSCS said they will provide updates as necessary.
A Facebook user by the name of Joseph Braxton posted photos of screenshots from Instagram stories from a user by the name of @austinsmith9624. These screenshots tagged Southwind High School with the user threatening to “take out 30 people or more with a sk and a ar15 [sic].”
The user also posted they will be delivering their message at lunch time and that people will regret bullying them.
“Anyone in my way may be dealt with outside or inside,” the user said in another post.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Memphis-Shelby County School (MSCS) teachers will not be allowed to carry handguns or weapons in school.
This announcement comes from the district, a month after the Tennessee legislature passed a law that allows school faculty and staff to carry weapons on campus “subject to certain conditions.” Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill into law on April 26.
The “united decision” for MSCS to not allow staff to carry weapons was made by superintendent Marie N. Feagins along with Shelby County sheriff Floyd Bonner and interim Memphis police chief Cerelyn (C.J.) Davis.
“On behalf of Memphis-Shelby County Schools, I want to thank Chief Davis and Sheriff Bonner for their ongoing partnership and support in keeping our students and families safe. Thank you also to the community for your commitment and collaboration in moving Memphis forward together,” Feagins said in a statement.
According to the district, a resolution was passed days after the announcement, which prohibited employees from carrying firearms on school grounds.
“The Board does not believe that arming school staff is the most effective approach for Memphis-Shelby County Schools. That is the expectation of the Board that school staff serve first and foremost as trained, focused, and dedicated educators, not law enforcement and/or security officers,” the resolution said.
They added this was not an “effective” solution for the district.
Feagins, Davis, and Bonner continue to emphasize that “firearms have no place in classrooms,” and they are “united on this issue.”
“Schools are for learning, and emergency situations should be handled by trained officers,” Bonner said.”
This controversial law went into effect in the aftermath of the Covenant School to address safety concerns in schools statewide.
Marie Feagins Photo Credit: Memphis-Shelby County Schools
The Memphis-Shelby County Schools Board of Education will offer a superintendent contract to Marie Feagins, in a move that signals the end of an extensive search.
“Dr. Feagins emerged as the choice after a comprehensive search that included robust input from the community, parents, teachers, and staff,” the district said in a statement. “Through community meetings, listening sessions, and candidate visits, the board learned of Dr. Feagins’ deep understanding of urban education, commitment to equity, and academic vision for MSCS.”
School officials said Feagins has a deep understanding for the city and county as well as an “understanding of urban education successes and opportunities.”
Feagins is now the chief of leadership and high schools for Detroit Public Schools. She received her doctorate of education in educational leadership from Samford University, an education specialist/master of education in school counseling degree from the University of West Alabama, a bachelor of science in business administration from the University of Alabama, and a certificate in education finance from Georgetown University.
The board search was narrowed to Feagins, Yolanda Brown, and Cheryl Proctor. Toni Williams has served as interim superintendent since August 2022 after Joris Ray resigned amid scandal.
Snowmageddon meant plenty of time for breakfast in bed and a competitive bowling session on Nintendo Switch Sports. (Photos: Patricia Lockhart)
It’s time for another tween/teen-friendly Memphis weekend! My kids are 15, 12, 12, (happy belated b-day, twins), and 10 years old. Unfortunately, this particular weekend landed on the Memphis Snowmageddon! So we went nowhere. But that doesn’t mean we did nothing!
Monday — Everything was covered in snow. It was MLK Day and I had planned on doing nothing anyway. I had stopped by High Point Grocery a few days before and picked up some items. (Hubby stopped by a store, too … a liquor store.) In other words, we had everything we needed. As I rolled over to go back to sleep, I heard a noise in the kitchen. First thought, “What could anyone possibly require from the kitchen at this hour?” Second, “I wonder how much those cabinets cost that close really slowly to prevent slamming them?” After listening to the cacophony that comes with someone cooking in — and destroying — the kitchen, a soft knock rapped at my door. My oldest child fixed me breakfast in bed! Hot Cream of Wheat topped with baked apples. We piddled around as we waited for MSCS to announce schools were closed. When they did, my hubby reminded the kids that they still had to brush their teeth and take baths.
Tuesday — When my kids are at school, I never hear tales of them starving. So can someone explain to me how at 10 a.m. we had to have a family meeting about the rationing of food? First, we took inventory of what we had on hand. Then we brainstormed and created a menu of lunch and dinner dishes. Lastly, we laid down the law! Under no circumstance could these crumb-snatchers eat anything that was needed for lunch or dinner. If they got hungry, they could eat a PB&J sandwich, ramen, or canned tomato soup. After spending a good chunk of the day doing work from home, I felt it would be nice to whoop the kids in a game of Monopoly. (I’d won the last two games!) We only had plain tortilla chips for a snack since they ate everything else. The game lasted four hours and I did not win. The last hour was brutal. I endured all sorts of verbal jabs from my oldest, who showed me no mercy. Upon bankrupting, I assigned him the chore of putting everything up neatly. I poured myself a glass of wine to lick my wounds only to be reminded by my daughter that I was supposed to have a “Dry January.” I stared at her in defiance as I drank straight from the bottle.
Wednesday — I woke up late to the smell of something burning. Irritated, I snuggled deeper into the covers. I know what you’re thinking, “You didn’t go see what was burning?” Absolutely NOT! Burnt food falls solidly in the categories of “None of My Business” and “I’m Not Eating It.” So you can imagine my surprise when hubby walks in with a plate of pancakes and coffee. I prepped my “I’m too old to be eating nasty food, even if my kids made it” speech, but was greeted with two perfect chocolate chip pancakes.
Later, I announced I was making chicken and dumplings for dinner. To be fair, I did Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe to decide who would be my sous-chef. I began, “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe … ” Before I could finish, one of the twins HOLLERS and then calmly walks away. I was confused. Then the penny dropped. “If he hollers, let him go.” So I had to let him go and choose from the remaining kids. That was never the rule when I was growing up, but it makes sense. As I plated the dumplings, I called the kids down for dinner. They stared at their bowls, back at me, and back to their bowls. Twin #2 asked, “Where are the chicken dumplings?” Befuddled, I pointed to his bowl. He replied, “No, I thought you were making chicken dumplings like the ones at a Chinese restaurant.” While they devoured the meal, I told them the history of Southern chicken and dumplings and Black cuisine. Later we played “Uno No Mercy.” I lost that game, too.
Thursday — I opened my eyes to hubby placing a cup of coffee on my nightstand. I had to make my own breakfast, so I headed to the kitchen. I was greeted by my oldest son with a hug and a request. Can I teach him how to make French toast? Of course! We served up some French toast, and he topped it with his homemade whipped cream and baked apples. I balanced my day with work, video games, and reading. Everything was going swell until we ran out of dishwasher detergent. It’s now every person and dish for themselves. New rule: If you mess up a dish, you must wash it by hand! We are also dangerously low on eggs and butter. But not low on deodorant, which the boys seem to think is not a necessity. We played the Exploding Cats card game. I lost that game, too. My Dry January has officially changed to a Damp January.
Friday — My sleep cycle is all off. I woke up at 5 a.m., read in bed, went back to sleep, and finally woke up for good at 11 a.m. I was not greeted with breakfast in bed or hot coffee. I was served a nice Memphis-style “roasting” for sleeping so late. Since my clapbacks are infamously lame, I kept my mouth closed.
We spent the afternoon playing Nintendo Switch Sports. I did okay in bowling and golf. Not good enough to call it winning, but I’m proud of myself regardless. My oldest asked if I could teach him how to make chocolate chip cookies, so I busted out my recipe book and baked a batch with him. I am thankful for my tweens/teens. Because snow days with little children are not for the faint of heart.
Patricia Lockhart is a native Memphian who loves to read, write, cook, and eat. Her days are filled with laughter with her four kids and charming husband. By day, she’s a school librarian and writer, but by night … she’s asleep. @realworkwife @memphisismyboyfriend
A post about a controversial after-school club has caused an uproar among parents, community leaders, and the public.
On Tuesday, December 12th, a flyer advertising an “After School Satan Club,” at Chimneyrock Elementary in Cordova was posted by The Satanic Temple. This flyer stated that the first meeting of the club would be January 10th, 2024.
Photo Credit: The Satanic Temple via Facebook
“The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religion that views Satan as a literary figure who represents a metaphorical construct of rejecting tyranny and championing the human mind and spirit,” reads the flyer.
The group said that this club does not “attempt to convert children to any religious ideology,” and instead “supports children to think for themselves.”
Some praised the club, including Facebook user Jayme Haley, who commented under the post: “If you actually read the description, this is an amazing program to offer. I very much respect this organization, thank you for coming to TN.”
Others expressed outrage, as the post began to make rounds on social media sites.
A user by the name @White.sosa commented under a post about the flyer on Unapologetically Memphis’s Instagram, saying “Wtf… that’s a whole devil as the logo, and y’all tryna tell me otherwise that it’s not bad. Memphis and whoever else got this shi done lost they damn mind. Y’all take the word of God out of schools just to replace it with this bs…. Man that’s crazy.”
Parents and other commenters pressed officials from Memphis Shelby County Schools for answers, even though the post claimed that the club was not endorsed or sponsored by the district.
The district released a statement that same day stating that they are “committed to upholding the principles of the First Amendment.” The Satanic Temple is an IRS-recognized nonprofit organization, the school district said, adding that the First Amendment grants “equal access to all nonprofit organizations seeking to use [their] facilities outside of school hours.” The district has granted the same access to groups such as the Christian-based Good News Club and the Boy Scouts of America.
“This means we cannot approve or deny a request based solely on the organization’s viewpoints or beliefs,” the statement reads. “Board Policy 7002 outlines this commitment, allowing community groups and government entities to rent school property outside of school hours.”
The next day, December 13, MSCS called a press conference for the district, faith-based leaders, and community partners.
MSCS superintendent Toni Williams stated that her sole focus is the needs of the students, families, and community.
“Like many of you, I have questions that resonate deeply with the questions and concerns in our community regarding an upcoming club rental,” said Williams. “I want to assure you that I do not endorse, I do not support the beliefs of this organization at the center of the recent headlines. I do however support the law.”
Williams said that as superintendent, she is “duty-bound to uphold [the] board policy, state laws, and the Constitution.”
“But let’s not be fooled by what we’ve seen in the past 24 hours, which is an agenda, initiated to ensure that we counsel all faith-based organizations that partner with our school district,” said Williams. “The law says that what we do for one organization. We must do for all.”
Williams was joined by more than a dozen faith-based leaders who partner with MSCS. She also mentioned that approximately 80 schools in the district are supported by faith-based organizations.
“In the wake of the recent news stories, some have demanded that we ban all faith-based organizations, but that penalizes thousands of children, feeds the fear, and bends to outsiders and their agendas,” said Williams.
The superintendent also called on officials, business leaders, and faith-based organizations to unite and support the schools in the district.
Toni Williams, interim head of Memphis-Shelby County Schools. Credit: Memphis Shelby County Schools
Interim superintendent Toni Williams won’t become the permanent leader of Memphis-Shelby County Schools after all.
The school board voted to approve a contract extension for Williams that could keep her in charge of MSCS through the new school year. But Williams — who was one of three finalists named in April — has to give up her quest to be superintendent on a permanent basis.
The condition is spelled out in Williams’ extended contract, which she negotiated with Memphis attorney Herman Morris, he told the board Tuesday. Her name is not expected to appear on an updated list of finalists that the board expects to receive Wednesday.
Williams’ exit from the superintendent candidate pool signals a quieter end to the district’s tortuous national superintendent search, which derailed after Williams became a finalist and the board began to fracture over the prospect of elevating another interim leader to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Joris Ray.
Ray, who was elevated from the interim position in 2019, resigned under a cloud of scandal in August 2022. His predecessor, Dorsey Hopson, had also been elevated from interim chief.
Williams accepted the interim role in August with assurances that she wouldn’t seek the job on a permanent basis, but she changed her mind. Since then, the board has largely sidestepped discussions about that decision, never rejecting her application.
A coalition of community advocates — including some of the five people who were banned from district property after challenging the board’s stewardship of the search — had been pushing the board in recent weeks to clarify whether Williams would remain a candidate, and continued to do so in a series of coordinated public comments Tuesday evening.
Board members Tuesday made clear their support of Williams’ interim leadership, and she received a standing ovation after board Chair Althea Greene described her accomplishments. The board’s long delay in setting the parameters of its search could keep Williams in the interim role for as much as another year.
“I have inherited more challenges than you could ever imagine. A district in distress …. But I have not quit,” Williams said.
Greene, who has led the search for the past year, will now be assisted by newly elected vice chair Joyce Dorse-Coleman. Dorse-Coleman is replacing former board member Sheleah Harris, who resigned her board seat two weeks ago. The Shelby County Commission will select Harris’ replacement in mid-July. The board will reelect leadership in the fall.
Meanwhile, outside search firm Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates is poised to present the board an updated list of superintendent finalists Wednesday after reevaluating interested applicants against a revised set of qualifications approved by the board in mid-June.
The new list includes five to seven top candidates, compared with just three on the initial slate released in April, according to communication from the firm obtained by Chalkbeat. The board could choose to interview those candidates or reopen the pool to new applicants — “in essence beginning a new search,” two top Hazard Young officials wrote. That option could cost the district an additional $19,000. (The initial contract with the firm allowed for total costs between $38,000 and $70,000.)
Reopening the search would significantly extend the hiring timeline as well. The “optimal” window to accept new applications is in the fall, the firm wrote, suggesting a timeline that culminates with the board selecting a new superintendent by the end of January. The proposed start date for the new superintendent, in that case, would be July 1, 2024.
The firm did not propose a new timeline should the board interview and select a new superintendent from its current candidate pool.
Hazard Young updated a proposed job description for the role, this time including minimum qualifications required by board policy that the firm did not use for evaluating candidates in the spring, as Chalkbeat reported.
When she became a finalist in April, Williams did not meet the board requirements, which focused on experience as an educator, but the board later relaxed the policy.
Williams said that under her extended contract, she has the option to return to a district role after her interim tenure. Because the contract is still being finalized, Morris said, there was no copy to review Tuesday evening.
Morris, who also worked for the board to negotiate the terms of Ray’s departure, thanked Williams “for her openness and willingness to agree” during the negotiations.
Williams will continue earning a $310,000 annualized salary and will have more vacation days under the extended contract.
Williams told reporters she had no regrets about applying for the permanent position.
“Regrets on serving 110,000 students?” Williams said. “Absolutely not.”
The MSCS board will meet with the search firm at 5 p.m. on Wednesday in the basement auditorium of the Barnes Building, 160 S. Hollywood St.
Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
The selection process for Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ next superintendent got derailed Saturday when school board members raised questions about an outside search firm’s selection of three finalists, shortly after their names were announced.
Now, the board is asking the search firm for the names of all 34 applicants, and it put off plans to interview finalists until it gets those names.
Saturday’s meeting was the first time the board deliberated publicly about the selection process since it voted to select the search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates of Schaumburg, Illinois. But instead of discussing the individual finalists, board members peppered Hazard Young officials with questions that made clear they were unsatisfied with the process and the results.
Some of their questions had been raised before by members of a community advisory committee that has challenged the lack of transparency in the process.
“I am not saying we want you to go back,” board Chair Althea Greene told Hazard Young officials during the meeting. “We are not just going to accept this … . We appreciate what you have done, but what I hear is it’s just not good enough.”
The board’s pushback adds a new wrinkle to a high-stakes search for a leader for Tennessee’s largest school district, which is struggling to improve academic outcomes for its 100,000 students and to sustain trust in the community. The previous superintendent, Joris Ray, resigned in August 2022 amid an external investigation into allegations that he abused his power and violated district policies.
Hazard Young, tapped in February to find Ray’s successor, presented the three finalists to board members Saturday: Brenda Cassellius, recently of Boston Public Schools; Carlton Jenkins of Wisconsin’s Madison Metropolitan School District; and Toni Williams, the current interim superintendent of MSCS. (See sidebar below for more about these candidates.)
The response from board members suggested that they expected — at some point during the process — to find out more than just the names of the three finalists, including more information on the full pool of applicants and how they were evaluated. They told Hazard Young President Max McGee and associate Micah Ali that their pushback was rooted in ensuring public trust in the process.
“This is not a restart. This is simply: Give us additional information to be able to validate to this deserving community that the right person will ultimately sit in this seat,” board member Kevin Woods said.
Board member Sheleah Harris said the board felt “unprepared, because we hired you all to do a job, and you did not do it well.”
Tikeila Rucker, a former teacher union leader and current community organizer, said she was frustrated that the board hadn’t raised its concerns with the firm earlier.
“It sounds like the board is just as lost as we are, and that is unacceptable,” Rucker told Chalkbeat.
Board member Stephanie Love acknowledged after the meeting that additional deliberation by the board in public meetings before Saturday could have prevented what she described as the “eleventh hour” hitch in the search.
Applicants for the position were evaluated against a rubric with 16 categories, which included reviews of application documents plus references, “Memphis connection,” and fit with MSCS’ needs, Hazard Young explained. Of the 34 applicants, 21 met qualifications for an interview, and 12 proceeded to the last stage, the search firm said. The three finalists were selected from that group.
Some board members on Saturday questioned why they were not provided with the rubric earlier.
“I’m not going to say the people that we have here are not the best. But is there a way for us to have a little more input that these are who we want?” board member Joyce Dorse Coleman asked.
Hazard Young’s contract for the search suggests there is room for more board involvement: It says the firm is charged with facilitating “board discussions to narrow (the) candidate pool after each round of interviews.”
That the board wants to know the names of all the applicants was new to Hazard Young, Ali said Saturday. It is unclear what information the board will eventually receive in response to that request.
In a statement after the board meeting, Greene said the firm would contact applicants to find out whether they still want to be considered, then release those names publicly “for full transparency.” Under state law, as affirmed by a state attorney general’s opinion, records collected by Hazard Young in connection with the search are subject to open-records laws.
While Greene has previously said the board did not expect to receive a full applicant list, other board members Saturday said they had asked to know who all the candidates are.
Two of the finalists presented, Cassellius and Jenkins, have decades of experience in education. Williams, whose background is largely in finance, rose to the top tier for experience that Hazard Young called “nontraditional,” a term that could apply to applicants who came from a foundation, military, or business background.
Harris, the board member, challenged the firm — and the selection of Williams as a finalist — on this point. If the board had given input on the rubric earlier, she said, the search “probably would have some different finalists.”
Hazard Young told board members Saturday that Williams sought a legal opinion on the policy that found it was “void and unenforceable.”
Kenneth Walker, attorney for the school board, said that the board’s policy was valid and that it gives the board discretion to choose someone with experience equivalent to the academic experience cited in the policy.
Laura Testino covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Laura at LTestino@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
2021 was twice as deadly as 2020 for Covid-19 in Shelby County. In 2020, 903 died of Covid here. In 2021, 1,807 passed from the virus.
A consent decree forced Horn Lake leaders to approve the construction of a new mosque.
Family members wanted $20 million from the city of Memphis; Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW); and the Memphis Police Department (MPD) for the 2020 beating death of a man by an MLGW employee.
New DNA testing was requested in the West Memphis Three case for recently rediscovered evidence once claimed to be lost or burned.
February
An ice storm knocked out power to nearly 140,000 MLGW customers.
The new concourse — in the works since 2014 — opened at Memphis International Airport.
Paving on Peabody Avenue began after the project was approved in 2018.
Protect Our Aquifer teamed up with NASA for aquifer research.
A prosecutor moved to block DNA testing in the West Memphis Three case.
March
A bill before the Tennessee General Assembly would have banned the sale of hemp-derived products, like Delta-8 gummies, in the state. It ultimately provided regulation for the industry.
The project to fix the interchange at Crump Ave. and I-55 resurfaced. Bids on the project, which could cost up to $184.9 million, were returned. Work did not begin in 2022 but when it does, it could close the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge (the Old Bridge) for two weeks.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee temporarily cut sales taxes on groceries.
April
The Mississippi River ranked as one of the most endangered rivers in America in a report from the American Rivers group.
Critics lambasted decisions by Memphis in May and Africa in April to honor Ghana and Malawi, both of which outlaw basic LGBTQ+ rights.
The federal government announced a plan to possibly ban menthol cigarettes.
Lawmakers approved Gov. Lee’s plan to update the state’s 30-year-old education funding plan.
Tom Lee Park (Photo: Memphis River Parks Partnership)
May
Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi prepared for the likely overturn of the Roe v. Wade decision, ending legal abortions in the state.
The Greater Memphis Chamber pressed for a third bridge to be built here over the Mississippi River.
Cooper-Young landlords sued to evict the owners of Heaux House for “specializing in pornographic images.”
The Memphis City Council wanted another review of Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) plan to remove coal ash from the shuttered Allen Fossil Plant.
June
New research showed Memphis-area women earned 83 percent of their male counterparts income in the workplace from 2000-2019.
Gov. Lee ordered schools to double down on existing security measures in the wake of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
MPD arrested four drivers in an operation it called Infiniti War Car Take-Over.
A key piece of the Tom Lee Park renovation project won a $3.7 million federal grant, which was expected to trigger nearly $9 million in additional funds.
Tennessee Republican attorney general fought to keep gender identity discrimination in government food programs.
Jim Dean stepped down as president and CEO of the Memphis Zoo and was replaced by Matt Thompson, then the zoo’s executive director and vice president.
Locals reacted to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
July
Memphian Brett Healey took the stage at Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Eating Contest.
One Beale developers returned to Memphis City Hall for the fourth time asking for financial support of its luxury hotel plans.
The Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) board placed Superintendent Joris Ray on paid leave as they investigated whether he violated district policies with relationships with co-workers and abused his power.
The project to forever eliminate parking on the Overton Park Greensward got $3 million in federal funding.
Tennessee’s attorney general celebrated a win after a federal judge blocked a move that would have allowed trans kids to play sports on a team of their gender.
Tennessee’s top Pornhub search was “interracial” in 2021, according to the site.
August
A panel of Tennessee judges did not give a new trial to Barry Jamal Martin, a Black man convicted in a Pulaski jury room decked out in Confederate portraits, flags, and memorabilia.
Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert caught flak from the Tennessee Comptroller after traveling to Jamaica while her offices were closed to catch up on the controversial backlog of license plate requests from citizens.
MSCS superintendent Joris Ray resigned with a severance package worth about $480,000. Finance chief Toni Williams was named interim superintendent.
Officials said the Memphis tourism sector had made a “full recovery” from the pandemic.
A new bail system unveiled here was touted by advocates to be “one of the fairest in the nation.”
Eliza Fletcher (Photo: Memphis Police Department)
September
Memphis kindergarten teacher Eliza Fletcher was abducted and murdered while on an early-morning run. Cleotha Abston, out of jail early on previous abduction charges, was arrested for the crimes.
MLGW’s board continues to mull the years-long decision to, possibly, find a new power provider.
Ezekiel Kelly, 19, was arrested on charges stemming from an alleged, hours-long shooting rampage across Memphis that ended with four dead and three injured.
A Drag March was planned for the “horrible mishandling” of a drag event at MoSH. Event organizers canceled the show there after a group of Proud Boys arrived armed to protest the event.
October
Workers at four Memphis restaurants, including Earnestine & Hazel’s, sued the owners to recover alleged unpaid minimum wage and overtime.
Shelby County was largely unfazed by an outbreak of monkeypox with only about 70 infected here as of October.
Animal welfare advocates called a University of Memphis research lab “the worst in America” after a site visit revealed it violated numerous federal protocols concerning the care of test animals.
While other states have outlawed the practice, Tennessee allows medical professionals and medical students to — without any kind of permission — stick their fingers and instruments inside a woman’s vagina and rectum while she is under anesthesia.
Joshua Smith, a co-defendant in the election finance case against former state Sen. Brian Kelsey, pleaded guilty in court.
The Environmental Protection Agency told South Memphis residents little could be done to protect them from toxic emissions from the nearby Sterilization Services facility.
West Tennessee farmers struggled to get crops to market because of the record-low level of the Mississippi River.
November
Groups asked state officials for a special investigator to review the “very real failures that led to [Eliza] Fletcher’s tragic murder.”
A group wanted state officials to change the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park.
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional.
A plan to forever end parking on the Overton Park Greensward was finalized by city leaders, the Memphis Zoo, and the Overton Park Conservancy.
December
The Commercial Appeal dodged layoffs in the latest round of news staff reductions by Gannett.
Federal clean-energy investments will further ingrain Tennessee in the Battery Belt and help develop a Southeast Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (H2Hubs).
The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee criticized Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (MLH) for canceling gender affirmation surgery for a 19-year-old patient.
State and local officials investigated an alleged milk spill into Lick Creek.
MLGW rejected Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) 20-year rolling contract but will continue to be a TVA customer “for the foreseeable future.”
Former state Senator Brian Kelsey’s law license was suspended after he pled guilty to two felonies related to campaign finance laws last month.
Visit the News Blog at memphisflyer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.
STEM interns Jana Elabiad (left) and Morgan Johnson learn a laboratory technique with Andrey Reshetnyak, Ph.D. (Credit: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.)
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has teamed up with Memphis-Shelby County Schools to provide science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and outreach to students from kindergarten to twelfth grade.
According to St. Jude, it is “likely the first major medical and research institution to dedicate significant resources in its own community to educate and train the next generation of doctors, nurses, researchers, and scientific academic leaders.
Kate Ayers is director of STEM education and outreach at St. Jude, and said that while the program has been around for about 15 years, the partnership with MSCS started about five years ago.
Ayers started working with the program in 2013, and at that time there was a curriculum written at the 4th grade level about cells, cancer, and healthy living. However, there was a big shift when the Next Generation Science Standards were first introduced.
“With that comes a major shift in how science is taught in the classroom,” said Ayers. “I think Tennessee adopted those standards two years later, and it began to be integrated into curriculum, or the expectation was that it was integrated into curriculum, beginning in 2016.”
Ayers said that this marks the point where St. Jude began to shift its program model, and when it began to engage MSCS in a “more intentional way.”
St. Jude said this need is also the result of the “national education debt,” and “the legacy of school segregation.”
“On one side there is the history of racism and classism that has historically plagued our education system for a very long time, and creates pathways where resources are allocated to some schools and not to other schools,” said Ayers.
The term “education debt” was coined by Gloria Ladson-Billings, a critical race theorist, and says Ayers, the term discusses the education gap.
“That implies that there is some deficiency in the child — that they aren’t meeting these standards, and by shifting the language to an education debt, she [Ladson-Billings] is calling out the systems that have prevented access to high quality education for people of color and people from low economic statuses.”
There is also a growing emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of science, said Ayers.
Ayers said that education debt has prevented many children of color, young girls, and children from low socioeconomic backgrounds from pursuing careers in science. “Institutions like St. Jude and scientific institutions across the nation are getting pressure put on them by federal granting mechanisms to address this issue of diversity in the field of science,” said Ayers. “Those two things meet where we need more scientists of color and more women coming into the field of science in order to ensure that we have this diversity of thought, diversity of perspectives, that new research has shown enhances the quality of problem solving and critical thinking.”
According to St. Jude, the most recent Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) scores show that “13 percent of the 110,000-plus students (about 90 percent of whom identify as Black, Hispanic, or Native American and about 60 percent of whom are economically disadvantaged) in the Memphis-Shelby County Schools system are proficient in math.”
In order to address this education debt in meaningful ways, Ayers said that St. Jude works to make sure that children are getting access to “high-quality science education.”
The St. Jude K-12 Cancer Education and Outreach Program offers four different programs for the 2022-2023 school year.
The Kindergarten Collaborative works with 27 teachers in six schools to introduce STEM to kindergarteners.
The St. Jude Afterschool STEM Clubs were in 10 schools for the fall semester, and will be in 12 schools for the spring semester. According to St. Jude, students in this program work together to “design and build a prosthetic hand for an osteosarcoma patient who had an amputation.”
Middle school students work to “identify potential areas of cancer health disparities in their local communities,” through the Middle School Community Health Clubs.
The St. Jude High School and College Research Immersion Program was launched in the summer of 2022 and placed high school and college students in eight-week internships on the St. Jude campus.
A Natural Affair Beauty Lounge, located at 2869 Poplar Avenue in Memphis and at 1250 North Germantown Parkway in Cordova, recently became the first salon to become a signature partner with Memphis Shelby County Schools’ College, Career, and Technical Education cosmetology program.
Takeisha Berry Brooks, the owner of A Natural Affair, said that a path was created so that her student and stylist, Alicia, could obtain work study. This means that Alicia would attend school during the day, and after her classes she would go to the salon to not only work, but to obtain her cosmetology license while in high school.
Takeisha’s student, Alicia.
Brooks prides herself on being able to give young stylists a place to start. She has been offering apprenticeship programs at her salon even prior to becoming a signature program.
According to Phil Dotson, partnership director of the division of college, career, and technical education for MSCS, it’s through partnership programs that MSCS is able to connect students and their coursework to companies in the community.
“Our kids have to be able to see the careers that are in their backyard, their communities, so that they can make that choice that they know what they want to do when they leave school,” he said.
There are two models of the partnership program. Dotson explained that the community partner program is the Adopt-A-School model, meaning that companies can partner with one specific school to “give kids what they need and to provide supportive services to the school.” Dotson said that the signature partnership program is what they “like to hang their hat on.”
Dotson said MSCS works to ensure that they are offering the right type of certifications, ones that will “make students more attractive candidates when they interview for jobs.” He added that there are more than 40 academic pathways, which gives partners the opportunity to introduce these pathways in real life.
Brooks is a graduate of Kingsbury High School, and was in the school’s cosmetology program. She said without that that foundation, she wouldn’t be where she is today. “This opportunity to partner is just a full circle moment, because I feel like I was chosen to show that vocational works in high school.”
“It’s a tight ship,” said Brooks. “To know that every day that I impact lives, and that they come to A Natural Affair to survive and have the confidence to say ‘Hey I can do this,’and to watch these girls get houses, go from driving raggedy to cars to brand new cars, and to see these girls moving up in life because of something I’ve established. My mind is blown.”
Brooks also focuses on teaching her students the business side of cosmetology. “They have to have some sense of direction when it comes to how money is dispersed,” she said.
“It teaches them how to create a work-life balance,” said Brooks. “Whether they’re single or have families, it creates a system, gives them some type of stability. That way when they do go out on their own, I hope that they continue to practice what they’ve learned at A Natural Affair.”
