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Columbia State Receives Grant Funding for Open Educational Resource Projects

Issue #375

10 Mar

In this What’s Up Columbia issue…

🗓 List of Upcoming Events

🌥️ Columbia’s Monday Weather - Sunny w/ high of 68 & low of 41

📰 Columbia State Receives Grant Funding for Open Educational Resource Projects

📌 March 12 - 15: Children’s Treasure Consignment Sale

📌 March 15 - 16: Muletown Pipe Show

🎵 This Week’s Live Music

⛑ Looking For Ways to Help Victims of Hurricane Helene? Click Here

🗓 Know of Some Local Events Not Listed? Send us the Details!

Upcoming Local Events

🗓 Have an event to add? Send us the Details!

Monday, March 10th

Tuesday, March 11th

Wednesday, March 12th

Thursday, March 13th

Friday, March 14th

Saturday, March 15th

Sunday, March 16th

Columbia State Receives Grant Funding for Open Educational Resource Projects

Columbia State Community College has recently received $49,000 in funding for two separate grant projects involving instructors from three Tennessee Board of Regents colleges.

The funding has helped launch pilot courses for two TBR Open Educational Resources grants during the Spring 2025 semester.

The OER grant program provides opportunities for teams of faculty members to convert courses currently using commercially published textbooks to courses using OER. In addition to increasing access through the affordability that OER provides, faculty have the opportunity to maximize student engagement and success by aligning materials with learning outcomes and customizing tools to support their unique educational approaches.

Yvonne Mills, a Columbia State English instructor, leads a team that curates English as a Second Language materials designed for easy integration into any course to support English Language Learners. The team also includes Columbia State Reading and English instructor Scott Beard and Caroline Froc, a humanities instructor from Northeast State Community College.

“While there is an abundance of ESL-specific OER materials available, many require significant adaptation to meet the needs of diverse student demographics and institutional objectives,” Mills said. “Tailoring these resources to align with my students’ academic and cultural backgrounds meant modifying existing examples and developing supplementary exercises to ensure accessibility and relevance. This project also reinforced the critical role of collaboration in curriculum development. Working closely with colleagues, particularly Caroline, highlighted the importance of a shared understanding of student needs and the value of cross-disciplinary feedback. This teamwork not only strengthened my own instructional strategies but also underscored the power of adaptable, student-centered materials in maximizing learning outcomes.”

In a separate project, Dale Hobbs, Columbia State assistant professor of mathematics and Charles McCauley, an instructor of mathematics at Volunteer State Community College, co-led the development of a Math 1530 (Introductory Statistics) course. This course utilizes GeoGebra — an interactive application designed to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics and science as the primary tool for managing data and performing calculations.

“This project provided valuable insights into my academic discipline, instructional approach and course content,” Hobbs said. “Integrating interactive GeoGebra applets has proven to be a powerful way to make abstract concepts more accessible and enhance student engagement. The experience also reinforced the importance of accessibility in content creation. Ensuring that all materials are inclusive remains a challenge, but this project has helped me develop a stronger awareness of how to approach accessibility in course design. Moving forward, I’m eager to expand the use of OER and advocate for their adoption to help reduce cost barriers and enrich student learning.”

Around 80 students are enrolled in multiple pilot courses which began in the Spring 2025 semester. After the pilot courses are completed, teams will review and update the materials and courses using feedback from students and instructors.

March 12 - 15: Children’s Treasure Consignment Sale

Savvy Shoppin’ Mamas! You do NOT want to miss THIS SALE! Mark your calendars and call the babysitter because you cannot AFFORD to miss Columbia’s Best Consignment Sale! There’s still time to register if you want all the perks of being our Consignor! We have so many promos going for large items and Consignor referrals you’d think we have lost our minds!

When: March 12 - March 15

Where: The National Guard Armory

844 N James Campbell Blvd Columbia, TN 38401

We are a ONE STOP SHOP for everything your sweet littles need at just a fraction of the cost!! We are the best consignment sale in Columbia and have been serving Columbia since 1996!

Save your $$ on essentials and put it towards making lasting memories this spring/summer.

Things we offer:

Infant sizes all the way up to junior sizes
Shoes galore 
Baby equipment 
Toys for all ages 
Sweet Boutique Items 
All your Spring & Summer Needs 

More information at ctsale.com

With THOUSANDS of items to shop, there is truly something for everyone.

We are blessed to have consignors who bring the quality upscale items and also the everyday basics we all need!

We will be offering VIP tagging again this sale, but spots are LIMITED!! If you want on this list let us know. Our EASY Computer Tagging will speed up your processing time & we are SO EXCITED ABOUT IT!!! LESS TIME TAGGING = MORE PROCESSED ITEMS 

Schedule:

Mon. 3/10 DROP OFF 9am - 630pm

Tue. 3/11 DROP OFF 8:15am - 3:30pm

Wed. 3/12 CONSIGNOR PRESALE 6:00pm

Public shops PreSale as space permits!!! No tickets required! Come at 7:00pm

**No strollers at PreSales for safety reasons

Thurs. 3/13 8:15am - 6:30pm (Restock Day!)

Fri. 3/14 8:15am- 6pm

Sat. 3/15 Half off Day 8am - 4pm Many items 50% off

***Saturday is our last selling day.

Sunday Consignor pickup 12pm - 3:30pm

March 15 - 16: Muletown Pipe Show

The 5th anniversary of the Muletown Pipe Show is coming up on March 14-16. It’s hosted at the Briarworks factory and lounge at 511 N. Main Street in Columbia. The show features pipe makers and vendors from across the US.

Muletown Mixture is a show exclusive pipe tobacco blend created by Jeremy Reeves of Cornell & Diehl. Jeremy does a blending demo during the show that provides a look into the creative process and work that goes into producing a unique pipe tobacco blend.

SHOW SCHEDULE:

Friday, March 14th
Early Vendor Check-in: 5 – 7 PM
Pre-show Party in the BriarWorks Lounge all evening
Lounge Hours: 10 AM – 12 AM

Saturday, March 15th
Vendor Check-in and Setup: 9 AM
Show Hours: 11 AM – 5 PM
Tobacco Blending Demo w/ Jeremy Reeves: 2 PM
Lounge Hours: 9 AM – 12 AM

Sunday, March 16th
Vendor Check-in: 10 AM
Show Opens: 11 – 3 PM
Lounge Hours: 10 AM – 10 PM

🎵 This Week’s Live Music

Monday, March 10th

Alyssa Hart, Puckett’s, 6-7:30 PM

Tuesday, March 11th

Justin Harden, Puckett’s, 6-7:30 PM

Wednesday, March 12th

Kayleigh Matthews, Puckett’s, 6-7:30 PM

Thursday, March 13th

Oliver Pigott, Puckett’s, 6-7:30 PM
Todd Ciprian, Tito's Spring Hill, 6-9 PM
Ryan & Ryan, Cherry Theater - Columbia State, 7 PM
Kirwan, McCreary's Irish Pub, 7-9 PM

Friday, March 14th

Open Mic, Grinders Switch, 6-8 PM
Open Mic, Twisted Copper Brewing Company, 7 PM
Yonder Grove, McCreary's Irish Pub, 7-9 PM
Garrett Boys, Puckett’s, 7:30-9 PM
Wentzel Brothers Band, Fozzy's Bar & Grill, 8-11 PM

Saturday, March 15th

Miles Damaso Group, Puckett’s, 10 AM-2 PM
Bald Kernal, Amber Falls Winery & Cellars, 1-5 PM
Johnny Jameson & The Empty Pints, McCreary's Irish Pub, 7-9 PM
Hippies & Cowboys, The Mulehouse, 7 PM
The Deltaz, Puckett’s, 7:30-9 PM
Zone Status, The Boondox, 8-11 PM
Static Pop, Gary's Place, 8 PM-12 AM

Sunday, March 16th

CJ Conklin, Fozzy's Bar & Grill, 4-7 PM
Jay Hoppus, Puckett’s, 6-7:30 PM

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