A great thing for the city of Memphis. Title: CBHS out to raise $25 million In its 49 years on Walnut Grove, Christian Brothers High School has conducted one capital campaign, a $3 million drive in 1995 to build Tom Nix Stadium and Giacosa baseball complex. For every other improvement, the modest, conservative Brothers dug into the surplus they built with their own thrift. Sunday, school leaders quietly announced a $25 million drive that over two years will remake portions of the campus in a large way — adding a bigger gym with a regulation-size basketball court and nearly doubling the spectator seating — but also launching CBHS as a Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Medicine (STEMM) training ground that, in conjunction with Christian Brothers University, will give Brothers boys access to four years of engineering and biomedical training with industry experts. Beyond that, leaders at the two campuses are offering graduate-level STEM (an acronym that doesn’t include Medicine) certification for local K-12 teachers who perhaps were not math or science majors in college. “This is not just for biology teachers,” said Dr. Frank Buscher, CBU vice president of academics and student life. “It’s meant for teachers in fine arts, literature and history. We want them to be aware and improve their own literacy of STEM and integrate that knowledge into their courses.” This first class, taught by Dr. Angela Moran, mechanical engineering professor at the U.S. Naval Academy, is Oct. 31 at CBU. Three more will follow throughout the school year. Teachers wanting certification can earn 12 credits through CBU’s college of education. “All the indications we get from industry is that they are desperate for hometown talent in engineering and science. We want to create that pipeline,” said Chris Fay, CBHS principal. The ideas have been quietly incubating on both campuses for several years. At its core, technical know-how is a way to offer the ideals of the Christian Brothers order’s founder, John Baptist de La Salle, to the modern Memphis workforce. “The idea was, with training, they could live a better quality of life,” said Ken Kimble, the alumnus CBHS hired in March to lead capital projects. “When you look at the private school landscape in Memphis, it tends to be focused on classical education. This is a bold move in alignment with our core values of training people.” By late November, CBHS expects to have raised $6.5 million; by the end of 2015, it hopes to have all commitments in hand. “We have never done anything like this,” Kimble said. “The Brothers have run this off tuition. They were almost apologetic to ask for help. They felt it would come to them when they needed it. But as a private school, it’s time for us to get in the engagement business with alumni and friends of the school. The response has been significant.” David Popwell (class of 1978) is chairman of the drive. Honorary chairmen are Bob McEniry (1959), Brother Joel McGraw (1963) and Tim McCarver (1959). Through word-of-mouth, $5.2 million has come in, including the $1.7 it took to build McEniry Hall, the spacious, airy engineering building that went up in seven months. CBHS will dedicate it Wednesday. It is the home base of a mission that now includes courses in engineering and biomedical engineering. It eventually will include tracks in medicine, civil, aeronautical and computer software engineering. “In our first year (2013-14) we had 120 boys request engineering,” Fay said. We only had room for 72. This year, we had 140 boys request engineering and allowed 96 boys in.” Over the course of four years at CBHS, students will be able to earn at least 12 college credits — possibly more — in cooperation with CBU, whose professors will share the teaching load. McEniry Hall, named for Bob McEniry, chairman of nexAir Inc., includes two nontraditional classrooms, two shops for hands-on engineering projects, 50 computer stations with computer-aided drafting software and a sunlight-splashed lobby for project presentations, lectures and technology camps. “Having spent a 50-year career in business, I have seen the advent of STEM education, for myself and in our company. I’ve seen medical applications, industrial applications and I’ve seen a manufacturing rebirth in this country where there is a need for technical people and engineers,” McEniry said. “On the other side, I have been involved with CBU and watched the school struggle, particularly in engineering, to recruit students that are prepared for a rigorous engineering program.” If students can see the value of their studies in math science, he expects they will be “more directed” in applying themselves.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 00:13:40 +0000
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