Welcome to the Visit Athens AL Press Room...

Athens, the Limestone County Seat, sets just 22 miles west of Huntsville at the crossroads Interstate 65, U.S. Highway 72, and US Highway 31. Athens-Limestone Alabama offers festivals for almost every month, 15 family-friendly free trails, museums, attractions and much more to plan your family vacation.

Nestled in the foothills and amid the rolling Tennessee River plains you'll find a variety of items to weave stories around. From our rich history to the unique personalities of community, Southern delicacies to our deep heritage of music, art, and architecture -- we'll enable you to keep pen to paper.



The Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association provides assistance to working press filing stories about Athens-Limestone Alabama as a travel destination. We can answer questions about travel and tourism, arrange press passes attractions, coordinate press visits and point you in the right direction to get the information you need to develop your story about our community.


We look forward to working with you!

Monday, April 13, 2015

CALHOUN'S EMS AND NURSING STUDENTS TO CONDUCT MASS CASUALTY TRAINING DRILL APRIL 23

Calhoun Community College News Release


April 13, 2015

CALHOUN'S EMS AND NURSING STUDENTS TO CONDUCT 
MASS CASUALTY TRAINING DRILL APRIL 23


Students from the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Nursing programs at Calhoun Community College will conduct a mock mass casualty training drill on Thursday, April 23, 2015, beginning at 9:30 am in the area of the Health Sciences Center and Kelley Gymnasium on the Decatur campus.

The mock disaster will simulate a scenario involving a threat to persons/property which has just occurred on campus. Approximately 25-30 simulated casualties will be a part of the exercise and will be portrayed by Calhoun Allied Health students, who will have a full range of mock injuries.

Calhoun nursing students will receive the “patients” from the EMS students for treatment at the college’s “hospital”, located in the Health Sciences Center. In addition to Calhoun EMS and Nursing faculty, Calhoun Police and Security personnel and area fire, EMS agencies, area police departments and air medical flight services from MedFlight will participate with the students in this endeavor.

The specific circumstances of the mock disaster will not be announced in order to preserve the “realness” of the event. Past mock drill scenarios have included a bus crash, bomb threat, and an active shooter incident.

So that students, staff and visitors to the campus will not confuse the drill with a real situation, notices will go out across the college and signs indicating a training drill is currently underway will be posted in the area of the activity.

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Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Athens State Business Professor Honored at U of A’s Honors Day Convocation

For Further Information
Guy McClure
256-233-8296
Guy.McClure@athens.edu



For immediate release
April 6, 2015
www.athens.edu

Athens State Business Professor Honored at U of A’s Honors Day Convocation

ATHENS, Ala. - Kim Roberts, Assistant Professor of Operations Management in Athens State’s College of Business was selected as the 2015 Outstanding Research Student in Instructional Technology at The University of Alabama.  The award was presented at the institution’s College of Education’s annual Honors Day Convocation on April 3rd.

Roberts states, “I would like to use my studies to help achieve my teaching vision mission statement of preparing students to be successful, problem-solving business professionals who value lifelong learning.” 

Roberts is a PhD candidate at the University of Alabama in Instructional Leadership with concentration in Instructional Technology program.  She completed 63 hours of doctoral coursework with a 4.0 GPA and is currently working on her dissertation on the efficacy of electronic textbooks.  

“Dr. Roberts is an exemplary faculty member and mirrors the ethos of the academic community at Athens State,” remarks Athens State President Bob Glenn.  “Her success at the University of Alabama is certainly evident in the popularity of her classes with our student body.”

Roberts was also selected as a recipient of the 2015 Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, presented by the Office of Research on Teaching in the Disciplines in the College of Education at The University of Alabama.  The goal of this award was to recognize exemplary teachers for their outstanding efforts in making learning engaging, interactive, and memorable for students.  Its intent is also to acknowledge the impacts teachers have on students’ lives, their discipline, and the teaching profession.  

For this award, Roberts submitted a lesson plan involving application of operations management topics in a local business setting, where students collaborated with their classmates and the business owner to develop improvement opportunities in areas such as strategy, capacity management, and process analysis.  

“This is a practice many faculty members in Athens State’s College of Business use to engage students,” says Roberts.  “I’m very fortunate to be able to work with and learn from the top-notch faculty we have here at Athens State.”


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Athens State’s Athenian Players to present Modern American One Acts



For Further Information
Guy McClure
256-233-8296
Guy.McClure@athens.edu

For immediate release
April 6, 2015
www.athens.edu

Athens State’s Athenian Players to present Modern American One Acts

ATHENS, Ala. - The Athenian Players of Athens State University present productions of a grouping of modern American one act plays by Susan Gaspell and Eugene O’Neill.  The plays will include “Trifles” and “The Outside” by Glaspell, and “The Web,” “Before Breakfast,” and “The Rope,” by O’Neill.     These vignettes, directed by Assistant Professor of Drama Dr. Hugh Long, will be held in McCandless Hall on the Athens State Campus.

Gaspell was as an American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, actress, novelist, and journalist who is known to have composed nine novels, fifteen plays, over fifty short stories. O'Neill was the first American dramatist to regard the stage as a literary medium and the first U.S. playwright to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Performances will run Thursday, Friday and Saturday April 16, 17, and 18 and Thursday, Friday and Saturday April 23, 24, and 25 at 7:30 p.m.  A matinee performance will be held on Sunday April 19 at 2:00 p.m.  Admission will be charged at the door and is $10.00 per person, $7.00 for students and seniors.

Dr. Kimberly Jack will design costumes; Tracy Szappan will serve as Stage Manager; and Victoria Cochran as Technical Director.

More information can be found at www.athens.edu/athenianplayers.


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Saturday, April 4, 2015

Athens State Art Students Take Top Prized in State Contest



For Further Information
Guy McClure
Guy.McClure@athens.edu

For immediate release
April 3, 2015
www.athens.edu


Athens State Art Students Take Top Prized in State Contest


Decatur, ALA. – Winners have been announced in a statewide 2015 Ability Counts Poster Competition sponsored by The Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. For the second year in a row the top three awards in the Postsecondary Division will be presented to Athens State University art department students.

Receiving 1st Place in the Postsecondary Division was Allen Meeks. 2nd Place was awarded to Patricia Jones. 3rd Place went to Drew Davidson. All three students will receive cash prizes, are juniors, and are Art majors with a graphic design track.

The purpose of this competition is to reward artistic ability and to promote awareness of the talents that people with disabilities bring to the job market.  This year's theme was: Expect. Employ. Empower.

"Every student enrolled in the course completed an entry to the competition as part of the course lessons, " said Pamela Keller, Professor of Art at Athens State who taught the students in her  Adobe Illustrator Design course. "These are three outstanding examples of poster design and reflect the overall high quality of every member of the class."

The Athens State University art department is housed in the Alabama Center for the Arts in Decatur, Alabama.

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Attached picture:  Winning poster by Allen Meeks.


Thursday, April 2, 2015

Calhoun Student Named 2015 Coca-Cola Gold Scholar




April 1, 2015


CALHOUN STUDENT TAYLOR PETERS NAMED 2015 COCA-COLA COMMUNITY COLLEGE ACADEMIC TEAM GOLD SCHOLAR

Ms. Taylor Peters, a student at Calhoun Community College, has been named a 2015 Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team Gold Scholar. The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation sponsors the Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team program by recognizing 50 Gold, 50 Silver and 50 Bronze Scholars nationally and providing nearly $200,000 in scholarships annually. As a Gold Scholar, Peters will receive a $1,500 scholarship and a special medallion.

With a perfect 4.0 grade point average, Peters is very active in a number of student organizations and activities at Calhoun.  She currently serves as Huntsville campus SGA president, is a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, as well as a member of the Warhawks, Calhoun’s official student ambassadors.  She was also selected from over 11,000 students at the college to serve as a student representative on Calhoun’s Presidential Advisory Search Committee.  Peters also serves as a mentor/tutor for first-time freshmen at Calhoun and is very involved in various activities within her community.  While at Calhoun, she has been listed numerous times on the President’s List for top academic achievement and is the recipient of several academic scholarships.

“As one of the nation’s Top 150 Community Colleges, we know that many of our students at Calhoun are among the top community college students in the country.  This recent honor which Taylor has very deservedly earned is further evidence of the quality of our students,” commented Calhoun President Dr. James Klauber, Sr.

“I know that I speak for the entire Calhoun family when I say how very proud we are of Taylor’s recognition.  Her award adds to the growing list of Calhoun students who have been honored on the national level for their academic accomplishments,” Klauber said.  

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society administers the Coca-Cola Community College Academic Team Program and recognizes Coca-Cola Community College scholars during All-State Community College Academic Team Recognition ceremonies held in 38 states. Student scholars also receive recognition locally during ceremonies held on campus and internationally for those who are able to attend Phi Theta Kappa’s Annual Convention.

Community college presidents or their designated nominators may submit no more than two nominations per campus for this award. An independent panel of judges considers outstanding academic rigor, grade point average, academic and leadership awards, and engagement in college and community service in the selection process.

“We thank the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation for their vote of confidence in community college students by investing in their futures,” said Dr. Rod Risley, Executive Director of Phi Theta Kappa. “Their support is especially welcome during this challenging economic climate, as more and more community college students need additional resources to help them complete their degrees.”

“The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation has a long history of providing financial assistance to outstanding students at community colleges,” said J. Mark Davis, President of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. “We are proud to partner with Phi Theta Kappa and make it possible for deserving students to achieve their educational goals.”

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, headquartered in Jackson, is the largest honor society in American higher education with more than 1,285 chapters on two-year and community college campuses in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Germany, Peru, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates and U.S. territorial possessions. More than 3 million students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately 134,000 students inducted annually.


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