Jana Faith Tripp Wins “Best of Show” and “People’s Choice Award” at DeKalb Art Exhibit

May 25, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A rising ninth grader Jana Faith Tripp won “Best of Show” and the “People’s Choice Award” in the DeKalb Schools Art Exhibit held Saturday at the County Complex. Tripp, daughter of JR and Beth Tripp, was also the 1^st place winner in the Middle School Division. She has just completed 8^th grade at DeKalb West School. The annual event was sponsored by the Smithville Study Club. Walteen Parker is the President of the club. Susan Hinton is the Art Chairman.

The Best of Show Painting winner was Javan Walker, a 6^th grader at DeKalb Middle School.

Students from Pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade participated in the art exhibit.

This year’s art exhibit featured entries from winners named at each school as follows:

*Division 1- Pre-Kindergarten to 1st Grade:
1st Place- Abby Ramsey
2nd Place- Ella Taylor
3rd Place-Jasper Barber
4th Place-Conner Grisham

Honorable Mention: Cloey Ervin

*Division 2- 2nd & 3rd grades
1st Place-Payne Bryant
2nd Place-Willow Walker
3rd Place-Elijah Carr
4th Place-Angel Sosa Santillian
Honorable Mention-Baylei Benson

*Division 3- 4th & 5th grades
1st Place- Taylor Patterson
2nd Place-Victor Locklear
3rd Place-Jayden Sherrill
4th Place-Addison Hodges
Honorable Mention- Christopher Boner

*Division 4- 6th – 8th grades
1st Place-Jana Faith Tripp
2nd Place-Halayna Newby
3rd Place-Hailey Skinner
4th Place-Samantha Murphy

Honorable Mention: Savannah Martinez and Sara Fuson

*Division 5- 9th-12th grades
1st Place- Shanti Liu
2nd Place-Rodrigo Sosa
3rd Place-Stephanie J. Atnip
4th Place-Hannah Willingham
Honorable Mention: Savannah Buckley and Keith Buck

Paintings (Any Grade)

1st Place- Javan Walker
2nd Place-Hannah Finan
3rd Place-Evan Jones
4th Place-Autumn Hendrixson
Honorable Mention: Savannah Jackson

May 25, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A freshman star on the 2018-19 DCHS Lady Tiger Basketball team was awarded Friday for setting a new record on the court.

Roy Nelson Pugh of Liberty State Bank presented a plaque to Kadee Ferrell for scoring 494 points and grabbing 247 rebounds breaking a single season scoring record previously held by Maggie Knowles.

“Kadee had a great freshman year and broke Maggie Knowles’ record. Maggie went on to play at Austin Peay.  Kadee was a big reason for our success this past year. I couldn’t be happier for her success. She is one of those kids who puts in the work and time and you like to see them be successful. She has been working hard in the off season to improve her game and we all hope she can have an even better year next year as a sophomore,” said Lady Tiger Coach Danny Fish.

“As me coming in as a freshman, I didn’t know what to expect but it’s been an honor to achieve these things. It’s been really fun,” said Kadee.

“At Liberty State Bank we are very proud to be involved in sports and to honor this young lady. She has accomplished a lot as a freshmen and we are looking forward to a lot from her next year. Congratulations Kadee,” said Roy Nelson Pugh of Liberty State Bank.

The DCHS Lady Tigers made it to the state tournament for the first time as a program since 1965  and lost 34 to 31 to the Marshall County Tigerettes in the quarterfinals at MTSU in March

The Lady Tigers season ended with a record of 23-12.

May 25, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

After 26 years of service to the DeKalb County School District as Maintenance Supervisor, Earl Jared has retired.

A retirement reception luncheon was held Friday at the DCHS cafeteria where Jared was surrounded by family, friends, and co-workers.

Since the early 1990’s, the board of education and school administrators have counted on Jared’s experience and expertise in ensuring that all school owned buildings were up and running smoothly when it came to heating and cooling, lighting, refrigeration, etc.

“The main thing I tried to do was put the children first and do everything I could to make them safe and in a comfortable environment. My job was to keep the buildings and kitchens going with air, lights, heat, and to make sure the roofs didn’t leak. I also had the responsibility of making sure we got our money’s worth out of construction projects.  I’ve always had good employees and we tried to do our best for the system and the children,” said Jared.

A native of White County, Jared has called DeKalb County his home for more than 30 years. Before taking on the role of maintenance supervisor here, Jared worked for the Williamson County School District.

“I worked five years there in the maintenance department. I started out as an electrician and then worked in HVAC. During that time this job (maintenance supervisor) came open here (DeKalb County) but I decided I didn’t have enough refrigeration (experience) so I got a job in Rutherford County and worked there nine months where I did work in refrigeration so when the job here (DeKalb County) came back open again I applied for it. The Superintendent of Schools at that time Aubrey Turner, Jr. and the School Board Chairman Waniford Cantrell interviewed and hired me,” said Jared.

Jared has worked for five Superintendents/Directors of Schools and the Board of Education on which the members having served has changed a lot over the years.

Director of Schools Patrick Cripps, who had once served as Assistant Principal and later as Principal at DCHS, said he has known and worked with Jared his entire career as an administrator and will miss him.

“He is more than an employee to me and these last two days of school have been emotional for me and him because we worked closely on different levels as assistant principal, principal, and director. We have been through a lot together. The one thing I always knew is that when I asked Earl to start a project it would be done right and with the utmost professionalism but first and foremost with the safety of the kids in mind. The county will never realize how much money Earl has saved by the work that he has done himself. There are many projects that could have been bid out but Earl took on a ton of those himself with his workers and they got the job done. And when I went into a meeting with a vendor, especially with me being a young director,  I knew when I was taking Earl with me I’d be okay. He knew the business. He always wanted it done right and properly. Nobody was ever going to take advantage of Earl. But it’s more than money. It’s relationships you build and he is a good friend.  We’re going to miss him as a friend and employee. I appreciate all he has done for us” said Director Cripps.

“He was the best I ever saw at keeping  outside vendors and contractors in check. He didn’t pull any punches. If they were doing something outside the realm of what we needed he called their hand on it. He had the authority to do it and we didn’t question him. We depended on him and he was there all the time. He has always been a great friend,” added Board of Education Chairman W.J. (Dub) Evins, III.

Jared said while he will miss seeing his friends and co-workers everyday in the school system, he won’t miss the long hours.

“I’ll miss the people. I won’t miss being on call 24/7 for 365 days a year,” said Jared

“He probably won’t miss the 2 o’clock in the morning calls when alarms go off and I have to tell him there’s a freezer down can you come out and help me,” added Director Cripps.

As for future plans in retirement, Jared said he’ll find something to do.

“I’ll be able to do whatever I want when I want. I have a few projects I want to do including working on my house but I may also do a little traveling and fishing and I’ll be spending time with my grandkids all I can. I love my two children and my two grandbabies,” said Jared.

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