DESA to host Cake/Pie Auction Fundraiser

March 22, 2022
By:

Since 2017,  the DeKalb Emergency Services Association (DESA) has prepared and delivered over 4,500 meals during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. DESA provides local emergency services members with scholarships for their high school graduates. DESA also sponsors and supports Camp Phoenix.

The holiday meals are prepared, packaged, and delivered by volunteers on Thanksgiving Day, as well as Christmas Eve. This year, DESA was also able to provide a sack lunch for recipients.

“The Association is blessed to have many community partners who help us make these efforts possible,” said DESA spokesman Blake Cantrell.

The educational scholarships for dependents of DESA members are awarded during the high school’s senior awards program and are in the amount of $500 each.

Camp Phoenix, a week-long camp for children with burn injuries, is hosted in DeKalb County at Indian Creek Youth Camp. DESA supports Camp Phoenix and the Tennessee Burn Foundation in many ways, including providing a meal and hosting a daily activity.

“DESA relies on fundraisers and individual donations to do all of these benevolent activities to promote the caring nature of our emergency service personnel and our wonderful county,” said Cantrell.

You can be a part of supporting DESA’s future activities by participating in the upcoming DESA Cake/Pie Auction on Saturday, April 9 at 6:00 p.m. at the DeKalb Community Complex. Auction items will include sweet treat items from some of the most well-known cake/pie masters in the area.

If you are a dessert master and would be willing to provide homemade auction items, please call or text 615-390-0189.

Please make plans to come out and support this great cause.

March 21, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County High School continued its monthly observance Monday of recognizing a teacher, student, and parents or guardians of the month.

Each received a certificate from the school and a gift card for a meal from Fiesta Jalisco Mexican Grill of Smithville. A different restaurant will be offering a meal gift card to each month’s honorees.

Ninth and tenth grade Comprehensive Development Class (CDC) teacher Amy Cantrell was selected by the administration as Teacher of the Month while junior Jacklyn Kleparek is Student of the Month, voted on by the teachers. The parents of the month are Michael and Jessica Coronado, and this honor was based on a winning essay written by their foster daughter Skylar Callahan Swain.

Cantrell said she is very humbled and thankful for having been named Teacher of the Month at DCHS. A 14-year veteran of the local school system, Cantrell has spent a total of 12 years at DCHS with one-year stints in other roles at Northside Elementary and DeKalb Middle School. Cantrell said while teaching is challenging it is rewarding. “Just seeing the kids learn and do new things makes me happy and to see how they light up when they see you. They are always so excited when they come into the classroom,” said Cantrell.

“I call her (Cantrell) a superstar,” said DCHS Assistant Principal Thomas Cagle. “She is in the CDC classroom and works with those students. She has had her hands unbelievably full but with her patience and willingness to help do the things she does for those kids each and every day sets a huge example for all the teachers and other staff in the school. She is an amazing teacher, and we appreciate all of her efforts so very much,” Cagle said.

Kleparek said she was thrilled to have been named Student of the Month.

“I feel excited,” said Kleparek. Daughter of Dylan (better known as DCHS Soccer Coach K) and Latonya Kleparek, Jacklyn said math is her favorite subject in high school and she hopes to one day become a math teacher. “I am trying to take every math class I possibly can in high school and then go to college at Tennessee Tech and come back to teach here at DCHS. I also enjoy being involved in the culinary class and the Teaching as a Profession (TAP) class at DCHS. I am also a soccer player and do winter guard here,” added Kleparek.

“Jacklyn is quite an extraordinary student,” said Cagle. “She is always filling in. She goes by the (motto) see a need, fill a need. She is willing to help any of her teachers or fellow students. She is a soccer player, part of the color guard, and has won contests in 4-H. Jacklyn is an absolute excellent student. I wish I had 864 more like her. She is a fantastic student, and we are absolutely thrilled that she has won this award,” said Cagle.

Skylar, a 15-year-old sophomore, said she is thankful to have the Coronado’s as foster parents and wanted to write an essay about them because in the three months she has been with them, they have changed her life for the better. “Before I met them, I was in a really bad situation, so I came here, and they made me feel protected. I wrote my essay trying to be very straight forward about this experience because Jessica and Michael have done a lot for me. I really haven’t known them that long, but it feels like I have known them my whole life. They are genuinely really great people,” said Skylar.

Michael Coronado, Skylar’s foster parent, is a Smithville Police Officer. He recently joined the department after working for the Cannon County Sheriff’s Department. While being a foster parent has been a new experience, Coronado said for him and his wife, it has been a pleasant one.

“At first, we really didn’t know what we were getting into (being foster parents) and I was kind of nervous when she (Skylar) came to us, but she is a really good kid. We don’t always realize the impact we can have on a kid’s life,” said Coronado.

“Skylar wrote a beautiful essay about the things her family has been able to do in her personal life and to give her the support she needs to be the best student she can be at DCHS,” said Cagle.

“These awards are a way for us to acknowledge students who are performing exemplary each month. This isn’t always going to be for your straight “A” student. It’s for those putting in the effort to make DeKalb County better each and every month. Every teacher can nominate a student and all teachers vote on the student nominated. Teachers are voted on by the administration. The parent of the month award is determined by student essays. Students can write an essay each month and nominate their parent for a chance to win. In the essays, students can highlight things the parents are doing in their life outside of school that we may not know about,” said Cagle.

March 21, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

Youngsters will soon have a new place to go for summer fun.

A groundbreaking is scheduled for Wednesday, March 23 at 5:30 p.m. at Green Brook Park for the new 2,400 square foot splash pad which should be completed and up and running by May.

In November, the aldermen awarded a bid to Aquatix of Cookeville at $172,976. To pay for it the aldermen adopted a budget amendment authorizing an expenditure of up to $173,000 for the splash pad. The money for the project will be taken from the city’s unreserved fund balance.

Meanwhile the Smithville Mayor and Aldermen will have a special meeting Wednesday, March 23 at 6 p.m. at city hall to adopt on second and final reading a $40,000 budget amendment to resurface the city tennis courts and to award a bid. The funds for the project will come from the city’s share of federal American Rescue Plan Act money.

The board will also consider adopting a resolution authorizing the Upper Cumberland Development District to apply for a Community Development Block Grant for sewer rehab.

A representative from Water Leak Relief, Inc will address the Board about possible water leak insurance for Smithville water customers.

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