DCHS Band Brings Home Trophies

November 2, 2021
By: Bill Conger

The DeKalb County High School Fighting Tiger Band won second place in its class at the Midsouth Marching Competition in Clarksville, Tennessee. During Saturday’s event at Austin Peay State University, the band also placed first in guard, and 1st in visual in Class A.

“I was very pleased,” Band Director Don Whitt said. “The last several weeks everything has improved tremendously. The students’ marching has improved, and their playing has greatly improved since the first competition. The guard’s routine was as clean as it ever has been. I think what really made them improve was that it’s a fun show and we told them to cut loose. I basically said, ‘Have fun or else’ and I chuckled. They did just that. They had been so frozen like they were scared stiff. I said it’s just like your practices. Don’t be scared! I think that is due to because they are a very young band.”

Director Whitt said judges have two primary tasks when evaluating a group.

“The first is to rank and rate each sub-caption on their judge’s sheet for each competing group. The second is to provide commentary designed to coach, critique, and educate all stakeholders, which includes the designers, instructors, and performers. Judges have a very small window of time to write down their numbers, and those decisions are based on multiple factors.”

“When your band takes the field, the impression you create even before the official adjudication has begun already begins to affect the judge’s evaluation,” Whitt explained. “Most modern judging sheets have a rubric of five boxes with a point range within each box. Judges are first trying to assess which box on the judging sheet your group belongs in. As the band’s performance continues, the judge is making commentary that relates to the quality and design being demonstrated and continues to evaluate where within that rubric box the band’s score will be. As the judge makes commentary on the show, they are simultaneously ranking your band with the other performing groups, along with assigning a point spread that communicates the comparative differences between them.”

“When the competition is tight, and bands are achieving similarly in terms of content and performance quality, the job of a judge becomes much more challenging. This is where the impression the group gives the judge is just as important as the content and quality of performance.

Even the most technical and focused judging category, such as Field Visual Performance, is subject to the overall “feel” of the energy and intent of the performance. It generally deals with marching and the dance or movements that the band does. However, The combination of the depth of design and the uniformity of execution often gives an impression energetically, emotionally, or intellectually that is difficult to quantify, but does directly affect the outcome.

“Judges are most impressed by bands that successfully combine all of the elements of design and performance together into an engaging show that stimulates them emotionally, intellectually, or artistically. It takes a lot to impress a judge who has seen twelve other bands that day, or has watched literally hundreds of performances over the course of a career.”

Whitt was joined on staff by Assistant Director Erica Birmingham, Shannon Johns, Maxwell Patterson and Emily Wallace. The band will be performing as the Tigers advance in the Regional football play-offs and will be one of the featured bands at the Tennessee Tech Homecoming Parade and game on November 13.

November 2, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County Road Supervisor Danny Hale has announced that the portion of Old Blue Springs Road from Turner Road to Lonnie Cantrell Road will be closed today (Tuesday, November 2) from 8 a.m. until? to replace a tile.

November 2, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

A former employee at the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department has announced his intention to run for Sheriff in 2022.

Keneth Whitehead will be seeking the Republican nomination. The DeKalb County Republican Party will be meeting soon to decide whether GOP nominees for local offices in 2022 are to be selected by caucus or at the ballot box through the primary process which would be in May, 2022. The DeKalb County General Election is in August, 2022.

Whitehead’s complete announcement is as follows:

“After much consideration and many prayers, I am excited to announce my candidacy for DeKalb County Sheriff. I am a resident of DeKalb County, Tn. I am the son of Hilda Whitehead and the late Matthew Marshall Whitehead of Baxter, Tn. I am happily married to my best friend Tina Lackey Whitehead for 26 years, who is the daughter of the late Billy and Carolyn Lackey and granddaughter of the late James and Helen Driver Hendrixson of Smithville, Tn. She is a Medical Assistant at Family Medical Center in Smithville, Tn. We have two children, Ashlee Rankhorn and Madison Whitehead. Ashlee Rankhorn is happily married to Jacob Rankhorn for 4 years and between them both have given us two beautiful granddaughters. She is a licensed Surgical Technician. Madison Whitehead is in college at Tennessee Tech University and will graduate in May of 2022 with a degree in Elementary Education and is recently engaged to Blane Elkins of McMinnville, Tn.”.

“I am a member of the Elizabeth Chapel Baptist Church. I have a passion for law enforcement, and I have been in law enforcement for 21 years. I graduated Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy in 2003 in the top 5 of my class. During my time, through my hard work and dedication to the DeKalb County Sheriffs Department,I have advanced from Correctional Officer, to Deputy, to Patrol Supervisor, to School Resource Officer at the DeKalb County High School, and to School Resource Officer Supervisor. I have several certifications throughout my career including firearm instructor, DUI standardized field sobriety testing training, domestic violence training, basic clandestine laboratory training, drug investigation training, national association of school resource officer training, recipient of state school resource officer of the year, and more. I am very grateful for my years at the DeKalb County Sheriffs Department”.

“I am now currently employed at Warren County Sheriffs Department as the school resource officer at Dibrell Elementary. In my spare time, I enjoy hunting, golfing, playing and coaching softball, and spending time with my family. My family and I are very blessed to have this opportunity to run for sheriff of DeKalb County”.

“If elected, I promise to be a man of integrity, honesty, dedication, and professionalism. I ask for your support and prayers throughout this journey. I am thankful for the ones who have supported me thus far, and I am looking forward to meeting you all in the upcoming months. If anyone would like to contact me, please contact me through Facebook messenger or my email at Kwhitehead7170@yahoo.com.

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