DCHS Awards Student, Teacher, and Parents of the Month

December 4, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County High School continued its monthly observance Friday 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 F.Z. Webb & Sons Pharmacy, Gifts, and Soda Fountain. A different restaurant will be offering a meal gift card to each month’s honorees.

DCHS Senior English and Visual Arts teacher Stephanie Turner was selected as Teacher of the Month while senior Joanie Campbell is Student of the Month, voted on by the teachers, faculty, and staff. The parents of the month are Chris and Holly Moore, and this honor was based on a winning essay written by their daughter Sadie.

“My essay was about how my parents deserve to be Parents of the Month because of everything they do for us,” said Sadie. “They always go out of their way to do things for us, and always bless us with the things that we need or want.”

Chris Moore is the minister of the Smithville Church of God, where he has pastored for six years, as well as working for the school system. Holly is a teacher’s aide at DeKalb County High School.

“Sadie did an outstanding job with her essay,” said Assistant DCHS Principal Thomas Cagle. “She told the many different ways they help her achieve excellence in school and in life. It really resonated with me this month. I take my time to read all the essays to choose, but hers really resonated the emphasis on how much her parents do to be excellent in DeKalb County School and outside of school.”

Turner said she is excited to be named Teacher of the Month.

“I’m really honored and really happy,” Turner said. “I teach senior English and visual art, and this is my sixth-year teaching.”

Cagle said Turner is DeKalb through and through, having graduated from DCHS, the same school her parents graduated from.

“Ms. Turner is a fantastic teacher,” Cagle explained. “She does a lot for us here at the school. This month, she actually helped design a project of mine, our ‘Thankfulness Trees’ here at the high school. She designed the trees and put them all together, and she did an outstanding job. It was a lot of work for her and her art classes to do. I couldn’t be more thankful to her for her contributions to us here at the high school.”

Campbell, Student of the Month, said music is her favorite study and hopes to one day become a professional entertainer

“I feel very honored to receive this award,” Campbell said. “I didn’t feel like I deserved something like this, but my teachers have shown me that I did. I guess what I like to study most is music and aspire to be a musician or a singer.” Campbell plays piano and guitar.

Assistant Principal Cagle said Joanie has earned this Student of the Month honor. “She was nominated by one of our teachers. She has captivated everyone here at the school. She’s a great student and is one of our stars in the choir with Mr. Gulley. She’s a fantastic singer and just can’t give her enough praise. Every day she’s one of those kids that come in with a smile on her face, says ‘Good morning,’ and exhibits a lot of qualities that we as teachers and administrators look for in our kids.”

“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.

December 4, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Two people escaped injury in a car crash Tuesday night on West Broad Street near Walmart.

According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, 32-year-old Christopher Price of Smithville was traveling west in a 2009 Toyota FJ Cruiser attempting to make a left turn into the Walmart parking lot when he crossed the path of an eastbound 2018 Buick SUV driven by 52-year-old Scott Odom of Sparta who was approaching the entrance to Walmart. The collision caused Price’s vehicle to overturn onto its left side. Odom’s automobile spun around and came to a final rest facing west in the eastbound lanes of travel. Neither driver suffered any injuries.

The crash was investigated by Trooper Bobby Johnson and assisted by THP Lieutenant Dewaine Jennings and THP Lieutenant Charlie Caplinger

December 3, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

An explosion at a workshop on Kimberly Lane Thursday night seriously injured one man and left neighbors all shook up.

33-year-old Jerred Boyer of North Mountain Street told Smithville Police that while working in the shop “an acetylene torch (tank) blew up right next to him”.

“As I arrived on the scene, I noticed a male subject (Boyer) laying on the ground,” said Patrolman Cody Jenkins in his incident report. “EMS was on the scene to take care of Mr. Boyer”. He was later airlifted from near the scene and flown by Life Flight helicopter ambulance to Vanderbilt Hospital

Another man in the shop, 53-year-old Kenny Heinrich of Crest lawn Avenue received minor injuries. “Mr. Heinrich stated that when the torch blew it went past his head causing him hearing problems. He refused to go to the hospital,” said Officer Jenkins.

Neighbors reported hearing the blast and some said it shook their homes. The explosion caused some damage to the shop building including the ceiling.

The Smithville Fire Department was also on the scene.

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