DeKalb Students Invited to National Invention Convention

March 11, 2020
By:

Twenty-one 3rd-6th grade students comprising 10 teams from Northside, DeKalb Middle and West schools participated in the Invention Convention at MTSU on February 27, under the direction of Enrichment Teacher, Nikyra Calcagno. DeKalb students were among approximately 800 students from Middle Tennessee participating in the competition, which asks students to either invent something to “Make Life Better” or develop a game.

DeKalb had two teams place: Andrew Coffman and Christopher Boner took second place in the 5th grade Games category with their Phrase Madness! game; and Cali Agee and Mckenna Miller took third place in the 6th grade “Make Life Better” category with their No Slip Grip invention. Both teams received an invitation to participate in the National Invention Convention in June. In addition, Ethan Spears, 6th grade, received the Individual Champion award for his Wizardous Math game.

Other students who participated include: Brody Cripps (3) and Elijah Wiegele (4): Hug-A-Bot 1.0, Anderson Fortner (4) and Blaine Scarbro (4): Ball Drop, Maggie Hendrixson (4), Elliot Barnes (4)and Cora Gilley (3): Marble Mayhem, Payton Marshall (5) and Olivia Minton (5): Climate Chaos, Zoe Bennett (5) and Carly Thomas (5): Measuring Glove, Jaxon Kleparek (6) and Chase Vaughn (6): The Game of Presidents, David Wheeler (6), Turner Bryan (6) and Aidan Turner (6): Soft Band.

Congratulations to each of these students! Their hard work and creativity are to be applauded.

March 16, 2020
By: Bill Conger

It’s been a long two weeks for the family of DeKalb Middle School English teacher Candice Scarbro. The 19 year teaching veteran had no idea a tornado was about to strike her home in Putnam County in the late night hours of March 2, turning their world upside down.

“We didn’t know there was bad weather. We didn’t get any warnings on our phone or anything. “

Her ailing husband, Kevin, who normally stays up to watch the news, went to bed early in a different room for a sleep study. She and her 8-year-old daughter Riley, a student at Northside Elementary School, were sleeping in Candice’s bed.

“Probably about 1:40, something woke me up. I think it was the wind and hail. As soon as I lifted my head up, our windows blew out. I grabbed my daughter, and I had my dog. We had mud and glass all over us.”

“My husband came running in there. Are you all okay? My son [Blaine, 10 a NES student] was in the other room on the other side of the house. I guess he heard all the houses around us falling, and he came in there.”

While Candice’s husband was assessing the damage, she and her children went into the closet. Rain from the storm started falling on them, so they went into the living room. They soon went outside to check on her mother-in-law and sister-in-law who also live on Charlton Square in the Eller Plantation subdivision.

“Their kitchen was destroyed, and they were sitting in the garage. There was a man in their garage.

Apparently the tornado slung him out of his house, and he somehow ended up in my mother-in-law’s garage, and he had a broken arm.”

Sitting by candlelight in their living room, The Scarbro’s also welcomed into their damaged home a family of five whose house had been wiped out.

“While we were sitting there waiting for the sun to come up and to quit raining, one of my ceilings fell in my bedroom and scared everybody. About 30 minutes later, one of my ceilings in the kitchen fell. We were afraid the next ceiling to fall was the living room because rain was coming in so bad. But it didn’t.”
The next morning, Candice opened the door to see the damage by daylight.

“Most of my neighbors’ houses that were completely demolished landed on top of all of our vehicles and up into our garage. When we first walked out the door when the sun came up, we couldn’t even see our vehicles because all the house debris was all over our driveway and all up into our garage.

“I have two neighbors on each side of me and two across the street from me that their houses are completely gone. There’s nothing left. “

Candice says what’s left of her mother-in-law’s house will have to be demolished, but she and her husband were more fortunate.

“Our house is still standing. Our roof was intact. We had some damage on the roof. How our roof didn’t come off like everyone else’s I don’t know! They [Engineers assessing tornado] came into our house, especially because they were trying to figure out exactly why our roof didn’t come off to the extent of everybody else’s. Our little house is really the luckiest one around.”

Candice says her family lost several personal belongings and will have to rebuild the interior. In the meantime, she, Kevin, and the kids will live in a rental. A college friend set up a Go Fund Me account to raise money to help the Scarbro’s rebound. Candice says she’s thankful for the donations and the people who have helped her family through this ordeal.

“It’s just been unreal—my friends, my family, my DMS family has been so supportive and helpful,” she said, her voice breaking. “We’ve just had so many people give and help. It’s unbelievable the kindness of others.”

To make a donation to the Go Fund Me campaign, follow this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-cookeville-tornado-victims

March 15, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

“Tia” is looking for a new home after her former owner recently passed away.

DeKalb Animal Shelter Director Megan Moore with Tia from dwayne page on Vimeo.

This beautiful 7-8 year old Husky Mix is the WJLE/DeKalb Animal Shelter featured “Pet of the Week”.

“Tia was in a household with other dogs but unfortunately her owner passed away. She is house trained and does well with other dogs. Tia can be a little female dominant but she is a super sweet girl and has great leash manners. Tia is just a great all around dog especially if you are looking for one a little older and out of that puppy stage. Come meet Tia. She might just be a good fit for you,” said Shelter Director Megan Moore.

The shelter, located on Transfer Station Road behind Tenneco Automotive off Highway 70 east in Smithville, has been in operation since November, 2017 under the DeKalb Animal Coalition, a 501 c 3 non profit organization.

Stop by the animal shelter, call 615-597-3647 (DOGS), or visit facebook. The shelter is currently open on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 12-4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 to 12 noon. Closed Wednesday.

Upcoming DeKalb Animal Shelter Events
March 21st: Easter Egg Hunt Fundraiser 1-3
March 22nd: Happy Trails Brewing Co. Adoption Event 2-4
March 30th: Smithville Golf Course Adoption Event 11-3
April 4th: Volunteer Orientation 12-1
April 11th: Yappy Hour-A Wine and Wags event
2-5pm adoption event, 5-7pm Wine tasting with Stonehaus Winery, 8pm Live music
April 25th: Earth Day adoption event at the Burlap Room & Beer Garden (times TBA)

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