Director of Schools in Search of Successors to Jennings and Gash at DCHS

May 18, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

The departure of Principal Randy Jennings and Assistant Principal David Gash is creating two vacancies among the administration staff at DeKalb County High School which will have to be filled soon.

Director of Schools Patrick Cripps, who gets to hire their successors, is currently conducting interviews and plans to fill the positions within a month.

Although all jobs in the school system are important, Director Cripps said the high school principal position comes with more responsibilities than most and the person hired must be a good fit for the school.

“Working at the high school as an administrator is a different animal. It is time demanding during the day and after school too with ballgames, banquets, and many other events. There is something going on all the time which takes the principal away from his or her family. The principal is always on call, “ said Director Cripps.

“Its important we find someone who is a visionary. One who is bought into DeKalb County High School and not a fly by night waiting for the next best thing (job) to come along. One who thinks outside the box and is not content with the status quo. But at the same time, he or she (new principal) can’t make wholesale changes all at once. My advice would be for the next principal to pick one thing to work on for improvement and make sure it works well,” he said.

As for Jennings and Gash, Director Cripps said they will be hard to replace and he will miss them.

“We’re losing two good administrators. We were lucky to have them. Both Randy and David are good Christian men and family centered. They were always dedicated to their jobs because they love kids and in this business that is what it is all about. I appreciate everything they have done for this school system and I wish them nothing but the best”.

Cripps said his friendship with Jennings goes back to when they were just kids in Little League.

“The first time I met Randy he was 12 years old and I was 10 and in my first at bat he beamed me and it sent me to the emergency room. They thought it broke my arm. Still today I give him a hard time about that. Our lives have run parallel for a long time. We played high school ball together and he was like a big brother. When we became adults we both got into education as a career at the same time. We always had a bond. These days I guess you could say we are the ‘old dogs’ of the county as far as our years in administration. We have always been able to bounce ideas off each other. He is just a solid level headed guy and he will be sorely missed. After 21 years in administration at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, his experience will be hard to replace,” said Director Cripps.

Whoever succeeds Gash as Assistant Principal will also have big shoes to fill.

“I first got to work with David when I was Assistant Principal at the high school and he was a guidance counselor. David later moved up to Assistant Principal over discipline and I went on to become Principal before being named Director. When you work with someone as closely as we worked together it becomes more than just co-workers. David is a very special person to me. He is solid. David had a tough job. Decisions about discipline will usually make somebody mad but he always went by the facts he had in front of him and acted according to what he thought was right. With David it was always about counseling and teaching kids right from wrong. He was a steady force and he will be greatly missed,” said Director Cripps.

By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb Animal Shelter has a two month old kitten named “Max” available for adoption!

“ Max came to us when he was just a little baby maybe three or four weeks old. He is super playful and fun. A mister typical little kitten. Max loves everybody and has a great personality. He loves to be handled. He would be great with kids,” said Shelter employee Emmaly Bennett.

“If you would like to meet “Max” go to our website under our adoptable animals tab at https://www.dekalbanimalshelter.com/ and you will be called to set up an appointment after you fill out an adoption application. For more information call 615-597-3647 or send a message on facebook or email,” said Bennett.

May 17, 2021
By:

The DCHS Class of 2021 Graduates celebrated with cash and prizes following Friday evening’s commencement ceremony. The 2021 Project Graduation Celebration was held at the DeKalb Community Complex where 58 graduates agreed to lock themselves in for the night, for an evening of food, games, cash and prizes.

“In spite of Covid limitations, we were so blessed to be able to continue the tradition of Project Graduation this year, keeping the celebration local thanks to the generosity of the DeKalb County Complex staff, police force, County Mayor Tim Stribling, chaperone volunteers, and all of our wonderful community sponsors,” said Co-Presidents Shan Stout and Tia Adcock, “We raised a record breaking $34,200 with the whole of that amount going back to our seniors in various ways. Seniors were given the opportunity to play games for cash and gift cards, as well as be entered into a grand prize drawing for laptops, ipads, kayaks…the list just goes on and on. Every student went home with cash and one or more prizes. We had a wonderful time, and it wouldn’t have been possible without our hard-working committee of parents, event volunteers, and the seniors that helped us with all of the various fundraising activities. We would like to give a special thank you to our small committee of amazing women. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

Project Graduation began with the sole purpose of giving seniors a safe, alcohol/drug-free evening of fun together to say a final goodbye, while keeping our county’s teens off of the roads during a very hectic night of the year. It is supported solely by contributions from local businesses and individuals, along with school fundraising. The headlining sponsors for 2021 include: Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital, Wilson Bank & Trust, Averitt, Alderman Beth Chandler, Caney Fork Electric, Sam Stout – UCRE Realtor, DJ “T” Entertainment, DeKalb Animal Clinic, Creations By Donna, Bates Apparel, DeKalb Prevention Coalition, Jim’s Alignment, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Tayes Masonry LLC; along with various giveaway sponsors and food donations.

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Pictured: Co-Presidents Shan Stout and Tia Adcock stand with the DCHS Class of 2021 Project Graduation Celebration held at the DeKalb County Complex. Each participant wore a free t-shirt compliments of supporting community partners, and played games for cash and prizes.

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