DCHS Valedictorian Anna Chew Expresses Disappointment Over How School Year is Ending Due to COVID-19

April 21, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Anna Chew is working on her address to the graduating class at DeKalb County High School but the 2020 Valedictorian has a little more time to prepare now that the scheduled May 15 commencement has been postponed due to COVID-19.

School administrators are hoping to reschedule the graduation ceremony possibly in June or July. By that time, Chew said she will be more than ready.

“I am already working on my speech here and there. I’ve got a lot of ideas”.

Chew, a gifted academic student and champion golfer, is disappointed in the way her senior year is ending. A view shared by  her fellow classmates.

“I know I speak for the entire class when I say that we miss seeing everybody at school including our teachers. We miss having the routine and the school work but we miss a bunch of the fun things we do at the end of the year too like Tiger Time Out or final pep rallies. We have been going through this school system all of our lives and to think we don’t get to finish it out with the closure that everybody else gets is really sad,” said Chew.

As an athlete, Anna also has a special feeling for her friends who didn’t get a chance to fulfill their dreams during the various spring sporting events such as soccer, softball, baseball, and tennis.

“I know they are missing their senior seasons and that is really sad. It breaks my heart because I got to play my senior season as a golfer and I know I would have been heartbroken to have had that taken away from me. I know that is really hard for them”.

Although school has been closed for several weeks now, Anna has kept up her academic studies and is ready for graduation whenever it comes.

“Toward the end of the year we kind of chill out a little bit anyway. We don’t have as much school work but we’re still getting online stuff through Google Classroom and that is helping us stay on track. Thankfully we have a group of great teachers who are putting in a lot of extra work. I know this first hand because my mom is a teacher at Northside Elementary so I see behind the scenes what goes into that. We are so thankful for our teachers,” said Chew.

Anna will be furthering her education this fall at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville where she earned a golf scholarship. While she hasn’t made up her mind yet, Chew said she may go into the field of pre-pharmacy or pre-physical therapy.

Having already missed the prom, which was set for April 3 but had to be cancelled, Anna said she and her classmates are hoping somehow that can be re-rescheduled as well as the graduation.

“I know we all want graduation and prom. I would like to give a big shout out to the entire class of 2020. I know this is hard on all of us but we will get through it,” added Chew.

Anna is the daughter of Lori Chew and George Chew and granddaughter of Larry and Gail Redmon.

April 21, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The DCHS Tigerette Softball Program received a check today (Tuesday) from Florence & White Ford of Smithville in the amount $6,000.

The check was presented to DCHS Softball Coach Danny Fish by Jimmy White of Florence & White Ford. The funds were raised in a Ford Test Drive Event held in March.

For every person who test drove a new Ford vehicle the Ford Motor Company donated $20 up to a maximum of $6,000 total for the girls softball program.

“The “Ford Drive 4 UR School” fundraiser was very successful and we would like to thank everyone who came out to help us in this event and a special thanks to Florence & White Ford. We were able to earn the maximum amount of money ($6,000) through this fundraiser but it could not have happened without the support of Florence & White and the DeKalb County community because these people (community) are the ones who came out to test drive vehicles to get these Tigerettes some money,” said Coach Fish.

The funds will go to buy necessary equipment.

“We’ll put this money back into the program. We have facility needs and this will help with that. We have been blessed with our booster club. They have raised a lot of money for our kids. We were not able to show them off this year but through our fundraisers we were able to finish up our hitting facility and add uniforms,” Coach Fish continued.

Sadly, the 2020 DCHS softball season had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.

“We had to cancel our season which was very disappointing for us and especially our three seniors Kenzie France, Emme Colwell, and Megan Walker. We just hope this will all go away (coronavirus) and we can get back to business as usual but this fundraiser was a ray of sunshine for us in the meantime with our community coming together in our time of need,” said Coach Fish.

“We were happy to be a part of this fundraiser and we really thank the people for coming out. The coach and parents did a fantastic job. They really put this whole thing together. With everything that is going on (COVID-19) being able to put this money in the bank and have it in the coffers for times coming up is something positive for the softball program,” said Jimmy White of Florence & White Ford.

April 20, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

After a week with no increases in the number of COVID-19 cases, DeKalb County’s number has now gone from 10 to 12.

As of Monday, April 20, the Tennessee Department of Health reported that 350 people had been tested with 338 negative results and 12 positive. There have been no deaths in DeKalb County from the virus and 7 of the 12 persons tested positive have recovered.

The DeKalb County Health Department is conducting its COVID-19 drive through assessments each week Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the health department at 254 Tiger Drive.

Anyone, with or without COVID-19 symptoms who has concerns, is invited to receive testing for COVID-19. This testing will be provided at no cost to participants, and those who come for testing can remain in their vehicles throughout the process of collecting their samples.

Nurses and/or National Guard medics will collect nasal swabs from those who want to be tested, and test results may be available within 72 hours after the samples arrive at the lab, depending on lab volume.

Tennessee’s Coronavirus Public Information Lines are open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., CDT daily at 833-556-2476 or 877-857-2945. TDH is posting updated COVID-19 case numbers by 2 p.m. CDT each day at www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov.html. Find additional information at www.tn.gov/governor/covid-19.html and www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.

Visit the Tennessee Department of Health online at www.tn.gov/health.

Connect with TDH on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn @TNDeptofHealth

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