$8,500 Raised During Monday’s WJLE Radiothon for DCHS Project Graduation (View Video Here)

April 1, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Graduation night for the DCHS Class of 2024 will be even more exciting next month thanks to generous support from the community shown during Monday’s Project Graduation Radiothon on WJLE.

During the three-hour fundraiser which was also LIVE streamed on the Awakening facebook page, almost $8,500 was raised in pledges and donations for the 2024 Project Graduation event which will be held following the graduation ceremonies on Friday, May 10.

The radiothon was hosted by DCHS Teacher John Pryor and Jordan Atnip of the Smithville First Baptist Church and many members of the class took part in the program. A special thanks to Daniel Leslie who set up the LIVE facebook streaming broadcast from the WJLE Studios.

To add extra fun and excitement, members of the class agreed to take fundraising challenges to sing or gulp down things like baby food, pickled pigs feet, and pig brains and milk gravy, plus more.

Chris Summers, President of the 2024 Project Graduation Committee said he was pleased with the outcome of the radiothon. In addition to the radiothon, other fundraisers have been held throughout the year and more are coming before this year’s Project Graduation event.

“We provide overnight activities for high school seniors after graduation so they can be together one more time as a group and do tons of fun things at the school in a safe environment. We started planning for this back in August. This year we will have a mechanical bull, laser tag, inflatables, movies, lots of food, and much more for them to do. It starts at 11 p.m. on graduation night and we go until 6 a.m. the next morning and we give away prizes the whole time. The seniors have been instrumental in helping us plan what they want to do and so far based on our fundraising we have been able to pretty much plan what they’d like to have,” said Summers.

“We still need more funds for Project Graduation. You can contact Assistant Principal Jenny Norris at the high school or me, Chris Summers at 931-319-0534. Text or call if you have any questions,” added Summers.

April 1, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

WJLE and participating sponsors are presenting a photo gallery of the DCHS Class of 2024 in April and May.

Graduation is set for Friday, May 10 at 7 p.m. on the DCHS football field.

Click on the link below to view the senior formals.

https://www.wjle.com/graduation-3/

Once you open the page, click each photo to view a larger image. The name of the senior you select is at the bottom of the photo or you may move your mouse over the photo to view the name.

There are 161 photos in the gallery divided up 48 photos to a page. After you view page 1 be sure to click the links for pages 2-4 (top or bottom of the page) to view the remaining photos.

March 31, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The county commission failed to take up a vote Monday night, March 25 on whether to go on record opposing Governor Bill Lee’s proposed “Education Freedom Act” voucher plan.

Seventh district commissioner Beth Pafford made a motion to add the issue to the agenda for consideration under new business but during a roll call vote it failed to receive the seven votes needed. Commissioners Pafford, Tony Luna, Greg Matthews, Andy Pack, Daniel Cripps, and Tony (Cully) Culwell voted to add it to the agenda, but Commissioners Larry Green, Glynn Merriman, Jeff Barnes, and Sabrina Farler voted no. Commissioners Myron Rhody, Susannah Cripps Daughtry, and Tom Chandler were absent.

Pafford, who is also a local educator and opposed to the Governor’s voucher proposal, first raised the issue during a committee of the whole meeting of the county commission on Thursday, March 21.

“This is a huge issue because public schools are the heart of any community, especially rural communities, and having good public schools are important to the present and future of any community. We all benefit when everybody gets an education and right now the way that freedom act is private schools don’t have to take kids with special needs or keep kids for any reason. They don’t have to meet certain standards on state tests,” said Pafford.

The resolution was similar to what Cumberland County had adopted earlier in March.

“Be it resolved that the County Commission holds that Tennessee tax dollars should support public schools or other public entities; and diverting any Tennessee tax dollars shouldn’t be an option to pay for private school tuitions … The County Commission is opposed to diverting any Tennessee tax dollars to pay for private school tuitions and urges the Tennessee General Assembly to also oppose this use of Tennessee tax dollars”.

Under Lee’s plan, the state would create a new tier of school vouchers called “education freedom” scholarships. The first year of the program would cost $144 million to offer 20,000 scholarships to Tennessee families. Half of those scholarships would be available to families who meet certain income requirements, while the rest would be open to anyone, according to the Associated Press.

Lee proposes to give each recipient $7,075 this fall, which would cover about 62% of the average $11,344 cost of attending a private school in Tennessee, according to Private School Review.

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