News
February 16, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
For the third time in 15 days, the DCHS Tigers and Lady Tigers will face Livingston Academy today (Friday, February 16), but this time its in the first round of the District 7 3A basketball tournament at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville and it’s a must win if they are to keep their post season hopes alive.
https://www.wjle.com/tiger-talk/
Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers are the 6th seeds in their respective brackets of the tournament and will each face Livingston Academy, the 3rd seeds. The Lady Tigers will meet the Lady Wildcats today (Friday) at 4 p.m. followed by the Tigers game with the Wildcats at 5:30 p.m. WJLE will have LIVE coverage of both on AM 1480/FM 101.7 and on the live stream at www.wjle.com. WJLE’s Tiger Talk program will air at 3:40 p.m. featuring DCHS coaches Brandy Alley and Joey Agee and players Conner Close, Alex Antoniak, Ella Van Vranken, and Cam Branin. John Pryor is the host of the program.
The winner of the girls game between DeKalb County and Livingston Academy will advance to the semi-finals against Upperman, the 2nd seed on Saturday at 4 p.m. The winner of the boys contest will take on Stone Memorial, the 2nd seed in the semi-finals on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
The Tigers completed the regular season last Saturday at 10-18 overall and 1-9 in the district. The Lady Tigers finished at 9-19 overall and 0-10 in district play. According to Coach T, the Livingston Academy girls completed their regular season at 18-10 and 5-5 in the district while the Wildcats finished at 18-11 and 6-4 in district play.
In the last meeting on February 5, the DCHS girls were defeated by Livingston Academy 43 to 35 while the Tigers were handed an 82 to 56 loss. On Thursday, February 1 the Lady Tigers lost at Livingston Academy 56 to 44 and the Tigers were beaten 85 to 42.
On the other side of the girls district tournament bracket, Cumberland County, the 4th seed, will face Stone Memorial, the 5th seed on Friday (February 16) at 7 p.m. with the winner to take on the number 1 seed White County in the semi-finals on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile for the boys, White County, the 4th seed, will meet Cumberland County, the 5th seed at 8:30 p.m. Friday (February 16) and the winner will advance to the semi-finals to face the number 1 seed Upperman Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
The girls consolation game will be Monday, February 19 at 7:30 p.m. followed by the championship game at 9 p.m.
The boys consolation game will be Tuesday, February 20 at 7:30 p.m. followed by the championship game at 9 p.m.
Early Voting Update
February 17, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County Election Commission reports that 66 people voted Saturday, February 17 in the March 5 primaries including 62 in person and 4 absentees by mail.
For the first four days of early voting combined, a total of 373 people has cast ballots including 340 in person, 11 by absentee, and 22 from the nursing home/assisted living center combined.
Of the 373 total, 344 have voted in the Republican Primary and 29 in the Democratic Primary.
The early voting period is underway through Tuesday, February 27 at the courthouse in Smithville. One more day has been set for early voting in Alexandria at the Fairgrounds Kenneth Sandlin Center building, Tuesday, February 20 from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. The Absentee ballot request deadline is Tuesday, February 27.
The remaining dates for early voting in Smithville are as follows:
No voting Monday, February 19 due to President’s Day.
Tuesday, February 20: (9 a.m. until 1 p.m.)
Wednesday, February 21: (9 a.m. until 1 p.m.)
Thursday, February 22: (2 p.m. until 6 p.m.)
Friday, February 23: (9 a.m. until 1 p.m.)
Saturday, February 24: (9 a.m. until 12 noon)
Monday, February 26: (1 p.m. until 5 p.m.)
Tuesday, February 27: (9 a.m. until 1 p.m.)
DCHS Recognizes Student, Parents, and Staff Member of the Month for January
February 15, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
DeKalb County High School Thursday recognized its staff member, student, and parents of the month for January.
Each received a certificate from the school and a gift card for a meal from KFC/Taco Bell. A different restaurant offers a meal gift card to each month’s honorees.
School Resource Officer, Sergeant Chris McMillen of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department was selected by the administration as Staff member of the Month while Senior Kathryn Hale is Student of the Month, voted on by the teachers. The parents of the month are Candace and Will Garrett and this honor was based on a winning essay written by their son, Colton Crow, a freshman at DCHS.
“For parents of the month to be able to win, a student has to write an essay about why their parents should be the parent or guardian of the month,” said DCHS Assistant Principal Thomas Cagle. “We read through these essay submissions and pick the one that touches us the most in the way they write about their parents and things their parents do for them. This month, Colton wrote the winning essay for his mom and dad,” said Cagle.
“My mom works really hard and so does my dad and I thought this would be great for them. I love my mom and dad,” said Crow.
“I am very surprised. I did not expect this,” said Candace. “They (DCHS Administration) pulled a fast one on me. I thought that Colton was getting an award this morning (Thursday) but I am honored. I have a very special child and we are very thankful and happy parents with him. Thank you son for writing this for us,” said Candace.
Colton’s dad Will was unable to attend the award presentation. Colton also has an older brother.
Will and Candace have lived in Smithville for a little over 10 years. They are originally from Nashville. The make their home in the Pates Ford community and are local business owners. Candace also serves as Director of Operations for Medical Offices and Practices with Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital. “I cover a large territory including everything in the Upper Cumberland and everything we do primary care related in Murfreesboro,” said Candace.
Colton said he is enjoying his high school experience. “I am in honors right now and currently my electives are Agri-science and auto mechanics, and I am in an Advanced Placement (AP) course,” he said.
Colton said he plans to attend Tennessee Tech after high school and one day become a geologist.
“For our Student of the Month we have Kathryn Hale,” said Cagle. “She is one of our exceptional students here. Kathryn is in different clubs and programs and she is always a good help to us. She has served as a teacher’s aide and is one of those students who seems to be in and out of every teacher’s classroom and nothing but good things are said from any teacher she has ever been able to help in any kind of way. The teachers vote on the Students of the Month and Kathryn was nominated this month. All the teachers agreed that she should be the student of the month for January,” said Cagle.
“I was really shocked to receive this award. I didn’t expect it at all but I am really thankful for this,” said Kathryn.
Hale said she has plenty to keep her busy as a student at DCHS.
“I am in dual enrollment classes, and I have been in a couple of Advanced Placement (AP) classes. I am in a lot of different clubs including the Beta, Service Society, Literature, and Science Clubs and I am a member of the academic bowl team.” She said.
After graduation, Kathryn said she plans to attend MTSU to study anthropology and forensic science in hopes of becoming a forensic anthropologist.
Kathryn is the 18-year-old daughter of Shannon and Yvonne Hale of Smithville, and she has one brother. Her mother works in the office at DCHS as a secretary.
“The staff member of the month is voted on by the administration at the high school and this month we chose SRO officer Sergeant Chris McMillen,” said Cagle. “Officer McMillen and I work really close together here at the school dealing with different issues whether it be parking, events, sports, or discipline and I could not be prouder to have him as our Staff member of the Month. A lot of times what he does here behind the scenes to keep our school and students safe goes unnoticed. He does a great job of recognizing anything and everything that could be a potential problem and trying to solve problems before they become problems,” said Cagle.
Sergeant McMillen is a 20-year law enforcement veteran working for the Sheriff’s Department and half of those years he has served as a school resource officer. He is also a minister having preached at the Temperance Hall Pentecostal Church for over 10 years.
“It’s my 10th year being an SRO,” said Sergeant McMillen. “I spent seven years at DeKalb Middle School, and I have been here (DCHS) for the last three years. I enjoy my job here and working with this age group of students”.
Originally from Alexandria, McMillen lives in Smithville with his wife Kristina, and they have two children, Lacey, a CDC educational assistant at DeKalb Middle School and Cole, a junior at DCHS. Kristina, a former dispatcher at the 911 center, has worked for several years at Caney Fork Electric Cooperative.
Sergeant McMillen explained what a day in the life of an SRO is like at DCHS.
“Here at DCHS I go through the building and check doors. I am in the halls when classes change. I go out and check vehicles in the parking lot. I also work a lot of extracurricular activities like ballgames, dances, etc. and do paperwork”.
“I try to build a good relationship with the kids and help lead them in the right direction. I like having a good time with them and see everything go smoothly. I especially love being around special needs kids. We have a lot of fun picking at each other.”
Part of the SRO job, McMillen explained is counseling kids and resolving conflicts.
“Anytime we have a kid who may want to fight another student, we talk to them in order to diffuse the situation and get them to let us take care of it. I tell them they don’t need to get in any trouble, and we don’t need any problems. If it’s a case where we have a kid vaping or something like that, we try to educate them or do what we can to steer them away from things that will harm them,” said Sergeant McMillen.
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