February 12, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
DeKalb County High School continued its monthly observance Friday of recognizing a teacher, student, and parents or guardians of the month for January.
Each received a certificate from the school and a gift card for a meal from the Lipstick Pig. A different restaurant will be offering a meal gift card to each month’s honorees.
DCHS educator Lesa Hayes was selected as Teacher of the Month while freshman Christina Youngblood is Student of the Month, voted on by the teachers, faculty, and staff. The parent of the month is Kristen Lynch and this honor was based on a winning essay written by her son Jeremiah Elswick, a senior at DCHS.
“Jeremiah is an extraordinary young man,” said DCHS Assistant Principal Thomas Cagle. “He is always sending emails and messages to his teachers checking on us making sure we are doing okay so we have returned the favor checking on him all the time. He is one of our office aids. He is a very quiet young man but a very caring and loving young man and we are very fortunate to have him in our school. I wish I had a whole bunch more Jeremiahs in the school,” said Cagle.
Lynch said she was surprised to learn she had been named “Parent of the Month”.
“I am really honored. Its touching. I didn’t expect it. Jeremiah didn’t tell me he was doing it (nominating me), so it was kind of a shock. They just pulled me out of class and said get next door. I am very touched,” said Lynch, who is a special education math intervention teacher at DeKalb Middle School.
Hayes, whose duties include teaching as a profession, family studies, and human studies said she is excited to be named Teacher of the Month.
“I am excited and shocked. This is my third year here at DCHS. I have grown to love this school as well as the kids here. I just feel humbled that I was chosen as Teacher of the Month,” said Hayes.
Altogether Hayes has been a teacher for more than 27 years. In the local school system, she was at DeKalb West School for about 13 years followed by a stint at DeKalb Middle School for five years before moving to DCHS. Prior to her years in the DeKalb County School District, Hayes taught in Wilson County for a private company that contracted with the Department of Labor to train adults for re-entry into the workforce. Before becoming a teacher, Hayes worked in banking and then took a job at DeKalb West working in the office. “I had my teaching degree but there was not a position open at that time, so I started working part-time in the office and part time in adult education. When a computer position came open at DeKalb West is when I moved into the classroom,” said Hayes.
Hayes plans to continue teaching at least another seven years to get in her 30 years before retirement from the system.
Youngblood, daughter of Wade and Tonya Youngblood, said she is thrilled to have been chosen as “Student of the Month”.
“I never thought this would happen, but I am excited that it has, and I feel so honored. After high school I hope to go to college to become a nurse,” she said.
“These awards are a way for us to acknowledge students who are performing exemplary each month. This isn’t always going to be for your straight “A” student. It’s for those putting in the effort to make DeKalb County better each and every month. Every teacher can nominate a student and all teachers vote on the student nominated. Teachers are voted on by the administration. The parent of the month award is determined by student essays. Students can write an essay each month and nominate their parent for a chance to win. In the essays, students can highlight things the parents are doing in their life outside of school that we may not know about,” said Cagle.