Education

Bedford County School Board held its monthly meeting Tuesday night amidst snow cones and other activities as host Thomas Magnet School conducted its "Family Night." "Our parental support is beyond belief," Principal Tracy Watson said. Watson was a guest presenter at the school board meeting, held in the school's STEM classroom. She said this was a first for her to host the school board and welcomed them to the excitement...

Tennessee Highway Patrol will offer youths who have an interest in pursuing a career in law enforcement the opportunity to attend THP's Youth and Junior Academy this summer. The Junior Academy, designed for middle school students in grades 5-8, will take place June 24-28. The Youth Academy, designed for high school students in grades 9-12, will take place July 7-12...

Syngenta is now accepting applications for its 2019 Agricultural Scholarship program. Totalling $20,000, scholarships will be awarded to select promising college students. As future leaders of the industry, applicants are asked to share how they aspire to inspire future generations of agricultural students...

State Sen. Shane Reeves and State Rep. Pat Marsh gave an update on state issues ranging from education to medical marijuana at the third in a series of informational "Chamber Connections" coffees held at Shebyville-Bedford County Chamber of Commerce...

On Feb. 16, the Bedford County FFA Chapter of Shelbyville Central High School competed in the Middle Tennessee FFA Proficiency Contest at Tennessee Leadership Camp Clements in Doyle. A Proficiency Application is a 20-30 page document that highlights the member's Supervised Agriculture Experience Program as compared to other members from around the Middle Tennessee FFA Region. ...

Approximately 100 families recently attended Cascade Elementary’s Pizza with Parents Literacy Night, which promotes the importance of reading and family involvement in education. Following the pizza party, students had the opportunity to read with their parents and participate in Accelerated Reader Program activities. Principal Sherry Crawford said Cascade Elementary’s staff is dedicated to encouraging an excitement for reading beginning at a young age. She was thankful and pleased with the parental attendance. (Submitted photos)

Bedford County Schools will dismiss two hours early today due to the threat of severe weather, School Superintendent Don Embry announced this morning....

Mars has become habitable, and the first group of colonists are on their way to establish settlements on the Red Planet. To prepare for the settlers, teams of engineers have been assembled and tasked with terraforming the fourth planet from the sun by designing and constructing robots capable of traversing the hills and mountains making up the Martian surface. ...

The annual Engineer for a Day event took place at Arnold Air Force Base on Feb. 20. This event, which coincided with National Engineers Week, provided the opportunity for area high school students to meet with engineers and learn about the wide range of engineering careers at Arnold...

Fourteen East Side Elementary Invention Club students recently competed with 800 other young inventors during the 27th Invention Convention at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. The club returned home with three awarded inventors heading to nationals...

Chris Simonsen, a former actor/singer/dancer in many musical theater productions who later transitioned to television production for music concerts, is the next guest in The Webb School Follin Speaker Series. Simonsen’s musical performance is set for March 18 at 2:20 p.m. in the Follin Chapel. He will be accompanied by pianist Russ Davis. The event is open to the public...

In its 25th anniversary season, Community High School's Smokestack Theatre troupe will present Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic "The Sound of Music" 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Set in the serene mountains of Austria during the tension of World War II, the play is certain to tug at the heart strings of any family...

Superintendent Don Embry takes a selfie with Thomas Magnet School first graders, many of them mugging for the camera, after reading to them on Thursday as part of “Read Across America week, which coincides with the birthday of author Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel. (Submitted photo)

Gov. Bill Lee's first State of the State address is history. Let's be honest about what we heard Tuesday night. The opening remarks somewhat echoed Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem "How do I Love Thee?" He even expressed the ways. When the governor finally got down to the nitty gritty, some of his proposals before the state legislature appeared promising for education. One positive is the proposed 2.5 percent teacher raise...

Bedford County Farm Bureau sponsored an essay contest for fifth graders. Winners were, from left, Dakota Begley, Monica Torres, county winner Caroline Cook, Caleb Smith and Gabriel Perez Rubio. Two winners, Henry Stone and Ryan Sharp, were not present. (Submitted photos)

Michelle Simpson, a physical education teacher at Cascade Elementary School, speaks to the first grade for career day on Tuesday. (T-G Photo by Amy Todd)

Thomas Magnet School was recently the recipient of a generous donation of school supplies from Newell Brands of Shelbyville. The company specializes in Sharpies and Elmer’s glue, which are tried and true staples in an elementary teacher’s classroom. Employees made the recent delivery. (Submitted photo)

The University of Montevallo, in Montevallo, Alabama, has recognized 356 students named to the Dean’s List for the 2018 fall semester. To make the Dean’s List, a student must earn at least a 3.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and be a full-time student at the University...

State Rep. Pat Marsh read to first graders at Thomas Magnet School on Monday as part of the annual “Read Across America” observance. Several local dignitaries are scheduled to visit schools this week to read to students. (T-G Photos by Amy Todd)

Bedford County Board of Education learned during its recent monthly meeting that the cost of getting water to the new Cascade High School was driven up by demands made from the Town of Bell Buckle. “It’s nobody’s fault,” explained architect John Davis of Davis Stokes Collaborative. “My concept ... my civil engineer’s ideas were different than their civil engineer’s ideas.”...

Some kids spend their weekends gaming, or playing sports. Four local students combine the best of both worlds by building competitive robots. Small Town Robotics Team Number 14291 recently presented their award-winning robot at an engineering banquet at the University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma. Robot inventors on hand for the special night were team members Joshua Rains, Seth Thompson, Mauricio Reyes Sanchez and Jake Thompson...

Something that really accelerates 13-year-old Janie Thornton's heart is that she will become a licensed pilot even before she hits the road with her Tennessee driver's license. "I'm okay with that," she says...

The Community Action Committee of Rutherford County, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service in Atlanta, will conduct a free forum on "Protecting Places of Worship" from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, at Tucker Theatre on the Middle Tennessee State University campus in Murfreesboro...

Bedford County Board of Education discussed at its recent meeting how some feel Gov. Bill Lee's support of education privatization could undermine the public sector, particularly if legislation is passed approving vouchers or education savings accounts...

Bedford County Board of Education recently approved an estimated $3.5 million from its current budget fund balance toward eight additional classrooms and possible land acquisition at Learning Way Elementary. County finance director Robert Daniel told the board during its February meeting that his department "reclassified" those undesignated fund balance dollars to "committed." This means in financial terms that the board intends to spend the money and will have to eventually show it in an expenditure line item.. ...

Cub Scout Pack 390 recently aided in Scouting for Food on Feb. 2 and Feb. 9. Sickness affected participation, but these six boys were present both weekends. The Pack collected 300 pounds of food for Good Samaritan Association. The scouts that participated were Ethan Bell, Logan Damron, Avery McConnell, Derek Short, Kierce Threet and Braylon West. Parents who assisted were Blair Boyce, Josh Threet, Regina and Craig Damron, Sharon Lee and Cubmaster Shane Lee. (Submitted photo)

James Brown is the latest winner of Girl Scout cookies. Emma and Lily Ward presented them to him as the winner of a box of each kind for stopping at their booth at Walmart. This weekend is the last chance to get cookies this year; sales will be set up at Walmart on North Main Street. (Submitted photo)

Bedford County Schools will remain closed Monday, Feb. 25, due to flooding conditions. School-Age Care Program will be open at Eakin Elementary School.

The Eaglepalooza concerts scheduled for this weekend at Shelbyville Central High School will be replaced with one concert at 6 p.m. on March 2. The Cascade High School FFA Chili Supper/Auction originally planned for Saturday night will now be held 1 p.m. Sunday, with the auction starting at 2 p.m....

School Superintendent Don Embry assured Bedford County School Board Tuesday night that the 2018 annual audit demonstrated "nothing major" despite 17 non-compliance findings. The monthly school board meeting was held at Cascade Elementary in honor of its "Reward School" recognition. A thick maroon notebook filled with the audit citings by Winnett & Associates accountants was distributed to board members...

Olugbemiga Ayeni of Bell Buckle earned a bachelor's degree from Georgia State University during December 2018. More than 1,700 students earned bachelor's degrees from Georgia State University during the Fall 2018 semester, with more than 3,000 students earning degrees at the associate's, bachelor's, master's, professional, specialist and doctoral degree levels...

The Cascade High FFA Chili Supper/Auction has changed its start time due to the weather forecast. The dinner will now begin at 4 p.m. Saturday at the school, and the auction will begin at 5 p.m.

Bedford County Board of Commissioners' law enforcement and workhouse committee discussed the fate of Bedford County Juvenile Detention Center Tuesday night, and County Mayor Chad Graham wants to put together a study committee to look at the numbers...

Bedford County Schools will remain closed Thursday due to flood conditions, announced School Superintendent Don Embry on Wednesday evening. School-Age Care Program will be open at Eakin Elementary School.

Bedford County Schools will be closed today (Wednesday) due to flooding. School-Age Care Program is open.

Cascade Elementary celebrated being named a 2017-2018 Tennessee Reward School by hosting Bedford County Board of Education's meeting Tuesday night. Third grade math students of Kristi Terceira presented a program called "Math Talk" for the board prior to its business. Students participating were Ty Hawley, Wesley Wood, Timothy Lucich, Lauren Parsley, Lexi Comstock, Maddy Cleek and Lily Smith...

Eaglepalooza returns to the stage this weekend and the event is touted to be as twice as good as with different performances on Friday and Saturday nights at the Shelbyville Central High School Theater. The event will feature music performances from current and former Shelbyville Central students...

The Shoemaker family were winners of complete sets of Girl Scout Cookies in a random drawing from among those who have supported the current cookie sales. From left are Hope Dennis, Ella Kilpatrick, Andrew, Jennifer and Perry Shoemaker, Laura Bennett. Kelly Green also received a set of cookies. From left are Treeleigh Dye, Gabby Prince, Kelly Green, Ashlyn Knott, Shayn Hack. (Submitted photos)

Community High School graduate Jake Garrette shared his love of flight with some current students earlier this month, Garrette, a Bedford County native, was Community's valedictorian in 2015. Both of his parents were previous teachers at Community (his mother was actually his senior English teacher) and his brother Grayson is a senior, so it's safe to say that his roots run deep at the school...

Cascade FFA and the Cascade Agriculture classes give back to the community while applying classroom philosophy to real-world situations. Cascade Canine Care is a student-run project at Cascade High School. The students and FFA members enrolled in Small Animal Science and Veterinary Science wash and dry, board, trim nails and conduct health checks on dogs as part of their curriculum...

Members of Cascade FFA have made agriculture literacy a priority for the 2018-2019 school year. P.L.O.W (Passing Literacy OnWard) chairperson, Farrayn Arnold, has worked with the members of Cascade FFA, administrators at both Cascade High School and Cascade Elementary on several projects during the school year...

Sulema Sosa-Cruz, Keeli McClain, and Harlee Taylor, seniors from Cascade High School’s FCCLA club, are competing in a Star Events project called Advocacy. After researching the number of traffic fatalities due to drivers not being buckled up, they decided to work with the administration to change the student handbook to require students next year to be buckled up on campus. To promote the project, they stopped cars leaving school, presenting drivers with a wristband and candy if everyone in the car was buckled up. (Submitted photo)

Two Cascade High School band students, clarinetist Chloe DeLease and trumpeter Connor Prim, were accepted to the prestigious Tennessee Governor’s School For The Arts program this summer. Both students received maximum scholarships covering program costs, room, board, and tuition. (Submitted photo)

With Bedford County schools closed until Tuesday, maintenance crews have ample opportunity to clean areas potentially exposed to flu or other viruses. Even with potential flu germs, Daniel Kleindienst, director of maintenance, said there are really no special cleaning agents or techniques required at this time. School maintenance crews conduct routine cleanings with the proper disinfectants every day...

Shelbyville Central High School National Honor Society officers attended the national LEAD leadership conference in Washington, D.C., Jan. 31 - Feb. 3. President Kaiden Garland, Vice-President Kimberly Harmon, Secretary Skylar Thompson, Treasurer Karla Ochoa Solano, and sponsor Claudia House met with 1,200 other NHS members from 38 states and four countries, and learned both from guest speakers and from their peers at other schools. While in the D.C. area, they also toured Arlington National Cemetery, the Smithsonian African American History Museum, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, and visited the memorials on the National Mall. They were also able to see a performance of the satirical group Capitol Steps. (Submitted photos)

Bedford County schools will close Wednesday through Friday due to illness, announced School Superintendent Don Embry, and were already scheduled to be closed Monday due to President's Day. School-Age Care Program will also be closed the rest of the week (but will be open as scheduled on Monday)...

Students from the Cascade High School Band who participated at the MTSU Wind Band Conference this past Saturday, from left, were Samuel Maddox, Emily Yates, Katyrina Jesch, Alyssa Rhodes, Nadiana Jesch, Cole McBee, Lucas McBee, Connor Prim, Leonardo Avila and Aubrea Curtis. (Submitted photo)

The Shelbyville Central High School Criminal Justice Student Organization attended Winterfest, an Exploring competition, last weekend in Gatlinburg. Students competed with their peers from Tennessee and 14 other states in competitions ranging from search and seizure to courtroom testimony and prosecution. (Submitted photo)

Community High students interested in aviation took to the air Saturday after six weeks of study and passing a test. Former Community student Jake Garrette, now a flight instructor, started the program. Chance Woods and McCade Miller get ready for their flight. (T-G Photo by Amy Todd)