The Lady Cats Junior Level 2 All-Star Competitive Cheer Team from Power Athletics in Cookeville brought home the gold and winners’ jackets from the 2015 Cheersport National Cheer and Dance Championship in Atlanta, Georgia this past weekend in Junior Small Gym 2 Division II. This is one of the largest cheer and dance competitions in the United States with over 1,300 teams and 50,000 cheerleaders in attendance.
Competing on the Lady Cats team from Smithville are Hayley Martin, Carlee West, and Katherine Clendenon. There were 16 teams in The Lady Cats’ division, which also included one team from England. Not only did they win their division, but they also had the highest raw score out all 45 teams in the Junior Small Gym 2 category with a score of 96.31, and they had zero deductions from their routine on both days of competition.
This is the second National Championship that this team has won this season after winning the Athletics Platinum Championship in Chattanooga in January. The Lady Cats are coached by Ashley Farris and Jordan Todd.

A workshop on the epidemic of prescription medication abuse will be held in Smithville on Friday, February 20 at the DeKalb County Complex from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.
“The Epidemic is Here” will offer CME’s for medical professionals but it is also open to all those who want to attend. The goal of this conference is not to alert people to the epidemic, but rather to discuss what can be done as a medical community to combat the problem. It will feature presentations on screening methods for addiction that are being used in medical facilities, better prescribing practices and the latest in treatment methods. It also serves as a fundraiser for the Community Advisory Board of DeKalb County with half the proceeds to benefit the DeKalb Foster Children’s Fund
The featured speaker will be Dr. Steven Lloyd, a recovering addict who treats addiction. Angela McKinney Jones, Director of Prevention Services for the state will also speak along with General Sessions/Juvenile Court Judge Bratten Cook, II.
DeKalb Drug Court Coordinator Norene Puckett said the conference should be of interest to everyone. “A group of us from the Drug Court Program as well as some other agencies had gone to this same conference in Cookeville and Dr. Lloyd spoke. He just blew our minds about addiction and changed the whole way that we saw addiction. We came back from that conference and met with our community advisory board and said we need to get this (conference) to DeKalb County,” said Puckett.
“As everyone knows we have a drug problem here and we’re not really doing much for it so we decided we want to bring this here. It’s a conference for our medical community but we also want to encourage anyone to attend. There are CME’s being offered for the doctors but it’s also open to the public. It’s designed not to say that we have a drug problem but more to get the community together to see what we can do to combat the problem. We’ll have screenings. A lady will be there to teach about screenings. SBIRT is a screening method for drug abuse and prevention and it is now a billable service so doctors and nurse practitioners can bill that in their offices. Angela McKinney is the Director of Prevention Services for the state and she will be there and actually give them the billing codes they need to make that service available. Dr. Lloyd will speak about the power of the pen and the proper prescribing of narcotics and the latest in treatment methods for Opioid addiction. This is also a fundraiser for the community advisory board. We hope to use at least half of the funds for the DeKalb Foster Children’s Fund. We already have a lot of people signed up and we’ll have different booths there. The cost is $50 for CME’s. For medical professionals who need CME’s. It’s $20 for general admission,” said Puckett.
The agenda is as follows:
8:00 – 8:30 Registration / Welcome
8:30 – 9:45 Angela McKinney Jones – SBIRT
9:45 – 10:00 Break
10:00 – 10:15 Judge Bratten Cook II
10:15 – 11:30 Dr. Stephen Loyd, MD, FACP –
The Power of the Pen
11:30 – 11:45 Break
11:45 – 12:45 Dr. Stephen Loyd, MD, FACP –
Medication Assisted Treatment
for Opioid Dependence
12:45 – 1:00 Closing remarks / Certificates /
Evaluation
This event will be sponsored by The Community Advisory Board of DeKalb County, The DeKalb County Drug Court, The Anti-drug Coalition of DeKalb County, DeKalb Community Hospital, Haven of Hope Counseling, Bradford Health Services, Lifeline of Tennessee, Ten Broeck of Tennessee, Health Connect America, Camelot Care, and The Tennessee Commission of Children and Youth. We have joined together to try help reduce the rates of addiction that are destroying our communities and to also treat those in need of help.
The cost is $50.00 for CME or $20.00 for general admission. A meal will be provided.
All proceeds for this training will go to the Community Advisory Board of DeKalb County.
If you or someone you know does not have available funding for training, there will be a limited amount of scholarships available.
For more information visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-epidemic-is-here-tickets-15042487485 or email jessica.tucker@tn.gov or rvalerio@bradfordhealth.net

DeKalb County High School has released the names of students in the Class of 2015 Top Rank including the Valedictorian Julia Little and the Salutatorian Makalee Ruch. Little is the daughter of Dr. Scott Little and Kristin Raymond. Ruch’s parents are Melissa and Joe Ruch.
To be considered for Top Rank, students must take at least 10 honors, dual enrollment, and AP courses. Students must also have a 21 or higher ACT composite score. Forty DCHS students met this qualification, according to DCHS Guidance Counselor Lori Myrick
Students in the Class of 2015 Top Rank (listed in alphabetical order) are as follows:
Shara Adcock, Rachel Adcock, Rayanna Baker, Austin Ball, Jonathon Ball, Isaac Beck, Rebecca Benshoof, Kathryn Blair, Leah Burchfield, William Caplinger, Savannah Driver, Dakoda Eaton, Taylor Ellis, Michael Ferguson, Matthew Foutch, Sydnie Garmer, Bailey Hayes, Kelsey Hedge, Rachel Holcomb, Justin Johnson, Brandon Leiser, Julia Little, Ortega Maciel, Micah Merriman, Kenzie Morris, Cason Oakley, Jacquelyn Overbey, Bethany Poss, Makayla Redmon, Brooke Reffue, Zachary Roberts, Makalee Ruch, Harlli Silcox, Emilee Stephens, Austin Tittle, Lydia Trail, Darrian Turner, Jacob Washer, Bruce Wilson, and Charles Young.

The DeKalb County Board of Education is considering installing cameras on school buses to catch motorists behaving recklessly.
The issue was discussed briefly during Thursday night’s regular monthly school board meeting.
The cameras automatically record when the buses activate their stop signs. Or, the school system could choose to have the cameras operate manually allowing bus drivers to push a panic button to activate them. The goal is to catch motorists who drive around school buses while the buses are picking up or dropping off students. Failure to stop for a school bus is a traffic violation in Tennessee. The cameras record what’s happening around the bus, so police don’t have to rely on bus drivers to provide descriptions of rule-breakers.
“One is a manual system that drivers would use when they pull up to a stop and they see traffic is not going to stop. They can push a panic button which automatically turns the cameras on and we can catch all the images. Or there is another system that is quite pricey but it is all automated. When the stop sign is deployed, it all comes on,” said Transportation Supervisor Jimmy Sprague. “In my opinion the panic button is probably the better bang for the buck. I am still waiting on confirmation within state laws if this would stand in a court of law where we could prosecute somebody. I’ve researched this and found that other states, Georgia, Alabama, and Indiana use them (camera systems) and get good results. They’ve cut their stop arm issues by 60%. Right now in order to fill out a report (on a violator) and send it to the state you must have a tag number. Usually when this issue comes about it happens so quickly and the car goes by the bus (so fast) you don’t have a chance to get a tag number. Sometimes they’ll catch up with a car at a stop light and get a tag number then and I can fill out my report and send it to the state. As of today I have sent twenty nine reports to the state where I have caught and my drivers have caught (violators) on the routes,” said Sprague.
Board Chairman W.J. (Dub) Evins, III said school bus safety is a serious concern. “I’ve seen some of this first hand. I actually saw what turned out to be almost an accident with a special education bus just yesterday (Wednesday) when someone turned in front of it. We have issues where when these stop signs go out (stop arms on buses) and these buses stop there is a period of time in state law that says when the flashing lights come on and the stop sign comes out, that means (motorists) stop. It’s a matter of the general public, when they’re driving down the road, especially down a five lane highway paying close attention. Consider if this were your child getting off that bus would you pay more attention? There have been a few citations written. I’m not in favor of writing a lot of citations but I am in favor of giving fair warning. In discussing this matter, I hope that people will start abiding by (the law and take into consideration) that there are upwards of 90 children and teenagers on these buses and getting them to school safely and getting them home safely is of utmost importance. We have 3,000 students in this school system and 2,000 of them ride the bus. I hope the general public will understand it,” said Evins.
No action was taken Thursday night. If a system is purchased, the school board may elect to obtain only one camera system initially and use it on more than one bus. By rotating its use among buses in the fleet, motorists would not know which bus is equipped with the device on any given day.
In other business, Board Chairman Evins gave the Director of Schools monthly update on personnel on behalf of Director Mark Willoughby who was unable to attend due to sickness in his family.
Cynthia Taylor has been employed as a bookkeeper. Shea Wiegele, a teacher at DCHS, has been granted a leave as requested.
Jacqueline Michelle Overstreet has been transferred from a substitute to an educational assistant position. Elaine Davis, bus driver has resigned.

Have you read with a child today?
It’s the most important twenty minutes of your day.
Just 20 minutes a day reading aloud with young children strengthens relationships, encourages listening and language skills, promotes attention and curiosity, and establishes a strong reading foundation. These skills are essential for success in school and in life.
The DeKalb County School System seeks to heighten awareness of the importance of reading with a young child so they will be better prepared for school.
Signs are now available for businesses to help spread the word and a new billboard sign is now up on East Broad Street in Smithville facing west near Pizza Hut which promotes the “Read 20” literacy message. The billboard shows Attendance Supervisor Joey Reeder reading to his granddaughter Stella. The billboard sign was funded through a Readiness (State Discretionary) Grant.