Northside Elementary Teacher Amanda Goodwin Named 2025 DeKalb School District Teacher of the Year

May 5, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

The 2025 DeKalb County School District Teacher of the Year is Amanda Goodwin, special education teacher at Northside Elementary School.

Goodwin got a surprise visit to the school Monday for the “John Isabell Memorial Award” presentation by Director of Schools Patrick Cripps, Northside Elementary School Principal Angela Johnson, NES Assistant Principal Beth Pafford, Supervisors of Instruction Michelle Burklow and Randy Jennings, Special Education Supervisor Natasha Vaughn, and Federal Programs Supervisor Dr. Danielle Collins. As part of the honor, Goodwin also received a school bell award, a floral arrangement, and a certificate granting her a day off from school with pay.

“I am really excited, and I appreciate it. I don’t do this on my own. It takes the support of all the teachers here at Northside along with the administration, faculty staff, and students,” Goodwin told WJLE Monday when informed by the administration that she was named DeKalb District Teacher of the Year.

After spending two years as a special education assistant, Goodwin said she fostered a deeper passion for teaching and furthered her education to become a teacher, a position she has held for five years now.

“This is actually my seventh year here at Northside including two years as an assistant. I teach special education as an interventionist for second and third grade,” Goodwin explained. “I started out with a business degree. I had a bachelor’s in business and when my kids went to school I started subbing and really enjoyed it so I became an assistant at Northside in a special education classroom. That started a fire in me to want to be a teacher, so I went back and got a master’s in special education,” said Goodwin.

In addition to the visit with Goodwin, Director Cripps and school administrators paid a call on four other teachers at their schools Monday to present the school level “Teacher of the Year” awards including 4th grade math and science teacher, Cathleen Humphrey at DeKalb West School, 1st grade teacher Allyson Trapp at Smithville Elementary School; Kristen Lynch, special education teacher at DeKalb Middle School, and Dylan Kleparek (Coach K), science/chemistry teacher at DeKalb County High School.

This is the 18th annual Teacher of the Year observance.

“Our district’s Teacher of the Year program recognizes and honors outstanding teachers in DeKalb County. We applaud teachers who care about our children, who devote their professional lives to enriching the lives of DeKalb students, and who demonstrate exceptional gains in student achievement. We are not just exceptionally proud of our Teachers of the Year, but we are also grateful for all of our educators in DeKalb County,” said Director Cripps.

Teachers of the Year are selected competitively through five cycles: Building, System, Field Service Core Center Region, Grand Division and State; and from three categories (levels of teaching); Grades Pre-K-4, 5-8, 9-12.

Teachers selected at each cycle receive local recognition and awards underwritten by local sources. State recognition/awards include a banquet honoring the nine State Teacher of the Year finalists and certificates of appreciation from the governor. In addition, the State Finalists and the State Teacher of the Year receive cash awards.

The Tennessee Teacher of the Year Program is designed to promote effective teaching practices by recognizing and rewarding outstanding teachers while encouraging others to join the teaching profession.

May 5, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) today announced a precautionary fish consumption advisory for walleye 19 inches and larger on Center Hill Reservoir in DeKalb and Putnam counties.

TDEC advises that pregnant women, nursing mothers, and children avoid eating the fish and that all others limit consumption to one meal per month. Other recreational activities such as boating, kayaking, swimming, wading, and catch-and-release fishing carry no risk.

In 2021 and 2023, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), in cooperation with TDEC, collected walleye for tissue analysis on Center Hill Reservoir. Fish were analyzed for mercury by the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) through a contract with TDEC. An impoundment on the Caney Fork River, Center Hill Reservoir is north of Smithville and south of Interstate 40 in Middle Tennessee.

The advisory applies to walleye 19 inches and larger for the entirety of the reservoir based on data exceeding Tennessee’s trigger point for mercury. Mercury in walleye 19 inches and larger averaged 0.39 mg/kg, which is above the trigger point of 0.3 mg/kg. The advisory is consistent with TDEC’s responsibilities under the Tennessee Water Quality Control Act.

“Unlike ‘Do Not Consume’ advisories that warn the general population to avoid eating fish from a particular body of water altogether, precautionary fish consumption advisories are specifically directed to sensitive populations. They include children, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and those who may eat fish frequently from the same body of water,” said Ronné Adkins, deputy commissioner for Environment at TDEC. “These advisories help the community make informed decisions about whether or not to consume the fish.”

TDEC will post warning signs at primary public access points and will work with the TWRA to communicate this information to the public.

For a complete listing of Tennessee’s current fishing advisories, plus additional information about the advisory issuance process, go online to TDEC’s Bacteriological and Fishing Advisories page.

About Fish Consumption Advisories

The Tennessee Water Quality Control Act identifies the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation as having the authority and responsibility to issue advisories for either water contact hazards like pathogens or excessive health risks due to the accumulation of contaminants in fish or shellfish. Tennessee’s General Water Quality Criteria provide additional guidance regarding the conditions under which advisories may be warranted.

May 5, 2025
By: Dwayne Page

Dogs as loveable and fun loving as “Ziggy” need a home!

Why not give “Ziggy” a home sweet home.

“Ziggy” is the WJLE/DeKalb Animal Shelter featured “Pet of the Week”

“Ziggy” is a medium sized mixed breed dog and he weighs just under 50 pounds. He is 5 years and 3 months old, and his adoption fee is $90 as a sponsored pet of the Friends of the DeKalb Animal Shelter.

“He has already been vaccinated, neutered, and he is up to date on everything. Ziggy is just looking for his forever home. He is a very rambunctious fun boy who once he’s done playing just wants to cuddle up on a couch,” said shelter employee Kota.

If you are interested in meeting Ziggy, fill out an application on the animal shelter website or come in. Visit https://www.dekalbanimalsheltertn.com/ or call 615-597-3647.

The shelter is open Mondays-Fridays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Transfer Station Road off Highway 70 east behind Tenneco.

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