DeKalb School District Awarded $2 million Tennessee Innovative School Model Grant

April 18, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County School District has been awarded a Tennessee Innovative School Model Grant totaling two million dollars to enhance programs offered to high school and middle school students through the Career & Technical Education (CTE) Department to boost opportunities for career readiness and student success.

The Innovative School Models grant program expands on the Tennessee Department of Education’s initial ESSER investment of $30 million with an additional $500 million of state funds designed to eliminate structural barriers that exist between middle and high school, workforce, and postsecondary opportunities. These models allow students the ability to seamlessly make connections earlier and graduate high school prepared to successfully complete a postsecondary credential or excel in a career pathway of their choice.

Brad Leach, Career and Technical Education Director at DCHS told WJLE that the grant will fund new equipment for instruction and expansion of the current curriculum.

“We received one million dollars for our high school (DCHS) to use toward this innovative concept. Our middle schools, DeKalb Middle School and DeKalb West School have received $500,000 each to use toward innovation. We will use the grant to help students get to post-secondary through Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) two year or four-year colleges and try to give them some incentive to go onto college to get a degree or some form of technical training. We are also looking for students to be able to earn industry certifications. A lot of industries accept industry certifications which could mean better pay for them (students)” said Leach.

“We’re looking at expanding programs and creating new ones for our students in DeKalb County,” Leach continued. “We are putting in at the high school a new Mechatronics industrial maintenance lab and increasing our industry certifications and equipment in our advanced manufacturing and machining programs as well as our automotive programs. We are also looking at agriculture and some industry certifications there as far as health science. We have already added a new cosmetology program at the high school, and we plan to build on that next year while adding others. Most of the equipment we are buying will be of the virtual reality type with computers that have the capability of allowing students to visualize something and be able to produce it in a 3-D format”.

CTE Programs at DCHS include Auto Mechanics, Agriculture, Residential Carpentry, Advanced Manufacturing (Mechatronics & Machining), Criminal Justice, Cosmetology, Health Science, Teaching as a Profession, Coding, Audio/Video, Culinary Arts, Personal Finance, and Human Studies/Human Services.

A new career exploration program will be introduced at both DeKalb Middle School and DeKalb West School for eighth graders which will work somewhat in unison with STEM there.

“The schools already have a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) program in place and have had for the last few years but this new career exploration course will somewhat take the place of STEM even though a lot of things the students are currently using with STEM will be incorporated into this new career exploration program so it will sort of go hand in hand,” said Leach.

“Through the new Career Exploration initiative, students at DeKalb Middle and DeKalb West School will better be made aware of the course offerings at the high school. We will use a virtual reality company called zSpace which offers a variety of software packages through which students can learn about and explore careers they want to pursue either post-secondary or directly into the workforce,” said Leach.

“We really want to get the eighth graders more in tune to getting a career path ready and we also do career assessments with them through virtual job shadowing which helps them narrow the gap of a possible career they want to pursue. Not every student in the eighth grade knows yet what they want to do as a career before they get to high school, and some don’t until after they get out of high school. We just want to help them get more focused on some careers that we can help them with through courses at the high school”.

By integrating CTE and academic courses, Leach said the Innovative School Model Grant will help strengthen students’ experiences and readiness for the workforce and postsecondary opportunities.

“We are going to be looking at some integration projects especially with English science, and math. When I say science, I mean looking at physics and chemistry because there’s more than just physical science. In the past we have done some integrated CTE academic projects with physics as far as human powered vehicles. We have used our advanced manufacturing and automotive programs, and in the physics course to develop human powered vehicles and before COVID we actually had races out back here. That’s just an example of how we’re looking to show these students that academics and CTE are both important especially if they are going onto post-secondary which we really want these kids to do for them to get a good education and be ready for high skilled in demand jobs,” said Leach.

“Future readiness is the foundation of our entire strategic plan. I’m excited we can continue to build on that foundation and provide our students a variety of opportunities to thrive in life after school,” he added.

Leach is grateful to Director of Schools Patrick Cripps, the Central Office Staff, High School, Middle School, and DeKalb West School Administration and Teachers, Board of Education members, businesses and industries, and post-secondary institutions who have all been strong supporters of the CTE program and this grant opportunity.

“Thanks to the investment of Governor Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly, the Innovative School Models Grant opportunity will provide half a billion dollars to maximize opportunities for students to explore and succeed in high-demand careers, for industry to develop local talent, and for schools to create programs that meet the needs of their communities,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn in a prepared news release. “This opportunity can be a game-changer in helping districts to reimagine the possible and create innovative, high-impact, and meaningful experiences for middle and high school students in Tennessee.”

The state will invest $500 million over the next four years to give all traditional, public middle and high schools the opportunity to establish an Innovative School Model. Funding will be awarded to schools as follows:

•Middle schools serving more than 100 students are eligible for up to $500,000.
•Schools combining both middle and high school grades that serve more than 100 students are eligible for up to $500,000.
•Middle schools and high schools serving less than 100 students are eligible for up to $200,000.
•High schools serving more than 100 students are eligible for up to $1,000,000.

“The future of innovative programs to boost student and workforce readiness in Tennessee is brighter than ever. Through reimagining the high school experience; becoming more strategic about engaging younger students in career exploration; expanding access to courses; improving how data is collected and used; and being even more intentional in how we listen to—and learn from—Tennesseans, we will continue to keep our state’s workforce strong for years to come,” said Commissioner Schwinn.

April 17, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

A little more than a month after a human skull was found near Center Hill Lake more remains, keys, and clothing were located today (Monday) during an expanded search effort in the same area near where Matthew Wayne Braswell was last seen sixteen months ago.

“Today (Monday) we found more remains including a scapula (shoulder blade) and a mandible (jawbone). We also found a portion of a pair of blue jean denim shorts fitting the description that Braswell was wearing and a key lanyard with keys on it. An area of about 10 acres was searched and the terrain was very rough making the effort very difficult. We will continue our investigation and will hopefully have some answers at a later date,” said Sheriff Patrick Ray.

Participating in the search were officers of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, members of the Smithville-DeKalb Rescue Squad, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Rangers from the Corps of Engineers, and members from the Middle Tennessee State University Anthropology Team.

The first clue in the disappearance of Braswell turned up on Thursday, March 9 when a human skull was found only 1.6 (aerial) miles from where Braswell was last seen on December 17, 2021 after he fled on foot from the scene of a crash on Ponder Road off Cookeville Highway. He was age 29 at the time.

More evidence including a shoe, sock, and a bone surfaced during a follow-up visual search in the same area on Wednesday, March 15. Sheriff Ray said at the time that the sock and shoe were consistent with the clothing Braswell was wearing when last seen.

The Anthropology team determined the bones found today (Monday) to be human, and as they did in the previous discoveries, investigators will send the remains to the state medical examiner’s office for further examinations by certified labs to determine identity.

Sheriff Ray said he wishes to thank all those who took part in the search effort Monday.

About the Middle Tennessee State University Anthropology Team:

The Forensic Anthropology Search and Recovery (FASR) Team is a group of MTSU students selected through a competitive application process. These students excel academically and professionally and volunteer their time assisting at skeletal crime scenes and the morgue. They receive specialized training in human Osteology and forensic scene recovery.

This team is under the direction of MTSU professor and forensic anthropologist Dr. Tiffany Saul. Dr. Saul received her training at the University of Tennessee at the internationally known Body Farm.

April 17, 2023
By: Dwayne Page

More people are living in DeKalb County today than three years ago.

According to the latest estimates of the US Census, DeKalb County’s population has grown by 4.6% since the 2020 census increasing by 925 residents from 20,078 to 21,003.

Percentagewise, DeKalb County has grown faster in just two years than any surrounding county except for Wilson according to the Census Bureau.

Tennessee was the fastest growing state by number from 2020 to 2022 and for the first time in history has more than seven million residents surpassing Massachusetts as the 15th most populous state in the nation.

“2020 was when the last census was done and that was the starting point for these estimates,” said John Dunn, Director of Communications for the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office in an interview with WJLE Friday.

“In 2020, DeKalb County’s population was 20,078 but by 2022 the estimated population was at 21,003, a 4.6% growth of 925 residents,” Dunn said.

“Tennessee was the fastest growing state by number from 2020 to 2022 adding over 140,000 residents,” Dunn continued. “The total state population also climbed above 7 million for the first time in history. Our total state population is now 7,051,339 which puts us at the 15th most populous state. We surpassed Massachusetts,” said Dunn.

“Just in the past year, from 2021 to 2022, Tennessee added about 83,000 new residents and 82,000 of those are people who moved into the state. The other thousand can be attributed to births overtaking deaths. We have more people being born than who are dying in the state. I believe that 82,000 is the highest number of people who have moved into our state in a single year in the history of that data being collected,” said Dunn.

Much of the growth in Tennessee is in the middle Tennessee area. In fact, Rutherford, Montgomery, Williamson, and Wilson Counties in middle Tennessee are in the top 100 in the United States for growth by number since 2020. The other Tennessee county making the top 100 nationally for growth is Knox County in east Tennessee.

Dunn said Comptroller Jason Mumpower believes this trend will continue because of Tennessee’s appeal.
“What the comptroller has said is that people are coming to our state because of good climate, natural beauty and lower taxes. The pandemic taught people they could work from home, from anywhere, and they are coming to states that have good climate, and natural beauty as Tennessee does and when you combine state and local taxes, Tennessee has the lowest taxes of any state in the country and there is no income tax here. In fact of the seven fastest growing states in the nation, six of those first seven are in the southeast or Texas where states don’t have an income tax. The 7th state is Arizona so people like sunshine and no income tax,” he said.

Dunn said the Comptroller believes this growth in population is a good thing for Tennessee.

“Our state is always willing to accommodate new residents. We have plenty of rural counties in Tennessee with lots of land available. Certainly, when you have more people, it does have an effect on infrastructure, but I think the growth at this point is something the state can handle right now. I believe the comptroller would consider it a good thing,” he said.

DeKalb County experienced a 7.2% growth in population from 2010-20 according to the 2020 Census increasing from 18,723 to 20,078, a growth of 1,355 people.