City Looking to Hire Lifeguards at Municipal Swimming Pool

February 14, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The City of Smithville is in need of lifeguards for the upcoming season at the Municipal Swimming Pool which usually opens on Memorial Day weekend.

Manager Jeania Cawthorn is asking anyone who is interested and qualified to apply as soon as possible. The pay is $10.00 an hour with flexible hours.

“I only have four lifeguards coming back right now from last year and I would like to have a total of 17-20. While we have the pool open we are required to have four lifeguards on duty at all times but when the weather gets hot, I like to rotate them out about every four hours, so I usually use eight lifeguards a day. I work around their schedules. Some lifeguards have ball camps, some have other jobs, and others have vacations and church camps, so I work around their schedule,” said Cawthorn.

Requirements include the following but are not limited to:
*Must be 15 years of age by May 1st
*Must pass American Red Cross Lifeguard Course and CPR Class
*Must be a strong swimmer
*Must be able to pass drug test and background check

Benefits of being a lifeguard:
*You could save a life.
*Lifesaving skills
*Self-confidence
*Developing leadership skills
*Being a role model
*Looks good on resumes
*Developing new friendships

A class will be offered at a Murfreesboro in-door complex starting March 10. After that there will be two classes starting in mid- April at an outdoor pool in McMinnville. Lifeguard certification is good for two years, but CPR recertification is every year. Lifeguards will have to pay for the cost of their class upfront which is $175.00 but the city will reimburse those who pass the course and work at the pool all summer.

Contact Jeania at the Pro-shop at 615-597-6648 for more information on how to sign up for the classes.

February 14, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County High School Lady Tigers will play their first game of the District 7-3A basketball tournament at Upperman Tuesday night, February 15. The game starts at 6 p.m. and WJLE will have LIVE coverage.

The Lady Tigers (15-13, 4-8) are the 5th seed in the tournament and Upperman (22-5, 8-4) is the 4th seed.

The two teams just met last Friday night at Baxter on the final evening of the regular season with Upperman winning 54 to 24. In the previous meeting on January 18 in Smithville, the Lady Tigers defeated Upperman 42 to 40.

In the game Friday night, Upperman led 10 to 4 after the 1st period, 29 to 11 at halftime, and 40 to 18 after the 3rd period before claiming a 54 to 24 victory.

Avery Agee scored 6 for the Lady Tigers followed by Ella Van Vranken with 4, Kadee Ferrell and Dare Collins each with 3 and Madison Martin, Xharia Lyons, and Darrah Ramsey and Tess Barton each with 2 points.

The Tigers will travel to Cumberland County for their first district tournament game on Wednesday night, February 16. The game starts at 6 p.m. and WJLE will have LIVE coverage.

The Tigers (13-13, 5-7) are the 6th seed and Cumberland County (13-13, 7-5) is the 3rd seed.

In the previous meetings this season, the Tigers defeated the Jets 71 to 66 in Smithville on February 8 but lost at Crossville 76 to 70 on January 14.

In the regular season finale at Upperman Friday night, the Tigers were beaten 50-49.

The Tigers trailed 18 to 12 after the 1st period but took a 28 to 27 lead by halftime. The Tigers fell behind 45 to 37 by the end of the 3rd period and lost 50 to 49.

Conner Close scored 22, Elishah Ramos 14, Isaac Knowles and Brayden Antoniak each with 4, Stetson Agee 3 and Jordan Young 2.

February 14, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Board of Education will be spending funds to install HVAC heating and cooling systems in four of the district’s gymnasiums.

During its regular monthly meeting Thursday night, the school board authorized an additional $650,000 from ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds to heat and cool the DCHS, DeKalb Middle School, Northside Elementary, and DeKalb West School gymnasiums. The Smithville Elementary School gym is not included because the board still plans to replace SES with a new school.

“We have our bid in to put heating and air in four gyms. When we first started this project, we put over 20 air conditioners through the system on our school buildings and we estimated this would cost us about $1.2 million with the gym renovations but due to inflation we will have to move up to $650,000 to get that completed for the gyms. The bid has been awarded and the state has approved for us to move this ESSER money with approval from the board,” said Director Cripps.

It may be 2023 before all the HVAC systems for the gyms are installed.

Congress set aside approximately $13.2 billion of the $30.75 billion allotted to the Education Stabilization Fund through the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER Fund). Signed into law on March 27, 2020, the Department awarded these grants ­to State educational agencies (SEAs) for the purpose of providing local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools that are LEAs, with emergency relief funds to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the Nation. ESSER Fund awards to SEAs are in the same proportion as each State received funds under Part A of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, in fiscal year 2019.