​Sycamore High School students put their talents to use before the Thanksgiving holiday to create a sensory board for the school’s Life Skills class.
 
Students in Johnny Staggs’ tech issues and advance design classes spent a few weeks creating the sensory board.
 
As a member of the school’s Best Buddies program, student Alyssa Pinkston said she knows many of the Life Skills students personally and she wanted to include certain items on the board that they would enjoy.
 
“I wanted to create something they can use on a daily basis that not only helps them, but also helps the teachers keep them active,” she said.
 
Sensory boards contain various textures and items that stimulate a person’s senses and provide practice for motor skills.
 
Some of the items included on the board include light switches, door knobs, door latches, clickers and a variety of different wheels. There’s also a small carpet room and space for a piano keyboard.
 
Pinkston said the students decided to paint the board in pastel colors so it will have a calming and reassuring effect on the Life Skills students.
 
Staggs said his students used their creativity in helping design the board.
 
“I told them it was their project and not mine. They brought in items from home, and Van’s Hardware in Pleasant View also donated a lot of the items,” he said.

​Cheatham County Schools hosted the annual district wide Spelling Bee Nov. 21-22.
 
The district’s top spellers in grades 4-8 convened at Cheatham Middle School for this year’s competition.
 
The school district appreciates the sponsorship of Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation, which continues to be an annual supporter of this academic competition.
 
District Wide Spelling Bee Winners:
 
Fourth Grade
 
First Place: Ava McGlone, Kingston Springs Elementary School
Second Place: Autumn Payne, Ashland City Elementary School
Third Place: Sophie Haggard, Pleasant View Elementary School
 
Fifth-Eighth Grade
 
First Place: Alex Barnhill, Sycamore Middle School
Second Place: Savana McGlone, Harpeth Middle School
Third Place: Dorothy Roach, Sycamore Middle School
 
District Wide Spelling Bee Participants:
 
Fourth Grade
 
Ashland City Elementary
Montana Lee
Autumn Payne
J’Lena Zavala
Hannah McFarlin (alternate)
 
East Cheatham Elementary
Kylah Evans
Alex Gonzalez
Corinna Norris
Kreala Fox (alternate)
 
Kingston Springs Elementary
Aaron Higgs
Maddelynn Mangrum
Ava McGlone
Thomas Pickard (alternate)
 
Pegram Elementary
Journey Donnelly
Maggie Lawson
Audrey Greer
Jordan Johnston (alternate)
 
Pleasant View Elementary
Sophie Haggard
Bradley Hudgens
Kalli Parr
Katelynn Fisher (alternate)
 
West Cheatham Elementary School
Lorelai Caraway
Tasia Fowler
Danny Shirey
Marlee Whittaker (alternate)
 
Fifth-Eighth Grade Participants
 
Fifth Grade
 
Jayme Lawrence, Cheatham Middle School
Luke Schaeffer, Cheatham Middle School
Orion Blanton, Harpeth Middle School
Sarah Sneed, Harpeth Middle School
Dorothy Roach, Sycamore Middle School
Ryan Rose, Sycamore Middle School
 
Sixth Grade
 
Nick Brunetti, Cheatham Middle School
Eli Johnstone, Cheatham Middle School
Frank Deans, Harpeth Middle School
Savana McGlone, Harpeth Middle School
Corra McGlothren, Sycamore Middle School
Sierra Primm, Sycamore Middle School
 
Seventh Grade
 
Javy Matos, Cheatham Middle School
Kathryn Simpson, Cheatham Middle School
Bella Wallace, Harpeth Middle School
Isaiah Watts, Harpeth Middle School
Ranya Moreland, Sycamore Middle School
Evan Webb, Sycamore Middle School
 
Eighth Grade
 
Geoffrey Canada, Cheatham Middle School
Emily Cluck, Cheatham Middle School
Jayden Hayes, Harpeth Middle School
Thanya Nguyen, Harpeth Middle School
Alex Barnhill, Sycamore Middle School
Abby Roach, Sycamore Middle School
 
Alternates
 
Austin Campbell, Cheatham Middle School
Levi Struck, Sycamore Middle School 

​Amy Cowell wants students at Cheatham County Central High School to be successful in whatever education or career path they chose after graduation.
 
“The more knowledge they have, the better informed they are and the better decisions they can make,” said Cowell, the school’s new college adviser through the Advise TN program.
 
CCCHS was one of 30 schools in Tennessee to be selected for the new program, which is coordinated by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
 
The three-year pilot program is an extension of Gov. Bill Haslam’s Drive to 55 campaign to boost the number of Tennesseans with higher education credentials.
 
Cowell recently started at CCCHS after completing rigorous training on best practices in financial aid, college and career advising and mentoring.
 
She will work hand in hand with guidance counselors Beth Campbell and Brandi Lunsford to provide services to students and build upon the work already being done at the school.
 
Cowell, who lives in Cheatham County, has worked in the education field in Middle Tennessee for more than 20 years.
 
She was selected to work at CCCHS because of her expertise with College Access programming as well as her familiarity with the needs of high school students.
 
Cowell plans to meet one-on-one with all juniors and seniors to primarily increase their knowledge and familiarity of post-secondary options.
 
She is available weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
 
As part of the program, she will work year-round, meaning she will be available to help students during the summer months. Parents are also welcome to meet with Cowell.
 
“I am here to help students with the college and career process, whether it is providing assistance with applying for scholarships, understanding the Tennessee Promise and HOPE scholarship programs and writing essays and resumes,” Cowell said.
 
She added: “It’s also important for students to understand how college admission offices work and the information they are looking for.”
 
Cowell said she is looking forward to making a difference at CCCHS.
 
“I get my enjoyment from seeing the students feeling successful. When they are succeeding, it makes everything worthwhile,” she said.

​Cheatham County Central High School Athletic Director Jeremy Boyd has received the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s A.F. Bridges Award for Athletic Director of the Year in District 6.
 
Boyd, who has taught and coached at CCCHS for 20 years, was presented with the award on Thursday, Nov. 10 at Hillwood High School in Nashville.
 
Nominations for the award were made by a citizenship/sportsmanship committee and member schools in each TSSAA athletic district, and the final decision was made by a state selection committee.
 
The award is presented for displaying high ideals of integrity and ethics and for the examples of citizenship and sportsmanship.
 
Boyd, who has served as the CCCHS athletic director since 2013, said he was honored to receive the award.
 
“Serving as a coach and athletic director for the school that is home to me has been nothing short of rewarding. Winning seasons are great, but for me personally, my biggest accomplishment in the 20 years of serving in athletics is the impact I have made on the athletes I have coached,” he said.
 
Boyd said coaching and serving as the athletic director is about being a leader, mentor and life coach as well as making a positive impact on each athlete and fellow coach he comes in contact with. 
           
“It is an honor to serve in this position I proudly hold and to continue to positively impact lives through athletics,” he said.
 
Boyd is a 1996 graduate of Austin Peay State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in special education. Upon graduating from APSU, he started working as a special education teacher at CCCHS and served as an assistant football coach and head wrestling coach. Twenty years later, he still leads the wrestling team.
 
During his tenure at CCCHS, Boyd has also served as head football and baseball coach.
 
In addition to coaching at the high school, he spearheaded and established the wrestling program at Cheatham Middle School. He is also a founding member of the Mid-Cumberland Athletic Conference for wrestling.
 
The A. F. Bridges Awards program is named after the late Bridges, the first full-time executive secretary of the TSSAA. Under his leadership, athletics in Tennessee reached a level of excellence and competence that earned the respect of all people.

The Cheatham County Board of Education recognized the district’s Employees of the Month at its Monday, Nov. 7 meeting.
​
* Not pictured are Amanda Rasch, Ashland City Elementary School; Jacob Hendrix, West Cheatham Elementary School; Rebecca Haney, Cheatham County Central High School; Kelly Hutchison, Harpeth High School; and Hal Stone, Riverside Academy

​The students at Harpeth High School have spoken: If the 2016 election were in their hands, Republican nominee Donald Trump would be next president of the United States.
 
Students in Jamie Morse’s government class conducted a mock presidential election on Friday, Nov. 4.
 
Trump won with 340 votes, and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton received 111 votes.
 
Students in Morse’s class created ballot boxes and paper ballots and then visited each classroom so students could vote. After all the ballots were cast, the students tallied the results.
 
Morse has conducted a mock election in every presidential race during her 30-plus years as an educator.
 
“This is a good experience for the students so they can see how the election process works,” she said.
 
Morse gave a shout out to student Noah Cook and his father, Dan, who secured “I Voted” stickers from the Cheatham County Election Commission office. Students received a sticker after casting their ballot.
 
Morse also works with Cheatham County Administrator of Elections Sandy Cherry to register students to vote when they turn 18.

​The Sycamore High School band won the top award in its class at the 2016 USBands Southern States Championship.
 
The band, under the direction of Andrew Gaskill, participated in the national competition on Saturday, Nov. 5 in Chattanooga.
 
This marked the second time in the band’s history to compete at a national competition.
 
This was Sycamore’s last competition performance of its 2016 production, “Send in the Clowns.”
 
The band performed twice and received the following awards:
 
*First Place in Class III Open - State Champions
*Best Visual in Class III Open
*Best Overall Effect in Class III Open
*USBands Southern States Championship Finalist
 
Sycamore was also the recipient of the Cadets Award of Excellence.
 
This award is presented to the band with the highest achievement in the area of creativity, excellence and overall effect.
 
Sycamore was selected out of all 28 bands at the championship for the award.
 
“I am immensely proud of the Sycamore students. They represented themselves and the community well and performed with a great deal of energy and passion. It has been absolutely amazing to see the growth of this ensemble over the past years. I feel very fortunate to work with some of the best students in the state,” Gaskill said.
 
The band will perform the production on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. at the Ralph Spangler Stadium on the Sycamore campus. Friends, family members and the community are invited to attend.