DeKalb County High School recognized its student, teacher/staff member, and parents of the month for November last week, with each honoree receiving a certificate and a gift card for a meal. A different restaurant offers a meal gift card to each month’s honorees.
Assistant DCHS Principal Thomas Cagle said Freshman Eli Redmon and Sophomore Jamison Bare tied as Co-Students of the Month, voted on by the teachers, after they came to the aid of a student having a medical issue on a school bus.
“It came to my attention last week that we had a medical emergency on a school bus,” Cagle explained. “Mr. Mike Merriman, who was driving the bus, came to me and explained how that these two gentlemen helped this student during that emergency until others could get there to take over.”
“I made the recommendation for these guys to receive this month’s Student of the Month award,” Cagle continued. “Normally we keep a list of nominations, and the teachers vote on it, but this month I overrode that procedure and informed the teachers that these two young men deserved to be recognized for the deeds and goodness they were able to show. All the other teachers agreed so we decided to make them the co-students of the month for their efforts in helping someone in distress.”
Both Redmon and Bare said they were honored by the recognition.
“I was sitting down on the bus, and I noticed that the girl was staring up at the ceiling and then she fell over,” said Redmon. “I didn’t know what was going on at first and then she fell out on the floor. I got up and let the bus driver know what was happening. The girl is a close friend of mine, so I had to get up and help. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to her.”
Bare said he had been taking a nap on the bus when he was awakened by the commotion. “I had been asleep on the bus and a kid next to me woke me up because this girl had passed out from a seizure and was on the floor. The bus driver told me how to hold her, so I was tending to her until the ambulance got there.”
Redmon is the son of Justin and Ashton Redmon, with three brothers and one sister. He is on the football team and said he is trying out for the soccer team. He said wants to attend UT-Knoxville.
Bare’s parents are Joshua and Dana Bare with four sisters. He is a member of the HOSA, Spanish, Science, and Literature Club and he is in the band and the school’s winter guard. He plans to attend Fortis College and become a nurse practitioner.
Assistant Principal Cagle then announced Wade and Tonya Youngblood as Parents of the Month, based on an essay written by their daughter, Christina, a junior at DCHS.
“Once again, these essays are a chance for students to detail the sacrifices and support the parents offer them outside of school that we may not know about,” Cagle said. “Christina is a very wonderful young lady here at school. She has come a long way herself in becoming the student and young lady she is and we could not be prouder of her. We are happy to be giving her parents this award based on the essay she wrote this month.”
“I wrote this a long time ago,” Christina said. “I wanted to do it to show how much they actually mean to me, and they mean everything to me”.
Christina said she wants to become a nurse after she graduates.
Christina’s father, Wade, said he didn’t know what was going on when he was called to the school. “I didn’t know what this was. They said it was an award for her to get us up here. I’m tickled to death. She means everything to us. It doesn’t seem like she should be 16 years old yet. It seems she should still be a baby. Time goes by too quick.”
“That’s the way I feel about her too,” added Christina’s mother Tonya.
The “Staff member of the Month” honor was presented to Kathy Chapman, the cafeteria manager at DCHS.
“She does a great job of keeping me and everyone else fed every day,” said Assistant Principal Cagle. “Mr. (Bruce) Curtis, Ms. (Jenny) Norris, and I select these honorees each month based on what we see, and Ms. Kathy does a great job not only helping us with our crazy schedule sometimes to make sure we stay on track to get all the students in and out and fed but she also does a good job in building relationships with these kids.”
“She knows the students and helps out anyone who needs it,” Cagle continued. “She is just a great example for how we like our staff at DCHS to interact with the kids and each other. Kathy is a joy to be around, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have her here with us.”
Chapman said she was surprised by the honor. “I am glad to receive this honor. I do try to be good to the kids,” said Chapman.
Kathy, a resident of Liberty, has worked at DCHS for 19 years and been the cafeteria manager for the last two years. She began her career in the school system at DeKalb West School where she worked for six months under Georgia Young, who was cafeteria manager there at the time. Young is now deceased.