News

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), in partnership with Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation (GELF), is opening up an opportunity for parents to order free at-home reading resources this winter for any of their children in grades K-2. 

Through this partnership, TDOE and GELF want to encourage at-home reading practice to help young learners become stronger readers outside of the classroom. Based on if a child is in kindergarten, 1^st or 2^nd grade, they will receive the At-Home Decodable Book Series, which contains 20+ exciting stories full of sounds and words to practice, and age-appropriate, high-quality books from Scholastic.  

All Tennessee families can order one booklet pack for each of their kindergarten, 1^st, and 2^nd grade students using this site.  

“We know early literacy is incredibly important and sets the foundation for a child’s education and life after graduation,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “Thanks to partners like GELF, Tennessee families can easily order free books and resources to make reading fun this winter break and help their children become excellent readers.” 

This launch is part of the family component of the state’s Reading 360 initiative to help boost strong reading skills amongst Tennessee students.  

A decodable is a book or story carefully sequenced to include letter sounds and words familiar to readers that allow them to practice important phonics and decoding skills at their grade level. Families can read decodables at home with their children to help them sound out words and build their reading skills. 

“Caregivers hold so many roles and responsibilities, and the Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation (GELF) is here to support families in giving their children the brightest future,” says James Pond, GELF President. “Through this partnership, we aim to strengthen early literacy by promoting a culture of reading and learning outside of the classroom. When children are on holiday break from school, we encourage families to take a break from the screens and read together with these resources. Books build learners; books bond families.” 

How to Order 

All Tennessee families can order one booklet pack for each of their kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade students using this site. The order will be delivered to the mailing address provided. 

Your order will be fulfilled in the order it was received. Please note that USPS is continuing to experience staffing shortages and delays, and your Decodables resources will arrive as soon as possible.  

Governor Bill Lee has announced his infrastructure proposal, “Build With Us,” to address critical transportation needs across the state. The proposed legislation will ensure the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), under the leadership of Commissioner Butch Eley, meets the state’s current and future transportation challenges – both urban and rural – to prepare for increased economic advantages.

“As Tennessee continues to experience unprecedented growth, it’s critical we invest in roads and bridges to fully harness our state’s success,” said Governor Bill Lee. “I asked Commissioner Eley to look at best practices around the country to see what’s working and what isn’t. The Build With Us plan will provide quality infrastructure in both rural and urban communities and blunt congestion without raising the gas tax or going into debt.”

Tennessee’s growth is far outpacing roadway capacity investments. $26 billion is needed over and above the 2017 IMPROVE Act to address both urban and rural congestion in Tennessee. This includes nearly $14 billion in the four major urban areas – Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Knoxville. To address the state’s transportation needs, the Lee administration is developing a modern approach to tackle urban congestion while preserving funds to address rural transportation challenges, providing an expanded set of project delivery tools, and creating a new paradigm for running a high-performance department of transportation.

The proposal seeks the use of Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) that allow private investment in new roadway infrastructure. Tennessee is the only state in the southeast that does not allow such partnerships for developing roads and bridges. Under these arrangements, a private-sector partner contracts with TDOT to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain Choice Lanes. Choice Lanes give drivers the option to pay a user fee to access an additional lane with more reliable trip times, while keeping the option to use traditional highway lanes.

Information about the “Build With Us” initiative can be found here: https://www.tn.gov/tdot/build-with-us.html.

“Christmas is fast approaching and there are still needy children and families on our Secret Santa waiting list,” said Cannon County Coordinator Amanda Hammond. “It’s not too late for your family, business, or your organization to get involved.” 

“Bringing joy to children who need it most is what the holidays are really all about,” encouraged Hammond. “Please consider sponsoring a family and help us bring the magic of Christmas to children who have had a difficult year.” 

There are three ways you can make a difference this Christmas: 

• Sponsor a family as their Secret Santa.  Shop from the children’s wish list provided by the CAC and purchase gift cards for food. 
• Be a Secret Santa by providing gift cards for the family to purchase Christmas gifts and food.  This is a great option if you don’t have time to shop.   
• Sponsor the Child Advocacy Center during the holidays by providing a special offering, in-kind gift, or financial contribution.  Your sponsorship will help us continue to provide crisis intervention services free of charge to children and families. 

It is a simple process.  Visit the Child Advocacy Center website at www.cacrutherford.org/secret-santa to download a sponsor form, fill it out, and send it back to us!  

Email: Amanda Hammond at ahammond@cannoncac.org.  

Mail: 214 West Water Street, Woodbury, TN 37190 

Fax: (615) 563-9916 

“The Christmas drop off dates are a little earlier this year – December 8 and 9, but don’t worry, there’s still time!” concluded Hammond 

For any questions about becoming a Secret Santa or if you need help filling out the form, call the Cannon County Child Advocacy Center office at (615) 563-9915.  

The Child Advocacy Center works as a multi-disciplinary team with Department of Children’s Services, law enforcement, and the District Attorney’s Office to respond to child abuse, child sexual abuse, and children exposed to their parent’s drug use.  The organization is a 501c3 non-profit agency and your contribution is tax deductible. 

Secretary of State Tre Hargett cautions Tennesseans to be wary of scams as they prepare to make end-of-the-year and holiday-season charitable contributions. “During the holidays and at the beginning of a new year, many Tennesseans make donations to the charitable causes they support,” said Secretary Hargett. “I encourage everyone to be diligent to make sure a charitable organization is legitimate before writing a check or donating online and we have resources that can help.” To help Tennesseans avoid charity fraud and maximize their donation’s impact, the Secretary of State’s Division of Business and Charitable Organizations created a Wise Giving Tips video on sos.tn.gov/charities. The Wise Giving Tips are: If a nonprofit asks you for a contribution, check to see if it’s registered with the State of Tennessee on the Secretary of State’s website sos.tn.gov/charities or by calling 615-741-2555. Take your time. Resist pressure to give on the spot. Ask questions. If an organization has a specific mission, ask how and who will benefit from your donation. If you are asked for a donation via text or email, verify the request is directly from the charity or nonprofit. Do your own research and don’t assume a social media or blog recommendation has been approved by the nonprofit. If you give through an app or website, make sure your donation is going directly to the organization. Avoid giving cash. Always ask for a receipt and if your contribution is tax deductible. Pay close attention to the name of the nonprofit organization. There are many organizations with similar names. Don’t forget there are many ways to give, such as volunteering your time. If a paid fundraiser asks you for a donation, ask how much is kept by the fundraiser and how much goes to the nonprofit. All charities must register with the State of Tennessee. To see if a charity is registered, visit sos.tn.gov/charities or call 615-741-2555. A charity that isn’t registered could raise a red flag for potential donors. The Better Business Bureau, Charity Navigator, Charity Watch and GuideStar are also useful resources for information about charitable organizations. By taking the time to research before giving, donors could prevent their hard-earned dollars from falling into the wrong hands. Tennesseans are encouraged to report false, misleading or deceptive fundraising activity to the Division of Business and Charitable Organizations at 615-741-2555.

  

The Tennessee Department of Education has released the 2021-22 State Report Card, an online tool designed for parents, families and education stakeholders to understand how Tennessee’s districts and schools are serving students. 

The State Report Card provides families and other stakeholders information about how Tennessee schools and districts are performing to inform decisions and strategic investments to best support students.  

“With the release of the State Report Card, Tennessee continues our firm commitment to providing families with clear, actionable information on how our districts and schools are serving students,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “The Report Card allows stakeholders to access years’ worth of meaningful data through an interactive, easy-to-navigate online platform, and now the latest data is available to help Tennesseans to explore and learn about their local schools and districts.” 

This year’s State Report Card, as in previous years, contains general information and state-, district-, and school-level data including enrollment, finance, and staffing. In addition, the State Report Card includes the following performance indicators—academic achievement, growth (district and school level only), chronically out of school, and progress on English language proficiency, Ready Graduate, and graduation rate.  

The 2021-22 State Report Card has been improved and contains several new features including: 

·  Improved usability and accessibility across district and school pages 

·  Improved interactive visualization  

·  Redesigned overall performance and information pages 

·  Filter functions for school/district designations and distinctions  

·  New badges for school designations and school/district distinctions  

·  Google translator option  

“The Tennessee State Report Card is an informative tool to assist Cannon County Schools in the use of data and to find opportunities to aid our students and educators,” said William Freddy Curtis, Director of Schools, Cannon County Schools. “As educators, we gain valuable knowledge from assessing and adjusting our strategies to assist our students for the best possible educational outcome, and the Report Card aids us to demonstrate whether our plans have benefited our students. It also assists us in observing how Cannon County Schools are doing in comparison to the State of Tennessee as a whole. The Cannon County Schools State Report Card 2021-2022 can be found here.” 

The 2021-22 State Report Card can be accessed here. Additional resources on the State Report Card are available here . 

For additional data on schools and districts, visit the Data Downloads page.  

Unemployment in a majority of Tennessee’s counties remained below 5% during October 2022, according to newly released data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Eighty-nine counties recorded rates below 5%, while the remaining six counties had rates at or over that threshold.   In October, every county in the state did experience a small uptick in their unemployment rates. Cannon County’s rate for October was 3.0 percent (resulting in 208 residents looking for work).  The number is up by half of a percentage point.   Williamson County had the lowest rate in the state for the month. At 2.4%, the county’s jobless number inched up by 0.3 of a percentage point.   Moore, Cheatham, and Wilson counties had the next lowest rates at 2.6%. Moore County’s rate experienced an uptick of 0.2 of a percentage point, while Cheatham and Wilson counties each saw their rates increase by 0.3 of a percentage point.

Scott and Perry counties had the next highest rates for the month. Scott County’s rate went from 4.5% to 5.2% and Perry County’s rate increased from 4.7% to 5.2%.

Statewide, October’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained low at 3.5% and still near the record low of 3.2%.

Across the nation, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate grew by 0.2 of a percentage point in October to 3.7%. Compared to October 2021, the national rate is down 0.9 of a percentage point.


To learn more about available job training, how to enroll in Adult Education classes, or to search for employment, Tennesseans can visit TNWorkReady.com.

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) recently launched a state-level vision and initiative to create a momentum-building year with key goals to increase the college-going rate and better align education to meet the state’s growing workforce needs. 

As an early indicator for the momentum year, a record-breaking number of students applied for Tennessee Promise program in the most recent application cycle that closed on November 1, 2022.

Preliminary data for the High School Class of 2023 show that 64,612 high school seniors applied for Tennessee Promise, the most in the program’s history to date. 

The Tennessee Promise program includes a last-dollar scholarship that provides recent high school graduates the opportunity to complete an associate degree or certificate program free of tuition and mandatory fees at a public community college, a Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT), or a public or private university with an eligible associate degree program. As a last-dollar scholarship, Tennessee Promise funds the remaining balance of tuition and mandatory fees after all other gift aid has been applied. The program pairs Tennessee Promise students with a mentor and support through the state’s partnering organizations, tnAchieves and The Ayers Foundation.

Each year, THEC produces a report outlining the impact of Tennessee Promise. The annual report presents descriptive data on Tennessee Promise applicants and students, student outcomes, student transfer behavior, and program finances. Today, THEC released the Tennessee Promise Annual Report for 2022 with several key findings:

• Since inception, over 123,000 Tennessee Promise students have received over $181 million in scholarships to alleviate college costs.
• Over 31,000 Tennessee Promise students have earned a credential since the program began. This translates to 47.9% of cohort one, 45.3% of cohort two, 40.8% of cohort three, and 35.1% of cohort four earning a credential. Like with transfer, the number of degrees earned will continue to grow as the program matures.
• Over 15,000 Tennessee Promise students have transferred to a four-year Tennessee public university to continue their education. This number continues to grow as the Promise program matures.
• The 2021 decline in Tennessee Promise student enrollment is consistent with declines in college-going observed for the Class of 2021 overall, as found in THEC’s College Going and the Class of 2021 Report.

Major Momentum Year for the Class of 2023 is Growing

Last week, THEC completed a series of regional meetings across the state to share the state-level goals, to garner buy-in, and to discuss localized college-going rate data and strategies to support student success with local education agencies, higher education institutions, business and industry and workforce development leaders, and community-based organizations. 

In total, THEC hosted and engaged with more than 500 leaders and participants during the regional meetings. THEC will continue to collect, analyze, and outline the key learnings from the momentum year and determine and release recommendations to build on the momentum with a new long-term vision and attainment goal for the state.

 With Tennessee’s college-going rate trending downward over the past five years, the entire state is coming together to take swift action to inform and engage more students with the many educational and job training options they have after high school.

An investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has resulted in the arrest of a Cannon County corrections officer accused of assaulting an ex-girlfriend.

On November 18^th, at the request of 16th Judicial District Attorney General Jennings Jones, TBI Special Agents began investigating allegations of assault involving Cannon County Corrections Officer Brendan Michael Lee. The investigation revealed that Lee assaulted an ex-girlfriend during an argument at her home on Friday.

On Friday afternoon, TBI agents obtained a warrant charging Lee with Aggravated Domestic Assault. He was arrested and booked into the Cannon County Jail on a $1,500 bond.

T. Wayne Williams, Woodbury FFA Chapter President at Cannon County High School in Woodbury, Tennessee, has been selected to attend the Next Gen: Animal Systems Conference in Denver, Colorado, February 28^th – March 3^rd, 2023. 

Fifty applicants were selected out of the competitive pool of National FFA memberships from across the country. This conference is described as a “unique learning and networking experience [for its attendees].” Next Gen Conference has an exciting program lined up for attendees, including:  

• New and emerging ideas, trends and products in animal systems.
• Advocacy and Engagement
• Sustainable Agriculture
• Career/College Plan Development
• Chapter/Community Engagement

Williams will fly and spend the week working amongst some of National FFA’s best and brightest pursuing to make an impact within the animal science community.He said, “I am extremely honored and excited to be selected to attend the Next Gen: Animal Systems Conference. This truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I can’t wait for all the experiences that lie ahead at this conference. I hope to learn more about the animal industry as a whole and the advancements in technology that are coming to this industry. This conference will allow me to bring back ideas and trending topics to my family’s beef operation for my supervised agriculture experience and to my chapter.”

“I am extremely excited for T. Wayne to have this opportunity. He is truly the epitome of what qualities an FFA member should possess and represents Woodbury FFA and Cannon County High School Agriculture Department through all of his endeavors” said Emily Haley, Woodbury FFA Advisor- Cannon County High School.

This conference will allow Williams to have insight into the animal industry and bring back those ideas and topics to his own chapter. These will impact future Career Development Events, Leadership Contests and Conferences, as well as his application of knowledge towards the Tennessee FFA Agriscience Fair. 

The National FFA, and Woodbury FFA, readily prepares students for a variety of career paths. As the mission statement says, “FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agriculture education.” His attendance at this conference will do just that.

“T. Wayne is an outstanding young man and scholar,” said Mr. William Freddy Curtis – Director of Cannon County Schools. “This is a tremendous opportunity, not only for Mr. Williams to experience, but that he will bring back a world of information to share with his fellow Agriscience students at Cannon County High School.  We wish for him to have a unique experience that will be life-changing and rewarding for him personally in his agriculture journey.  T. Wayne represents Cannon County Schools as one of our best!  I appreciate his personal efforts to help in the MISSION of Cannon County Schools: – ‘To Actively Engage in Excellence EVERY Day in EVERY Way!’ He is most assuredly doing that in his chosen field of Agriculture!”   

Final details are being addressed as the 32^nd edition of the Merchants Open House returns this weekend to downtown Woodbury.  For the past several years, the event has been known as Cannon Country Christmas. 

Participating merchants will offer specials, unique items, giveaways and treats.  Stores will be open late Friday night and offers will continue Saturday.  If tradition is true, Santa will be visiting downtown beginning at 5pm Friday.  Parents will be encouraged to take pictures of their children with the North Pole’s number one elf, Ole Saint Nick.

Members of Dillion Street Baptist Church will recreate the first Christmas with a living nativity scene on the square complete with animals.  The recreation will be offered Friday evening from 5 till 8pm.

On Saturday, the day will end with the Merchants Luminated Christmas Parade beginning at 6pm.

Cannon County’s Radio Station invites you to enjoy the event and remember that Christmas shopping should start at home.