By Stephen Dawkins

When two Jemison Girl Scouts needed help, they looked no further than their former elementary school principal, Louise Pitts.
To obtain their Bronze Award, Taylor Brown and Lexi Hann organized a community project: collecting canned food for the Sonlight Center, a local food bank, shelter and thrift store.
“They knew how we like to participate in community projects,” Pitts said. “They brought the boxes and printed out fliers for each class, and I offered an incentive: Any class where each student brought in at least two cans, they would be entered into a drawing for a prize.”
Several classes met the requirement, and Pitts said the prize has yet to be determined.
More than 600 cans were collected during the project’s official time period two weeks ago. Those cans have already been taken to Sonlight Center, and Pitts said students are still bringing in cans.

By Stephen Dawkins

Though Jemison Middle School will occupy the new Jemison Intermediate School next school year, Superintendent Keith Moore said the Chilton County Board of Education still plans for a four-school system in the city.
JMS is moving so that repairs can be made to the school’s 70-plus-year-old gymnasium.
Education officials have been waiting for the state to conduct a final inspection and officially turn over JIS, which is adjacent to Jemison Elementary School and across town from Jemison middle and high schools.
Moore said the board should take control of the new school soon and that Jemison Middle’s move will likely take place over the summer, which would require contributions from 12-month employees, such as administrators and maintenance workers.
“We want to do it when it would cause the least amount of confusion,” Moore said. “I’m sure we’ll have some teachers that will volunteer their time—and their families’.”
Jemison Middle’s move will be temporary.
“Once the repairs have been made, we’re going to go to the four-school system like we planned,” Moore said.
The board decided at its Tuesday meeting that grades 4, 5, and 6 will occupy the intermediate school. The middle school currently houses grades 5-8. Eighth grade, whose wing is actually connected to the high school, will stay at its current location while the other middle school grades move to the intermediate school.
Once the gym has been repaired, seventh grade will move back to the middle school, ninth grade will become part of the middle school, and fourth grade will move from the elementary school next door to the new school.
Moore said he did not have an estimate for the cost of repairs to the JMS gym—and said the repairs would take longer than the three months available during the summer.
Moore said the board decided it would be unsafe for middle school students to be in their current facility while repairs were being made to the gym.
“I think we’re doing the right thing,” JMS principal Mark Knight said. “This building needs a lot of attention.”

By Stephen Dawkins

Part of County Road 44 in Jemison will be closed Thursday as city workers replace a culvert pipe under the road.
The section of the road from the intersection with County Road 51 near Jemison Elementary School to the intersection with County Road 42 will be closed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., said Shannon Welch, assistant to Mayor Eddie Reed.
“We’ve got to dig up a culvert pipe and replace it,” Welch said. “With all the rain we’ve had, the road is trying to cave in.”
Welch said the pipe has deteriorated, and rains have chipped away at the side of the road. Workers will put in a new 60-inch pipe and gravel and re-asphalt the road.
The work was scheduled for this week because JES students are out of school on spring break, so the work won’t create problems with parents getting their children to and from school.
Still, the road closing means motorists will have to detour down County Road 42 to Highway 31 North, and then back up County Road 51.

By Louise Pitts

Last week, several teachers at Jemison Elementary School were awarded PEECH Grants. Betty Giles and Pennie Broussard, members of the PEECH Grant Committee, brought the good news and presented the checks to the fortunate teachers.
Since educators are experiencing trying economic times, these grants were appreciated and will be used to purchase needed items for the classroom.
The recipients were: Jill Davis, Stacie Childress, Lynn Price, Lisa Short, Hollie Connell, Alex Ellison and Samantha McClendon.
This week is National Breakfast Week. The theme is “Ready, Set, Go.”
The lunchroom ladies at Jemison Elementary School spent this past weekend decorating the lunchroom with a race car theme.
They also developed a menu to go along with the theme. Students were served “Ready, Set, Go Sausage, Biscuit, and Gravy” on Monday for breakfast.
Our lunchroom ladies always go beyond the call of duty to provide our students not only with a wonderful breakfast but to entertain and make the students’ meals enjoyable.
We are very fortunate to have such caring and talented lunchroom ladies.

Louise Pitts is the principal of Jemison Elementary School.

By Stephen Dawkins

The library at Jemison Elementary School  checked out its 100,000th book of the school year.
The occasion—which occurred during Literacy Week and on Dr. Seuss’ birthday, no less—demonstrates how teachers and administrators have challenged students to read and how the students have responded.
School librarian Regina Young didn’t know exactly what book was the 100,000th to be checked it out or what student checked it out Tuesday.
“She was so busy, she missed it,” JES Principal Louise Pitts said.
“I missed it by about 200,” Young said.
Young stays busy because the library is used so regularly.
Pitts said most libraries use a fixed schedule, where each class visits the library at a certain day and time each week, or a flex schedule, where students visit the library individually after they have finished a book.
The JES library used both types of scheduling, and so as many as 12 classes visit the library on a given day to go along with the students that drop by as they finish a book.
“Ms. Young gives us the best of both worlds,” Pitts said. “Without her doing this, we wouldn’t be learning like we’re learning.”
The emphasis is part of the school’s employment of the Accelerated Reader program, where students are tested on their reading comprehension and their reading level increases as they perform well on the tests.
Each student has his or her own library card, and they have been instructed on how to use them to check out and check in their books without Young’s help.
The school even has a reading coach, Stephanie Halpert.
The students seem to enjoy the challenge of raising their reading level and trying more difficult reads.
“Ms. Pitts, I’m on a 4.3 level!” third grader Brianna Edwards exclaimed Thursday after checking out a new book.
“They love to tell you what level they’re on,” Pitts said.
Young said it’s not uncommon for the library to check out 1,300 books a day, remarkable considering the school has an enrollment of 885.
“That’s becoming our issue now is that so many kids are checking books out, they can’t find them on their level,” Pitts said, but that’s a problem she doesn’t mind having.

By Louise Pitts

Jemison Elementary School supports the principle “whatever it takes” in educating our students.
A review of the No Child Left Behind Act quickly demonstrates that it does not list programs to be used to accomplish the standards established by the act; it is understood that not all children learn in the same way or under the same programs. JES officials also understand this same principle.
Therefore, at JES, in addition to our reading programs, we use the Scottish Rites Foundation Dyslexia Program. Teacher Judy Patterson laid the groundwork of establishing the guidelines for beginning the program at our school. Patterson attended meetings with personnel from the Scottish Rites Foundation to obtain a solid working knowledge of the foundation of the program.
Through the years, Patterson has seen numerous students, who were intelligent but struggled to read, become successful readers with their self-esteem restored.
This past fall, Patterson attended the International Dyslexia Association conference as a presenter. She and Denise Gibbs from the Scottish Rites Foundation presented data on the academic success of the students at JES. In fact, the dyslexia program has increased student achievement at JES to the point that Patterson and Gibbs were able to point out in their Power Point demonstration that students at JES achieved well above the state average.
The program has grown at JES over the past 7 years to the point that Patterson has mentored another teacher, Peggy Ray, who now also is a facilitator for the program at our school.
Teachers, parents and students are proud of the program and the success at JES. Jemison Elementary School is certainly fortunate to have Judy Patterson, who has become an expert facilitator for the dyslexia program and who is willing to do “whatever it takes” for the students who enter her room.

Louise Pitts is the principal of Jemison Elementary School.

‘A’ honor roll

First grade
Terra Anderson, Naohmi Andrade, Nathan Bailey, Hunter Baker, Georgia Belligan, Austin Black, Kinley Bolton, Luke Brasfield, Austin Brown, Carson Brown, Taylor Carden, Noah Carroll, Emily Castro-Romero, Makaylah Champion, Jacob Cleckler, Braden Compton, Cameron Crabb, Amberly Davenport, Kameron Dawson, Zully Del Valle, Harmony Demissie, Bronson Dufrene, Allison Edge, Hannah Ellison, Jose Flores, Ivonne Garcia, Patrick Garrett, Jailyn Giddens, Lane Golden, Humberto Guajardo, Katie Haggard, Caitlyn Harris, Jackson Hayes, Brianna Headley, Angie Hernandez, Caleb Hobbs, Sarah Hubbard, Kylie Hutton, Evelyn Jacobo, Nathan Johns, Sarah Jones, Anna Kendrick, Logan Kiefer, Derick Lowery, Karla Mancilla, Gabriela Marquez, Jase Marshall, Adia Martin, Rilee Martin, Hayden McCullough, Colin Meeks, Brenda Mendoza, Rebecca Mendoza, Luke Mitchell, Courtney Moore, John Moore, Madeline Morris, Phenix Patton, Addyson Plier, Brianna Poe, Cody Posey, Audrey Price, Tres Price, Adriana Quinilla Santos, Isaac Ramirez, Jason Rico, Kody Robinson, Jewelianna Rodriguez, Dallas Sadler, Ryan Scales, Austin Scott, Christian Simpson, Clara Smith, Sammi Snipes, Blaze Thompson, Christopher Tolbert, Alex Torres, Logan Toth, Marifer Valencia, Abigail Vansant, Tarun Varner, Angela Vazquez, Paisley Walker, Patrik Whittaker, Cole Wilson, Timothy Wyatt, Kaitlyn Zanella-Roberts

Second grade
Elizabeth Bice, Elijah Bittle, Bryanna Blackmon, Leah Brackin, Conner Bullock, Tosha Burnett, Jackson Burnette, Savannah Busby, McKenzie Cleckley, McKinnley Collum, Bentley Cross, Isabel Cruz, Logan Dalton, Cassidy Dansby, Leiah Davison, Savannah Dutton, Chloe Eddins, Hannah Ellison, Jared Fisher, Morgan Fowler, Emily Fricke, Grayson Gann, Emmanuel Garcia, Jesus Garcia, Sara George, Autumn Gilreath, Graci Golden, Grayson Graves, London Grinstead, Danny Hafer, Tucker Hilyer, Jasmine Ingram, Dawson Jones, Eyshala Jones, Autumn Kendrick, Julia Kiefer, Taylor Lane, Chase Lang, Tiffany Lemley, Jonathan Lowery, Axel Magallanes, Daniel Martin, Clyde Mathis, Bree Morris, Monserrath Olarte, Mattie Pace, Anna Patterson, Bryanna Phillips, Shakyia Pierce, Kelsey Porter, Nicolas Ray, Courtney Rogers, Gentry Scott, Ty Scott, Jacylin Smith, Jordan Smith, Emily Smitherman, Morgan Smitherman, Colin Tillery, Austin Tolbert, Tori Tucker, Anna Walling, Briana Watson, Emma Weaver, Michelle Williams, Braylen Woodruff, Savanna Woods, Tyler Wright

Third grade
Marissa Adams, Christopher Aldana, Jacob Beal, Hailey Bice, Suzie Blue, Hannah Bright, Tyra Brown, Tyler Burnett, Jose Campos, Hope Creamer, Akilah Davis, Megan Deavers, Sarah Dover, Brynn Elliott, Juan Garcia, Deborah Garrett, Wesley Gore, Cindy Guajardo, Jordan Hallmark, Colin Hayes, Gannon Jackson, Garrett Ledbetter, Andie Lusco, Madeline Manning, Braden McDaniel, Gracie Mims, Madyson Mizzell, Madison Nemec, Abigael Perales, Patrick Pickett, Melaney Pope, Margaret Torres, Ashley Porter, Taleshia Ramsey, Blake Smith, Anyah Smith, Lauren Tucker, Gabe Wilson, Makenna Wiseman, Logan Woodley, Kathy Yaras

Fourth grade
Dakota Arnold, Vaden Arnold, Shyanne Bailey, Josh Bice, Aaron Blankenship, Chyenne Boykin, Fletcher Brantley, Lauren Broussard, Brady Brown, Zack Burnett, Katelyn Chapman, Maleah Collum, Eric Evans, Monserrat Flores, Michael Garcia, Noah Glenn, Alyssa Keller, Madelynn Kendrick, Dylan Levering, Kelsey Lowery, Justin Macks, Morgan Mahaffey, Brady Mathews, Chase Merrell, Karmen Mims, Briana Moody, Charlsie Murphy, Hannah Northcutt, Averie Porter, Koby Posey, Courtney Ray, Danielle Sadler, Annie Smith, Ryan Smith, Sawyer Smith, Leslie Thrash, Alan Villeda

‘A-B’ honor roll

First grade
Ricky Absher, Carla Alcantara, Bryan Angel, Kelsey Argo, Cole Autrey, Samantha Baker, Adriane Beavers, Eli Brasher, Robin Burnette, Yahir Cabrera-Salazar, Kaden Childress, Macaleb Collum, Emilee Culver, Adamaris Delgado, John David Dixon, John Doaks, Ashley Drinkard, Maria Flores, Riley Giles, Jocelyn Guizar, Zyon Hardnett, Ryan Harris, Breauna Hill, Ashlee Hilyer, Drew Johns, Morgan Johnson, Jacob Lane, Natalie Larocca, Arturo Malpica, David Martinez, Yanet Melchor, Conner Miracle, Oscar Mondragon-Flores, Deven Moore, Marcos Navarro-Valtiera, Lynealya Nunn, Laisha Pinon, Adam Rico, Ethel Rico, Brandon Robinson, John Lewis Smith, Brooke Smith, Timothy St. John, Desaré Swindle, Erica Swinea, Michael Taylor, Bladimer Torres, Carlos Villeda, Madison White, Du’Vaughn Williams, Zamario Williams, Keeli Wilson

Second grade
Keith Adams, Brittany Alonso, Michelle Alstott, Alana Alverson, Dylan Benton, Austin Byars, Priscilla Carroll, Tyler Chapman, Hannah Grace Childress, Ja’Lessia Childs, Christopher Christensen, Zac Clark, Shelby Crowson, Payge Davis, Carlos Delgado, Asia Flores, Caroline Foote, Colton Forester, Aliya Franklin, Brandon Garcia, Jim Garrido, Noah Gilliland, Dulce Gonzalez, Jacob Harris, Jadelyn Hatch, Katie Ingram, Cierra James, Haley Joiner, Braden Lawley, Tanner Lee, Jacob Littleton, Damion Martin, Junithan McCall, Kimberlee Nieto, Keneth Orozco, Kobie Rainbolt, Jorge Ramos, Jordan Rape, Tyler Ray, Madeline Rhudy, Jessica Robinson, Dezmond Rogers, Phoenix Roper, Mateo Sanjuan, Alex Schrader, Kamron Simmons, Brazier Smith, Gracie Smith, Stormy Smitherman, Reace Thompson, William Turner, Antonio Verastegui, Alexis Vernon

Third grade
Elian Alvarez, Jacob Anderson, Ethan Bingham, Cassie Black, Ashlyn Blankenship, Chance Caraway, Andrew Carlisle, Shianne Conn, Shilah Conn, Brody Conway, Jacob Crabb, Tanna Curtis, Kinsley Davison, Pierston Dixon, Johniya Doaks, Caleb Driskill, Christie Dutton, A.J. Eaves, Heath Edge, Brianna Edwards, David Edwards, Daylan Edwards, Emily English, Erristen Evans, Joseph Edwards, Bryant Flores, Felix Flores, Jose Flores, Breagan Franklin, Patrick Gentry, Jasleigh Glass, Daniel Green, Blanca Guzman, Haley Haggard, Austin Harris, Dalton Harris, Sadie Henry, Carlos Hernandez, Dylan Hill, Ashton Hobbs, A.J. Jackson, Shawn Johnson, Casey Jones, James Jurgens, Dylan Knight, Hunter Knight, Braden Larocca, Adan Lowery, Hunter Lowery, Maria Maldonado, Sean Martin, Dylan McCombs, Chance Merrell, Andrew Milford, Mackenzie Mizzell, Haley Moore, Kayla Moore, Abby Moran, Callie Morris, Lexy Murphy, Sergio Nava, Tanisha Nunn, Jason Perez, James Peters, Yoeth Pinon, Preston Porter, Tanner Porter, Camryn Pritchard, Grayson Ray, Christopher Rico, Bella Rowland, Jose Salazar, Kamie Schmidt, Hannah Belle Seagle, Joshua Singletary, Katelin Small, Samantha Smith, Jaray Smitherman, Kiara Steele, Jaren Swindle, Jarred Taylor, Jake Thrash, Laurin Tillery, Juan Trejo, Autumn Turner, Kyla Wilson, Brianna Woodall, Kaytlen Woodruff, Kasey Zell

Fourth grade
Isaiah Absher, Lane Adams, Dalton Anderson, Austin Argo, Blake Ash, Alyssa Benton, Gingeng Blanco, Kennise Bolton, Carla Brantley, Cody Brasher, Nicholas Brasher, Ricky Brown, Andrew Byars, Aryn Caputo, Dylan Carden, Oscar Carillo, Clint Carlee, Peyton Carroll, Austin Chapman, Zacoya Childs, Jordan Cleckler, Brandon Crabb, Blake Davenport, Dustin Davis, Hannah Dutton, J.T. Ellison, Jayda Emfinger, Amaya Freeman, Madison Guy, Elijah Gilliland, Nathan Gilliland, Tremayne Green, Noah Henry, Cody Hilyer, Justin Ingram, Haley Jaimeson, Edson Jimenez, Makenzie Johnson, Ashley Joiner, Trinity Kendrick, Kevin Lucas, Tyler Lutz, Shanda Manasco, Cheyenne Martin, Ashley Martinez, Jaime McCaffrey, Tyler Means, Gavin Miller, Memorie Miller, Drue Moore, Jordan Naugher, André Nix, Vicki Osburn, Lawson Payton, Denise Perez, Dalton Phillips, Jessica Phillips, Landen Posey, Kaycee Ross, Heidi Salazar, Jose Sanchez, Alley Smith, Ryan Spigener, Patrick Storey, Lucia Tapia, Zachary Vowell, Samantha Wyatt, Noah Young, Kinsey Zell

From staff reports

Jemison Elementary School’s K-2 students participated in the state mandated mid-year Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills testing, and, because of the hard work of the students, teachers and parents, the DIBELS scores were wonderful.
As a result, Denise Scarbrough, second grade teacher, arranged a parade for the K-2 students who benchmarked on the DIBELS test.
Scarbrough contacted George Martin, Jemison High School band director, and asked if the JHS Blue Regiment drumline could come to JES and lead the parade around the school.
To make the parade even more festive, students and teachers decorated hats to wear and made noisemakers to use in the parade.
There were a total of 509 students who successfully benchmarked and participated in the parade. This means 99 percent of the students tested at Jemison Elementary School benchmarked.
The Jemison Elementary School students and teachers loved the parade, and the Jemison High School Blue Regiment drumline also enjoyed leading such a happy and appreciative group around the school. The parade has become a tradition at JES, and both JES and JHS students look forward to the event.

Jemison Elementary School had breakfast with Santa last Saturday. The students and parents enjoyed breakfast, pictures with Santa Claus, crafts, and they could even sign up for a phone call from Santa. Around 200 people attended the event. Pictured with Santa are Dallas Sadler, Reed Brown, John Russell Brown and reindeer Taylon Simpson and Corey Short.

By Louise Pitts | Jemison Elementary School

In October, schools around the nation celebrated Bus Safety Week. During that week, most schools emphasized that cars need to stop as students load and unload buses and emphasized student safety while riding and loading buses.
Chilton County schools also stressed these precautions during that designated week. However, employees of all Chilton County schools know the importance of bus safety not only for that one week but for all 36 weeks that students are in school. Two young Jemison Elementary School students realized last week that their safety is important to all school employees who touch their lives.
A 6-year-old boy and his 5-year-old sister rode the bus home. Upon arriving at their destination, their bus driver, Misty Smith, realized no one was home. The boy told Smith they were to crawl through the bedroom window and wait for their parents to come home.
Smith told them to remain on the bus. When she finished her route, Smith went back to these students’ home. After turning off the bus and securing it, she went to the door of the trailer and tried to get someone to answer. With no success, she loaded the students back on the bus and radioed the bus shop to talk with Chilton County Bus Supervisor Joe Dennis, who then called Jemison Elementary School.
Sherry Fancher, Jemison Elementary School assistant principal, and I usually stay at school until 4:30 p.m., when all Jemison Elementary School buses have completed their routes. On this particular day, Ms. Fancher and I were traveling back from a conference in South Alabama.  In our absence, math coach Cheryl Thompson was graciously covering the phones in the office after school was out.
Dennis reached Thompson, and she called my cell phone. I told her to tell Dennis to have Smith bring the students back to school. Thompson informed me that she had an appointment and would have to leave at 4:30. Therefore, I called school secretary Marilyn Scoggins and asked her if she could go back to school, wait for the students and try to reach their parents. Scoggins agreed to do this.
I spoke to Dennis by phone and told him that Fancher and I were well south of Montgomery on Interstate 65 but that Scoggins would meet the students at the school and wait with them until their parents arrived. Dennis took it upon himself to head to the school and to wait with Scoggins and the students so they would not be alone at the school.
The mother finally arrived at 5:45 p.m. Scoggins and Dennis made it clear to the mother that someone needed to be at home when the children arrived or that she needed to make arrangements for them to go to a relative’s or friend’s home in the afternoon. After the students and their mother left, Dennis and Scoggins phoned Ms. Fancher and I to let us know the students had been safely returned to their mother.
The thoughts of what could have happened to two young children left unattended are a frightening topic to be pondered. Without the bus driver, Misty Smith, being concerned for her passengers, these two young students would have been home alone for a couple of hours.
Smith, Thompson, Scoggins, and Dennis went beyond the call of duty to ensure the two young children were safe. None of these four people were paid extra for their extended work hours. None of these people did what they did for pay. They did it for the safety of students and without complaint.
This is what education is: caring for the whole child. The Chilton County school system is blessed to have such concerned and caring employees, and these two students are blessed to have crossed paths with these employees.
Bus safety is more than just making sure cars stop for the bus flag or that students safely load and unload the bus. Bus safety is about delivering the children safely to school and safely back home.
Misty Smith, Cheryl Thompson, Marilyn Scoggins, and Joe Dennis fully believe this. They not only talk the talk but they walk the walk.

– Louise Pitts is the principal at Jemison Elementary School.