Sumner County Schools

BHS Student Heads to Carnegie Hall

A Beech High School student is headed to Carnegie Hall in New York City! Congratulations to BHS Junior, Averie Kulbeda, who beat the odds and more than 260,000 entries to become a 2022 Scholastic Art Awards National Winner!

Averie's art titled “Overcome” was selected by some of the foremost leaders in the visual and literary arts for excellence in originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Averie is currently taking Art IV with art teacher, Janet Ridgill.

Sumner County Schools Awarded $35,500 in STEM Grants

Sumner County Schools is pleased to announce that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in partnership with Bicentennial Volunteers Incorporated (BVI) and Battelle Education have awarded $35,500 to nine Sumner County schools to fund science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.

Congratulations to the following schools:

• Oakmont Elementary; Cottontown - $5,000
• Indian Lake Elementary; Hendersonville - $5,000
• Portland West Middle; Portland - $5,000
• Station Camp Elementary; Gallatin - $3,500
• Westmoreland Middle; Westmoreland - $2,500
• Vena Stewart Elementary; Gallatin - $5,000
• Jack Anderson Elementary; Hendersonville - $1,000
• Portland Gateview Elementary; Portland - $3,500
• Union Elementary; Gallatin - $5,000

“We are extremely excited to receive these grants that will enrich and challenge Sumner County students,” SCS Supervisor of CTE and STEM, Chase Moore said. “Ensuring our students have access to high-quality STEM education is essential to building college and career readiness. We are thankful to Battelle Education, TVA and BVI for their continued support.”

Sumner County Schools leads the state with seven STEM accredited schools. Becoming STEM certified is a multiple year process that includes extensive work and evaluation on behalf of the teachers and administrators. Only 61 schools across the state, both public and private, have earned the Tennessee STEM Designation. Sumner County Schools has 5 schools in the process of becoming certified. This includes a mix of high schools, middle schools and elementary schools.

SCS Celebrates Career and Technical Education

Sumner County students and staff celebrated Career and Technical Education (CTE) Wednesday, March 23. CTE, formerly known as vocational education, helps students gain work experience through job shadowing, on-the-job training, internships, and industry certifications. Sumner County Schools leads the state with the most pathways, and we are in the process of adding more including aviation, mechatronics, and audio/visual production. We are also continuing to invest and grow our current programs by updating the equipment needed to help students be successful.

Included in the celebration, Portland High School Alum and Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group Nashville, Troy Tomlinson; School Board Members Jeff G. Duncan, Sumner County School Board, District 5; Alice Bachman, School Board District 3; Tammy Hayes Sumner County School Board; Sarah Andrews, Sumner County School Board-District 4; Patricia Brown; Tim Brewer; Sumner County Commissioner Deanne DeWitt; Forward Sumner President and CEO Jimmy Johnston.

Industry Certifications Earned by students:

• 2019-2020 = 451
• 2020-2021 = 610

New Programs:

• Coding in six high schools
• Audio / Visual Production
• Jailer Certification Program
• Sumner County Skills Competition
• Pre-Apprenticeship program with North American Stamping Group
• Educator Prep Program

Special thanks to CTE students Haley Durrett (Station Camp High School) and Hadley Brown (Beech High School) for speaking at today's festivities. Hayley is the 2021-22 TN State FCCLA President, and Hadley is the 2021-22 TN State DECA President. Also, thank you to Gallatin High School's culinary class for preparing today's meal. They are taught by Chef Greg West.

SCS Transportation receives $200k Grant

Congratulations to our Transportation Director Andrew Grasty and his team! They have been awarded $200,000 in federal grants to purchase 2 new school buses. We buy 15 new school buses every year. Currently, we have more than 225 in our fleet. According to Tennessee law, we can only keep a school bus on the road for a certain length of time and mileage, so on average we are replacing 15 school buses every year. The cost of a school bus is $100,000.

We drive 726 runs a day for a grand total of 7,902 miles every day. (That mileage does not include field trips or sporting events.)

Thank you to our amazing transportation department for working hard and earning this grant. Sumner County Schools is the only school district in the state to be awarded with the 2021 Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) School Bus Rebate Award. The two new buses will be eco-friendly.

Check out the full story HERE