Sumner County Schools

Middle College High School Senior Gets Published

Sumner County Middle College High School Senior, Noah Jeter, is the first high school student from Tennessee to be published in Manchester Times, an International Publication! Noah was the sole author of “The Validity of Numerals” with Vol State Professor Dr. Jonathan Kenigson completing the first peer review. Professor Kenigson saw Noah’s math potential and asked permission for him to be published. Noah is on track to earn his Mechanical Engineering Associates Degree of Science in May 2023 from Vol State, two weeks before his high school graduation. Way to go Noah!

Read the article on the Manchester Times HERE

Merrol Hyde Magnet Among Only Seven Schools Nationally to Earn Paideia Accreditation

Merrol Hyde Magnet School is the only school in the mid-state to achieve National Accreditation as a Certified Paideia School for Creative Thinking. Teachers integrate didactic instruction and intellectual coaching with Paideia Seminar to produce enlightened minds that can confidently collaborate with various people, concepts, and opinions, while developing real world skills, critical thinking and problem solving.

Merrol Hyde Magnet School became a National Accredited Paideia School in 2021. On Monday, October 24th, the school welcomed parents and community members into the school for "A Night of Paideia" where stakeholders viewed Paideia projects, observed seminars, and participated in seminars. MHMS is a back-to-back Blue Ribbon School of Distinction recipient winner. The recognition is based on a school's overall academic performance and given to only a few hundred schools across the nation. In addition, the school has been ranked as third in the nation and first within the state of Tennessee by US News and World Report.

"The accolades are nice, but they come with a commitment from the parents, students and teachers to do the hard work every day," MHMS Principal Darren Frank said. "If we aim for the accolades, we'll miss the good stuff that happens every single day like Paideia Night. It's nice to be recognized but even if we weren't recognized, we would still have a great school."

In June, the school hosted the national Paideia conference and welcomed schools from all over the United States including New York, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico that are seeking national accreditation.

The journey to becoming a fully realized Paideia School for Creative Thinking typically takes three to four years and involves three stages of growth and development.

Stages of Transformation

Stage 1: Paideia and Socratic Seminars

• Seminars are grounded and rooted in a complex text which can be an article, excerpt from a book, historical document, or song lyrics. The text serves as the foundation of the information that the student explores. There are two types of Seminars. The Paideia Seminar and the Socratic Seminar. The Paideia Seminar is direct instruction between student and teacher. It starts with a pre-seminar where teachers explore student’s vocabulary, background knowledge and context before diving into a discussion. The seminar is a collaborative dialogue based around text with open ended questions. With the Paideia Seminar there is no fixed point. The school wants students to come away with new ideas, new perspectives while engaging civilly. The Socratic Seminar has a fixed point where we want students to get to an idea or come to a conclusion while using text to justify their reasoning. After the seminars, students interpret and personalize their learning then produce a work product.

Stage 2: Paideia Classroom

• There are three columns of Paideia teaching and learning in all classrooms. This program integrates didactic instruction of information, intellectual coaching of academic skills, and seminar discussion of ideas and values. Certification in the Paideia Classroom means that rigor and equity are self-evident 100% of classroom time, setting the stage for the Paideia Project.

Stage 3: Paideia Project

• The Paideia Project, which includes the Paideia Seminar, is a unit of study culminating in a product or performance wherein students demonstrate mastery of a subject. Examples of a project include, but are not limited to, presentation, art project, speech or performance.

For more pictures, click HERE.

Beech High School Students Work With Inmates

Beech High School students are playing a critical role at the Sumner County Sheriff's Office and Sumner County Jail. A 6-week DECA International project allowed students to work with inmates to help them gain vital knowledge in career readiness and resume writing to help prepare them for re-entry into society. BHS Senior, Ella Paligo; Senior, Kambria Ichikawa; and Junior, Micah Morrow were assigned to the Project Management Career Development competition. In this competition, students had to choose a group of people that could benefit from career resources.

“Our group decided to go with the Sumner County Jail, because we wanted to make a difference in our community,” BHS Senior, Ella Paligo said. “We just felt that inmates could best benefit from career resources, and that we could hopefully reduce the recidivism rate by helping the residents that are about to be released find jobs. With of all of this in mind, Operation Second Chance was born!”

The students would like to thank the DA’s Office, Sumner County Jail Administrator, Jerry Scott; Officer Holland; and teachers Mrs. Edmison and Mr. Dumas.

Gallatin High School Students Learn the Skills to Pay the Bills

GHS students can graduate high school and earn just shy of $43,000 a year thanks to a collaborative program between Sumner County Schools and the Sumner County Sheriff's Office. Eight students finished and received their Basic Corrections Officer Certification. If students pass the civil service test in May, then after they graduate high school, they will be immediately qualified to work for the Sheriff's Office and skip the two-to-three-week onboarding process.

Sumner County Jail Administrator, Jerry Scott, said all the graduating classes are special, but this particular class is extra special because every student wants to go in public service, some as attorneys and some as police officers. Not matter the field students enter after graduation, the corrections class helps students to get their feet wet and understand the process of law enforcement.

During class students learn cell extractions, First Aid/HIPPAA, prisoner transports, mental/health suicide prevention, de-escalation, conflict resolution, ethics, handcuffing, contraband control, cell searches, and much more. Students also tour the jail and job shadow in various positions like booking, releasing, master control and various other locations, so students can get a feel for a career in corrections.

Scott says they are working hard with Gallatin High School and any vocational program they can to meet the Sheriff's initiatives to have a better trained workforce and a better prepared student.

Gallatin High School Criminal Justice Teacher and Retired Law Enforcement Officer, Scott Pascarella, says this class opens doors for students that want to head straight to the workforce after graduation and have a career with advancement opportunities.

"This is a great partnership that we developed about a year ago. In CTE, (career and technical education, formerly known as vocational) our goal is to provide opportunities for our students. This is one of a few classes in the state of Tennessee that affords students the opportunity to go right into the workforce after graduation. It's been a terrific partnership with the Sheriff's office and their willingness to help out and have this take place."

Students must be 18 years old, a high school graduate, and have a clean criminal record to apply for a position with the Sumner County Jail. If students are interested, they can then transition to patrol at 21 years of age. The class is taught by a various instructors including Jail Administrator Jerry Scott and Retired Law Enforcement Officer Scott Pascarella.

Congratulations to the 2022 Basic Corrections Certification Class:

• Hailey Bollenberg, GHS Senior
• Carson Bradley, GHS Senior
• Victor Johnson, GHS Junior
• Daniel Briones Samayoa, GHS Senior
• Journey Scott, GHS Senior
• Alexandria Smith, GHS Senior
• Chloie Smith, GHS Junior
• Madison Tuttle, GHS Senior

For more pictures, click HERE.