by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

“Being young doesn’t mean you know what your plan is and you know what your future is going to be. It just means you have the skills and the discipline to figure it out along the way,” said Harrison Crenshaw, national 4-H Youth in Action award winner. At the Oct. 12 Franklin County School Board meeting, the board recognized Crenshaw for his achievements and contribution to the county and nation.

Crenshaw grew up hunting and fishing with his family and selected forestry for his 4-H project focus. “I love forestry and I also love the business side of things,” he said. In conjunction with the program, he worked at a sawmill and a lightbulb came on. “There’s so much more that goes into forestry than I realized. I was amazed.” Inspired, Crenshaw launched Project to Professions, a program that encourages businesses to put young people beside professionals and inside workplaces doing meaningful work. He stressed the importance of giving young people the opportunity “to see strengths and possibilities they may have never seen in themselves. Growing up in rural Tennessee, it’s hard to see a future when you’ve never had a chance to see it yourself. 4-H Project to Professions can bridge that gap.”

As a 4-H Youth in Action winner, Crenshaw received a $5,000 scholarship. He will serve as a 4-H spokesperson and work alongside national leaders from Walmart, Microsoft, Nationwide, Tractor Supply and other corporate icons. 4-H is the largest national youth development organization in the country, with six million members, 151,000 members from Tennessee. “The relationship between the Franklin County School District and UT Extension Service gives youth opportunities they might not otherwise have,” Crenshaw said, thanking the board for supporting the 4-H program.

Franklin County government has started funding Project to Professions and is giving young people paid jobs, working with the county trustee and in the chamber. County Mayor Chris Guess presented Crenshaw with a certificate of recognition. “Harrison created Project to Professions as an initiative that began here in Franklin County with a vision of helping young people explore opportunities, develop skills, and prepare for successful futures,” Guess said. “Through his leadership and dedication, Project to Professions has expanded beyond Franklin County and throughout Tennessee exhibiting the power of one young person’s vision to create meaningful change on a much larger scale.”

In regular business the board approved two policy amendments. Changes to the Emergency Preparedness Plan make fire drill procedures legally compliant. Explaining the policy requirements, Director of Schools Roger Alsup said, “The protocol now is when the fire alarm goes off, students do not evacuate until they are instructed to do so, because of some recent active shooter incidents. When the fire alarm goes off, they treat it like an active shooter and go to a safe corner in the classroom until they’re instructed to evacuate.”

“Unfortunately, it makes sense,” agreed Board Chair CleiJo Walker.

The change to the Safety policy added “intruder” to the existing list of emergency drills: fire, severe weather, earthquake, and bomb threat.

A change to the Use of Facility request form increased the wage of the employee charged with supervising the facility from $17.50 to $25. “It’s hard to get someone to stay at the building while someone is using it,” explained Director of Human Resources Jenny Crabtree.

Elementary Supervisor Amy Greer provided an overview of the TISA Accountability Report. The state TISA funding formula requires school districts to set third grade proficiency goals. Compared to last year, scores dropped in ELA and even more dramatically in math. In response, the district adopted small group tutoring in math and began using second grade testing data as a “predictive” indicator.

The discussion prompted questions about economic and demographic differences and the value of Pre-K.

“We can’t reach every four-year-old in Franklin County, unfortunately. There is no requirement for that [Pre-K],” Greer said. Greer stressed the importance of realizing “the Pre-K model is very different from the Kindergarten model. [In Pre-K] they’re learning how to be a human around other people. When school starts in August, they’re expected to know that, and, ‘Now we’re gonna read.’ There’s no more napping, no more working puzzles.”

For working parents who would like their children to be in Pre-K, transportation is often a problem since the Pre-K children cannot ride the bus.

“When there’s so much you can’t control, we need to make sure we’re doing all that we can to control what we can,” said board member Sara Liechty. Acknowledging the county’s size and rural demographic challenges, Liechty suggested a reading van visiting communities. Board member Sandra Shultz pointed to the summer reading program hosted by the library.

“There are no wrong answers,” Greer said. “A lot of kids need RTI (Response to Intervention) support in kindergarten and first grade. We’re getting children coming to school in October who have never been in school before. Teaching Pre-K or kindergarten is a lot.” In some cases, that includes potty training.

The Voluntary Pre-K program is offered at all county elementary schools except Sewanee.

“The legislators are conducting a study on increasing the Pre-K program in the state of Tennessee,” Alsup said. “Hopefully they’ll provide more funding so we can open it up to more kids.”