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ISSUE 5 VOLUME 26
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FARRAGUT, TENNESSEE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013
FHS, HVA bare feet for soles ■
ALAN SLOAN asloan@farragutpress.com
Perhaps Debbie Sayers was the perfect catalyst for a joint charity effort between Farragut High School and Hardin Valley Academy. “I was walking by the car that was sitting in our garage, and it had a bunch of shoes in it that I needed to take to Goodwill,” said Sayers, former STEM Academy dean at HVA whose now curriculum principal at FHS, about how the recently initiated 2 Blues 4 Shoes campaign began. “And I thought, ‘Oh yeah, I know of kids who have done service projects with Soles for Souls before,” Sayers added about the
schools’ friendly competition to collect a minimum of 1,000 pair of “cover the feet” shoes or boots of all sizes — no sandals or flipflops — for those in need Oct. 431. The 2 Blues 4 Shoes effort kicked off, literally, when the schools met in football at FHS’s Bill Clabo Field last Friday evening, Oct. 4. Principals Michael Reynolds of FHS and Sallee Reynolds of HVA (husband and wife) were found barefoot in a pre-game ceremony promoting the drive, along with other administrators, teachers and students, including the schools cheerleaders and dance teams.
Photo submitted
Hardin Valley Academy principal Sallee Reynolds, right, and Farragut High School principal Michael Reynolds, left, bare their feet along with members of the combined schools’ dance team and cheerleaders to kick off the 2 Blues 4 Shoes campaign prior to the Admirals versus Hawks football game Friday, Oct. 4, at FHS’s Bill Clabo Field. The campaign ends Oct. 31.
See SHOES on Page 5A
Mosquito spraying continues in Choto ■
KCS to host ‘Insight Sessions’
■
ALAN SLOAN
asloan@farragutpress.com
Despite much above average mosquito populations in the Farragut area due to a wet spring-through-August period in 2013, Knox County has not recorded any West Nile Virus cases as of late September. What is anticipated as “one last spraying” to kill mosquitoes during the final month of their season — May through October — is a follow-up spraying in the Choto Road/Heron’s Pointe area from 9 p.m. to midnight, Thursday, Oct. 10. It’s a regular follow-up spraying two weeks after an initial spraying in the same area Thursday, Sept. 26, due to Knox County Health Department trapping mosquitoes that tested positive for West Nile. Areas sprayed include Amber Woods, Bayview West, Choto Farms, Heron’s Point, Livery, Mallard Bay, Tanglewood, Walnut Grove and Woods at
Alan Sloan/farragutpress.com
While Wanda Lacy was exhibiting modesty after being named 2013-14 State Teacher of the Year by Tennessee Department of Education, it was left to Seth Smith, Farragut High School assistant principal, to signal No. 1. Smith joined Lacy alongside a smartboard in her FHS advanced placement calculus classroom Monday morning, Oct. 7.
FHS’s Lacy: top educator ■
ALAN SLOAN asloan@farragutpress.com
Wanda Lacy went out of her way to say that “many teachers at Farragut High School are among the best in the state.” But for all Lacy’s modesty after being named 2013-14 State Teacher of the Year by Tennessee Department of Education, this FHS advanced placement calculus teacher is especially excited about one of her perks.
See MOSQUITOES on Page 5A
“I’m extremely excited to meet the president of the United States,” Lacy said about meeting President Barack Obama thanks to advancing to National Teacher of the Year awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. later this year. Math department chair at FHS in her 30th year at the school teaching math, Lacy is the school’s first-ever honoree at this level according to Seth Smith, FHS See LACY on Page 5A
ALAN SLOAN asloan@farragutpress.com
Got any good ideas about how to improve Farragut schools, and therefore improve Knox County Schools? Dr. Jim McIntyre Jr., KCS superintendent, and his staff will be listening closely when traveling to FHS for one of six Insight Sessions, a chance for parents, older students and the public at large to share ideas, starting at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 15, in the school’s library. Ideas from these Insight Sessions will be considered in KCS’s next Excellence For All Children five-year strategic plan, dubbed “Knox Schools 2020,” which begins next school year. “We’re basically asking three questions. We’re asking: ‘What’s good? What’s not? What’s next?” McIntyre said. “What are some of the successes that we’ve seen? … What are some areas where we need to give more focus and attention to?’” For example, “Should we be thinking about intergrading more technology? Do we need to See INSIGHT on Page 4A
Museum dedicates plaque to first Farragut mayor ■
TAMMY CHEEK tcheek@farragutpress.com
Farragut Folklife Museum members, friends and family turned out to honor the late Mayor Robert H. “Bob” Leonard Monday, Sept. 30. The crowd watched as Malcolm Shell, former museum committee member, unveiled a plaque to the Town’s first mayor.
“I consider it an honor tonight to dedicate this plaque to Mayor Leonard,” Shell said before introducing Leonard’s family: his wife Marie; sons, Rob and Pat; daughter, Beth Bledsoe and her husband, Jerry and granddaughter, Maggie Bledsoe. The plaque reads Leonard, who died Nov. 12, 2012, was “instrumental in the formation of the Farragut Folklife Museum.”
He served on the museum committee from 1996 to 2012. “I think it’s very nice,” Marie Leonard said about the dedication. “It’s very good they wanted to do this.” Joining Marie at the dedication were son, Pat; Sheri Twohig, also a member of the family and Beth, Jerry and Maggie Bledsoe. “Oh, well of course, we’re excited about it,” Pat said. “One
of my father’s great loves was this building and the Farragut Folklife Museum. “So, the fact that there’s going to be a plaque here for him, obviously, is something for which he would be quite pleased,” he said. “The Folklife Museum and the parks were his two great loves,” he added. “He loved this Town; he loved the parks; and the museum was a
big, big thing for him,” Beth Bledsoe said. “He was very proud of it.” Pat Leonard said the museum started in a closet at the old Russell House. “It’s come a long way,” he added. Shell said the first mayor left many legacies but one legacy left See LEONARD on Page 2A
Community 6A • Death Notices 7A • Westside Faces 14A • Business 1B • Sports 5B • Classifieds 10B Real Estate Gallery 1C • Cancer Awareness 1D