Latest news with #HartselleHighSchool
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tennessee Non-profit to provide free groceries at Hartselle High School
HARTSELLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Free groceries will be given out to anyone in need during a drive-thru mobile pantry event in Hartselle. Tennessee-based nonprofit OneGenAway will host the event at Hartselle High School on Saturday, May 3 starting at 8:45 a.m. Recipients will receive fresh produce, pantry staples and more. Food distribution will continue until all of the food runs out (approximately 9:45 a.m.). Volunteers are encouraged to arrive by 7:30 a.m. No registration is needed to volunteer for the event. The event is open to anyone who is seeking food assistance. OneGenAway operates its Mobile Pantry almost every Saturday throughout its service area, which includes Middle Tennessee, North Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Distribution will be on a first come first served basis. Hartselle High School is located at 1000 Bethel Road NE Hartselle, Alabama. For more information, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Scott Slate sworn in as Morgan County district judge
Feb. 27—Decatur attorney Scott Slate was sworn in Wednesday as Morgan County's newest district judge and told a packed courtroom that in his new role he will serve the people. "We're blessed to have this system of justice," Slate said. "It's not perfect, but it's as good a system of justice as you'll find in the world, and to be a part of that is a real honor and blessing." Slate's oldest son Will stood by him and held his Bible while Morgan County District Judge Shelly Waters read his oath, helping to keep a family tradition going. "He's my first cousin," Waters said. "My father, Ralph, was a lawyer and a member of the House of Representatives for 16 years. My uncle Rudolph was a district judge and circuit judge and our grandfather, Leonard Slate, was a county commissioner. All four of my father's daughters became lawyers, so we have a long history." Slate was appointed to the position by Gov. Kay Ivey on Feb. 10, after former District Judge Brent Craig announced he would retire. Slate, 55, grew up in Hartselle and graduated from Hartselle High School in 1987. He received his undergraduate degree from Samford University in 1991 and his juris doctorate from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1993. Slate then practiced law in Decatur from 1994 until 2008 and served as an assistant state attorney general in the early 2000s for the Department of Human Resources. In 2008, he left for Ireland to serve as a missionary for 10 years. He then returned to Decatur and has been working in private practice since early 2019 for Harris Caddell & Shanks PC where he is a partner. In 2018, he said he worked as an assistant district attorney for Morgan County for five months. Morgan County attorney David Langston has known Slate since they were students at Hartselle High and he has worked with him the last six years as a fellow partner at Harris Caddell & Shanks. He said Slate's temperament will carry him far as a district judge, helping him to handle tough cases. "You just got to have a manner of dealing with people and you've got to be even-keeled," Langston said. "You're either born with that or you're not and Scott absolutely has it." The ceremony was attended by Slate's family, lawyer colleagues and several Morgan County judges, both active and retired. Morgan County Probate Judge Greg Cain said he got to know Slate through his work at Harris Caddell and he also admires his even temperament and approach to trial law. "In my court, he was always very well prepared and very knowledgeable of the law," Cain said. "He's in my courtroom probably three or four times a month." Slate said he felt grateful and humbled when he heard Ivey had appointed him. "I have thought that I would run for district judge, probably since I was in my 20s, because I always thought this job really suited me and that I could make a difference and serve in this capacity," Slate said. "I see the role of judge as applying the law that the Legislature has passed and not trying to create law from the bench." Slate said he wants his service on the bench to be remembered for honesty, integrity and hard work. "Because (Brent Craig) was off the bench for four weeks, when I stepped in, I was officially sworn in on Feb. 14 so I could start work," Slate said. "So I immediately started taking dockets and I've had five dockets already." He said he will probably be handling more civil dockets than the other two judges and will also handle criminal and juvenile cases. "They threw me in the deep end, but that's OK. That's the best way to learn a new position," Slate said. Slate has two other adult children: 25-year-old Ella, who is Will's twin, and Grayson, 23. Slate said Ella is a pediatric nurse in Dublin and Grayson is a senior at the University College Dublin and is considering following in his father's footsteps. "He would probably be a barrister in Ireland and practice over there because he has been there since he was 6 years old," Slate said. — or 256-340-2442.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
It all adds up for Danville-Neel: Math interventionist helps boost school's state report card grade
Feb. 19—The teaching staff at Danville-Neel Elementary knew they had a lot of work to do when they heard they received a C on the state report card two school years ago. Not only did they improve, but they scored 17 points higher last school year — marking the most growth of any school in the Morgan County Schools district — and are listed among the top 25 improved schools in Alabama for the 2023-2024 school year. In math, they saw the greatest improvement of any school in the state, resulting in them being recognized by Gov. Kay Ivey in her State of the State address this month. Principal Tara Morrow said they could not have achieved such success without the assistance of dedicated teachers like Math Interventionist McKenzie Henderson. "She was a huge part of that," Morrow said. "She is the unofficial math coach for this school, and she is phenomenal." Henderson, 42, grew up in Hartselle and graduated from Hartselle High School in 2001, where she was a gymnast and played on the first state championship softball team at the school her junior year. She attended Wallace State Community College for two years before transferring to Athens State University to earn her bachelor's degree. She then earned her master's degree at the University of West Alabama. — Inspired to teach But even before she graduated high school, Henderson knew what her destiny was just from watching some of her family members. "My mom was a teacher, and I spent my summers and every opportunity I could going to her school," Henderson said. "I was always around it. Just different people in my family were teachers, but my mom was the inspiration for me to become a teacher." Henderson said her mother, Mitzi Peek, began her career teaching at Decatur City Schools but finished her career teaching the last 10 years at F.E. Burleson Elementary School in Hartselle. Although her talents in math instruction were vital in increasing Danville-Neel's math proficiency last school year, Henderson said math was not her favorite subject while she was a student. "I would probably say I was more of an English person; I liked to write," Henderson said. "My first teaching job was teaching the talented and gifted program here and then I transferred to West Morgan Elementary to teach sixth grade math when I was 22 years old. I actually loved it and had really great administration there and great teachers to work with that helped me. It really wasn't until I transferred back to Danville-Neel four years later and I was in third grade that I figured out what I really liked. I really liked the third grade curriculum and the (Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative)." In her 20 years of teaching, Henderson said her favorite thing about the education field is the relationships educators develop between their students and their families. She said being the math interventionist for grades kindergarten through fourth has allowed her to stay in touch with many families throughout the years. One such example is a former student who had to repeat the third grade twice. "Another teacher had him, but he came to me his second year," Henderson said. "Just the growth he showed from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, knowing how hard it was for him his first year of third grade. I guess that kid stands out because I built such a great relationship with him; I knew anything I would give him, he was going to give me 110% on." Henderson said the student later struggled in fifth grade and his family remembered her dedication to his learning, and so they contacted her to tutor him the rest of the school year. "Once they are mine, they're kind of always mine and for that parent and that kid to come back and ask specifically for me to help him again," Henderson said. "That's why that kid sticks out." — Route to improvement During the 2022-23 school year, Danville-Neel Elementary received a 77 on the state report card and both Henderson and Morrow said it was a new low for the school. Morrow said her school had consistently maintained a B average before that school year and said the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted learning for three years and the result of the disruptions was eventually a C on the report card. "It was a wake-up call for us," Morrow said. Henderson said not being in school hurt foundational math building skills for young students and there was "no consistency" during this time as several math teachers had come and gone at Danville-Neel during the pandemic years. Following Henderson's suggestion, teachers at the school began teaming up and teaching classrooms together at least once a week, ensuring no student was left behind and every question was answered. "We had it to where a teacher taught all the math for the fourth grade and so we changed it to where two people partnered up," Morrow said. "I think that was huge and McKenzie coached those teachers because neither one of them had taught just (strictly) math." With an improved grade of 94 on the state report card, both Morrow and Henderson agreed that Danville-Neel is now back on track. Henderson lives on a farm in Danville with her husband, Kirk, and their two daughters: Callie, a senior at Danville High, and Kinley, a freshman at the same school. — or 256-340-2442.
