From Post staff reports

Jennifer Petty “Jen” Whitener was named the 2012-2013 Wilson County Teacher of the Year during an annual banquet Friday night Cumberland University’s Baird Chapel.

Whitener is a seventh grade teacher at McClain Christian Academy in Lebanon, a private school that students in pre-kindergarten through 12^th grade on two campuses. Pre-K through seventh grade meets at 528A Vance Lane (Camp Smiley), and eighth through 12^th grade meets on the campus of Cumberland University.

She received an associate’s degree in 1988 from Volunteer State Community College and a bachelor’s degree in 1999 from Cumberland.

Whitener was among the Teacher of the Year nominees in 2005.

Whitener began her career as a teacher in MCA’s pre-kindergarten program where she taught more than 40 students, all of them 4 years old. She taught them the names of the states, the names of Presidents, the correct way to hold a pencil and more. “I taught them to dance, sing, and to have the confidence to show off their abilities to others. The connection I felt with my students during this time is when I first fell in love with teaching,” she wrote in her application.

Whitener also wrote about her work for the next few years in what she called “a multi-grade classroom” and a male student who had a developmental disorder. “I was able to challenge him in ways he had never been challenged before.”

She worked with the student who eventually began reciting Bible verses and answering questions in class and who took part in a school play delivering a single line which garnered more laughter and applause from the audience than any other.

The next year, the student had a larger role in the school play and more lines than anyone else in a particular scene. Whitener noted the student was coaxed into repeating the line from the first school play he was in, and he received a standing ovation from the audience.

“The connection we forged during this time is still intact today. This young man went on to become Homecoming King and will attend college in the fall majoring in astrophysics. I could not be prouder of him,” Whitener wrote.

In addition to teaching, Whitener has also been involved in raising funds for various charities. She chaired for a number of years MCA’s largest fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. MCA raise more money for St. Jude than any other school in the U.S., she noted.

Other charities she has raised funds for include Sherry’s Run, the American Heart Association, Gilda’s House, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Soles for Souls and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

She said she has always stressed to her students the importance of connecting with the community through charities and added that she regularly takes part in food drives, coat and blanket drives and Christmas for Kids.

MCA adopts a family through Christmas for Kids, and Whitener said students use it as a “real world math lesson with a trip to Walmart.”

During the course of her career at MCA, Whitener was also asked in April 2011 to step in and serve as principal for the rest of that school year.

During a time of difficulty at the school, she noted that a number of families had left although others remained. The school year ended with a celebration of the hard work by the remaining students.

She noted the recent economic downturn affected the school and its families. “We appreciate what we have; we live on what we need; yet we still have so much more than we ever thought we could.”

Although the school has a low enrollment this year, but even so has managed to raise more money for its various fundraisers than in any other year, Whitener said.

She also serves on MCA’s Music at the Mill Committee, which raises funds for the school and has brought entertainers such as Josh Turner, Ray Stevens, the Oak Ridge Boys others to Lebanon.

After a trip to five countries in Europe, Whitener shared her travel experiences with her seventh grade students through a virtual field trip in a double-decker bus she made herself. After another trip planned for this summer, she said she plans to share more of her experiences with her students next year.

“As I grow and continue to see life’s connections, I inspire my students to see how we all work together in this journey,” she wrote. “I know we are all life-long learners, and I want to inspire them to see their own lives in the same light. School is only the beginning. As for my school-life as a chairperson, nurse, therapist, administrative assistant, chaperone, researcher, planner, playwright, director, booster club worker bee, mom-away-from-mom…teacher is just the beginning.”

The 2013 Wilson County Teacher of the Year event is sponsored each year by Wilson County Motors and CedarStone Bank.

The names of 28 educators from every school in Wilson County, public and private, are submitted to a panel of judges who selects the final winner.

Those teachers are Holly Yelton of Byars-Dowdy, Kerry Veurink of Carroll-Oakland Elementary School, Kellie Porter of Castle Heights Elementary School, Stephanie Heath of Coles Ferry Elementary School, Carol Smallwood of Elzie D. Patton Elementary School, Greg Armstrong of Friendship Christian School, Donna Robertson of Gladeville Elementary School, Kathryn Horn of Lakeview Elementary School, Amanda Hargis of Lebanon High School, Stephanie Porter of MAP Academy, Jen Whitener of McClain Christian Academy, David Spence of Mt. Juliet Christian Academy, Tammy Shipley of Mt. Juliet Elementary, Jonathan Stricklin of Mt. Juliet High School, Carey Miller of Mt. Juliet Middle School, Lindsay Tate of Rutland Elementary School, Rachel Desimone of Sam Houston Elementary School, Geoff Luckett of Southside Elementary School, Rebecca Gullekson of Stone Creek Elementary School, Shirley Grant of Tuckers Crossroads Elementary School, Jennifer Yokom-Brown of W.A. Wright Elementary School, Amanda Polk of Walter J. Baird Middle School, Stefanie Smith of Watertown Elementary School; Veronica Minsky of Watertown High School, Carice Ambruster of West Elementary School, Scott Hoffman of West Wilson Middle School, Brad Dedman of Wilson Central High School and Nancy Smith of Winfree-Bryant Middle School.

Whitener received a $1,500 cash prize and MCA received another $500 for their efforts.  

The Lebanon City Council will have a Special Called Meeting on Thursday, April 18 at 4:30 p.m. in the Town Meeting Hall.

Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, April 13 at the Partlow Funeral Chapel for Mrs. Jamie Griffin Creswell, 72, of Lebanon. A longtime planning assistant for Wilson County, she died Wednesday, April 10, 2013. A member of College Hills Church of Christ, Mrs. Creswell was a former board member of the Lebanon Special School District

The family will receive friends Friday, April 12 between the hours of 4-8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. until service. Interment will follow at the Cedar Grove Cemetery.

By SAM HATCHER
The Wilson Post

Two local golfers, both members at Five Oaks Golf and Country Club, are experiencing a golfer’s dream this weekend.

Dwight Belew and Denny King are volunteering this week at the Masters in Augusta, Ga.

For Belew, owner of American Jewelry Company in Mt. Juliet, it’s his 10^th year to serve as a green’s volunteer and for King, who just recently retired as the U.S. Marshal for the Middle Tennessee District, it’s his second.

Both men, avid golfers themselves, will have the opportunity that’s only a dream for most.

In May they will be invited back to Augusta to play the Master’s course at Augusta National Golf Club, a reward paid volunteers for their service during the week of the tournament.

“I tell people Augusta National is just like stepping into a picture postcard. You can’t describe how immaculate everything is,” Belew said some three years ago in a story published in The Wilson Post about his experience at the Masters.

Belew, who holds a not so shabby 12 handicap at Five Oaks, has always been stationed at the first hole at the Masters and has the duty of being what he describes as a “gallery guard.”

“We also are walking information booths. I probably answer 100 questions a day, from ‘where’s Tiger?’ to ‘how do you get to Amen Corner?’ and ‘what kind of grass is this?’ The question I’m probably asked the most is ‘how did you get this job?’”

Belew said in the previous story written by Ken Beck that he has been at his post long enough to know a few habits of the PGA tour professionals: “Tiger is always the first one out on the practice rounds, early in the morning,” he said, whereas V.J. Singh prefers to practice late in the day when the shadows are long.

King, who incidentally maintains an 18 handicap at Five Oaks, is a scorer on hole number 11.

According to Bryan Combiths, the golf professional at Five Oaks, King has multiple chores at his green.

“He is one of four scorers at the green on hole 11,” Combiths said, explaining that King is responsible for collecting certain details from each golfer assigned to him playing the hole.

He said King must keep up with each player’s score, the number of putts made on the green and even the club used by his assigned player to get on the green. The information King collects is eventually passed to other officials who see that it is posted on Internet and social media sites maintained by the Masters and kept as a tournament record.

Both men began their assignments on Sunday, one week before the tournament concludes this Sunday.

They’ll rub shoulders with some of golf’s most celebrated professionals; see putts sunk at distances so great that not even the pros will think they can make them; and they will also likely see a few famous folks in the audience attending.

But best of all they’ll have a bucket full of stories to tell when they get back home.

By SABRINA GARRETT
The Wilson Post

One hundred and sixty guests attended Wilson County Habitat for Humanity’s Houses of Home luncheon at College Hills Church of Christ on Wednesday which raised over $21,650, through table sales, sponsorships by Payment Express Systems, Kroger and silent auction items, for the worthy cause.

The event featured a special appearance by guest speaker, Mike Keith, Voice of the Tennessee Titans.

Keith was invited to share his thoughts at the event by Habitat Advisory Board Member Romel McMurry, who said getting Keith to commit to the engagement was as easy as picking up the telephone.

“When I called him to see if he would be the guest speaker for this event, he said yes right away without hesitation. To me, that is a community leader willing to give back,” McMurry said.

Keith, who resides in Franklin, said he participated in his first Habitat build in 1998. “My father-in-law is an electrician and he would tell you I am not handy,” he said, laughing. “But I can carry stuff. I did whatever I could do to help. What Habitat does is so incredibly valuable. You are changing another person’s life for the positive. Anybody who takes part in a Habitat build makes a difference.”

Before taking to the podium, Keith watched as McMurry played a video of the famous Music City Miracle that took place Jan. 8, 2000 when the Titans took on the Buffalo Bills at home. Guests viewing the clip saw the play Titans Lorenzo Neal, Frank Wycheck and Kevin Dyson made to win in the last 16 seconds of the game. Neal handed the ball off to Wycheck, who threw across the field to Dyson, who then ran down the sidelines for a 75-yard touchdown.

“Mechanically about six or seven things went wrong with the play. But watch what the other players do. They did their job in a phenomenal way. They set it up – sold it brilliantly,” Keith said. “You need Lorenzo and Frank and Kevin – but you have to have those other eight players on the field to make it work. It is a great lesson towards Habitat. You’ve got to have those leaders, but you also have to have everybody else. Whatever your skill level – you can make a difference with Habitat.”

Wilson Habitat Executive Director Tory Tredway followed Keith and handed out three awards with the help of Advisory Board Member Joe Ali. Rita Redmond was the recipient of the Spirit of Volunteerism Award. The Spirit of Habitat Award was received by Father Pat Kibby of St. Stephens Catholic Community and the Community Partnership Award was received by Scott Jasper on behalf of Wilson Bank & Trust.

“We want our friends at Wilson Bank & Trust to know how grateful we are,” Tredway said.

The luncheon also featured testimonials from two Habitat home recipients, Linda Gray and Sarah Caves. Gray was a part of Lebanon’s first Blitz Build in which Habitat volunteers built her home from the ground up in five short days. Gray said she had raised her two sons as a single parent for 14 years when she was suddenly laid off from her job.

“There were many changes and the only thing I could do was walk away,” Gray said of losing her home. “A friend of mine informed me about Habitat and what they do.”

Gray applied to the program and after completing her sweat equity hours, in which she helped other recipients work on their homes, and mandatory classes on financial planning, how to be a homeowner, how to be a good neighbor and more, she and her family successfully moved into their home. “I have to say thank you. We have a very nice home now that we call our own. Habitat not only builds house, they build dreams.”

Caves will be the next Habitat homeowner in Wilson County when the Women Build project is completed on June 22 in Watertown. “In November 2012 I filled out my application,” she said. “I feel that I have been blessed with the opportunity to provide a stable home for my five children.”

Bob Black, who serves on the Board of Directors, wrapped up the program by asking event patrons to pledge a donation to Habitat “to help other families’ dreams come true.”

For more information on Wilson County Habitat for Humanity, call 453-4517.