November 2021 Point of Pride
November 11, 2021
The following employees were recognized during the Point of Pride ceremony held at the Formal School Board Meeting on November 9, 2021:
Stephanie Dollich, Bus Driver
L to R: Ron Garner, Student Transportation Manager; Stephanie Dollich, Bus Driver; Kent Griffy, School Board Member.
On October 20 at approximately 9:15 p.m., a seven-year-old boy ran away from his home near Heritage Park. Shortly after midnight, Clarksville Police Department started searching for the boy with assistance from K-9 units and a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter. At around 6:45 a.m. on October 21, bus 17-30, driven by Ms. Stephanie Dollich, was returning to the Liberty Complex after dropping her students off. She was driving on Pine Mountain Rd. when she noticed a child walking by himself. Ms. Dollich had seen the news footage of the missing child earlier that morning, so she was extra vigilant, keeping an eye out for the young man. She pulled her bus over and stated that she just knew it was the missing child. As she stopped and opened her bus door, she asked the child’s name. When it was confirmed to be the missing child, she encouraged him to board her bus. Her bus aide put a blanket around him while Ms. Dollich notified dispatch to contact 911. Law enforcement arrived at the bus and took the child home.
Ms. Dollich stated humbly, “We’re all trained to be very aware of our surroundings. It could have been any one of us bus drivers. That’s my job, to keep students safe on the way to school and home.”
Ms. Dollich has worked for CMCSS since 2008. She transports students to the Tennessee School for the Blind. She is beloved and appreciated by her students and colleagues. CMCSS and the entire community appreciate Ms. Dollich’s courageous and observant actions on October 21 to bring a missing child home safely.
Charlie Bumpus and Will Bumpus, Montgomery Central High School Structural Systems Program
L to R: Margaret Pace, School Board Member; Christy Houston, Principal MCHS; Will Bumpus, Teacher; Charlie Bumpus, Teacher; Dr. Dayna Paine, Director of Career Technical Education.
The Structural Systems program at Montgomery Central High School has been named as the TN Association for Career and Technical Education Secondary Program of the Year for 2020-2021. This award is designed to recognize the most outstanding career and technical instructional program in the state. The suggested areas considered in award voting include: program philosophy/goal, curriculum development activities, placement activities and placement rate, student recruitment, selection and guidance, involvement with CTE advisory council and/or craft committees, retention of students, involvement with business and industry, involvement with student organizations, public relations and public efforts, facilities, equipment, and supplies, important events, and activities or projects conducted.
Under the direction of Charlie Bumpus and Will Bumpus, the father-son duo who facilitate the Structural Systems courses at MCHS, the program has flourished. It was selected to receive this prestigious award based on the program’s retention of students across multiple school years, involvement with local business and industry (to include construction of portable classrooms used by the CMCSS Operations Department), efforts of the teachers to maintain and improve the annual Middle TN Construction Contest, and student job placement rates after high school.