November 29, 2023
By MEALAND RAGLAND-HUDGINS
Rutherford County Schools
Each September, the Rotary Club of Smyrna hosts the Wings of Freedom Fish Fry, one of Rutherford County’s largest fundraisers.
Proceeds from the event go to several community groups, including the students and teachers at Smyrna West Alternative School. During its recent allocation process, the Rotary Club presented the school with $4,000.
Smyrna West is one of Rutherford County’s two alternative schools for students in middle and high school. Students attend because they have been remanded for a specified length of time or have a zero-tolerance offense on their disciplinary record.
Principal Jenni Smith shared ways the school plans to use the grant, how students give back to the community and the significance of the partnership with the Rotary Club.
Q: How do you plan to use the grant?
Smith: The grant is from a long term, generous partnership with the Smyrna Rotary Club. We use it for many things for our students in need such as uniforms, food, coats, shoes, etc. We have used funds for teacher morale and community building by providing teacher appreciation lunches, dinner on parent-teacher conference nights, teacher Christmas lunch, and the end of the year cookout.
We have also used the funds for unique items for classroom use like an aquatic growth system for our science classroom and other unique items that come up from time to time. This year we are going to use a portion to beautify our campus with some small upgrades for student seating outside and at our pavilion. The grant helps us supplement our school in many ways since we do not have a PTO or consistent student body to be able to fundraise.
Q: Besides funding the grant, how else is the Rotary involved with Smyrna West?
Smith: They organize a job shadow event each year where our students get bussed to various business throughout Smyrna and learn about how they function from the Rotary members. We come back to the Smyrna Event Center, have lunch, and our students stand in front of the Rotary Club and talk about what they learned. It is a wonderful experience for all our students. I love this event because it lets the Rotary members see how our students really are.
Q: Students in alternative school sometimes get a bad rap. What ways do SWA students give back to the community?
Smith: Our students are regular students that have just made some bad decisions. At SWA we have a chance to take the noise out of the school experience, literally and figuratively. Most of our students thrive in the smaller stetting because they are seen in a different light here.
Our students read at David Youree Elementary School for Reading in the Schools Day and Dr. Seuss' birthday. They have participated in Southern Word poetry where they wrote and performed their own spoken word pieces. They participate in art and creative projects that are displayed or performed for the group. Some students participate and get to show off their talents that would have never tried at their home school simply because they are in such a smaller setting, and they get to make connections easier that in the larger schools.