New Ag Building to honor Stratton Bone



TONY STINNETT / Courier Sports Editor

A new state-of-the-art agriculture building being built at Cannon County High School will bear the name of the former state representative instrumental in helping obtain funds necessary to construct the facility.

Upon a recommendation from former agriculture teacher Bob Melton, the Cannon County Board of Education unanimously voted to name the new building the Stratton Bone Agriculture Pavilion during its regular monthly meeting at Woodbury Grammar School Thursday (Dec. 13).

The building, currently under construction, is 80 feet by  200 feet and is an open-sided structure. It will include meeting rooms, restrooms and serve as a multipurpose facility dedicated to serving area youth and adult agri-cultural education pro-grams in Cannon County.

Bone was a driving force in obtaining grants through the State of Tennessee for the construction of the building during his final term in 2010.

Director of Schools Barbara Parker recognized Cannon County grammar school students who recently competed at the Tennessee Junior Beta Convention. Woodbury Grammar eighth-grader Jake Walkup finished first in the state chaplain competition. Walkup be-came Woodbury Gram-mar’s first state officer.

Auburn Elementary’s McKenzie Turney finished second in speech competition; and Wood-bury Grammar School finished second for best campaign skit. West Side student Jake Parrish finished third in campaign speech and West Side School was third in campaign skit.

The Cannon County Board of Education also was presented results of the collaborative conferencing by the Cannon County Education Association. The Board must elect eight members to the management team. The Board elected three members and decided to allow Director Parker to appoint the remaining five. Board members Bruce Daniel and Nathan Sanders will serve, along with Connie Foster of the Central Office.

The Board unanimously agreed to allow Woodbury Grammar School to apply for a $10,000 grant from Nissan; and approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Laura Kaney to provide mental health counseling for students with traditional insurance.

The Board also approved $500 for supplies necessary to assist the Cannon County Sheriff’s Department for work being done on recently purchased land.

The next Board Meeting Workshop will be at the Central Office, Jan. 8, 2013, at 6 p.m. The next regular Board Meeting will be Jan. 10, 2013, at 6 p.m. at Woodbury Grammar School.