Tribe Scribe and United 1st Federal Credit Union of Eastman
Staff Member
of the Month Program
March Staff Member of the Month
Tom Cranford
By Faith Manning
Tom Cranford, Dodge County High School agriculture teacher and FFA advisor, has been selected as the Tribe Scribe and United 1st Federal Credit Union Staff Member of the Month for March due to his diligence and loving nature to his students and fellow coworkers.
“It’s a great honor,” stated Cranford, with a smiling face.
Cranford, with 25 years of teaching and coaching in several areas, has stayed loyal to DCHS. He has taught in an English lab; coached baseball and softball; contributed his time to FCA; and is now the agriculture teacher and the FFA advisor handling the canning plant and the greenhouse with his agriculture students.
“Mr. Tom Cranford goes above the call of duty to share his love of agriculture with Dodge County’s youth,” said Mrs. Ashley Jones, who nominated Cranford.
“He works long hours to coordinate many activities, such as the Dodge County Livestock Show, offering our students opportunities they would not have otherwise.”
“Mr. Cranford’s efforts allow DCHS students to receive recognition not only for diligence in school-related endeavors, but also for their hard work and hours away from school. Jones added, “His influence on DCHS and Dodge County as a whole reaches much farther than lessons taught within the confines of a classroom. He is a true asset to our school.”
Cranford and his wife Kathy have two children, Olivia and Brant.
Pictured (l-r): Ashley Jones; Tom Cranford; and Kathy Purvis, United 1st Federal Credit Union Assistant Service Center Manager
February Staff Member of the Month
Mike Sutliff
By Madelyn Pruitt
In appreciation for his hard work for his students and school system, Mike Sutliff has been named as the Tribe Scribe and United 1st Federal Credit Union Staff Member of the Month for February.
“When I found out I was Staff Member of the Month, I was deeply honored. I enjoy working with a variety of different students and helping them succeed on a daily basis,” Sutliff said.
Raised in Snellville, Sutliff graduated in 2004 from Brookwood High School. After graduating, he attended the University of West Georgia where he received a Bachelor’s degree in history in 2008. Sutliff then transferred to Westerns Govern University, where he earned his Master’s degree in special education in 2015.
“I enjoy teaching at Dodge County High School because it is a smaller school than I am used to, and it is easier for me to get to know others better,” said Sutliff.
In Sutliff’s spare time, he enjoys duck hunting and visiting historical sites. He also coaches the Dodge County Middle School girls’ soccer team.
Sutliff has been married to Dani Sutliff for 5 years.
United 1st, which sponsors the Staff Member of the Month Program, is a member-owned financial cooperative offering a full range of financial products to the residents of Dodge County and the surrounding area. The local Member Service Center is at 854 College Street in Eastman.
Pictured (left to right): Deb Mitchell; Mike Sutliff; and Kathy Purvis, United 1st Federal Credit Union Assistant Service Center Manager
January Staff Member of the Month
Ashley Jones
By Faith Manning
In recognition of adoration for her students and productiveness in her classroom, Ashley Jones has been named as the Tribe Scribe and United 1st Federal Credit Union Staff Member of the Month for January.
“I am very honored to be recognized among all of the awesome staff members at DCHS,” said Jones, nutrition and food science teacher at Dodge County High School.
As a student at DCHS, Jones knew she wanted to touch students’ lives the way her teachers touched hers. Immediately after graduation, Jones attended Middle Georgia College and then graduated from the University of Georgia in 2008 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Family and Consumer Science Education to do just that.
“Mrs. Jones is the type of teacher that you can consistently count on to go above and beyond the call of duty,” states science teacher, Miranda Simmons, who nominated Jones. “She always offers a helping hand to both students and staff members alike, and we are blessed to have her at DCHS.”
Along with her job as the Nutrition and Food Science teacher, she is also the advisor for FCCLA.
Jones and her husband Claye Jones of almost 8 years have three sons: Jack (5), Andrew (2), and Ryan (1).
Outside of her job at DCHS, Jones enjoys reading, exercising, cooking, and spending time with her boys.
United 1st, which sponsors the Staff Member of the Month Program, is a member-owned financial cooperative offering a full range of financial products to the residents of Dodge County and the surrounding area. The local Member Service Center is at 854 College Street in Eastman.
Pictured (l-r) Miranda Simmons; Ashley Jones; and Kathy Purvis, United 1st Federal Credit Union Assistant Service Center Manager
December Staff Member of the Month
Jessica Anderson
By Madelyn Pruitt
Due to her hard work and dedication to her students, Jessica Anderson has been named the Tribe Scribe and United 1st Federal Credit Union Staff Member of the Month for December.
“Anderson is hard working and strives for perfection each and every day and reflects on the way she teaches and on the students in her classroom,” said DCHS Special Education Department Chairperson Mike Sutliff, who nominated Anderson for the award. “Even though Mrs. Anderson is busy [outside of school], she finds ways to help the students around her and inspire others to give their best.”
Anderson was very humbled when learning she had received this award.
“I look forward to having many great years with all of the students and teachers at DCHS and watching them achieve their goals,” she said, adding that her favorite thing about teaching is watching students learn.
Anderson graduated from Claxton High School before attending Georgia Southern University, where she obtained her degree in early childhood education and her special education certification.
Anderson enjoys being a mom to her five-year-old daughter, Addison, and her two fifteen-month-old identical twin sons, Owen and Noland. She also enjoys going to basketball games to cheer on the Indians and her husband, Brent, the Indians’ new head coach. She and her family attend First Baptist Church in Eastman.
United 1st, which sponsors the Staff Member of the Month Program, is a member-owned financial cooperative offering a full range of financial products to the residents of Dodge County and the surrounding area. The local Member Service Center is at 854 College Street in Eastman.
November Staff Member of the Month
Melinda Hester
By Destanee Holliman
Because of her hard work, caring personality, knowledge of her subject, and excellent teaching, it is no surprise Melinda Hester was named the Tribe Scribe and United 1st Federal Credit Union Staff Member of the Month for November.
Was nominated by Mrs. Kathryn Lewis. Hester, who was nominated by Mrs. Kathryn Lewis, is the business and technology teacher at Dodge County High School and also advises Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA).Originally from Gwinnett County, Hester graduated from the Georgia College & State University in 2002 with a degree in computer information systems. She then attended the University of Georgia, where she earned a business and technology education degree in 2005.
After working in Atlanta for six months at a technology company, Hester started teaching at Jones County High School. She then began teaching at Dodge County High School in 2008.
Hester and her husband, Steven, have two sons, Nathan and Nicholas. She enjoys spending time with them and watching her sons play sports.
“Hester is a very courteous, caring teacher,” says Kathy Lewis in her nomination of Hester. “She is very knowledgeable of her subject and others taught in the school”.
Hester, who said she truly enjoys teaching at DCHS, was overwhelmed with emotions upon learning she’d received this honor. “I feel very honored and grateful, plus happy and surprised,” she said.
United 1st, which sponsors the Staff Member of the Month Program, is a member-owned financial cooperative offering a full range of financial products to the residents of Dodge County and the surrounding area. The local Member Service Center is at 854 College Street in Eastman.
Pictured (l-r): Kathy Lewis; Melinda Hester; and Kathy Purvis, United 1st Federal Credit Union Assistant Service Center Manager
October Staff Member of the Month
Rene Southerland
By Shipp Dowdy
For her hard work and dedication, René Southerland was recently named the Tribe Scribe and United 1st Federal Credit Union Staff Member of the Month for October.
“Ms. Southerland always sees above and beyond what is expected in the classroom,” said math teacher, Becky Hilliard, who nominated Southerland for the reward. “The work she does is often thankless, but it enriches the DCHS experience for many teachers and students.”
Southerland was excited to receive this reward.
Southerland said she is excited and honored to have received this award.
Southerland, who joined the DCHS staff this school year, works in the special education department as a paraprofessional.
She graduated Dodge County High School in 1998 and went on to receive her associate’s degree in early childhood at Middle Georgia College. Southerland has two daughters, Autumn (11) and Summer (3), and enjoys spending time with her family, shopping, and cooking.
September Staff Member of the Month
Karen Rudshaugen
By Shipp Dowdy
Because of her hard work and dedication, Karen Rudshaugen has received the Staff Member of the Month award for September.
“When my name was announced, I was shocked and speechless,” Rudshaugen said.
Rudshaugen was nominated by Mr. Quint Bush, who said, “[Ms. Rudshaugen is positive every day. She also wants to know our students, what they do, and what they need. She has been a blessing to us.”
Rudshaugen graduated from Dodge County High School with the class of 1975. One of Rudshaugen’s memories of high school is skipping music theory class to drive downtown to the Eastman Bakery with two friends.
“We were scared of getting caught, so we promptly ate our doughnuts and hurried back to school,” she recalled.
After graduation, Rudshaugen attended Georgia Southern University and then went to Middle Georgia College. She then culminated her formal education with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Georgia.
Rudshaugen facilitates the EMAC (Educational Media Academic Classes): German I, II, & III Japanese I, II, and III, and Latin I, II, and III.
Among her favorite memories are her time spent being a journalist, musician, songwriter, videographer, and student overseas.
“I met and interviewed and lived among people who tearfully related their stories.”
Rudshaugen recounts interviewing Holocaust survivors from the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland, refugees in Africa, and former soviet republics’ mothers. “[The mothers] would walk their small children along bombed sidewalks on the way to kindergarten uncertain if they would be alive a few hours later.”
Rudshaugen has a daughter named April Rudshaugen.
United 1st, which sponsors the Staff Member of the Month Program, is a member-owned financial cooperative offering a full range of financial products to the residents of Dodge County and the surrounding area. The local Member Service Center is at 854 College Street in Eastman.
Pictured (l-r): Quint Bush and Karen Rudshaugen