MELANIE MAPLES LOVES NUMBERS

We all know that Elkmont's Melanie Maples is wonderful but now anyone who reads the Decatur paper knows too. 
She was recognized in the Decatur Daily, February 22. It is a great article about all she does to help the Decatur Schools keep their books in order and save money as well. There is a link to the full article at the end of this post. 
 

Melanie Maples has been successfully keeping Decatur City Schools financially sound for almost a decade and half while also devising ways to accomplish the district's education goals.

As chief schools financial officer, Maples is one of the main reasons the school system has withstood the repeated hits of proration and the recession in the past decade.

“I consider Melanie the finest CSFO in the state,” said Ed Nichols, one of three superintendents Maples has worked for in her 14 years with the school system.

School board President Karen Duke called Maples “phenomenal. She just knows where the money is coming from and where it is. She knows how to get the biggest bang for the buck.”

Melanie grew up in the Elkmont area and attended Elkmont High School. She said she fell in love with numbers and accounting during a bookkeeping class with teacher Ida B. Terry.  She married her high school sweetheart, Tommy Maples, and lives on the old Maples farm that has been in his family for 200 years. They raise Angus cattle and fantastic  children.  Her four children (Ben, Josh, Will and Sara) are working in or studying agriculture in college. She also has one granddaughter, Jane.

Duke said Maple’s farm background may be one of the reasons she has done well in managing the school system’s money.
“She’s been close to the dirt. Melanie has a very honest, open way of looking at things. She has to make some decisions on the farm.”

Melanie says  she feels like she’s in the perfect job.

“I enjoy the details, the numbers and putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together," she said. "I also enjoy I work with in the central office and the schools.”

DECATUR DAILY LINK: MAPLES CONSERVATIVE APPROACH

NEWS ABOUT LEAH

The Decatur Daily has a nice article about Elkmont's Leah Seibert in its February 23 edition.  

HIGHLIGHTS:

Wearing her Elkmont High cheerleader uniform, Leah Seibert stood in front of the home crowd during a basketball timeout and participated in an enthusiastic cheer routine.  For a high school teenager, it might sound like an ordinary moment. But for Seibert, it was part of the journey to recovery.
 
The road to recovery is not complete. Seibert still is receiving aggressive chemotherapy treatment, and because of low blood cell counts, she has spent multiple stints in the hospital. The most recent was during the first week of February.

"You can't take anything for granted," Seibert said. "That's one of life's biggest lessons."

For complete article, pick up a hard copy or link is below:
DECATUR DAILY ARTICLE LINK

ELKMONT YOUNG FARMER

The Decatur Daily has a great article about how the USDA is trying to encourage young adults to make agriculture their life's work.  The young farmer featured in this article is Elkmont's Stan Usery; lots of interesting quotes.  He grows 700 acres of row crops, soybeans, corn and wheat, and operates 9 chicken houses.  Stan is a spring chicken of 32 and much younger than the national average age of 58.   The USDA wants to add 100,000 young farmers within the next few years to replace the typical aging farmer of 68.  The article is long and you can read the entire article at Decatur Daily or pick up a copy today.