Pictured (from left) are FPHS Principal Patrick Barnes, Board member Randy Bynum, Sen. Steve Livingston, Rep. Nathaniel Ledbetter, Gov. Kay Ivey, ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell, FPCS Superintendent Brian Jett, Board members Sharon Jones, Carolyn Martin and Neal Baine, Board President Jimmy Durham and former FPCS Superintendent Jim Cunningham.

Gov. Kay Ivey, along with city and school officials, broke ground Monday on Fort Payne’s new BEAT (Building, Electric, Aviation Technology) Center.

The ceremony, which was held next to the Central Office, welcomed a host of special guests, including State Superintendent Eric Mackey, Rep. Nathaniel Ledbetter, Sen. Steve Livingston, Fort Payne Superintendent Brian Jett, FPHS Principal Patrick Barnes, Career Technical Education Instructor Dan Groghan and FPSC Administrator Christy Jackson, to name a few.

Read more...

Deborah Ragsdale of Polymer Industries, Henagar, Alabama has been named the President of the International Association of Plastic Distributor (IAPD) for 2021-22. The international trade association is comprised of companies engaged in the distribution and manufacturing of performance plastics worldwide.

Read More...

Students and educators at Collinsville High School’s 21st Century Summer Program debuted their service-learning project last week inspired by a recycling initiative.

Per the Alabama 21st CCLCS, the 21st Century Community Learning Program Century is a U.S. Department of Education program, administered through the states, providing grants to schools, community and organizations, and youth development agencies, to provide high quality, expanded learning opportunities outside of regular school hours for children in a safe and secure educational environment.

Read More...

Sophia Al-Halaseh, a sixth-grade student at Fort Payne Middle School, has been named the State Merit Winner of the 2021 3M Young Scientist Challenge, the nation’s premier middle school science competition, for the project “The SORE BE GONE!”

3M and Discovery Education recently announced 30 State Merit Winners in the 2021 3M Young Scientist Challenge. As the nation’s premier middle school science competition, the 3M Young Scientist Challenge features outstanding innovations from young scientists that utilize the power of STEM to improve the world.

Read More...

Fort Payne is among 18 Alabama communities that will see the installation of electric vehicle charging stations near interstates and other major highways following the awarding of $4.1 million in grants to fund up to 80% of the cost. Many of the planned charging stations are along the Interstate 20/59 corridor with the goal of there being a gap of no more than 50 miles between charging locations to overcome consumer concerns with vehicle “range anxiety”.

Read More...

The Fort Payne High School FIRST Robotics team, the Gigawatts, were recently awarded the Chairman's Award for the Southeastern Region FIRST Robotics Competition.

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology or FIRST, the Chairman's Award is the most prestigious award at FIRST, honoring the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate.

Read More...

Gov. Kay Ivey has announced a $1 million grant to prepare Fort Payne high school students and adults for the future while helping to meet the needs of Alabama’s workforce in several career fields.

The funds from the Appalachian Regional Commission will be used to help the Fort Payne Board of Education construct a new vocational center aimed at training students in careers that include construction, electric vehicle and aviation technologies.

Read More...

The Fort Payne City Council returned to live meetings on April 6 and approved a resolution to grant a tax abatement to Heil Co. so the company can move forward with plans to modernize locally.

Read More...

The Fort Payne Middle School Robotics Team recently competed in their FIRST Lego League Virtual competition and are moving forward to the upcoming virtual state competition.

According to firstlegoleague.org, the First Lego League is a project-based, hands-on FIRST program introducing students to engineering and coding also referred to as programming in an inclusive, creative and hopeful environment where students work collaboratively to solve a yearly robotic challenge.

Read More...

Brinley Summerford, a fifth grade student at Plainview High School, participated in the 2021 Arbor Day Poster Contest where she won first place in the local contest hosted by the Rainsville Tree City Board and second place at the state level.

“Brinley won second place at State,” said Kayron Guffey, chairperson of the Rainsville Tree City Board. “I am so proud of her. This is awesome for our city and school. Brinley received $150 total at the State Level, plus other prizes and $50.00 from the City of Rainsville for first place in the Rainsville Tree City Poster Contest.”

Read More...

Alabama Possible, a statewide nonprofit that breaks down barriers to prosperity, today announced that 51 schools will receive the Best Hustle Award for successfully improving their early Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion by at least 10 percent from 2019 to 2020. Early completion is defined as completion during the first two months of the FAFSA cycle (i.e., October 1 to December 1). Fort Payne High School received this recognition and had improved FAFSA completion by 27.81% when compared with 2019. Read More... 

Alabama Possible, a statewide nonprofit that breaks down barriers to prosperity, Wednesday announced that 51 schools will receive the Best Hustle Award for successfully improving their early Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion by at least 10 percent from 2019 to 2020. Early completion is defined as completion during the first two months of the FAFSA cycle (i.e., October 1 to December 1). Six DeKalb County schools received this recognition. They are:

• Crossville High School
• Sylvania School
• Valley Head High School
• Fyffe High School
• Ider School
• Plainview School

Read more...