Education Department Commissioner Candice McQueen has announced that Tennessee public school students have once again broken the previous year’s record by earning an average composite score of 20.2 on the ACT in 2018. Tennessee public high school graduates improved from the 2017 average of 20.1, with more than 2,000 additional students taking the exam this year, bringing the state’s participation rate up to 97 percent – also a new record high. The results also show that 1,463 more Tennessee public school graduates became eligible for the HOPE scholarship by earning composite scores of 21 or higher.
Additionally, the 63,104 public school graduates who took the ACT increased their average score in most subject areas.
The average composite score among Coffee County students was 19.4. Tullahoma students averaged 22.

For the second time, the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office has sponsored the Student Mock Election. Students from all three grand divisions of the state have cast their votes in the statewide races for Governor and U.S. Senate. These votes reflect who students would have elected as the next Governor and United States Senator of Tennessee if they were old enough to vote in the real election. Over 56,000 students from across the state participated in the 2018 Student Mock Election.
Secretary of State Tre Hargett, along with Senator Brian Kelsey, and Representative Mark White participated in announcing the winners of the statewide Student Mock Election at an event hosted by Germantown Middle School in Shelby County, Tennessee.
In the race for Governor, Bill Lee received 36,458 (65%) votes. Karl Dean received 20,012 (35%) votes.
In the race for U.S. Senate, Marsha Blackburn received 31,507 (57%) votes. Phil Bredesen received 23,819 (43%) votes.
The Mock Election is open to students in preschool through high school in public and private schools, as well as home school associations. Mock ballots allow students to choose between candidates from both the Republican and Democrat parties for the Gubernatorial and United States Senate races. Schools are also provided with “I Voted” stickers for students that cast a vote in their mock election.

Early voting for the November midterm elections ends at 4:30 pm (Nov. 1, 2018). Election Day is Tuesday, November 6 and registered voters all allowed to cast ballots at your assigned precinct, according to your residential address.
You will see on the ballot, 28 people running for the office of Governor. 8 candidates are on the ballot for U.S. Senate and 4 individuals are running for 6th District Congress.
Two local candidates are running for 47th District State Representative, Mike Winton, and Rush Bricken. The district includes all of Coffee County and a small portion of Warren County.
Early voting locations in Coffee County are:
Coffee County Election Commission, 1329 McArthur Street, Suite 6 in Manchester, TN 37355, Thursday from 8:00 am – 4:30 pm.
CD Stamps Center, 810 South Jackson Street, Tullahoma, TN 37388, Thursday from 9:00 am – 4:30 pm.
Voters shall show a Federal or State Photo ID when they appear to vote. This is true during early voting and at your election day polling place.
So far right at 9,000 Coffee Countians have cast ballots, 29 percent of registered voters.
On Election Day voting hours for all precincts in Coffee County will be 8:00 am – 7:00 pm.

Coffee County Children’s Advocacy Center held its 11th annual “Safe on the Square,” on Wednesday. The yearly event is a safe and family friendly trick-or-treating event for area children around the historic Manchester Square. A tremendous amount trick or treaters (2,500+) filled the Manchester Square to celebrate Halloween.
CEO/Executive Director Joyce Prusak of the Coffee County Children’s Advocacy Center would like to thank everyone including all of the businesses who came together to make this event possible for our community!
The Children’s Advocacy Center provides forensic interviews of child victims, child and family advocacy services, mental health services, prevention services and partners with Our Kids to bring specialized medical exams to children who are victims of sexual abuse. All services are provided free of charge.

National Diabetes Month starts this week, and more than 1 in 10 Tennesseans is diabetic.
At 11 percent, the state has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
While diabetes can affect people of all age groups, experts are particularly concerned about gestational diabetes in women, or abnormal blood sugar levels during pregnancy.
An increasing body of research indicates the problem doesn’t stop when the baby is born, says Dr. Griffin Rodgers, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, so it’s important to take precautions.
“Women with a history of gestational diabetes can take modest but important steps for themselves and their children to prevent or delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes,” he advises. “Keep up healthy habits. See a dietician or a diabetic educator to guide them.”
Rodgers says about half of all women who had gestational diabetes will develop Type 2 diabetes later in life, and their children have a greater chance of becoming obese.
He recommends women and their families work to maintain healthy weights, with good nutrition and daily exercise.
Rodgers says the CDC doesn’t keep specific data for gestational diabetes, but it stands to reason that with a high rate of diabetes in Tennessee, the trend would include pregnant moms.
“In general, there’s a fairly good correlation between the prevalence of the disease in the state and the likelihood that the women in the state would follow that rate,” he states.
Diabetes can lead to such serious health problems as heart disease, blindness, kidney disease and limb amputations.
Experts believe as many as 161,000 Tennesseans have diabetes but are un-diagnosed.

Get ready for an extra hour of sleep, this weekend as Daylight Saving Time officially comes to an end.
On Sunday, November, 4th at 2 a.m., Daylight Saving Time comes to an end at precisely 2 a.m.
Standard Time will stick around until 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 10, 2019.
The annual change comes in the middle of the night, but most people usually set their clocks back before heading to bed Saturday night.
Changing the clocks is always a good time to sync changing the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.