Organized by the South Carolina Department of Transportation’s (SCDOT) Safe Routes to School Program, South Carolina Walk to School Day will be held March 6, 2019. The event is part of a broader effort by communities across the state to provide students with more opportunities to promote pedestrian and bicycle safety. Walk to School events also encourage physical activity among children, emphasizes concern for the environment, and builds connections between schools and the surrounding communities.
International Walk to School Day (also known as “iWalk”) is a popular South Carolina tradition in October when hundreds of schools participate with walking and bicycling events. SC Walk and Roll to School Day mirrors iWalk and provides schools and communities an opportunity to join SCDOT in kicking off the spring season. Events may take place throughout March.
The South Carolina Safe Routes to School Program and its community partners are encouraging schools to celebrate their “Safely Super Heroes” during this year’s SC Walk and Roll events. Heroes may include law enforcement personnel, crossing guards, educators, community advocates, parents, and students. Schools will promote safe pedestrian and bicycle skills, encourage students to dress as super heroes, provide safety and super-hero themed education programs, and recognize the people that make walking and bicycling safer.
Learn more about the SC Safe Routes to School Program by contacting Rodney Oldham at 803-737-4073 or oldhamr@scdot.org.
Construction of the new St. Paul’s Hollywood Library branch is underway. Charleston County Public Library (CCPL) and Charleston County Government officials kicked off the construction of the new facility during a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 30. The 15,000-square foot facility will be located on Highway 165 next to the new Hollywood Town Hall.
The new library will include:
Adult, children and teen areas
An auditorium that can be divided into two meeting rooms (100-person capacity)
A meeting room/makerspace for do-it-yourself (DIY) projects (25-person capacity)
Outdoor areas
Learning Lab (Computer Instruction Room)
Contemporary Lowcountry Design
The library branch, which is scheduled to open in late 2019, will be part of a larger municipal complex that will include the new Hollywood Town Hall building as well as an aquatics center operated by the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission.
Local residents approved a referendum to build five new libraries, and renovate or upgrade 13 others in November 2014. The first phase of the overall project was designed to solicit community input for the five new library locations. One of CCPL’s top priorities during this process involved obtaining practical information from public library users. The Glick Boehm architectural firm presented their design of the new branch during a community meeting in June 2017. Visit bit.ly/stpaulshollywood to see the design.
Visit www.ccpl.org/construction for monthly status updates and to view updated branch designs presented during past community meetings.
Being a part of a national network designed to assist schools in building stronger pathways to college and career is advantageous for all students. Burke High School (BHS) became part of the New Tech Network (NTN) program in the 2017-18 school year. School administrators and staff were ready for the challenge of raising the level of project-based instruction across course content. This project opened many doors and after only one year of operation, the students and teachers at Burke earned NTN’s 2018 Best in Network award.
This honor is given to a project that exemplifies the goal of successfully combining active exploration, application, authenticity, and academic rigor. BHS teachers Amelia Navarrete and Edgar Johnson, along with their students, earned the award for their project: Finding a Voice.
“The recognition from NTN demonstrates the dedication and passion of our teachers in promoting academic success for our students,” said Burke’s Executive Principal Cheryl Swinton. “Likewise, this recognition applies to our students who showed perseverance and motivation in taking ownership of their own learning. Ultimately, the project furthers not only their success, but the success of the community.”
Finding a Voice combined World Literature and Government classes, and asked students to design graphic novels about disenfranchised and marginalized groups around the world. To assist with the graphic novels, Ms. Navarrete and Mr. Johnson reached out to the Charleston County Public Library system, which enthusiastically joined the project. The students reached the final stage of their project by doing independent research and interviewing a student their age who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Then the students wrote first-person narratives about someone in their region and storyboarded all the panels of their graphic novel.
“These questions of international policy and humanitarian concerns have engaged political leaders around the world,” stated Ms. Navarrete. “Our students used these platforms to spread awareness of these issues from being a refugee, to child soldiers, to understanding that women in other countries are still fighting for rights that they might take for granted. Our students surprised even us with the level of empathy and understanding they showed for the people of their regions, as they progressed through the project.
“This banner has been commissioned to hang on the Fishburne Street side of the building to congratulate and honor the students, faculty, and administration for excellence in education.
The BHS Parent Engagement Collaboration, composed of representatives from the D20 Board,the BH School Improvement Council (SIC), the BHS Foundation, and the BHS PTSA, is sponsoring the banner.“Great job scholars”, says Tony Lewis.“We know that you have greatness in you and we stand behind you as you continue to grow the legacy of academic achievement for Burkeites,” says Dr. Barbara Dilligard. BHSIC Chair, Eric Jackson said: “We are so proud of our students and we will continue to work for them to have everything they need to be successful.
Renée Watson, author of Piecing Me Together, and Ekua Holmes, illustrator of Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets, are the winners of the 2018 Coretta Scott King Book Awards honoring African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults. David Barclay Moore, author of The Stars Beneath Our Feet, and Charly Palmer, illustrator of Mama Africa! How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song, are the winners of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. The awards were announced at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits, held Feb. 9-13, 2018, in Denver, Colorado, and presented in New Orleans at the ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition in June.
The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee of the ALAs Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) to encourage the artistic expression of the African American experience via literature and the graphic arts; to promote an understanding and appreciation of the Black culture and experience, and to commemorate the life and legacy of Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination in supporting the work of her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., for peace and world brotherhood.
In Piecing Me Together, published by Bloomsbury,Jade is a likable protagonist who is easy to root for. There are many stories that shape who we are as peopleand Jade helps others express their feelings and thoughts about the world around them. Watson provides a multi-layered, yet necessary look at Black womanhood.
Renée Watson is an author, educator, and activist from Portland, Oregon, who now lives in New York City. Watson has taught creative writing and theater in public schools and community centers throughout the U.S. for over twenty years. She often focuses on the lived experiences of Black girls and women.
Watson brings us a coming-of-age tale that eloquently explores the many facets of Jade, a brilliant and creative teen on the brink of young adulthood, said Coretta Scott King Book Awards Jury Chair Sam Bloom.
In Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets, written by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth and published by Candlewick Press, Ekua Holmess mixed-media collage images balance the tone and tenor of the new poems created by the authors, while paying homage to each of the featured poets in the subtle details extracted from various aspects.
“Holmes expertly infuses the multilayered poetry with the richness of the Black art aesthetic in her original, evocative, vibrantly colored compositions,” said Coretta Scott King Book Awards Jury Chair Sam Bloom.
Ekua Holmes is a native and current resident of Boston, Massachusetts, who has worked as an artist, curator, and active member of Bostons art community. She was influenced by the need to fill the void of what she perceived as an absence of positive Black images in her childhood neighborhoods.
The Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent affirms new talent and offers visibility for excellence in writing and/or illustration at the beginning of a career as a published African American creator of childrens books. This years winners are author David Barclay Moore for The Stars Beneath Our Feet, published by Alfred A. Knopf, and illustrator Charly Palmer for Mama Africa! How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song, published by Farrar Straus Giroux.
The Stars Beneath Our Feet provides a realistic lens on the Black American experience and infuses it with heart, soul, and imagination. Moore plays with language, culture, stereotypes, and reality to create an engaging book that will resonate with youth in urban communities everywhere searching for positive survival techniques.
Mama Africa! How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song visually tells the story of the singers career through the use of vibrant, colorful illustrations that juxtapose her rise in fame in comparison to the South African peoples civil rights struggle with apartheid. Palmers bold illustrations expertly complement the text in a riveting duet.
Three King Author Honor Books were selected:
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James, and published by Bolden, an Agate Imprint, a Denene Millner Book.
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, published by Atheneum, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division, a Caitlyn Dlouhy Book.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Two King Illustrator Honor Books were selected:
Crown: an Ode to the Fresh Cut, illustrated by Gordon C. James, written by Derrick Barnes,and published by Bolden, an Agate Imprint, a Denene Millner Book.
Before She Was Harriet:The Story of Harriet Tubman, illustrated by James E. Ransome, written by Lesa Cline-Ransome, and published by Holiday House.
For information on the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and other ALA Youth Media Awards, please visit www.ala.org/yma.
Coastal Carolina University will host the 39th annual Dr. Subhash C. Saxena High School Math Contest on Friday, March 2, from 9:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the James J. Johnson Auditorium of the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration. The purpose of this event is to stimulate and promote interest in mathematics among high school students. Eighteen South Carolina high schools will compete for awards, prizes and scholarships in two levels of competition.
The following high schools will participate: A.C. Flora, Columbia; Academic Magnet, North Charleston; Aynor; Ben Lippen, Columbia; Bishop England, Charleston; Carver’s Bay; Georgetown; Early College, Conway; Georgetown; Green Sea Floyds; Hammond School, Columbia; Lake View; Mullins; Scholars Academy, Conway; South Florence; Spring Valley; West Florence; and Williston-Elko.
Coastal Carolina University offers a Coastal Scholars Award to the highest scoring Horry County senior on the Level II test. The Level II test is an assessment of junior and senior students who have taken algebra I and II and geometry.
In addition to the competitions, Coastal Carolina University professor Daniel Abel, Ph.D., will give a presentation titled “Math for a Sustainable Future: Econumeracy and Shark Conservation.” Abel, a professor of marine science, earned a master’s degree from the College of Charleston and a doctorate degree from the University of California – San Diego Scripps Institute of Oceanography.
Tara Craig will be presenting the “Afternoon Brainteaser” activity. Craig, an assistant professor of mathematics at CCU, earned her master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Texas.
Saxena, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, endowed the fund for the annual math contest. He taught mathematics at CCU from 1973 until his retirement in 2001, serving as department chair from 1987-1993.
The first High School Math Contest was held in 1979 and had more than 100 student participants. Over the past few years, the contest has attracted more than 500 students from Horry, Georgetown, Williamsburg, Charleston, Richland, Florence, Berkeley, Dorchester, Marion, Sumter, Barnwell and Clarendon counties.
For more information, contact Coastal Carolina University’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics at 843-349-4074 or visit coastal.edu/math.
CHARLESTON CHRONICLE — Nickelodeon is celebrating Black History Month with a brand-new series of PSAs set in Charleston, South Carolina, that explore themes of education, culture and cuisine as they relate to African Americans. Each PSA is narrated by kids and use Charleston’s storied past and rich culture as both a focal point and a backdrop, given how a sited more than 50% of African Americans are able to trace their ancestry to the port of Charleston, which served as a slave-trading center more than a century ago.
In the first spot currently airing across Nickelodeon’s linear platforms—Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Nicktoons and TeenNick– the subject is the Avery Institute, built in 1865 and one of the first schools to educate African-American students, following a time when they were legally not allowed to attend school. The second PSA, explores elements of African culture that have been passed down through generations and the importance of keeping traditions alive. The third vignette in the series focuses on the African roots of soul food.
Submitted by Jesse Williams, Rep. Marvin Pendarvis & Dr. Carol Tempel
THE CHARLESTON CHRONICLE — When voting to build a new Center for Advanced Studies at North Charleston High School, instead of Garrett Academy of Technology, board members added that they would continue to invest in improving the quality of education at Garrett. In order to hold the school board accountable, the Quality Education Project (QEP) encourages the board and stakeholders to consider solutions that are outlined below since a thorough revision of the academic and vocational curriculum at Garrett is urgent and necessary.
In order to ensure greater and more diverse student attendance, the Garrett campus should be open to a growing middle school population in North Charleston. The prospects of building a middle school building to cater to area students and to build a strong pipeline into the trades programs should be considered, given the fact that two standalone high schools already exist.
Key questions about the vocational curriculum must also be addressed. Garrett is poised to offer a new Curriculum and Instructional Model for Twenty-first Century Career and Technology Training. This program should offer Landscaping and Design, Renewable Energy Technology, Finance and Entrepreneurial Leadership, Hospitality and Tourism, Early Childhood Education, Culinary Arts, Automotive Mechanics and Auto Body, Mechanical Building Trades, and Transportation, Distribution and Logistics. This vocational training offers the necessary skills for full employment in the Lowcountry that not only prepares students for the current job market but the future workplace as well. It is vital that vocational programs are aligned with the strengths of the local economy and Lowcountry employers who are committed to hiring local graduates. These trades and the overall academic program at Garrett are intended to complement the CAS at North Charleston High School to avoid duplication.
At the same time, questions about the academic curriculum are warranted. The new Garrett High School could offer a rigorous college preparatory curriculum to appeal to those students who are on the waiting list at Academic Magnet and others interested in a college track. To meet the unique academic and vocational needs of Garrett, adopting an International Baccalaureate (IB) program, which has solid academics with a career and technology component beginning in Middle School, is one constructive way to meet the unique needs of Garrett. The IB Program should offer college-level training in foreign languages, math, sciences, and the humanities that will translate into college credit at local and state institutions. The IB program also promises to differentiate itself from the programs offered at North Charleston High School.
Given the appeal this curriculum will have, it is worth considering how the new Garrett Middle and High School is governed. A traditional neighborhood public, partial-magnet (non-charter) school offers the best avenue for public participation and transparency. Any new program should not be run by a charter organization or Meeting Street Academy, or any other program that privatizes or takes away public and district oversight of the school. Garrett will therefore serve a broader school population that focuses on the local North Charleston community.
These solutions offer the beginning of a very important discussion in regard to the quality of education that the school district and school board has promised to the Garrett community. As the community and district officials contemplate a model for Garrett, QEP calls on district leadership to make a public commitment to an academically viable Garrett, to share all plans they are contemplating, and to provide a timeframe to enact these reforms. The public and communities impacted are far too often left in the dark, wondering about specifics concerning district plans. This leads to a lack of transparency and mistrust of the school board and district. As an organization committed to quality public education, QEP feels that these points of discussion are consistent with the ideals of quality public education and that Garrett can reflect these standards. With collaborative support, these inquires can inspire a model for the district, if not the entire state of South Carolina to follow.
By 
Submitted by Jesse Williams, Rep. Marvin Pendarvis & Dr. Carol Tempel