TheState.com: Education

Gamecock Guarantee: 'We want to get the word out'

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:49 EST

The University of South Carolina wants to expand a three-year-old program that provides financial assistance to students from the state's poorest households.

USC's Gamecock Guarantee, a needs-based program that has provided tuition-and-fee assistance to 211 S.C. students since last fall, puts the university in league with other large public schools that are using scarce resources to attract low-income students.

But USC officials say too many students are unaware of the program, even as the economic downturn has created more financial hardship for students and parents.

"With higher unemployment and the cost of education going up, we have more need than ever," said Scott Verzyl, USC's vice provost of enrollment management. "Yet it's more important than ever for students to go to college."

USC plans to mount an advertising campaign that will include public service announcements, billboards, testimonials and perhaps, Verzyl said, a celebrity spokesman.

State to seek funds for education reform

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:55 EST

State Department of Education leaders said they will apply for a portion of $4 billion in federal stimulus money for school reform available to states, and they think they have a shot at getting it.

The U.S. Department of Education isn't yet accepting applications for the money, which will be available through a competitive federal grant program called "Race to the Top."

But when applications are accepted, the department has said, it will favor states that support charter schools and that have put in place programs that tie teachers' pay to their students' academic performance.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan has control over which states will get the money, and it could go to as few as 10 to 20 states.

Betsy Carpentier, the state's deputy superintendent for education, said South Carolina has several key strategies already in place that could help it land a grant, including:

Popular Camden schoolteacher dies

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:30 EST

Students and teachers at Camden Middle School are mourning the death of a popular seventh-grade math instructor.

Leon Kats, 54, died late Wednesday after a brief illness. School officials declined comment on the cause of death.

Kats was "very beloved," Kershaw County school spokeswoman Mary Anne Byrd said.

Camden Middle principal Jeff Jordan said Kats was an energetic, dedicated teacher who inspired and challenged pupils.

"He epitomized everything I'd like a teacher to be," said Jordan, whose son also had Kats as a teacher. "He really went the extra mile for children. He felt it was his calling."

Camden math teacher dies

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:52 EST

Students at Camden Middle School are mourning the death of a popular 7th-grade mathematics teacher.

Leon Kats, 54, passed away last night. School officials declined comment on the cause of death.

Kats was “very beloved,” Kershaw County school spokesman Mary Anne Byrd said.

He had taught at the school since 1997 and was an advisor for the yearbook and other student organizations, officials said.

Palmetto Health Richland spokeswoman Tammie Epps said Kats died 10:55 p.m. Wednesday, but cited privacy laws in refusing to offer any other details.

SC to recognize 2 top professors for their work

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:18 EST

Two South Carolina professors will receive top honors for their teaching and advising skills.

The winners of the 2009 Governor's Professor of the Year award will be announced Thursday at the State House. One winner each will represent the state's four-year and two-year colleges.

The two are being chosen from 39 candidates nominated by their schools, both public and private.

They will be recognized Thursday during the Commission on Higher Education's meeting. The winners and 37 other nominees will then be honored at a luncheon.

Last year, professors from Coastal Carolina University and Greenville Technical College received the award.

Fears, tears, grins greet swine flu shots

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:20 EST

With the sound of schoolmates sniffling and crying all around him, 5-year-old Santos Duran bravely sat in his mom's lap in the band room at Forts Pond Elementary School and awaited his swine flu shot.

A hint of apprehension crossed his face as the needle neared his arm, but Santos hardly flinched at the stick. Then a grin crossed his face. "That didn't hurt at all," he told his mother, Janet Washington.

Others at the Pelion-area school were less stoic, but most of the youngsters were smiling before the end of the mandatory 15-minute wait at the post-shot comfort station. Hugs from parents and teachers, along with candy suckers, Scooby Doo graham cracker cookies and apple juice, helped dry the tears at one of the first in-school vaccination clinics in the Midlands.

Lexington 1 started its vaccination program at Forts Pond and Pelion elementary schools Monday, with plans to give nearly 570 shots for the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. Parents earlier had filled out permission slips allowing district and S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control nurses to administer vaccine to about 50 percent of the 1,148 students in the two schools.

The response was higher than the 30 percent approval expected by district officials, said spokeswoman Mary Beth Hill.

Beaufort super refuses bonus, cites economy

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:29 EST

BEAUFORT - Beaufort County schools superintendent Valerie Truesdale says she will refuse any bonus the Board of Education might award her this year for boosting student achievement and meeting other goals.

"I just don't think that's appropriate," Truesdale said at the board's annual fall retreat on Saturday.

She said money is tight during these challenging economic times and it would be unreasonable for her to personally gain from the collective efforts of the district, including its teachers and other instructional leaders.

The board met Saturday to evaluate Truesdale's performance during the 2008-09 school year and determine whether she should receive the annual performance-based bonus listed in her contract. Truesdale received a $17,500 bonus last year.

However, after a three-hour closed session, the board said they would postpone Truesdale's formal evaluation until January, when scores on the state-mandated Palmetto Assessment of State Standards are expected to be available from the S.C. Department of Education.

H1N1 flu shots start today in schools

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:03 EST

With the sound of schoolmates sniffling and crying all around him, 5-year-old Santos Duran bravely sat in his mom’s lap in the band room at Forts Pond Elementary School and awaited his swine flu shot. A hint of apprehension crossed his face as the needle neared his arm, but Santos hardly flinched at the stick. Then a grin crossed his face. “That didn’t hurt at all,” he told his mother, Janet Washington.

Lexington 1 started vaccination program at Forts Pond and Pelion elementary schools Monday, with plans to give nearly 570 shots for the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. Parents earlier had filled out permission slips al-lowing district and S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control nurses to administer vaccine to about 50 percent of the 1,148 students in the two schools.

The response was higher than the 30 percent approval expected by district officials, said spokesperson Mary Beth Hill.

Parents were allowed to accompany their children into the clinic. By 8 a.m. Monday, dozens of parents sat out-side the Forts Pond band room, where four inoculation stations were set up.

USC prof's new book: 'Americans like lonesome'

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:48 EST

To be an American is to have buried, deep within our collective DNA, a profound sense of the lonesome.

At least that is what USC religious studies professor Kevin Lewis has speculated during a long - and perhaps lonesome - intellectual trek through the landscape of American music, fiction, art and religion.

For all the cultural reflection on the meaning of e pluribus unum, he believes Americans are a people who understand the solitary ache in the heart, the twist in the gut. After all, he noted, who among us has not walked through "that lonesome valley" or traveled down an open highway with the wail of Hank Williams in our ears?

"That word lonesome seems to do so much more work in our vocabulary than in any other anglophone culture," he said. "Americans like lonesome."

His ruminations have borne fruit in a newly published book titled, simply, "Lonesome: The Spiritual Meanings of American Solitude." In this scholarly work, he explains how we are a people hard-wired to perceive and experience lonesomeness in a way that is far different from that of our counterparts on other continents.

S.C. State faces $6M shortfall

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:05 EDT

S.C. State University wanted to have 5,102 students this fall, a steppingstone toward its goal of having 6,000 students by 2014.

But when officials tallied up the number of new students who enrolled and returning students who actually came back, they got a painful jolt: S.C. State's enrollment stood at 4,545.

That figure - 343 students fewer than were enrolled last fall - is the school's sharpest drop in enrollment in the last decade, according to figures from the university and the S.C. Commission on Higher Education.

The drop in enrollment is contributing to the school's already nagging financial challenges and raising questions about its enrollment procedures and 2014 plans.

"I'm concerned about the number," S.C. State president George Cooper said during an interview in his office last week.

Wofford honors Commerce's Taylor

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:36 EDT

SPARTANBURG - S.C. Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor, a Wofford College graduate, recently was honored with the dedication of the Joe E. Taylor Athletic Building on the Wofford campus.

Taylor donated $1 million for the project. Wofford renovated its existing Curry Building, which housed its maintenance department, into the Taylor Building, which features a 7,000-square-foot weight room and offices for athletics department staff. Renovations on the building, next to Gibbs Stadium, began in fall 2008 and were completed this spring.

S.C. State wins $1.7 million grant

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:36 EDT

ORANGEBURG - S.C. State's Environmental Policy Institute recently received a $1.7 million federal grant to help the university expand the number of students studying math, science and engineering and to develop emergency response plans in rural areas near the Savannah River Site.

"This grant provides many opportunities to S.C. State University to continue its work in the areas of science, math and engineering and to provide programs and activities relating to the environment," said Reinhart Brown, interim executive director of the James E. Clyburn Transportation Center, which houses the Policy Institute.

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration made the grant.

- Wayne Washington

Symposium explores global politics

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:36 EDT

CLINTON - Presbyterian College will host a symposium exploring the relationship between the world's superpowers Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Belk Auditorium.

The symposium - "Global Partnerships in the 21st Century: U.S. and China" - is the opening program of Presbyterian's Confucius Institute, awarded last year as part of China's efforts to improve relations and understanding with the United States.

Shaozhong You of China's U.S. embassy is scheduled to speak at the closing session at 4 p.m. Other experts on China and its relationship with the U.S. also will participate in the symposium, which is free and open to the public.

Video tips about paying for college

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:36 EDT

A Washington television production company will film a series of video tips about college affordability at Columbia College on Monday and Tuesday.

Three Roads Communications Inc. will have its program, "25 Tips to Afford College," broadcast on public television and on college-related Web sites. A series of 30-second commercials will begin airing nationally in December.

"With college costs continuing to rise at the same time the country is mired in economic crisis, it's important for students and parents to save every nickel they can," said Russ Hodge, Three Roads' founder and president. "Our tips, when taken together, can make college affordable for a lot of students who otherwise would not be able to attend."

Columbia College is one of a handful of schools that will be included in the program by Three Rivers, whose leaders said they chose the school because it is a leader in women's education with an accomplished faculty and student population.

Bands perform for state title

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:36 EST

South Carolina's marching season came to an end Saturday, as bands across the state put their best foot forward to try to be the Palmetto State's best.

Though it's not a sport, there's still plenty of team spirit in marching bands as the 4A and 2A schools competing in the band state championship at Batesburg-Leesville High School proved.

Thousands of classmates, friends and family gathered to watch shows inspired by "Risk," winged critters and even math.

Among the five Midlands high schools that earned a place in the finals was Ridge View, whose "X-Factor" show was inspired by the movie "A Beautiful Mind" and math. Other Midlands schools that participated were Batesburg-Leesville, Blythewood, Mid-Carolina, Orangeburg-Wilkinson and White Knoll.

Early clouds gave way to sun and a touch of humidity by mid-afternoon, a sign, the stadium announcer said, that "God doesn't let it rain on South Carolina marching band."

Cardinal Newman step closer to new campus

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:31 EDT

Cardinal Newman High School on Thursday completed the purchase of a site for its new campus in Northeast Richland.

Principal Jacqualine Kasprowski declined to provide the price paid for the 49.1-acre site on Alpine Road.

Plans envision the new campus to become home for up to 1,000 students. Enrollment is 455 in grades 7-12.

Plans are under way for a fund-raising campaign and settling on the project's design, Kasprowski said. No price tag for the new school is set, she said.

Richland 1 extends leader's contract

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:06 EDT

The Richland 1 school board agreed unanimously this week to extend the contract of Superintendent Percy Mack for two more years.

The two-year extension represents "a strong vote of confidence" for Mack's leadership of the largely urban school district, board chairman Vince Ford said.

Mack, a former superintendent of the Dayton, Ohio, public schools, came to Richland 1 in July 2008. As part of the contract extension, the board provided Mack with an annual annuity of 3.5 percent of his current salary, the district said.

Clemson research leader to retire

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:06 EDT

CLEMSON - The Clemson University vice president who led the drive for the school's automotive research center in South Carolina is retiring.

Media outlets reported Wednesday that Chris Przirembel will leave his post as vice president for research and economic development in April.

He joined Clemson from Rutgers University in 1981 and has worked in higher education for more than 40 years.

The 67-year-old Przirembel said the decision was bittersweet. He says he wants to spend more time with his family.

Clemson president James Barker says that without Przirembel, there would likely be no International Center for Automotive Research in Greenville.

By the numbers: Richland, Lexington enrollment

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:08 EDT

Schools in Richland 2, in northern Richland County, and Lexington 1, in and around the town of Lexington, are continuing their rapid growth in student enrollment this fall.

Each district added more than 700 pupils - the size of a new elementary school - since the previous academic year.

A slow economy isn't diminishing the influx of families who are attracted to schools rated among the best in South Carolina, officials in each district said.

Enrollment also jumped in Lexington 2 schools, an unexpected increase officials attribute to young families settling in the Cayce-West Columbia area.

Richland 2 is still the largest Midlands district. Enrollment in Richland 1, the second-largest district, is down slightly this year.

Francis Marion hosting college fair this week

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:13 EDT

Francis Marion University is hosting a college fair Tuesday at the Smith University Center from 8:30 a.m. to noon and 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Representatives from more than 50 colleges and universities will be available to answer questions about courses, costs, scholarships and other financial aid.

The college fair, free and open to students and parents throughout the state, is sponsored by the Carolinas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

"CACRAO provides an excellent opportunity for students in the region to learn about colleges and universities from South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia," said Jim Schlimmer, Francis Marion's director of admissions. "This gives our institution a chance to partner with other universities, high schools, civic organizations and companies who have an interest in providing good information about higher education opportunities."

Memorial honors Newberry College's old nickname