TheState.com: Education

Deadly Ocean Isle beach fire: 'Friends together forever'

Fri, 16 May 2008 13:11 EDT

The grievous path away from a charred Ocean Isle Beach house has not been easy for those who lost loved ones in the deadly, swift-moving blaze or for those who miraculously escaped the flames.

But when families gather today at the base of the Odell Williamson bridge, it will be testament to the fierce task of survival, of remembering the contributions of seven bright young South Carolinians who died too young.

The town of Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., just across the border from South Carolina, will unveil a cross-shaped monument to the six USC students and one Clemson student who died Oct. 28 in the canalside three-story beach house.

The names of the seven — Cassidy Pendley, 18; Lauren Mahon, 18; Justin Anderson, 19; Travis Cale, 19; Allison Walden, 19; William Rhea, 18; and Emily Yelton, 19 — are inscribed on a granite stone at the base of the cross.

It carries the date of the fire and the inscription “Friends together forever,” a fitting epitaph for a warm, carefree college weekend that went terribly awry.

School meal prices rising?

Thu, 15 May 2008 23:22 EDT

You might have to pay five to 25 cents more a day for your child’s lunch at school next year, which could cost you $45 a year per child.

Escalating food and fuel costs nationally are forcing schools across the state to consider raising cafeteria prices next year.

At least three Columbia-area school districts are discussing increasing meal costs.

“What we’re seeing is that the cost of everything is going up,” said Vivian Pilant, state director of the office of school food services. “Usually it’s one thing. This year, everything is going up.”

State education officials have advised districts to budget 10 percent more for food costs in the 2008-09 school year.

Deadly Ocean Isle beach fire: Survivors live among memories of dead

Fri, 16 May 2008 08:02 EDT

For the six who survived, it has been months of soft glances, whispers and I-love-yous.

But when they look at each other, they see flashes of that early morning in October when a fire at a North Carolina beach house took seven of their friends.

For those who died, their families push on, honoring their memory. But for those who survived it’s a different kind of struggle — of coming to terms with living and figuring out what’s next.

“No other friend, family member, anyone can touch on some of the things that the six of us would be able to. At times that makes it kind of awkward,” said Tripp Wylie, who survived the fire after leaping from a second-story window.

At first, the six would hang out on the USC campus. They would talk, sometimes telling funny stories about their friends who died. But the stories were emotional land mines. Different people stepped on them at different times.

S.C. preparing to expel PACTs from its schools

Fri, 16 May 2008 08:03 EDT

Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests are on their way out as South Carolina’s method for measuring what elementary and middle school students know.

The state Senate approved legislation Thursday authorizing the state Department of Education to replace PACTs with a new battery of standardized tests.

The last major hurdle appears to be when the new tests will be administered.

The House wants the Education Department to have new tests ready in the spring of 2010. The Senate thinks students should take them next spring. A special committee of lawmakers from both chambers will be assembled to find a compromise.

State schools chief Jim Rex, who last week called on senators to pass the testing change legislation, said his agency prefers to replace PACTs a year from now.

Lexington 4: The end of an era at Swansea High

Wed, 14 May 2008 20:52 EDT

Joye Hoffman can still remember the days following the Dec. 29, 1976 fire that destroyed the old Swansea High building.

Not just because it took the staff days to sort through records, brushing off the singed edges of student files.

But because she’d made students leave their workbooks at school to ensure they didn’t lose them over winter break.

Hoffman had no idea she would be the one to blame for “losing” the books.

“They did not ever let me forget that,” she said before laughing.

Child sexual abuse: S.C. to train educators in awareness

Thu, 15 May 2008 08:52 EDT

A high school science teacher in Easley faces criminal charges after police say he solicited sex over the Internet from sheriff’s deputies he thought were 13-year-old girls.

A middle school teacher in Clinton pleads guilty to three counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, accused of having sex with at least five boys.

A high school cheerleading coach in Ware Shoals is accused of giving beer to two of her cheerleaders and having sex with a male student who was old enough to consent.

These are three criminal cases brought against educators last year alone — incidents state officials hope to pre-empt with a new program aimed at teaching anyone who works in a school how to prevent, recognize and react to child sexual abuse.

“Most children will never tell,” said Anne Lee, president and CEO of the nonprofit group that developed the training. “One in 10 children will tell, and 43 percent of those that do tell will tell a teacher.”

Lexington 3: Education was her calling

Wed, 14 May 2008 20:57 EDT

There is a quote hanging in fourth-grade teacher Lynda Smallen’s classroom that she adopted during her college days.

It says: “You may be just one person in the world but you may be the world to one person.”

The Batesburg-Leesville Elementary teacher will retire at the end of this school year, leaving behind a 35-year career but taking with her thousands of memories.

And that quote.

“I can apply this wherever I go,” she said. “Where God carries me I can certainly be of help to one person.”

Lexington 2: Principal leaves his markin special education

Wed, 14 May 2008 20:56 EDT

For Ted Keister, a stint as a summer camp counselor during his college days set him on the path to becoming an educator.

He was working at Camp Burnt Gin, a summer camp in Wedgefield, for children who have physical disabilities and chronic illnesses.

He met a young man who was a triple amputee. That summer he taught him to swim.

“That kind of spurred me on,” he said. “Every kid can succeed.”

Keister, principal at Granby Education Center, will retire at the end of this school year and return to his hometown of Beaufort.

Richland 2: Arts teacher taking a bow

Wed, 14 May 2008 20:55 EDT

Harriette Edmonds has spent most of her life in the Richland 2 school system, but now she’s saying her good-byes.

A student at Dentsville High School (now Dent Middle School), and later a visual arts teacher, Edmonds will retire at the end of this school year. She’s been teaching for 32 years, and had always planned to retire once she turned 65. At that point, she’d told herself, the children would need a younger teacher.

“I never had a clue that I would be teaching for 32 years,” she said. “But, one year led to another year, and pretty soon I said, ‘Gee, I love doing this and,’ and I just stayed.”

Edmonds, a mother of one son, said her parents — a seamstress and a gardener — were a big influence on her love of art. And, then it was her mother who suggested she go into teaching because she’d get the summers off.

Eventually, teaching proved a natural fit for Edmonds who loved to learn as much as she loved art.

Lexington 1: Kindergarten teacher ready to pass on her legacy

Wed, 14 May 2008 20:58 EDT

When Angela Halfacre walks out of her kindergarten classroom in June, she’ll end a 37-year teaching career that she said has brought her unending joy.

But in August, the retiring teacher will take on a new role — that of a classroom volunteer at Pleasant Hill Elementary.

That’s where her daughter Hope, who graduated from USC this year, will begin her own teaching career.

Hope, 22, said she always dreamed of becoming a teacher like her mother.

“I obviously grew up in my mother’s classroom,” she said. “I’m looking forward to continuing my mom’s legacy. ”

Kershaw: Friends, colleagues ready to hit the road

Wed, 14 May 2008 20:59 EDT

Three decades ago, Nancy Cheek and Lynelle Rush banded together to help bring gifted and talented educational programs to Kershaw County schools.

Hundreds of children later, the two veteran educators are saying good-bye to the classroom. It has been their second home, a place where they created a lasting professional and personal bond. It is a place they will miss, even as they start gallivanting across the globe in retirement.

“We decided that we would go out together because we teach side-by-side,” said Rush, who leaves with nearly 33 years of experience. “You just finally feel like it’s time to start something else.”

The two plan to tour places they’ve not visited in South Carolina, across the U.S. and abroad. Rush is headed to France in June, and Cheekwill tour Italy soon.

It’s the eager students and everyday learning that kept the two friends teaching so long. But, it’s ironic also, because neither one thought they would grow up to be teachers. Cheek was a computer programmer who was persuaded to go into teaching by a superintendent. And, Rush had planned to go to business school.

Richland 1: Teaching blind children the skills of life

Wed, 14 May 2008 21:01 EDT

David Atkinson works in what is perhaps the most challenging teaching environment in public education.

“The street is my classroom,” he says.

It is not uncommon this time of year to see Atkinson and one of his students repeatedly crossing busy Columbia intersections on foot.

His job is to teach blind children the skills they’ll need the rest of their lives to function in the world.

After four decades teaching students how to do what most of us take for granted, Atkinson will retire later this month. He and his wife will relocate to a cabin they’re building on a lake in North Carolina.

Teachers staying after retirement bell

Wed, 14 May 2008 21:35 EDT

Fewer than eligible are leaving, making things easier for Columbia-area districts

Columbia-area districts are seeing far fewer teachers leaving the classroom this year than were eligible for retirement.

This is a welcome reprieve for district officials, who could have been looking at replacing as many as 500 teachers, or roughly 7 percent of the teaching work force. Instead, many teachers chose not to retire or to continue — in some way — as working retirees.

District officials from seven of the eight Columbia-area districts reported 243 teachers have decided to retire this year.

The largest impact is in Richland 1, where about 111 of its 1,700 teachers are retiring.

District awards bonus to more than 1,000

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:21 EDT

Richland 1’s school board closed the books this week on a trial bonus-pay program that ended up costing nearly three times the amount superintendent Allen J. Coles projected.

Trustees OK’d the release of $696,566 from an emergency spending account to resolve appeals from 615 employees who believed they met criteria to qualify for extra pay. The vote Tuesday night was unanimous.

Coles proposed a “pay for results” program a year ago if students produced better scores on tests and other measures. The seven-member board OK’d the idea as an experiment and signed off on committing $1 million to underwrite it.

Coles’ staff produced a report this week that put the figure at just over $2.7 million.

“It far exceeded our expectations,” Coles said Wednesday. “I think that’s good news.”

Springfield ceremony to honor high school

Wed, 14 May 2008 21:35 EDT

The old high school in Springfield, once an eyesore, not only has been saved but has become the poster child for historic preservation.

The Orangeburg County town celebrates the eight-year effort to resuscitate Springfield High School with a re-dedication ceremony from 1:45 to 8 p.m. Saturday. The event includes a ribbon-cutting, a piano concert, a gospel show and tours of the building.

Nearly $1.5 million in grants helped finance the restoration of the 15,000-square-foot building at 21 Brodie St. It houses, or soon will house, a regional visitors center, a county library branch, an artisans center, meeting rooms, museum-quality exhibits and a 428-seat auditorium.

District 1 may choose new chief Friday

Wed, 14 May 2008 21:35 EDT

Richland 1 school trustees will meet in a special session Friday morning with the goal of naming a new superintendent.

Board chairwoman Wendy C. Brawley expressed confidence fellow members have had enough time to review credentials, notes from one-on-one interviews with the three finalists and conversations with constituents who attended a meet-and-greet event.

In the running to replace Allen J. Coles, whose contract is being allowed to expire June 30, are:

• Gerald D. Dawkins, 59, superintendent of Saginaw, Mich., city schools

• Percy A. Mack, 57, superintendent of Dayton, Ohio, city schools

Coble gets afterschool accolades

Thu, 15 May 2008 08:56 EDT

Columbia Mayor Bob Coble was among 16 local leaders from across the country recognized today by the Afterschool Alliance for his support of afterschool programs in Richland 1.

Coble’s citation noted his support for “afterschool and extended day programs ... including KOBAN Columbia, an afterschool program for at-risk youth in the Columbia Housing Authority complexes. He has also been involved in promoting afterschool programs as solutions to gang violence.”

The alliance praised Coble for partnering with Richland 1 to organize a rally last fall known as “Lights On Afterschool” and committed the city “to provide financial support and serve as a major sponsor” for the 2008 Lights On Afterschool Breakfast and Celebration.

The national organization also lauded Coble for supporting efforts to develop “quality afterschool childcare and summer camp options for families in Columbia through the city’s parks and recreation department’s afterschool and summer camp sites.

According to the Afterschool Alliance web site, the nonprofit organization works to raise “awareness of the importance of afterschool programs and advocating for quality, affordable programs for all children. It is supported by a group of public, private and nonprofit organizations that share the Alliance's vision of ensuring that all children have access to afterschool programs by 2010.

Educators in SC to be trained to prevent student abuse

Wed, 14 May 2008 16:00 EDT

Educators across South Carolina will undergo training on how to prevent, identify and report cases of students being abused by adults at school or elsewhere, officials announced Wednesday.

Roughly 10,000 teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, coaches and school nurses will become "Stewards of Children" through an award-winning program developed by Darkness to Light, a Charleston-based national nonprofit that seeks to curtail the number of child sex abuse victims and the crime's impact on their lives.

Anne Lee, the group's chief executive, said South Carolina is the first state nationwide to undertake such a statewide initiative. She said the group is seeking federal money to expand what she hopes becomes the national model.

She hopes the training program "closes the cookie jar" for sexual predators in schools. If they know fellow educators are watching and ready to turn them in, they'll get another job, Lee said.

State schools Superintendent Jim Rex said incidents of inappropriate behavior between students and teachers represent a "very, very small fraction" of the state's teachers, but even one example is too many.

USC to test emergency loudspeakers

Tue, 13 May 2008 21:43 EDT

USC will test its new emergency loudspeakers today and Thursday, university spokesman Russ McKinney said.

The tests involve tones, sirens and voice messages. The loudspeakers are located from Williams-Brice Stadium to the central campus.

The audible alert system consists of five speakers mounted on poles or building roofs around campus.

The tentative test schedule:

• Wednesday — Start testing of sirens from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

State board upholds charter school rejection

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:38 EDT

Richland 1 made the right decision April 4 when it rejected an application for a charter school on Columbia’s North Main Street, 12 members of the S.C. Board of Education concluded Tuesday.

The state board’s decision blocks the Imagine North Main Academy organization from operating a school for children in kindergarten through grade five in a building 700 yards from Hyatt Park Elementary School. Leaders say they will appeal the decision to an administrative law judge in hopes of salvaging plans to open in August.

The panel cited “sufficient evidence ... to support Richland 1’s conclusions that the ... Academy will adversely affect the remaining students through programmatic losses” to nearby public schools.