Three elementary schools hold ribbon cuttings for adaptive playground equipment For students with special needs, recess is too often a time to observe rather than take part. At McLaurin, Carver and Lester Elementary Schools that is no longer the case. In the 2019-2020 school year, the three elementary schools unveiled new inclusive playground equipment. McLaurin Principal Debbie Cribb said that the equipment, which allows children in wheelchairs as well as those who are not in wheelchairs to play together, is a welcome and much needed addition to her playground. Carver teacher Meagan Johnson said the equipment was something she had hoped for, for a long time. “(The playground) is a place where all children can play, laugh and learn no matter their strengths or weaknesses,” Johnson said. “Year after year I have had students struggle to access the existing equipment or have to sit on the sidelines and watch their friends play. Today, there is no more sitting on the sidelines because all Carver students can play, laugh and learn together.” During each unveiling students at the schools tried out the new equipment for everyone gathered to see just how it works.
Students graduate with high school diploma and two-year college degree More than a dozen students will graduate from Florence 1 Schools will a high school diploma in one hand and a two-year college degree in the other as part of the Early College Program at Wilson High School. Their associate of arts was earned through FlorenceDarlington Technical College which held their graduate ceremony in May. The students earning their two-year degree were: Kenyon Coker Ayanna Davis Jaila Davis Erica Gomez Riane Green Brianna Holbrook Jenecka King Jackson Linneen Ezra Mack Thomas Pipkins Janiya Plowden Tyriesha Turner Jamaria Williams-Smith Kiana Wolfe
Arts Alive!
At the Oct. 18 Board of Trustees meeting, Florence 1 Schools announced a multimillion dollar investment in arts education. Superintendent Dr. Richard O’Malley said that over the next year, $3 million dollars will be spent to improve current programs across the district and implement additional programming. “Over the past several weeks I have been visiting schools, observing programs and meeting with arts teachers,” O’Malley said. “I have heard their concerns. Our programs are underfunded and they are also understaffed. For example, there is only one art teacher at Wilson High School and one at West Florence High School; that is two teachers for almost 3,000 students. Our district also has many band instruments that are beyond repair and have not been replaced in more than 30 years.” This investment in the arts provides opportunities for all Florence 1 students. For the past five years, the school district has been named a Best Community for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation. Two schools in the district, Southside Middle School and South Florence High School, are Arts in Basic Curriculum (ABC) Schools. Those two schools apply for grants from the South Carolina Arts Commission to be used in their arts programs. “Education and engagement in the fine arts are an essential part of the school curriculum and an important component of the educational program of every student in Florence 1 Schools,” O’Malley said. In order for students to benefit from the arts, they must have the proper equipment, supplies and staff available to them. “Many teachers have no supplies or buy them out of their own pocket,” O’Malley said. “Music teachers lack the sound equipment necessary for their classes and the performances they hold.” Why the arts matter Exposure to the arts is an essential component of human growth. They expand a student’s understanding of the world around them and create environments of experiential learning and discovery. Through the arts, students have healthy avenues of self-expression and are exposed to cultures other than their own while growing their self-esteem and becoming independent thinkers. Over the next year, money will be spent in these six areas: Facilities Instruments Supplies and Furniture Personnel Curriculum and Programs Other Supports The money will go toward renovating and updating all three high school auditoriums, purchasing supplies and furniture, and, replacing instruments and classroom furniture. New courses will be added in graphic arts and music, including AP courses. Money will also be allocated to provide supplements for band directors and pay for regional and national competitions.
Work Hard, Play Hard Southside’s baseball team won the City Championship Carson Petty got first place in the middle school division in the South Carolina Bass Challenge tournament. Lucy T. Field Day Greenwood Jump Rope for Heart Delmae students dress up as their favorite character
Beginning in the 20192020 school year, students at Wilson and South Florence High Schools will have the chance to take classes through the Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics (GSSM) without ever leaving their home school’s campus. Through a virtual program called TEAM UP, Florence 1 students will take courses in math, science and engineering using real time video conferencing technology provided by the Governor’s School. Students must apply and be accepted to the three-year program that begins in their 10th grade year of high school. Dr. Zaria O’Bryant, Director of TEAM UP, said that the virtual program was started as a way to offer the opportunities available through the Governor’s School to more students around the state of SC. “The Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics was established to give students across the entire state of South Carolina exposure to higher level math and higher level science,” O’Bryant said. “About seven or eight years ago the Governor’s School, along with our Foundation, SC colleges and universities, and several corporations around the state decided that if we could partner and reach into the school districts we could prepare more students and retain the talent in the state.” O’Bryant said that with a 288-bed limit for the school’s residential program, their physical space is limited; virtual programming opens up the door for many more students across the state. “The way we present the virtual program is through partnerships,” O’Bryant said. “We ask the schools to provide a space for the students to take their virtual courses, a facilitator (an adult who is in the room with the students and works with our instructors), and the bandwidth in order to have the video conferencing equipment; we provide everything else.” Nine districts are current TEAM UP partners; Florence 1 Schools will join next school year. “We want students to be prepared before they ever get to college,” O’Bryant said. “The whole point of these virtual engineering programs is to cultivate more engineers in South Carolina. We need more engineers and we need more students to go to school in South Carolina; that will help the entire South Carolina economy.” O’Bryant said that the virtual courses will offer students an extensive outlook on potential majors for college. “We want to give them a broad stroke of what engineering is and allow them to go more in depth in some of the areas, such as mechanical and aerospace or biomedical, so they are more prepared when they go to college to decide what major they want to pursue,” O’Bryant said. “The majority of the engineering courses in TEAM UP are honors courses, but they are going to get exposure to college content and curriculum and when they actually go to college they won’t be shocked by how much work it is and how complicated it is.” Chris Rogers, Florence 1 Schools Director of STEM, said that, aside from the course material, another interesting aspect of the program is the chance for students in Florence to meet their peers from around the state. “The students in Florence will be able to communicate with the students who are in the class with them from across the state so they’ll get a chance to meet students they wouldn’t have otherwise,” Rogers said. “A few Saturdays a semester the students will also get together in-person and do science experiments and other projects together.” Rogers said that he is excited for the rigor this program offers.
Learning at full STEAM Winners at the STEM Fair at Moore Royall students use the zSpace Lab Greenwood students work with Artist in Residence Patz Fowle Orlando Hudson visits Wallace Gregg Eagle Mens Club
Program qualifies students to operate drones Through a partnership with a regional organization, Florence 1 Schools is providing a unique opportunity for its high school students to gain a remote pilot’s license. Students who are enrolled in engineering class at South Florence and West Florence, or computer coding class at Wilson High, will be offered the iFLY Drone Pilots certification course. “We are extremely excited about this opportunity which has been made available to our students,” said Chris Rogers, Florence 1 Schools STEM Director. “At the conclusion of the course, almost 60 students will be eligible to take the Federal Aviation Administration’s Pilot Examination. Upon successfully passing the exam, they will be awarded their Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Remote Pilot’s License.” Rogers said the program benefits students through its connection with academic standards including global competitiveness, 21st century sustainability and recognition by the FAA; the opportunity to obtain gainful employment and a remote pilot’s license leading to various career pathway options. According to the course description, iFLY is an innovative program designed by AINautics UAV Academy and STEM U, LLC. It connects youth ages 16 – 18 to the Drone Industry by preparing them to become certified FAA Remote Pilots. A team of FAA Certified Flight instructors, UAV Academy experts, and commercial pilots teach the course. The course is designed to prepare high school students for the certification. “This drone certification class can help students determine if they would like to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering or computer programming of drones,” said Rogers who attended the recent SC Department of Commerce workshop. “Using what they learn in the course, students will be able to enter the workforce immediately or maintain information that will help them with future studies or future careers,” he added. Christopher Williams, Director of Partnership Development for iFLY has indicated that career opportunities available for students with the training include: military drone pilot, firefighter, disaster relief, search and rescue, law enforcement, oil and gas operations, seismic study, border patrol, traffic reporting, storm chasing, agriculture, package delivery, forestry, engineering, computer science, commercial contractors and film. “The program is designed to prepare scholars for 21st century sustainability while providing them global capacity,” noted Williams. South Florence High School’s Blake Nichols who will be enrolling the course said, " Drone pilots are in high demand, and I like the listing of job opportunities that are available. “I believe the drone certification course will open many opportunities for students trying to figure out what they want to do in their future,” said Wilson High School student Raelyn Ott. “It will give students the chance to test their interests and provides options when choosing an area of work. I expect the drone certification class to give me basic knowledge about drones, which is expected to become an extremely big industry in the near future.”
Fun for Everyone North Vista Sweetheart Dance Carver Pep Rally Before Testing Dewey Carter Math Jam Annual Taste of Briggs
Florence 1 purchases more than $30K in classic texts Florence 1 Schools has purchased more than 3,000 new books in a move to replenish English Language Arts classrooms at and Rush Academy, South Florence, West Florence and Wilson High Schools. The books include titles such as The Scarlet Letter, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and the Bronx Masquerade. The purchase replaces books that are too worn to be used and also provides more copies of the books so that the schools have enough for each student. Kimberly KinleyHoward, Florence 1 English Language Arts Coordinator, said that the book purchase ensures that the ELA curriculum is accessible to all students. “We have these texts as part of the core curriculum so we need to always refurbish the classroom library,” Kinley-Howard said. “If the kids are actively reading, they are annotating in the book and we want them to do that. If we had pristine books it would mean that no one is using them.” With the implementation of the Read to Succeed Act, South Carolina schools have requirements for English Language Arts. For elementary level education, money is allotted for purchasing books for the classroom library; that same money is not available for high schools. “Our teachers and students need these books,” said Florence 1 School Superintendent Dr. Richard O’Malley. “This purchase is about refocusing and reprioritizing the district budget to get as many dollars and resources into our classrooms as possible.” Teachers across the district gave feedback on what books they needed for their classroom. Courses supported in the purchase include English 1 up to AP English. South Florence English teacher Dr. Roslynn Elom said that even with the implementation of technology, nothing can replace hardcopy texts. “When you have technology you can take notes but it just isn’t the same,” Elom said. “Let’s be real, you get more from writing and reading it than you do just from looking at it on a screen. When you’re looking at the screen, your mind wanders forty different ways; you’re not paying attention like you should.” Elom said that she was specifically excited to hand out the new copies of The Scarlet Letter. “This version of the Scarlet Letter is a bigger book, which is great because I have some kids with vision issues,” Elom said. “I am always mindful of a child who doesn’t see very well; everybody can’t afford glasses. When you have larger print with clean pages and things are a little more spread out, in my opinion, you have kids who are more apt to read it. With the larger page, it also looks like a shorter text; it isn’t but it looks like it is.” West Florence juniors Olivia Seward and Charleigh Sprawls said that they were excited for students to have new books to use and for teachers to have the things they need to teach their classes. “I’m happy for the English teachers and the students coming up,” Olivia said. “We didn’t get a lot of these books but other people will and they won’t be falling apart. My brother is in eighth grade now so he will be able to use these books.”
Future Scientist, Doctors, Artists and More! Savannah Grove Career Day Timrod students receive their Chromebook Academic Challenge Teams Compete Southside students work on printmaking
Florence 1 Schools embraces one-to-one technology roll-out and interactive mediums in virtually any subject. “Using technology, our students will be able to explore places that they may never physically visit,” O’Malley said. In the 2019-2020 school year, Florence 1 Schools rolled out the Imagine Forward Technology Initiative, a plan to put a device in the hands of every student K-12, making Florence 1 one of the first districts in South Carolina to be completely one-to-one. Florence 1 Superintendent Dr. Richard O’Malley said that the Imagine Forward initiative will begin to put the district’s students on a level playing field with their peers across the state and nation. “Many students across the country have technology available to them at home and outside of the school day,” O’Malley said. “If we want our students to be able to compete in a global society, they have to have resources available to them more than just at school.” Technology in the classroom does not replace teacher instruction, O’Malley said, it enhances the classroom experience. Teachers and students are able to supplement textbooks with videos “Technology is reshaping our world and we need to ensure that we are preparing our students for their world.” The mission of Florence 1 is to continuously improve student learning outcomes. One way to do that is to invest in technology as a tool to improve teaching and learning. Technology will further areas such as: Personalized Learning Enhanced student engagement Opportunities more project-based learning Enhanced opportunities for collaboration “Florence 1 will be unsurpassed when it comes to incorporating technology into teaching and learning as compared to other districts in South Carolina,” O’Malley said. “We are skillfully incorporating it in a way that will offer more instructional choices for our teachers and students and improved outcomes for our students”. And while using the technology in the classroom will enrich their learning experience, it will also help prepare students for careers in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) fields like biomedical engineering, software development or actuarial science. “There are so many career options in STEM fields,” O’Malley said. “Employers in these fields are unable to find enough candidates for their companies. If we can give our students the skills that they need to work in a field that they enjoy, we are setting them up for a lifetime of success.”
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