Toy Gala

Wow!  What an exciting night.  I would like to say a huge congratulations to Lugoff Elementary’s Teacher of the Year, Melody Johnson, for being named Kershaw County’s 2009 District Teacher of the Year.  She was chosen from an exemplary group of six honor roll teachers at tonight’s Kershaw County’s Teacher of the Year Gala.  I [...]

Spring Concert

This past Thursday, I was very proud to help host the spring concert performed by the Kershaw County District Chorus, which is directed by Dr. Susan Wyatt.  The Chorus was also joined in concert by several members of the “Strings for All” program and members of the “Strings in the Afternoon” group.  Both of the [...]

Budget Update

I wanted to thank Dr. Morgan for coming and speaking with the faculty at Pine Tree Hill at our meeting today.  I cannot imagine having to face the members of a faculty knowing that many of the questions being posed either simply don’t have answers or the answers are not the ones we would like [...]

You Gotta Have the Arts!

If you happened to drive by the Fine Arts Center last night, you would have seen a long line of parents waiting to see their students participate in the Youth Arts Month Gala.  I have been participating in the Youth Arts Month Gala for over five years and am amazed at how it has grown.  [...]

Outstanding Teachers!!!

I would like to say congratulations to the following Outstanding First Year Teacher Award Finalists:  Rebecca Branham, Pine Tree Hill Elementary;  Heather Keith, North Central High;  Regina Pratt, Lugoff-Elgin High;  Rebecca Teal, ATEC.  These teachers are part of a new award in Kershaw County that recognizes an outstanding first year teacher.  [...]

Principal of the Year

I would like to offer my congratulations to  Melissa Lloyd on being named Principal of the Year.  I met Melissa during my first year teaching at Pine Tree Hill.  She and I were on the same hall.  That year, she took me, Gail McCaskill, and Tajia Bussert (the newbies) under her wing and made us [...]

Teacher of the Year Breakfast

I was very honored last Friday to have the opportunity to attend a breakfast sponsored by the Columbia Chamber of Commerce.  The breakfast honored not only the district teachers of the year from Kershaw, Richland, Lexington, and Fairfield counties, but honored all of the  Teachers of the Year in each district.  It was very up-lifting [...]

Appalachian Dulcimers

For the past two weeks, all of my classes have been participating in a unit of instruction on the Mountain Dulcimer.  I am fortunate to have a class set of 25.  The dulcimer is a simple, stringed folk instrument that is played by fretting one string and strumming across all three strings.  They are a [...]

Winter Forum

This past week, I attended the State Teacher Forum as Kershaw County’s TOY.  The State Forum is a chance for all of the district teachers of the year from across the state to meet and participate in various sessions.  The Forum was an excellent opportunity to network with other teachers from across our state.  The [...]

Heritage Tea

I had the opportunity to participate in the Heritage Tea at the Fine Arts Center yesterday. I would like to commend everyone involved with the Tea. I was proud that my Tinikling group was included in the celebration. They did a great job in adapting to performing on the Fine Arts Center’s [...]