NEWBERRY COUNTY — The Newberry County School Board has voted to not have school on Aug. 21, the day of an upcoming solar eclipse.
Dr. Lynn Cary, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, initially presented two possible calendars to the board that revolved around that day.
“At the last meeting I presented you with a Draft One and a Draft Two, and those have been, for a little over a month now, on our website and we shared them with all school families, and we received some feedback via email. The majority was for Draft One,” she said.
Because there was some question about whether to have school the day of the eclipse, Cary created two versions of the Draft One schedule. Version A had Aug. 21 as a day off from school, while version B had school on that day, but had classes extended to beyond the eclipse.
Due to there being school on Aug. 21 in the second version, this would allow for schools to get out for Christmas break one day earlier — on Dec. 21.
Superintendent Jim Suber also presented some expenses to the board that the District would incur if classes are held on the day of the eclipse.
“We would have to provide the eclipse glasses to all of our students and staff, and at 45 cents a pair and they are supposed to be certified safe, that would incur a $3,612 cost for 7,500 pairs of glasses,” he said. “Also, if we choose to extend the day, that will cost us a little bit as salary and classified employees will be here longer than they would a normal school day.”
Board member Hugh Gray said as much as he does not like the idea of bowing to the eclipse, it is probably the best thing all around to just not have school that day.
Cary also said she moved a parent teacher conference in January from Jan. 12 to Jan. 19.
“That is when we have the Junior Beta Club Convention, and that affects a lot of students and a lot of teachers, and if we had school that day we would have a lot of substitutes and a lot of missed instruction,” Cary said. “That was one suggestion we received from the feedback we received.”
Board member Lucy Meetze made a motion to accept Version A of the Draft One calendar, and Board member Lee Attaway seconded. Draft One, Version A was approved unanimously.
In other business, the District recognized students for academic and athletic achievements.
In athletics, the Newberry High School girl’s basketball team was recognized for being the AAA Upper State Champions.
“The Newberry High Bulldogs won the first Upper State Basketball Championship for Newberry girls with a 69-49 victory over Seneca at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville on Feb. 25. This is the first time for girls’ basketball at Newberry High School to advance to the Class AAA State Championship game, which was held at the Colonial Center in Columbia,” said Pamela Arrington, executive director of Human Resources at the District. “They represented us in an exemplary fashion.”
For the 2016-17 season the Lady Bulldogs had a record of 25-5, winning the Region AAA championship and winning 16 consecutive games by at least 20 points.
“Under Coach Melissa Mendenhall and Coach Tonya Jeter, the Lady Bulldogs played an exciting brand of basketball and played hard from the opening tip to the end of each game,” Arrington said.
Additionally, Nigeria Davis was recognized for being selected to the North/South All-Star Basketball game. She was also named Player of the Year.
Also recognized were students from every high school in the district who placed during the State Senior Beta Club Convention in February.
Students from Whitmire Community School placed third for campaign skit. Those students were Jazmine Curenton, Abigail Anglin, Angela Cody, Andrew Felker, Chelsea Goggins, Deja Livingston, Culan Means, Jacqueline Riser, Alexis Swain and Lea Toby.
From Mid-Carolina High School winners included Bailey Stuck, first place Fiber Arts; Deanna Meade, second place Handmade Jewelry; Alisa Rogers, second place, Poetry Division II; Jonah Shealy, Matthew Shealy, Katie Connelly, Amanda Hollowell, Madison Epting, Alisa Rogers, Katie Coker and Kinsley Dorroh, second place, Living Literature; Anna Rohland, third place, Painting; and Taylor Martin, third place, Drawing.
“Each one of these students placed in their selected categories, winning against hundreds of students from across South Carolina, and they will have the opportunity to compete at the National Senior Beta Club convention this summer,” Arrington said.
From Newberry High School, Lauren Yoder placed third in Creative Writing.
“Lauren competed in a timed writing competition for juniors and seniors, where she created an original short story that fit the visual and verbal prompts. She was judged to have an effective story that met all academic guidelines and contest stipulations,” Arrington said.
Also recognized was Candace Lominick from Reuben Elementary School. Lominick was recently awarded the Saundra Ground Educator Award from the SC Early Childhood Association Conference in January.
“She received this award for going above and beyond the description of her job to reach all students. She does everything to bring real life experiences to her classroom,” Arrington said.
Other business
• The Board approved textbook material adoptions. This school year Newberry County School District teachers participated in the textbook adoption process for several content areas and career technology courses. The 2017-18 District textbook selection will be for courses such as AP Chemistry, AP European History, AP English Literature and Composition, AP English Language and Composition, Fundamentals of Web Page Design and Development, Advanced Web Page Design and Development, Image Editing 1,2 and sixth through eighth grade science.
• Suber announced that the Retirement Celebration Dinner for all retiring employees will be on May 30 at Newberry Middle School at 6 p.m.