These are just some of the many reasons to be proud to go to school, work and live in Richland One.

* The Richland One Class of 2008 earned more than $46.7 million in scholarships and financial assistance, a record-high total for the district.

* In 1996 and 2002, Richland One voters approved bond issues totaling more than $565 million to build and renovate district schools.

* Richland One has the second-highest bond rating among South Carolina school districts, which reflects strong financial management and enables the district to borrow money at a lower interest rate and pass on those savings to taxpayers.

* Richland One is home to South Carolina’s only Challenger Learning Center for space science education.

* Every Richland One school has a school nurse.

* Richland One was one of the first districts in the country to remove unhealthy snacks and beverages from school vending machines accessible to students.

* Richland One schools, students and employees receive numerous honors and awards at the local, state, regional and international levels each year. Awards won during the 2007-08 school year include 14 Palmetto Gold and Palmetto Silver Awards, which are given by the State Department of Education to recognize schools for making significant student achievement gains.

* Richland One created the Elementary Water Safety and Swim Lessons Program to increase students’ safety in and around water, in light of the high rate of drowning deaths among children ages 14 and under in South Carolina and across the nation. Second-graders participate in the program, which is now in its third year.

* Two Richland One high schools (A.C. Flora and Dreher) were ranked in the top 5 percent of public high schools in United States for 2008 by Newsweek magazine.

* Three Keenan High School students presented their Telepresence Amusement Park Ride invention at the 2008 Intel International Science Fair in Atlanta and won third place, beating out more than 1,200 competitors from 51 countries.

* Richland One athletics teams won three state championships during the 2007-08 school year and 17 state championships total in the past seven years.

* Richland One is only one of a few South Carolina school districts to require students to have at least a "C" average to participate in athletics and other competitive co-curricular activities, a standard higher than the South Carolina High School League's "D" average requirement.