• Travonte Gadson, who attended Richland One’s Heyward Career and Technology Center, won a silver medal for his expertise in construction in the SkillsUSA National Championship in June. Travonte, a graduate of Lower Richland High School, was one of 11 students from South Carolina to receive a medal. The championship included more than 6,400 students nationwide.

• Columbia High School Air Force JROTC cadets were big winners at the Cadet Leadership Course held at The Citadel in the summer. The cadets won 39 awards for excellence in competitive sports, physical fitness and leadership skills.

• Kira Simmons, a rising fifth-grader at Burton-Pack Elementary School, was crowned the 2019 Miss South Carolina Junior Pre-Teen. Kira’s motto is “you’re not a quitter; your strong is beautiful.”

• Places of Freedom, a collection of poems, essays, photos and media art created by Lower Richland High School students in the StoryLab project, was on display at the Columbia Museum of Art through September 15. Lower Richland StoryLab was an in-school media program that focused on the issues faced by rural communities in and around Lower Richland in the 21st Century. With the instruction of artist-in-residence and Lower Richland native Mahkia Greene, over 60 Lower Richland High School students created new works of media art that examined their community’s past, told its stories, challenged misconceptions, explored challenges identified by residents, and presented a vision for the future of Lower Richland County.

• Five Richland One theatre students won top awards at the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska this summer. Cameron Vipperman of A.C. Flora High School and Dreher High School students Arrington Jones, Tyler Wesley, Ella Dubard and Sofie Jones captured National Superior Titles in Performance awards. High school students from the United States, the Northern Mariana Islands, China, the United Arab Emirates and other countries attended the festival.

• Niani Feelings, a 2013 graduate of Dreher High School, was selected to be a member of the cast of the hit Broadway musical Mean Girls, which kicked off its national tour on September 21 in Buffalo, New York. After Buffalo, Niani and other cast members will play stops including Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Orlando, Denver, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

• The David A. Tepper Charitable Foundation, John M. Belk Endowment, US Foods, Classroom Central and Carolina Panthers Charities partnered to provide more than 15,000 backpacks with school supplies to students in Richland One, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and the Wake County (N.C.) Public School System. Each district received 5,000 backpacks with school supplies. The two-state distribution kicked off with a high energy “encouragement rally” for 500 students at Richland One’s Forest Heights Elementary School on August 22. Twelve other Richland One schools will receive backpacks with school supplies through the program.

• Richland One is setting the pace as a national and state leader in creating healthy schools. Seventeen Richland One schools were recognized by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation as being among the healthiest schools in the nation. Of the 32 South Carolina schools earning the recognition this year, more than half are Richland One schools. Brockman Elementary, Crayton Middle, A.C. Flora High and Lower Richland High schools received the 2019 National Healthy Schools Silver Award for transforming their schools into healthier places. Richland One’s 2019 Bronze Award winners were Brennen Elementary, Burton-Pack Elementary, Carver-Lyon Elementary, Forest Heights Elementary, Gadsden Elementary, Horrell Hill Elementary, Lewis Greenview Elementary, Meadowfield Elementary, Pine Grove Elementary, South Kilbourne Elementary, Webber Elementary, Heyward Gibbes Middle schools and the Olympia Learning Center.

• Fourteen Richland One high school seniors have been named semifinalists in the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program, an honor that less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors achieve. Richland One congratulates Dreher High School seniors Rahul Bulusu, Julian J. Ellenberg, Sarah R. Germany, Caroline E. Hynes, Alexander G. Randall, Catherine E. Reid, Mary F. Shavo, David B. Shealy, Johan Willem R. van Rosevelt and Hanah J. Watts, along with A.C. Flora High School seniors Lauren Amrol, Chloe L. Courtney Bohl, Thomas H. Kepley and Elizabeth P. Thomas.

• Four Richland One seniors have been named 2020 National Merit Commended Scholars by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The district extends its congratulations to Dreher High School students Tyler Kendrick, Hayley Mason and Michael Shimizu, as well as A.C. Flora High School senior Connor Spearman Overbay. These academically talented students were among the 34,000 high scorers nationwide to be selected for this prestigious honor based on their scores on the PSAT in October 2018. Letters of Commendation are given in recognition for their outstanding academic promise.

• Karyn Parsons, best known for her role as Will Smith’s cousin Hilary Banks on the hit TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, visited Logan Elementary on September 20. She talked about historical figures and gave students tips on creative writing and film making.

• At 82.2%, Richland One’s 2019 high school graduation rate is not only the highest in the district’s history, it’s also higher than the statewide average of 81.1%. The latest graduation rate data was released by the South Carolina Department of Education as part of the 2019 school, district and state report cards. Superintendent Dr. Craig Witherspoon credited the historic increase in the district’s graduation rate to the bold new strategies the district implemented last summer, including creating school and district graduation teams to track student progress, holding meetings with seniors and their parents to identify needs and barriers to graduation and providing mentors to motivate students who may need an extra push.

• Richland One schools have won 16 Palmetto Gold and Palmetto Silver Awards, the state’s highest educational award for academic achievement and student improvement. The Palmetto Gold and Palmetto Silver awards program was created for schools attaining high levels of absolute performance, high rates of growth and substantial progress in closing achievement gaps between groups of students. The names of the 11 winning schools for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years were announced October 7 by the South Carolina Department of Education. Brennen Elementary, Brockman Elementary Rosewood Elementary, Satchel Ford Elementary and Dreher High schools won honors both years.

2017-2018 Palmetto Gold and Silver Award Winners

Gold winners included Brennen Elementary School, Brockman Elementary School, Rosewood Elementary School and Satchel Ford Elementary School. Silver award winners were Meadowfield Elementary School, South Kilbourne Elementary School, Hand Middle School and Dreher High School.

2018-2019 Palmetto Gold and Silver Award Winners

Gold winners included Brennen Elementary School, Brockman Elementary School and Rosewood Elementary School. Silver awards winners included Gadsden Elementary School, A.C. Moore Elementary School, Satchel Ford Elementary School, Crayton Middle School and Dreher High School.

• Richland One schools had an excellent showing at the 4A State Swim Championships on October 12, winning a total of 12 gold, silver and bronze medals. A.C. Flora High School swimmers won seven awards including two gold, two silver and three bronze medals. Dreher High School’s swimmers took home four silver medals and one bronze medal. Flora’s star swimmer Tanner Edwards won two state championships and set a new state record. Tanner was the fastest in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke. With a time of 49.79 in the backstroke, he set a new state record by more than 0.6 seconds. Over the past two years, Tanner has won a total of three individual and two relay team state championships.