Art students at TGS recently turned their skills and creativity to helping a most worthy cause: St. Frances Animal Shelter. Four years ago, St. Frances began sponsoring the Pawliday Card competition. TGS students have entered every year, designing holiday greeting cards to be sold to benefit the animal shelter at local businesses such as the Purr and Pour Cat Café.
The competition was started by Morgan Lowry in 2020 as a way to raise money for the Saint Frances Animal Shelter. All money earned from the sale of the cards goes back to the shelter to pay for supplies and medical treatment for the animals. Extra funding is especially important this year because the shelter is overcrowded.
The Pawliday Card competition has three categories based on age, and TGS swept them all! The winner of the “ten and under” category was Rose (5th grade), the winners of the “11 and 12 year old” category were Ansley, Branton, Willow and Sydney (7th grade), and the winners of the “13 and over category” were Sara (9th grade) and Saylor (11th grade). “The kids did a great job,” Mrs. Patrick said, “I was thrilled that they care so much about animal welfare.”
All the winners were honored on Friday afternoon, October 27, in a ceremony out at St. Frances Animal Shelter. Our winning students received a matted and framed version of their artwork and a $25 gift card for Amazon! Congratulations to all and to Mrs. Patrick!
River Day is a beloved tradition that lets Kingfishers start the school year start with a bang. There is nothing like quality play time on the Black River to bring students together, old and new. Dr. and Mrs. Crosby kindly host this annual event and make sure everyone has a great afternoon.
After lunch on August 18, teachers drove students out to Mrs. Crosby’s house on the river. The first order of business was safety: students donned their life jackets as Mrs. Crosby explained the rules. Then, students headed to the floating docks to go kayaking, paddle boarding, or swimming. The air was filled with shrieking, splashing, and sunshine. New students got to know others–it is easy to meet people when everyone is flailing around in the water!
“Get to know them by flipping their kayak more than everyone,” was Morgan’s advice.
Kids could also go out on motorboats to enjoy the scenic river or go knee boarding and tubing. Dr. Crosby and Mr. Jim Edwards drove their boats. A lot of people tried knee boarding, and many were successful. “I actually got up on my knees this time,” Elijah said. Tubing was also quite popular. Mr. Jim Edwards had fun putting kids in the “spin cycle,” where he would pull the tube in a circle and send everyone on the tube flying.
After a few hours on the river, people began heading back to the deck where Dr. Simmons and Mrs. Patrick were grilling hamburgers and hotdogs. Kids also enjoyed many snacks, such as chips, watermelon, and plenty of desserts. After the cookout, everyone was then allowed to go back in the water for another hour or so. The day ended around 7:00 when parents arrived to collect their tired and happy children. River Day is always a blast–everyone has fun in or around the water and our school year starts off right. Thank you, Dr. and Mrs. Crosby!
On April 26th, our speaker was Rich Schenone from Georgetown Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission. He had a very frank and personal conversation with the students here at TGS. He began his talk by sharing his own struggle with drug and alcohol use.
In college, Rich was an alcoholic. He had to go to AA and counseling, which helped him get past that difficult time in his life. Rich had a good job as a middle school teacher in New Jersey for many years. Unfortunately, his struggle with addiction wasn’t over. Rich was in a car accident and broke his vertebrae. He was prescribed pain pills and became addicted after being on them for only three days.
Rich and his family moved down to Myrtle Beach from New Jersey soon after his accident because one of his children has rheumatoid arthritis, and they thought the warmer climate would help and he wanted a fresh start. However, things went downhill for him in South Carolina.
“You wanna know what’s cheaper than pills?” Rich said. “Heroin. So, I became hooked on heroin. I could get the same effect from pills for cheaper.”
“I thought I’d move down here and do some fishing and crabbing, but instead I ended up homeless on the streets of Myrtle Beach,” Rich told us. After an arrest and a chance meeting with a former student, Rich was ashamed and finally had the motivation to get his life back together and go to rehab. After that, he became a Peer Recovery Counselor in Charleston. Rich would help doctors figure out which drug an overdose victim had taken, and help patients recover. From there, he moved back to the Myrtle Beach area and now works for Georgetown Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission. Rich does many public speaking events.
Rich recently did a talk at the courthouse illustrating the difference between his life during his addiction and his life today. He appeared in his former homeless clothes and shoes, left the stage, then returned dressed and cleaned up, highlighting the extreme change sobriety has brought to his life.
“The worst drug is the first drug you ever take,” he told us. We all would like to thank Rich for coming and sharing his story with us.
Spring is here and the high school decided to organize an egg hunt for the middle school, which took place April 19 during Open Forum and lunch. During third period, some high schoolers (Kelsi, Ella, Isaac, Annika, Emily, Morgan, and Bristol) hid most of the eggs outside, and hid the remainder in the downstairs hallway. There were several different-colored eggs, and they were color-coded. Most eggs contained candy, and there were even certain egg colors that were safe for kids with peanut allergies. The silver, golden, and bunny-shaped eggs had better prizes, like money, soda vouchers, and Hot Wheels cars. There was also a large clear egg containing a stuffed animal shaped like an ice cream cone.
After hiding all of the eggs, the high schoolers went into the Auditorium where the middle schoolers were waiting. They announced that the hunt was on. Everyone became very egg-cited when they found out what the prizes were. Baryck and Gracin tried to claim they were middle schoolers in hopes of being able to find the Hot Wheels. Students were then allowed to go upstairs to get their baskets, but some tried to search for the eggs before they were allowed to. After everyone got their baskets, the egg hunters stampeded down the stairs. “I was afraid the teachers would get trampled,” Mme Gates said. There was then a race to find all of the eggs hidden inside, before everyone headed outside. Students then began jumping and climbing up trees to try to get the eggs hidden in hard-to-reach places. It was pure pandemonium. After the hunt was finished, middle school students then got to enjoy and trade the things they found in their eggs. All in all, it was an egg-cellent event.
Branton reacts with extreme surprise when his name is called as high scorer for the Middle School Math Meet team.
The week after the school trip, on March 22 and 23, the High School and Middle School Math Meet Teams competed in the SCISA Math Meet. On March 22, the High School Math Team (Isaac, Ella, Kelsi, Annika, and Morgan) gathered at the school at 7:30 to head to the Sumter Civic Center. Once they arrived there, Dr. Gates took the team to Hardees for breakfast. The Middle School Math Team (Eleanor, Nathan, Sam, Nolan, and Branton) had a similar morning the next day with Mrs. Crosby, minus getting Hardees. Both of the meets began with the speed round. Students were given ten minutes to solve ten math problems. Then everyone was given one hour to answer 50 questions in the written test. While the participants ate lunch, the results were tallied.
TGS had some good results. For the high school, Morgan got the highest score on the team, and got eighth overall individually. For the middle school, Branton got the highest score out of the team, and the whole team got eighth overall. There are now some more trophies for our trophy case! Great job, Math Teams!
The morning was dark and cold when the students arrived with their pillows and blankets to stow their gear in the charter bus. Dr. Gates said good morning to everyone with a short speech and collected all phones, then students said good-bye to their parents and grandparents. Theories about where the bus was heading had been swirling around the school for weeks—students came up with Florida, Tennessee, New York, Washington, and Virginia as possible destinations. The bus headed northwest.
We travelled through S.C. and N.C. and in the afternoon the bus stopped at a rest stop in Virginia. Students were sure they were in Virginia from the signs but were still in the dark about the final destination, wondering if this was just another rest stop and if we were doing something similar to last year’s trip. Soon we had our answer.
In the late afternoon, the bus pulled into Bear Creek Lake State Park in Cumberland County, Virginia, a well-appointed getaway spot along a road with a beautiful dam and waterfall. Students took their gear to their rooms in various cabins and a lodge, then headed out for their first activities: archery and beach volleyball and hiking. (Since Celsi’s Cuddly Coalas, Kelsi’s group, had won the first challenge, they got to try their hand at archery first). The other two teams headed down to play beach volleyball near the lake and hiked to see a beaver dam. After this, the CCC and the United Goobers, Ella’s group, switched, and Ella’s group got to try archery, while Kelsi’s group got to participate in the volleyball championship. The finale of the tournament took place between the CCC and the United Goobers, while Isaac’s group, the Sugar Mamas, got a short archery session. The CCC won the tournament, since the volleyball got hit into the lake. Students enjoyed these activities despite the cold temperatures. Gracin shot nine bullseyes on the archery course so now Dr. Simmons has to give him nine quiz passes. “Here’s a lesson on why you should never gamble,” said Dr. Simmons.
On Wednesday morning, we went to Staunton, Virginia, to see Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It, performed by the American Shakespeare Center at Blackfriars Theater. The ASC has been performing the works of Shakespeare and other playwrights for 35 years. Normally, they put on four or five simultaneous productions in a nine-month season. Until the pandemic struck, they also travelled to dozens of theaters all over the United States, including the Winyah Auditorium. They use Shakespeare’s performance conditions, including universal lighting and seating the public on the stage. This way, actors can interact with the audience. The actors put a modern twist to As You Like It, dressing in contemporary clothes and using cell phones. As always, at the beginning of the play, they sang songs and danced. Many students were pleased to see that Topher and Constance are still part of the troupe and remembered us! The ASC gave us an amazing experience and we hope to welcome them back to our school next year.
After seeing As You Like It, Kingfishers took the short walk to the restaurant, Taste of India, for lunch. Once everyone arrived, Dr. Gates encouraged students to branch out and try new foods while they were there. Most students were under the impression that the food would be spicy, and several people could be heard wondering about it. Once everyone was inside, the food was served in a buffet style. There was a small selection of food varying from tandoori chicken to a vegetable dish. “I went up there to get some more of the chicken but they were out,” Branton said. “So when they had more chicken, Mrs. Crosby sent the guy to my table with a whole tray of tandoori chicken!” Most students got to try something they wouldn’t normally try and we also got to see one of the ASC actors come in to get take-out for the cast.
After lunch, we appropriately took a tour of the University of Virginia, which Thomas Jefferson designed and which has been greatly influenced by his writings and legacy ever since. Our student guide took us around the Grounds and to the original dormitories of the Lawn and explained a lot about the history of this institution which dates back almost to the founding of our country. The students got to see a monument to all the enslaved people who built and worked at UVA, which was very moving and informative.
Thursday morning, we left our cabins at the state park and headed to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s house. We arrived, and were ushered up to the house by bus. Our tour guide, Elizabeth, first showed us Thomas Jefferson’s museum. “He wanted people to know about the history of America,” she said. “That’s why he had the museum right when you walked in.” Then she showed us his office, which was full of bookshelves. “Thomas Jefferson liked to read,” Elizabeth shared with us. Then she showed us his bedroom with its French inspiration.“ Thomas Jefferson loved the design of the house in France he stayed in so much that he completely changed his original design plans” she told us. From there, we went into the dining room. “Thomas Jefferson brought a French chef back with him who cooked two meals a day here at Monticello, breakfast and an early dinner at four o’clock,” Elizabeth told us. “Jefferson would host many people, so the chef had to cook a lot of food.”
After we toured the house, we ventured out onto the lawn. We got a group picture in front of the house! We also got to go to the gift shops, which were filled with all sorts of things, like books, hats, and even a scroll of the Declaration of Independence. Our history lesson did not end with a tour of the house, however. We walked down and observed the slave quarters, which had a very informative video playing when you walked in. From there, we ended the history part of the trip by exploring the horse stables.
After a wonderful tour of Monticello, we stopped by the gift shops scattered around the grounds. Underneath Monticello is a store selling all sorts of foods made out of ingredients grown on the property. About half of the school walked out with a bottle of root beer. Other items popular among our students were strawberry preserves, flower seeds, and maple syrup. After we finished our tour, we made our way to the front gift shop, which had an even broader selection of Jefferson-themed items. Every wall featured shirts and books with his face on it, surrounded by his famous quotes. Multiple notable purchases were made. After about an hour of imploring, Nolan and Jack were finally able to convince Kipper to loan them the money for a pocket watch. “I told that boy not to buy that pocket watch,” complained Ella. Caleb added to his notorious coin collection. The seniors even found a kingfisher plush that they excitedly bought for Dr. Gates. It is now perched on his bookshelf. Monticello was a very successful history and shopping destination for our students.
Randolph Macon College was our next destination. RMC is a small private institution with a student body of 1500 students and it was interesting to see how different UVA and RMC are from each other. “What I most enjoyed about our experience at both schools was seeing the diversity of the campuses or ‘grounds’ as UVA students would say,” Sage said, but she preferred RMC. “It was a better environment than UVA,” she said. “It was less crowded.” We got to see how both schools meet different people’s standards and needs.
After eating dinner on the RMC campus and chatting with some students, TGS went back to the hotel by bus. When we got there the students were told to dress warmly and head down to the lobby after because we were going on a walk. Students speculated about the upcoming activity. Was it ice-skating? Some other kind of physical activity? As we walked for about a mile, the students chatted and some even gave piggyback rides. After almost losing Dr. Simmons, we crossed a few more streets and found ourselves back on the RMC campus. Suddenly Dr. Gates stopped in front of Keeble Observatory with an important announcement. “We are finally going to succeed in doing an activity we have been trying to schedule for ten years,” he said. “We are finally visiting an observatory.” As we entered the building, we walked up flights of stairs, through multiple hallways, and over a bridge to get to the telescope. The room was filled with red lights to dilate the eyes before looking through the powerful instrument. Some people got to see Mars and some people got to see the Orion Nebula. Many people thought that Mars looked like a red dot and that the room was really cool. The observatory was an enjoyable experience.
The next morning we packed up for the ride home and headed over to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with its amazing collections of art. Dr. Gates said that the American art was very impressive and that all the art was very imaginatively displayed. For example, a tribute portrait from “The New Republic” series by Kehinde Wiley was placed among the medieval icon pictures. It was hard for the groups to stay together but everyone found something interesting to look at, especially Zayne who was so interested he went super-slowly from one painting to another and almost got lost. It is nice to know that Kingfishers can appreciate art!
On the way home, we needed to stop somewhere for lunch. By far, the most requested place to eat at during the trip was Chick Fil A. We piled into the building and our line wrapped around the inside of the restaurant. A curious customer asked us what was happening. We told him that we had come from South Carolina to Virginia on a school trip to visit many different places. “Wow, I wish I went to that school!” he said, after learning what we were doing. The customer service was amazing and the line moved fairly quickly and soon we all were chowing down. After eating, we got into the bus with full stomachs and prepared to go home.
The ride home was very fun. The back of the bus played slumber party games and got to know each other better while the front of the bus quietly conversed among themselves. Almost everyone got their hair braided and we ate many snacks. Towards the end of the bus ride, we got our phones and started to wind down. When we finally made it to the school, it was 7pm and everyone was ready to go home. Another unforgettable road trip for Kingfishers! Thank you teachers, especially Dr. Gates and Ms. Amy, for making it all possible.
By: Annika, Emily, Saylor, Isaac, Bristol, Sage, and Quin
Grayson Sossamon was our speaker today. He holds the special place of being the first student ever to sign up for our school, having started as a seventh grader in 2013! Grayson is attending Coastal Carolina University and majoring in Exercise and Sports Science. He is currently looking at graduate schools and pursuing an eventual degree in Physical Therapy.
Grayson works with a research professor in his CCU department studying the use of Blood Flow Restriction in exercise. Their work together gave him the unique opportunity to present at a scientific conference in Greenville recently. He showed us the poster of their experimental study. “It’s the exact same as a science fair project,” he said. “So whatever Dr. Neubauer is teaching you is for real!”
Grayson explained that restricting blood flow to certain groups of muscles can intensify exercise without making it hard on the heart. “The body is kind of tricking itself,” he told us. BFR is used for people who have cardiovascular problems–patients with heart disease can lift less weight and still get all the benefits of weight-lifting without straining themselves. The trick is finding the sweet spot where gains are maximal and risk to the patient is minimal.
Grayson told us that BFR is already being used successfully in many PT gyms but that people should only use it under the guidance of a professional.
Grayson started out as a test subject for the BFR research and found it fascinating and helpful to his own fitness. He then jumped at the chance to work with a professor involved in the research who needed an assistant. He ended up deciding to become a physical therapist! Grayson will graduate this May. We are very proud of him and it was delightful to see him back on campus.
Mrs. Patrick introduced Mr. Michael Carter, our Open Forum speaker for February 22. Mr. Carter is a former SLED (State Law Enforcement Division) agent and former sheriff of Georgetown County. He came to talk about the time he spent working in law enforcement and specifically about his experience with the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre.
Mr. Carter began by talking about his ties to our school and to Georgetown. “I was born four blocks from here on the kitchen table [of our house],” he said. “There were no hospitals back then.” He graduated from Winyah High School, where he also played football on a field which is now covered up by a building behind TGS.
As a new SLED agent, Mr. Carter was called to Orangeburg in February of 1968. Some two hundred students from S.C. State College had planned a march from the campus to a nearby shopping center to protest against a “whites only” bowling alley. Mr. Carter explained how he and some other members of his team had to go out and try to stop the conflict of people out in the street protesting. The first march ended without serious incident, but the next day three students were tragically shot after a fire was set on the highway and things got out of hand.
An outside agitator was eventually arrested for inciting the events and sent to jail. After doing his time, he completed graduate studies in the northeast and became a professor. In an interesting twist of fate, this man’s son now works with the arresting officer’s son–at the same law firm! Their association gives Mr. Carter hope for the future of race relations in our country. “I hope we grow in a direction where all men are created equal,” he said. “But we have a long way to go.”
“I’ve always loved the water and felt a real kinship with it,” said Hope McFaddin, our Open Forum speaker for February 1, 2023. Hope has been the head administrator for the SC Maritime Museum since 2018.
Hope told us that as a teenager, she felt depressed and decided to begin volunteering at the SCMM to get herself out and find some happiness. It worked, and she was eventually hired part-time, then full-time and now is very fulfilled by all the responsibilities of her job—writing grants, managing volunteers, running the many educational programs, helping create exhibits, and just keeping the building well-maintained.
The SCMM is an incredible asset to tourism in Georgetown. It is free and there are about 20,000 annual visitors from all over the US and many other countries. The umbrella organization for the SCMM is the Harbor Historical Society, which organizes the annual Wooden Boat Show and the summer Youth Sailing Program. Since 2017, they have had programs for youth every month upstairs and are hoping to start a hands-on learning area there. They are always looking to increase student traffic to the SCMM.
Hope told us that our involvement in the SCMM was “impactful and makes a huge difference,” and thanked us for it. The SCMM has made a huge difference for TGS as well, giving us amazing volunteer opportunities, sponsoring our sailing team, and always supporting our school events. One of our seniors, Kelsi, has been volunteering at the SCMM since 2020 and has learned a lot. Thank you for coming to talk to us, Hope!
The Georgetown School has been friends with the Family Justice Center for a long time. Every year before our annual Oyster Roast, Kingfishers help set up for Taste of Georgetown, the Family Justice Center’ s main fundraiser.
Kim Parsons, executive director of the FJC, stopped by at Open Forum to tell us about how important the work they do is. FJC is a non-profit founded in 2006 that was created to address the alarming amount of domestic violence occurring in our area. Horry County is number one in the state for violence against women and Georgetown County has similar statistics. FJC has given victims of domestic violence in Georgetown a place to go where they know they can receive the help they need.
Kim told us that FJC offers multiple services to help victims, such as counseling, court advocacy, and orders of protection. Despite the resources that organizations like this can provide, only about 20% of victims of abuse seek help, she said. It can be difficult to leave an abusive partner and to seek help, not only emotionally but also physically.
“Phones can be used to track people,” Kim told us. Tracking leaves victims at the mercy of their abuser, unable to seek help without their abuser knowing. We all need to realize how bad actors can use information from our phones.
“Red flags in relationships can be difficult to spot at first,” Kim also said. In the beginning, behavior that may seem doting or loving can quickly turn obsessive or harmful. She warned us against partners who call or text obsessively, engage in name-calling, dictate what to wear, refuse to allow contact with family and friends, make threats against you or themselves, or act violently.
At the end of her talk, Kim gave all of the students who had volunteered for Taste of Georgetown a t-shirt to thank them for their help.
The Georgetown School 
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