On Wednesdays throughout the year The Georgetown School invites artists, scientists, academics, entrepreneurs and other interesting leaders of the community to share their experiences, both educational and professional, with the students and faculty in an “open forum.” Below are some of those who have already spoken.
Today at Open Forum, we were pleased to welcome Sara Beth Freytag. She talked about her passion for nature and wildlife and how that passion has impacted her life. Sara Beth was born in Kentucky and has loved nature ever since she was a little girl. This love ended up guiding her academic interests. She attended the University of Kentucky where she earned a master’s in forestry. At that point, however, Sara Beth began to feel that the world of scientific research was not the right way for her to go, so she pivoted her focus towards education.
Now Sara Beth is the Coordinator of Children and Youth Education at Hobcaw Barony where her focus is teaching ecology (the study of relationships of organisms to their environment) through special programs and summer camps. Hobcaw Barony is a local historical property and research center dedicated to educating visitors about the history of the our area, as well as conducting research into wildlife, ecology, and forestry.
Sara Beth ended her visit by leading us outside to play a game called Bats and Moths. The game gave us an opportunity to learn about how bats navigate through echolocation. First, everyone stands in a big circle to represent a forest. Then, two people volunteer to represent moths and one person volunteers to play a bat. Similar to the game Marco Polo, the bat is blindfolded and has to use the sounds of the two moths clapping to figure out where they are and tag them.
Sara Beth’s presentation demonstrated how her interests led her into working a fulfilling career where she gets to do what she loves every day. She showed us how our own personal talents through passion and education can inspire the next generation.
Today at Open Forum we welcomed Mr. Jeremy Vause. Mr. Vause is a multifaceted performer, music educator, and small business owner who was born here in Georgetown.
When Mr. Vause graduated high school he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. “Music was the only thing I was passionate about at the time,” he said. So, he went to CCU and got a bachelor’s degree in music. After college, Mr. Vause became a choir section leader at Prince George Winyah Church in Georgetown and began building his small business. Today he gives piano, singing, acting, and public speaking classes.
As is often required when pursuing a career in the performing arts, he had to work a “survival job” (salesperson at Radio Shack) until music could pay the bills. He later became music director at Prince George, quit his retail job, and saw his business begin to grow.
One day, Mr. Vause saw a casting call for a horror movie that was filming in Georgetown that needed extras (Barry Levinson’s The Bay). He got on their list and had a great time playing a dead body in the street. He discovered his love for acting and being on set. “It was the coolest day of my life!” he said. He started responding to more casting calls and went to SCAD to earn an MFA in acting. He signed with a talent agent, and has since been in many more films, series, commercials, and skits. Some notable examples are Walking Dead, One Tree Hill, and Army Wives.
Some of Mr. Vause’s other “side quests” have included: online piano/voice teaching during Covid and beyond, teaching elementary school music, and getting certified in the Miller Voice Method for public speaking. As Mr. Vause later explained, it’s important to not limit yourself to one thing, and to always continue building your repertoire. “Be a life-long learner,” he told us. “Stay open to possibility.”
Mr. Vause’s professional journey continues to this day, and he remains cheerful and optimistic. “You don’t have to have your career planned out,” Mr. Vause said, “you just have to be brave enough to start.”
On October 21, we had the pleasure of welcoming Beatrice Rodrigues of the Gullah Museum. Ms. Rodrigues is a historian who is dedicated to preserving the history of the Gullah Geechee people. She also serves as a co-chair of the Middle Passage Ceremony and Port Markers Project. Ms. Rodrigues’ presentation at Open Forum brought an often painful chapter of history closer to home, revealing the deep connections between the slave trade and the history of Georgetown. The first enslaved people began arriving through the Middle Passage in 1526, exactly 500 years ago.
Ms. Rodrigues told us that the Middle Passage was the forced voyage across the Atlantic Ocean endured by millions of Africans who were kidnapped, sold, and transported into enslavement. Approximately 12.5 million Africans were forced onto ships during the transatlantic slave trade, and about 10.7 million survived the voyage. Behind these numbers were individuals whose names, families, and personal histories were often lost. Ms. Rodrigues told us that these individuals had lives before enslavement, including communities they loved, knowledge they carried, and futures that were taken from them. Their identities did not begin with their captivity, and nor should their stories end there.
Ms. Rodrigues’ work helps recover their stories. Using historical shipping records, she examines individual voyages, dates, ports, ships, and whatever documentation has survived. These records help us better understand the people caught in this system, as well as the individuals who profited from it. Ms. Rodrigues taught us about four ships that brought captives to Georgetown: the Warwick in 1737, carrying eight captives; the Endeavour in 1738, carrying 30; the Susanna in 1767, carrying 13; and the Betsey in 1784, carrying 19.
The Middle Passage Ceremony and Ports Marker Committee works to highlight the 500th anniversary of this infamous route. Thanks to the commmittee’s efforts, Georgetown’s boardwalk is now home to a new historical marker which will educate the public about Georgetown’s role in this part of history. Ms. Rodrigues’ work helps ensure that the stories of those who endured the Middle Passage are not forgotten and that future generations understand how this history continues to shape our region.
The Gullah Geechee people and their cultural heritage remain an essential part of our region’s identity. Their agricultural expertise, language, food ways, traditions, and community practices reflect generations of African cultural influence, adaptation, and resilience.
Our guest Nancy Cave is a political activist. She served as the executive director of the Coastal Conservation League for fifteen years. The CCL works to preserve our coastal environment by purchasing land for preservation and by lobbying against overly aggressive development and industrial pollution. “We are advocates for environments,” she said.
Mrs. Cave said that the CCL protects land, shores, communitites and plants. For example, in the early 2000s, a coal plant was planned on the PeeDee River out in Florence County. Coal plants are notorious polluters because they release mercury into the water. Mercury can cause brain damage and illness in fish and people who eat the fish. This proposed coal plant would have had terrible consequences for anyone and anything downstream in Williamsburg and Georgetown County.
The CCL decided that the plant had to be stopped. Mrs. Cave met with Florence people who were against the idea and a local woman named Terry Cook became the biggest anti-coal plant advocate. Mrs. Cave and Terry organized everyone to write letters to congresspeople and powerful politicians. They visited the governor. They started a letter-writing campaign to the members of the proposed plant’s Board. They spoke up at council meetings and also sued to stop construction.
“The law is a very important tool in the toolbox,” Mrs. Cave said.
Using lawful challenges and intense public pressure on board members and prominent South Carolinians, they finally achieved their goal: the plan to build a coal plant on the Peedee was scrapped in 2009. “We aggravated them so much they decided not to go forward,” Mrs. Cave said, smiling. “That was the last coal plant [planned] to be built in the United States.”
Mrs. Cave has paid a price for her environmental activism. When she opposed the placement of groins in the ocean at DeBordieu, many of her neighbors became angry and threatening. But she did not back down.
“You need to speak up and speak out for what you believe,” Mrs. Cave told us. Mrs. Cave’s message was very inspiring and helps us understand that we have power.
On September 30th, we welcomed our speaker, Steve Williams, a journalist and local historian who researches and publishes on the rich history of our area. “Steve Williams,” said Dr. Gates, “brings things to light that would otherwise be left in the dark.” Mr. Williams introduced us to two heros—one who is honored and one who deserves honor: Florence Nightingale and Florence Williams.
Everyone has hear of Florence Nightingale, the “woman with the lamp” who improved care for the sick in the nineteenth century. She was born into a wealthy and leisured family but at age sixteen heard the voice of God telling her to help people. This extraordinary and intelligent person decided to be a nurse in a time when nursing was not even a profession. After getting as much medical training as she could, Florence was assigned to the military hospital in Scutari, Turkey, during the Crimean War.
This hospital was in terrible condition—rats everywhere, soldiers dying of disease and infection, insufficient beds. Florence Nightingale and her team of trained nurses immediately got to work, cleaning and organizing. She kept meticulous records, documenting the circumstances of each patient and each death. Improvements in the care and facilities led to improved outcomes for the soldiers. Under Florence Nightingale’s supervision, the soldiers’ death rate dropped from 42% to 2%. The soldiers called her the “lady with the lamp” because she would carry a small oil lamp while caring for them at all hours of the night.
Mr. Williams then introduced us to Florence Williams, who lived in Georgetown during the Depression and was also a nurse. Georgetown didn’t have a hospital at that time—if you were very sick, you had to be treated at McLeod Hospital in Florence.
God visited Florence Williams in a dream and told her there was great work for her. When the hospital she was working at closed, she came back to Georgetown and used the spare rooms in her in her large home on Duke Street to shelter the sick people of Georgetown. Her house had 25 beds, a surgery, and two wards. It stayed open until the 1950s, when Georgetown Memorial was built. Florence Williams deserves to be honored for her kindness and service to the people of Georgetown.
Mr. Williams was struck by similarities between Florence Williams and Florence Nightingale. They were both nurses, they both received a divine calling, they both helped people, they both defied social limitations, and they both embodied greatness. He closed by sharing his favorite Dr. King quote: “Anyone can be great; all you need is a heart full of love and a heart full of grace.”
We look forward to joining Mr. Steve Willliams when a historical marker is placed in front of the lot where Florence Williams’ house used to stand, to honor her memory and be inspired by her kindness.
What a pleasure to welcome back Qulex Dickerson, TGS Class of 2020! Qulex was a friend to all when he was here. He filled us in on how his life has been going since graduating from TGS.
Qulex graduated from Coastal Carolina University in 2024 with a degree in Graphic Design. Jobs in graphic design seemed to be scarce then, so he began working at the YMCA, educating kids and running the after-school program. Today, Qulex works for the non-profit Friendship Place in Georgetown.
Friendship Place aids families / neighbors in the community with programs such as Georgetown Eats, Georgetown Lives, Georgetown Prays, and Georgetown Learns. This organization helps move people “past crisis to self-sufficiency.” Qulex told us we could help at Friendship Place by volunteering to serve food. We can also contribute to the “blessing boxes,” which contain free soap, deodorant, and other personal items which people in our community may lack.
Qulex has good memories of Dr. Simmon’s classes (British and American Literature). He laughed when he recalled a project they all did on James Dickey’s novel Deliverance. “It was the only grade I got a 100 on!”
Qulex’s visit was a reminder that school doesn’t last forever. “Stay consistent,” he told us. “Stay focused.” It’s great to enjoy the success of a Kingfisher!
Andy Friedman spoke to us during Open Forum today. He is a financial adviser at Raymond James and a member of the Board of TGS. He talked about how starting to invest early is a good strategy for young people. He also revealed to us how to become a millionaire by the time we retire.
Mr. Friedman’s job is helping clients have enough money for a comfortable retirement. He told us that in South Carolina today, a person probably needs about $989,658 saved up to stop working. Of course, that number is for someone in today’s economy—not the economy in which our students will retire 50 years from now. Mr. Friedman explained how inflation devalues what people save (prices have risen on average 3% each year since 2006). Because of inflation, by the time current 15-year-olds are ready for retirement, they will need about $2.43 million. “That’s a lot of money,” Mr. Friedman said.
This sum is truly a ton of money, but Mr. Friedman explained that it is possible to acquire it. He told us how. Basically, young people must start early and invest regularly and consistently in the stock market. The money will grow more and more easily over the years, due to the “magic” of compound interest. He told us to think of pushing a snowball down a hill—a snowball is hard to get started but as it grows it will start to roll by itself. The money you invest gets increasing returns year over year if you leave it alone.
“Compound interest is considered the eighth wonder of the world,” Mr. Friedman said. “But time is the key.” He gave us a concrete example: if a person had put in $100 in the 1976 market and had added $100/month until 2026, they would have approximately $2.3 million, a very comfortable retirement. He supported this claim with statistics about how the market has performed since 1976—some years it has earned up to 37% returns on investments.
“Waiting will cost you more,” Mr. Friedman told us. “Start early, invest every month, use employer plans, and raise contributions.” Thank you, Mr. Friedman, for your wise advice!
Nobody would ever suspect that our teacher Mrs. Porcher Scott has a rare blood disorder by just looking at her, but she does and it is serious. She raised our awareness of her “invisible disease” today at Open Forum.
In 2003, Mrs. Scott was diagnosed with a condition called ITP (immune thrombocytopenia). ITP is an uncommon blood disorder where a person’s blood has a low or extremely low platelet count. (Platelets are fragments of blood cells that are crucial to the immune system because they form blood clots to help prevent bleeding.) The average person has 150,000 to 450,000 per microliter, but Mrs. Scott has less than 50,000 per microliter. This means that if she got hurt, she could be sent to the hospital for a serious emergency involving internal bleeding.
After being diagnosed, Mrs. Scott was limited to a number of things she could and could not do. “I was scared I would have to live in a bubble,” she said. “How would I live my life?” She had to give up most sports. She is also not allowed to scuba dive or ride roller coasters because of the extreme pressure changes. Mrs. Scott tried multiple different treatments including having her spleen removed. The operation ultimately did not do her any good. “Now I’m one down on my immune system,” she told us.
Sadly, there is no cure for ITP, and doctors can not even explain the cause of ITP. For a long time Mrs. Scott felt alone, isolated. “I thought I was the only person who had it,” she told us. Then she discovered the Platelet Disorder Support Association.
Founded in 1998, the PDSA boosts the lives of people with ITP by raising awareness and educating the public about immune thrombocytopenia and various other platelet illnesses. Mrs. Scott now has her own community whom she can relate to and share her story with. She has been active in the leadership of the PDSA for 16 years, working tirelessly to improve the lives of people with ITP.
To show our solidarity with Mrs. Scott, we are all invited to wear purple on September 25, which is “ITP Awareness Day.”
By Sydney S., photoscourtesy of Marsh Deane, MLNL Media
Award-winning actor Bill Oberst held us in thrall today at Open Forum, treating us to a performance that gave us just a taste of his incredible acting ability.
Bill performed his own story, the story of a struggling 14-year-old boy who suddenly found his place in the world when he discovered the writings of Ray Bradbury. Right in front of us, Bill Oberst turned into his teenage self, riding his bike through Georgetown out to the canal. Filled with hatred, trying to escape the world that was suffocating him, he came across a book on the ground. The tattered, muddy paperback was S is for Space, a book of short stories by Ray Bradbury. The angry teenager opened the book to “Pillar of Fire” and read these words: “He came out of the earth, hating. Hate was his father; hate was his mother.”
Bill kept reading and immediately connected with the character in the book. “Because my pain, my shame were named,” he said, “I didn’t have to carry them anymore.” Bradbury’s writing had literally saved him. “These sentences are the reason I’m standing in front of you,” he said. For Bill, discovering good writing was finding out that he was not alone in the world. Bradbury’s writing allowed Bill to see himself and his flaws in the characters this writer created. Bill urged us to fall in love with language for the sake of our humanity. When we read a great writer, the gap that separates us from each other is bridged.
Bill the angry teenage grew up to be an awesome actor. He has done over 200 films and various TV projects where he is nationally known for portraying dark, complex characters. (His most recognizable role is one of the most notorious criminals in CBS’ hit series Criminal Minds.) Bill has also created one-man stagings of characters such as Jesus of Nazareth, Mark Twain, Ray Bradbury, Lewis Grizzard, and most recently, Satan the Adversary.
Bill’s message to us today was about the importance of language and writing as a channel to our shared authentic humanity. “Fall in love with language,” he told us. “That is a love that will never end.”
Being able to think and talk about both sides of a controversial issue as objectively as possible is an important skill for any citizen. When people can’t engage in civil discourse, there is no exchange of ideas. That’s why senior speeches are a graduation requirement at TGS. Our seniors must prepare a short talk about an issue, then deliver it to faculty, friends, and family in order to receive their diplomas. After the speech, they must also answer questions from people in the audience. Senior Speech Day is a major milestone towards proving that seniors are ready to go out into the world.
Our assembly began on a very high note, when Dr. Gates passed out TGS rings to all the seniors. These rings are a gift from Sonny and Lori Burgoon of Diamond Collection who want to honor all the graduates with a lasting and beautiful memento of their years at The Georgetown School. Thank you so much!
Then, the Class of 2026 did a great job presenting and defending their positions on a variety of issues.
Baryck Jackson heads to U. S. C. this fall. He argued that companies are overstepping their bounds by installing overly complicated electronics in cars and farm equipment. Given the difficulty of finding and training qualified technicians, these electronics place an undue financial burden on the owner when things go wrong. The reputation of the company suffers when it can’t keep its machinery running. Some (John Deere) are being sued by angry customers. Companies are doing a disservice to their customers and themselves through over-use of complicated electronic systems.
Bryan Amerson will also study at U. S. C. Bryan took on the topic of AI, arguing that its use should be limited to small and specific applications, such as in medicine. The way AI acquires data from unconsenting people is leading to a massive invasion of privacy. Biometric data has already been stolen and sold after data breaches; it is time for the government to reign in and narrowly define the uses of AI.
Hannah Bridges will attend Horry-Georgetown Technical College. She argued that social media is dangerous to children under 15 because their brains are still developing and there is too much noxious material that can influence them for the worse, even driving them to suicide. She said it was the social media companies’ responsibility to keep minors away from inappropriate content.
Larson Lee is heading to the College of Charleston. He believes that the energy future of America lies in developing low-cost and safe nuclear plants. Unlike other fuels, nuclear is relatively clean and can be obtained domestically, reducing both pollution and our dependence on foreign sources of energy. Larson noted that very safe methods of either disposing of or reprocessing spent fuel rods already exist. He maintained that disasters such as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl were due to mismanagement of sites, not nuclear energy itself.
Noah Miller is attending Horry-Georgetown Technical College this fall. He spoke from his experience as a home-schooled student and argued that traditional (whether public or private) schools do a better job of producing well-educated, well-adjusted graduates. Homeschoolers often do not have adequate time for socializing with their peers, and the longer they are home-schooled, the more difficult their classes become and the more they will need certified teachers to educate them.
Gracin Farwell will go to Wingate College next fall. Gracin’s topic was surveillance overreach through technologies such as the Flock Safety camera. The Flock scans license plates and creates a huge data set of pervasive, long-term tracking of people’s movements. Many see this as a search without a warrant and an invasion of the privacy guaranteed by the 4th Amendment. Gracin believes that surveillance technology should be used to pursue criminals (all proper legal channels being followed) but must be severely curtailed in the case of private citizens going about their business.
Corrin Anderson is accepted at Southern New Hampshire University. He argued that the words of our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” should be updated. The words, he said, are difficult to memorize and many citizens do not really know them well enough to sing. The verses refer to the War of 1812 and many people find them archaic and overly militaristic. Corrin argued that warlike lyrics are not relevant and should be replaced by words which reflect the values of modern Americans: freedom, equality, progress.
Kipper Saliaris will attend Lander College this fall. Kipper argued that there are too many hormones in the foods we buy at the grocery store. He explained that there are mainly two types of hormones in use: growth hormones to promote bigger animals and hormones that are sprayed on food when it is harvested to keep it fresh longer. These hormones are harmful: there are studies that point to an increased chance of slow metabolism and gynacomastia in children. Kipper pointed out that such hormones are already banned in many parts of Europe and should be banned in the U. S. In the meantime, he recommends buying organic food and preserving it by freezing, canning, or drying.
The faculty will choose one senior to receive the Senior Speech Award at Awards Day.
Photos: courtesy of Marsh Deane (MLNL Media), Nolan, and Christine Anderson
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