TGS high school students visited the Columbia Museum of Art in downtown Columbia on December 1.  We saw an exhibit entitled Georgia O’Keeffe: Her Carolina Story, commemorating the artist’s 100^th anniversary of working in S. C. Afterwards, we did a studio project in the educational wing of the museum.

Our docent Cameron Vogt joined us in the lobby and gave a short introduction to the amazing life and career of Georgia O’Keeffe before leading us into the gallery. The show is an in-depth look at the five months O’Keeffe spent in Columbia, S.C. where she experienced an artistic awakening that would inform her work to the end of her life.  We saw a giant photo of O’Keeffe (taken by Alfred Steiglitz) and smaller abstract studies she did in in black and white. We learned that O’Keeffe began experimenting with abstraction while teaching at Columbia College and got affirmation from her friends in New York (including 291 Gallery owner Steiglitz) that she was on the right track. Ms. Vogt then let us look at 14 O’Keeffe works dating from 1915-1920 that illustrate the direction O’Keeffe took on the way to becoming one of the most important artists of the 20^th century.

After the gallery tour, docent Jean Prothro got our group settled at tables in the museum classroom, then started us on a Georgia O’Keeffe-style landscape subject using oil pastels.  She encouraged us to express how the place we chose to draw made us feel, using organic shapes and complementary colors. We were all sorry when it was time to head back to Georgetown. Thank you to Mrs. Patrick for organizing this field trip and to our chaperons Dr. Gates, Mrs. Parsley, Mrs. Kowalewski, Mme Gates!

On November 24, Kingfishers participated in the 22^nd Annual Bulldog Shootout, playing Andrews and Waccamaw and gaining some great experience. Ty’Shaun made TGS and tournament history, becoming the first-ever freshman to be inducted to tournament All-Star team. “It was a rush, seeing all the great players,” said his classmate Zachary, “Ty’Shaun is the best.” Congratulations to Ty’Shaun, to all the boys, and to Coach Jack Connell for a super performance.

When we do something here at TGS when always do it big! On Tuesday, November 24, 2015, Kingfishers all gathered in the downstairs hallway for our third annual Thanksgiving Feast. Along with the 60 Kingfishers, we had two 22-pound turkeys, one 14-pound rotisserie turkey, two smoked turkey breasts, and one tofurkey. Down the middle of the hallway we had tables lined up measuring 52 feet and to the side was an extra 12 foot table, all surrounded by 60 chairs for the Kingfishers to park on while feasting. All the food was served in the Foreign Language room for easy access when it was time to dig in. Besides stuffing, green beans, corn and rolls, there were two serving trays of Lizzy’s dad’s sweet potatoes, three crockpots of Mrs. Crosby’s mashed potatoes, one gallon of gravy, 15 or more desserts to choose from, 18 sticks of butter (more than we would ever use!), and to top it all off we had 5 gallons of lemonade and tea to keep everyone from getting parched. If you left hungry, it was definitely your fault.

Dr. Gates blessed the food before we began lining up to fix our plates. “We made a big snake,” said Mme Gates, “We started on one side of the table and snaked around until everybody had their plate made.” After an hour and a half of eating, we were all as stuffed as the turkeys were! Average per person weight gain that day: three pounds?

by Meredith Owens

The TGS Quiz Bowl team won the SCISA Regional Quiz Bowl, handily defeating opponents Christian Academy, Pee Dee Academy and Lowcountry Prep by a combined score of 430-165. Team members Nathan Gates, Zach McKinley, Isabella Neubauer, Avery Rose Higgins and Chris Attias were then invited to the SCISA State Championship.

At the state tournament, held on November 17 at Wilson Hall in Sumter, the Kingfisher quizzers lost to Cardinal Newman by only five points.  Cardinal Newman went on to take second place overall, Augusta Christian first place.

Each quiz bowl round consists of two teams answering 25 toss-up questions on a variety of topics including history, literature, math, science, geography and modern culture.  The team that answers correctly has a shot at four additional bonus questions.

“I am very happy with the students’ performance,” said team coach and Head of TGS Dr. Gary Gates, “After dominating the regionals, we held our own against some of the oldest, largest private schools around.”

The historic Winyah Auditorium was a scene of pre-show jitters and triumphant curtain calls as drama teams from eight area schools competed at the South Carolina Independent School Association’s Regional Drama Festival on Wednesday, November 4. This is the third year that The Georgetown School has hosted the event.

The SCISA Drama Festival features one-act plays performed by high school and middle school teams.  Plays are rated by a panel of three judges.  Participating schools this year included: Cathedral Academy, Cross Schools, Florence Christian, Hilton Head Christian, Hilton Head Prep, St. Andrews (Savannah) and The Georgetown School.  The judges were Jim Calk, Jeremy Vause and Tracy Crane.

Cathedral Academy took first place for high school with Once Upon a Wolf and Cross Schools took first place for middle school with Spy TV. Second place for high school went to Hilton Head Prep for their excerpt from The Importance of Being Earnest, and to St. Andrews for middle school for their adaptation of The Giving Tree. Best Actors for high school are Avery Campbell and Logan Cherry from Hilton Head Prep; Best Actors for middle school are John Rosenblum and Mary Grace Swanson of Cross Schools.

First place middle and high school teams will advance to the State Drama Festival, to be held November 18 at the Sumter Opera House.

Sunday, November 8 dawned cold, wet and rainy—everyone’s definition of a perfect oyster-eating day!  With the fabulous music of Cruise out of Johnsonville, S.C. to warm them, scores of oyster-lovers, pileau fans and Low Country boil gourmets gathered under the big tent on serendipitous loan from Taste of the Town and proceeded to dig in.

Jeep Ford and Brad Payne kept the pots boiling in the parking lot of the Maritime Museum as students ran the freshly steamed oysters over to the waiting tables.  Other students and parents served drinks, hot dogs and bake sale items.  To the side, curious people checked out the silent auction items so graciously donated by TGS parents and local businesses.

When all was said and done (and consumed!), tired Kingfishers realized the event was a huge success.  Thank you to Lisa Haas, Liz Attias and Laura Tate for organizing the event and getting the band.  Many thanks to our oyster chefs Jeep Ford and Brad Payne, and to Joe Exum for managing everything.  Thank you Rhonda and Tim Morris for pileau and pressure washing!  We would also like to thank our sponsors and good friends: Better Brands, Taste of the Town, Grand Rentals, the Maritime Museum, the River Room and Hanser House.

The SCISA State Volleyball championship was held October 23-24 at the Star Center in Spartanburg.  TGS Kingfishers played two games on Friday, the first against Bible Baptist  and the second against Holly Hill. Savanna and Margaret said that the venue was very large and noisy, presenting a new challenge to the girls–there were sometimes 16 games going on simultaneously! Although we lost both games, we still made school history: this is the first play-off that The Georgetown School has ever competed in! Congratulations to the girls, to Coach Montgomery and to Rhonda Morris on a great season.  Many thanks also to all the parents who drove to games and helped our Kingfishers in so many ways.

In the past few weeks, TGS journalism students have been asking a lot of questions about cell phones of their fellow students and of the teachers. The , mini-interviews were part of a project to hone their interviewing, writing, photography and layout skills. Much to our surprise, the school-wide conversation about cell-phone use led to a change in school policy. Instead of being required to turn their phones off during the entire school day, students are now turning in their phones to the teacher at the beginning of each class. Phones can be used (but not misused) during break and lunch. Students and teachers alike are happier with this new policy.

Taylor Griffith, reporter for The Georgetown Times, visited Mme Gates’ fifth period journalism students to speak with them about her background, education and current job. She told students she has a lot of sympathy for kids who think they are too shy to conduct an interview.  “That was me in middle school,” she said, adding that she had to get over it in high school and college. Taylor attended the University of Maryland, majoring in journalism. She is 24 years old, and explained to students how being young is an advantage in the field now: like most young people nowadays, Taylor is expert at handling social media and her older colleagues are not!

Regular season Boys Soccer and Girls Volleyball is ending this week, with fingers crossed for some play-off games. Both teams have experienced much success this fall.  In a few short weeks, senior captains Nathan Gates and Zach McKinley pulled together a team of old stalwarts and new recruits. The highlight of the season was blanking Lowcountry on their home field 2-0.  It has been great to see our new goalie Tamir Brown boot the ball down the field and so many new players and young players out there working hard.

The third year has been the charm for Girls Volleyball! With Rebecca Montgomery leading the coaching, they are on a roll and have enough players for JV and Varsity.  On Tuesday, September 22, the girls took home a nice victory in straight sets over Lowcountry Prep. “The game was tied almost the entire time– it really kept us all on our feet,” Meredith said from the sidelines. The girls look forward to an away game against Conway Christian Tuesday September 29, and their last game of the regular season  on Thursday October 1.