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Teacher Spotlight: Dr. Michelle Neubauer

Dr. Neubauer grew up in the high desert of Colorado. She attended a rather small high school; her graduating class had only about 120 students. When she was in school, her mom would take her and her older brother to the Gulf of California to go sailing. This experience inspired her to become a biologist.

After graduating high school, Dr. Neubauer attended the University of San Diego. “I was going to college in southern California, or I wasn’t going to college,” she said, after falling in love with the beautiful campus. Overall, she enjoyed her experience in undergraduate school. She then went on to get her PhD at William and Mary in Virginia. There, she did her dissertation on nutrients and a certain type of worm in the Chesapeake Bay. 

After earning her PhD, she moved to South Carolina. Here, her first job was being a mom to her oldest daughter, Isabella. After a few years, she began teaching at Lowcountry Prep in Pawleys Island, where she met several of her current colleagues. Now, at TGS, Dr. Neubauer teaches most of the science classes, along with geography, which is one of her favorite classes to teach. Students enjoy her extensive knowledge of science and current events, as well as her wry sense of humor.

Dr. Neubauer has several hobbies. She enjoys many outdoor activities, including tending to her garden, walking on the beach, and riding her bike. She collected rocks as a child, and now collects fossils. Many students know that Dr. Neubauer is a fan of Marvel and DC content, which she became interested in because of her children.  However, she says she prefers the movies and shows to the comic books. Her favorite characters are Green Lantern and Wonder Woman.

What advice Dr. Neubauer would give to current TGS students? “You never know what experience, or what information is going to be helpful to you in the future,” she says, “so it’s important to get every experience. Do everything. Play every sport. Do every activity on our school trips.” 

By Annika

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The Perfect Day: Oyster Roast 2023

Every year TGS hosts our all-you-can-eat Oyster Roast. This fundraiser helps to support student scholarships (which over 65% of our student body relies on). This year, the event took place on November 5, 2023, at Francis Marion Park on Front Street. Before that day, our students and their families sold more than 150 tickets to friends and family around the Georgetown community. The tickets cost $30 each and went fast! This event was a huge success, but there was a lot of prep work before it began.

To prepare for the big day, students, teachers, and parents all brought in items including, napkins, silverware, chips, drinks, and items for the silent auction baskets. Dr. Gates ordered the oysters and picked them up in McClellanville. All of our families turned out to set up, manage stations, and clean. Our school is very grateful everyone who helped out, especially to Ms. Sandy (Kingfisher Crew president and master planner), to Ms. Amy for managing ticket sales, and to Mrs. Karen Hefferman who decorated the whole site with flowers and pumpkins so that it looked very festive and inviting. We cannot forget to express our appreciation to Dr. Tom Crosby and his crew of oyster cookers who kept the delicious food coming from start to finish. Sonny and Lori Burgoon and their family were instrumental in getting everything transported to the site and setting up the plywood tables. Guitarist Duane DeMello set the mood with great live music all afternoon. Kudos to everyone for a job well done!

The day of the Oyster Roast was amazing. There were multiple stations to either get drinks and hot dogs. If you were eating oysters, you claimed your spot at one of our eleven tables. All of the students were at their own station doing their very best for their community. The hot dog stand was run by Ansley, Branton, Caleb, and Gaines. Emily, Nolan, Jackson, and Saylor were helping with sodas and drinks. “Serving drinks has been exhausting,” Emily said, “People have been putting their blood, sweat, and tears toward this event but working has been fantastic!” Perhaps the most important student job was ferrying fresh steamed oysters to the tables. This was done by Kipper, Gracin, Evan, and Baryck.

As in years past, the community loved the Oyster Roast and had a lot to say about how it went. Shay Scott is a new TGS mom and she said, “This is an amazing day, and the oysters are perfectly steamed and salted.” Others, like Cameron Forehand, were very impressed with the organization. “The students did an awesome job putting on this fundraiser,” he said. Another attendee, Nicole Thomas, said, “The event is very awesome, and the oysters are delicious.”

The 2023 Oyster Roast pulled us all together. “This was the most successful oyster roast I have ever seen in the eight years I’ve been at TGS,” said Kingfisher Crew president Ms. Sandy. Congratulations, Kingfishers, and thanks to our many friends.

By Saylor

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Anchors Aweigh! Kingfishers race in the Corrugated Boat Regatta

Kingfishers designed, built, and raced three boats in this year’s Corrugated Boat Regatta, an event that has been part of Georgetown’s Wooden Boat Show for the past eight years. On the afternoon of October 22, the Chicken Sandwich, the Duck-tanic, and the USS Plat-eye competed against some twenty other entries in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd which had gathered on the downtown dock.

Preparations had begun two weeks earlier. Mr. Patrick’s Physics class started their project by building scale models, including one that looked like a car, to figure out the best shape, adhesive, and size. They chose a diamond shape with construction adhesive and duct tape for their vessel, the Chicken Sandwich.

Middle School jumped straight into building their boats, one done by the girls, and one done by the boys. Both boats were rectangular in shape, each with its own unique flair. The girl’s boat was called the Duck-tanic, because they believed it would sink like the Titanic. The boy’s boat, the USS Plat-eye, was named for a ghost in South Carolinian folklore.

Sunday came and all the cardboard boats were on display under the tent downtown with everyone milling around. Soon it was time for the race. Our school’s boats went against each other in the first heat. Zayne boarded the Plat-eye, Ansley and Willow got into the Duck-tanic, and Morgan and Corrin got onto the Chicken Sandwich. True to its name, the Duck-tanic immediately flipped, dumping the girls straight into the water. It was now the Plat-eye versus the Chicken Sandwich, and each side wanted to win. The race was close, but Zayne managed to pull through in the end, rowing the Plat-eye to glorious victory. The Chicken Sandwich finished the race with honor. But right when Morgan and Corrin were about to get out of the boat, the fair vessel sank. Corrin went into the water while Morgan narrowly escaped to the dock. 

Although we didn’t win any overall awards, the Wooden Boat Show was a blast. Our boatbuilding was truly a Kingfisher team effort under the supervision of teachers Mr. and Mrs. Patrick, Dr. Neubauer, Mrs. Crosby, and Dr. Gates. Thank you to everyone who came that day and showed their support, those who helped build the boats, those who donated supplies, and those who rowed the boats. It was a great day!

By Sage

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2023 Oyster Roast is Sunday, November 5

Come and get ’em! The Georgetown School is hosting its annual Oyster Roast on Sunday, November 5 from 1:00-4:00, at Francis Marion Park on Front Street. Enjoy all-you-can-eat fresh oysters and wonderful live music by Will Ness. There will be pileau and hotdogs, a silent auction, and beer, wine, and soft drinks for a cash donation. All proceeds benefit the scholarship fund of The Georgetown School.

Tickets are just $30 and include food plus your first beverage. This event is rain or shine. To purchase tickets, stop by Diamond Collection on Front Street or call the school at 843-520-4359.

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All Paws on Deck! Pawliday Card Competition

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!

By Annika

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October 25: Ray Funnye

On October 25th, Ray Funnye, Director of Public Services for Georgetown County, was our Open Forum guest. Mr. Funnye is a native Georgetonian. He graduated from Savannah State University and began his career as an engineer in Atlanta. His line of work has taken him many places over the years, even to the Virgin Islands.

Mr. Funnye never intended on returning to Georgetown. “I told my dad I was leaving and never coming back,” he said. However, when he visited Georgetown for his brother’s funeral, he happened to get a job offer in public services. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Mr. Funnye said. He has now worked in public services for 31 years.

Mr. Funnye told us that there are all kinds of opportunities in public services. Municipalities and counties hire a multitude of different people: lawyers, planners, engineers, truck drivers, environmentalists, and many more. “It’s a career of service,” Mr Funnye explained. “We are unsung heroes.”

Mr. Funnye explained that his job is to help the people of Georgetown thrive. People in public services help keep the city on its feet–from debris cleanup to city planning, the Department of Public Services does it all. “Knowing I am making a difference for others is important,” he told us. When Public Services hires people, they are not just looking for someone who can do a specific job, they are looking for leaders. Teamwork is extremely important, but so is the ability to lead a team. Mr Funnye told us public services is a very stable job, because humans will always have problems that need to be managed by others.

Overall, we learned that public services is a very important job. Without Ray Funnye and other public services people, Georgetown could not run as smoothly as it does. We salute the Public Services Department and thank Mr. Funnye visiting our school today.

By Sage

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September 20, 2023: Richard Nesbit

On September 20, 2023, we welcomed Richard Nesbit as our speaker. Richard is involved in the Carolina Human Reinvestment Project of Pawleys Island, where he spends a lot of time working in their Community Garden.  Richard also runs a small non-profit organization that helps kids in Africa who cannot afford to attend school. He shared video footage of some of his trips to Africa to see the students and schools he helps sponsor.  His efforts are focused on Uganda, where education is very expensive.

Richard told us about how he started his non-profit. Several years ago, he heard from a Ugandan student named John who reached out to him on Facebook Messenger. John told him about the war going on in his village. Things were so bad, John had no hope of continuing his education. Richard decided to set up a GoFundMe and raised 1000 dollars for John’s secondary education. John got his diploma and ended up going to university!

Richard shared his photos and videos of Uganda. We saw a beautiful countryside with small villages where Ugandans farm and try to make extra money the best they can. The children are very well dressed when they go to school because they respect the institution. Richard told us that they love school and even hang out there on Saturdays to see their friends.

Richard’s non-profit has now helped about 24 students. He never expected to be helping kids in Africa who cannot afford school but that is the way his life turned out. Richard’s talk was a remainder that we have no idea what life has in store for us or what may be asked of us one day. Thank you, Richard, for coming and speaking to us.

By Gracin

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September 19, 2023: Victoria Smalls

On Tuesday, September 19, the Georgetown County Library Friends welcomed speaker Victoria Smalls, who works as the executive director of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission. Victoria spoke to a crowd of about 50 people in the Auditorium, including many TGS students, introducing us to Gullah Geechee culture.

The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor covers those areas on the east coast of the US where rice was grown. It stretches from St. Augustine to southern North Carolina. People from tribes in western Africa were enslaved and brought over starting in the 16th century to work in the colonies where the colonists began to exploit their knowledge of rice-growing, which included skills in engineering and hydrology—especially their knowledge of canal-building and how to use rice trunks to control the flow of water.

The Gullah Geechee people have preserved much of their African heritage: basket weaving, boat building, cooking, spirituality, and their unique African creole language. Gullah Geechee developed as enslaved people from scores of different African tribes with different languages had to communicate with each other and with those who enslaved them. Victoria shared artwork from several Gullah Geechee artists, such as Jonathan Green and Natalie Daise, who have re-imagined the joy, beauty, and dignity of Gullah Geechee culture even in the face of its horrific challenges.

Victoria talked about her own family, who owned land in St. Helena after the Civil War. She was excited because she recently found an 1859 receipt from the Freedmen’s Bank in Beaufort with the names of her great-grandparents on it. She read to us in Gullah and left us with a proverb which she applies to her own life and her work of finding out more about the culture she came from: “If you don’t know where you came from, you don’t know where you are going.”

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Jump in! River Day 2023

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!

By Annika

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August 30, 2023: Dan Cross Turner

Our first speaker of this school year was Dr. Dan Turner, Head of Programming and Outreach at the Georgetown County Library. Dr. Turner has been working at the Georgetown Library for five years now, and has put together many different programs for the library. The library is currently closed for renovations, so he and his colleague Trudy Bazemore have been using the Es’Dorn Room at our school for their office. “It’s the nicest place we’ve ever worked!” he laughed.

Before working at the library, Dr. Turner taught literature and writing for 20 years at USC, Vanderbilt, Siena College, and Coastal Carolina. Turner was born “up north” in Spartanburg, and has a lifelong love for reading and writing which he enjoys sharing with others. One of his favorite writers is William Shakespeare but his area of concentration is American Southern Gothic literature. He urged the students who love writing to keep writing every day and not put up obstacles. “You’ve got to get it going to keep it going,” he said. “You don’t want to stand in your own way.”

The library renovations are a massive project, made possible by a bequest from Mrs. Jean Flournoy Moody, who left $1,000,000 to support the library upon her death. A team that included Dr. Turner first had to remove 80,000 books and place them into storage before the construction workers even arrived. “Our library was in need of some love,” Dr. Turner told us.

Besides adding much needed space to the library, the renovations to the library will transform the public space into something much more than a place to quietly do homework and read books, but will feature a filmmaking space with video editing software and production equipment. None of this would have been possible without the diligent work of the library’s dedicated staff members. Dr. Turner invited us to volunteer to help reshelve those 80,000 volumes when the library reopens in the spring! Our relationship with the Georgetown Library benefits our students in countless ways, and we would like to thank Dr. Dan Turner for being our first guest speaker of the school year!

By Larson