On Tuesday, January 23, the high school went on a field trip to the Myrtle Beach Art Museum. They left the school in the morning to see William H. Miller’s art exhibit, “What You See is What You Get.” The exhibit examines an artist’s struggle between two art media: digital art and acrylic painting. Mr. Miller creates abstract art to communicate complex themes and his emotions. He wants to stir a viewer’s mind. Everyone sees something different in his art, Mr. Miller said, “and everyone’s interpretation is valid.” Miller wants to remix his notions of imagery and meaning. The pictures are bold, colorful and dynamic abstractions. However, they are not complete until the viewer forms their own opinion. Avery Rose was intrigued by the art, asking him lots of questions during the tour. He expressed how no matter the medium, art is art.

Following the tour, students made their way to the museum’s upstairs studio. There, each student made their own abstract art. As there was not enough time to use acrylics, the museum provided watercolors. Since Mr. Miller revealed that he often uses words to begin a painting, students were encouraged to write something on their page and paint over it. While the students painted, Mr. Miller asked everyone to draw a shape or line on his phone – he will use them to create his next piece. When everyone had created their own artwork, students thanked the museum and Mr. Miller before piling back into the cars for the return trip. We thank Mr. Miller for sharing his art and wisdom with us, and hope we are able to return to see other wonderful exhibits at the art museum!

By Cathryn and Isabella

On January 23rd, 2018, the middle school traveled to Charleston to see a performance of The Giver at the Dock Street Theater. All of the students already had experience with the book either from previous or current English classes. “I love for students to see stuff onstage,” said Mrs. Crosby. “A lot of times when you just read a play in a book it’s not the same. I just love for them to get the exposure.” The students, three teachers, and three parents all stuffed into six cars and headed to Charleston in the morning. Before attending the hour-long play, they ate lunch at Waterfront Park, where some students had fun feeding seagulls. The play featured a dystopian future, emphasizing the importance of individuality in a bland and repetitive world. “The cast was very small, but they did a great job,” said Mrs. Morgan. After returning to Georgetown, they ate ice cream and chilled out after an eventful and long day. We always love seeing plays at the Dock Street Theater, and hope we are able to see another there soon!

By Doug

‘Tis the season! With the holidays rapidly approaching, TGS students joined in the festivities this week. To prepare for the season, the Environmental Science students decorated the hall. They assembled the Christmas tree, hung ornaments and lights, and set up speakers to ensure TGS was as festive as possible.

On Friday, December 8, the students rushed to the balcony steps as soon as lunch began for the fifth annual TGS Secret Santa. Now, at TGS, we do Secret Santa a little differently: a student does a silly dance in front of the Christmas tree before opening their present and then presenting their gift for the next student. Our gift exchange began with the middle school. The most common gift was candy, which was sure to give the kids a sugar high for their afternoon classes. When the high school took their turn, the exchange became slightly more confusing. The chain of gift-giving was interrupted several times, but that didn’t stop them. By far, blankets stole the show. “I started a trend!” Brynn crowed triumphantly, holding her new penguin blanket in the air. Other notable gifts include Margaret’s pun-filled present and Doug and Grayson’s My Little Pony figurines. This year’s Secret Santa was a resounding success. Happy Holidays, TGS!

By Isabella

TGS gathered in the hallway to celebrate its fifth annual Thanksgiving Feast on Tuesday, November 21, the last school day before Thanksgiving break. Students brought their contributions to our feast before school, filling the Spanish room with all sorts of food. Yorky added a delicious, startlingly green key lime cake to the juniors’ and seniors’ heaping pile of desserts. With the absence of Dr. Razzi, Dr. Gates provided the turkeys. “There were turkeys thawing all over the place!” Madame said.

Setup began after second period with the high school scrambling to find tables while the middle school helped Mrs. Patrick make paper leaves for table decorations. Only after searching all over the school (there was a table on the balcony!) and raiding the art room were there enough seats for everyone. When we sat down, we discovered that one of the pews was broken, which lead to an experimental engineering solution. The Spanish room was then temporarily converted into a food station, with desserts along one wall, sides along another, and Dr. Gates serving turkey by the door.

Students and teachers carried plates piled high with delicious Thanksgiving foods. As we ate, we discussed the possible outcomes of a hypothetical TGS knife fight to the death, a topic introduced during British Literature earlier in the day. No conclusions were reached. When we had eaten our fill, we quickly cleaned the hallway. The disassembly wasn’t without mishaps, though: the large pot of corn fell off its perch, kernels spraying all over the floor. Arms filled with leftovers, TGS left school for what would be a wonderful Thanksgiving break.

By Isabella

On Tuesday, November 14, TGS traveled to Sumter to compete in the SCISA State Chess Competition. Avery Rose, Avi, Chris, Sydni, and Eli each played 5 games of chess, switching pools as the day progressed. The chess team is very proud of their performance, ultimately placing 15th out of 20 teams. “We did really well!” Sydni said. “I got a five-move checkmate!” Avi exclaimed. “I still can’t believe Chris got a three-move checkmate on someone, though.” Sydni played so well, she was able to sit on stage with the top players for a time, while Avery Rose managed to play in checkmate for quite some time without anyone noticing. Though we lost more games than we won, the Kingfishers thoroughly enjoyed their time at the chess competition and have high hopes for next year.

By Isabella

On Wednesday, November 8, TGS took a school-wide field trip to The Sumter Opera House for the SCISA State Drama Festival after sweeping the regionals in October. Our hosts, Lyndi Bonnette of SCISA and the drama team from Wilson Hall, welcomed the three winning middle school and the three winning high school teams to the event.
Our middle school drama team presented Robyn Hood and Her Merry Women third in the morning line-up. We soon found out that Logan had received Honorable Mention in the middle school Best Actor contest.

Lunch was Chik-Fil-A, and everyone had fun running around in the lobby, the terrace, the sidewalk and the side area as the temperature outside began to drop precipitously. Nick built a sculpture with super glue.

Again, after lunch, the high school was third in the line-up with French Toast. We watched anxiously as Stoney, Nanette, and Nancy worked out their relations. When the curtain came down and the judges gave their judgement, Chris won Best Actor and Cathryn won Best Actress. The school rejoiced.

Our ride home was light-hearted and went by quickly, Chris’s cheek still smarting from where Naomi slapped him. “My shoe had a bigger role than I did,” joked Eli, who had thumped his show backstage for the sound effect of someone knocking at the door. We had a great time at the Drama Festival, and we would do it again, because Kingfishers are troupers!

On Halloween, the 8th, 9th, and 10th grades went to see the classic To Kill a Mockingbird onstage at the Dock Street Theater in Charleston. The theater was completely filled with students from different schools. Most people seemed excited to see this popular book performed onstage. The play showed older Scout was narrating the story and reflecting on her childhood. “I liked how they had a young actor play Scout and the way it was staged,” Jesse commented. Eli added, “It was fantastic, but the audience was disrespectful at some times. Like, the girl in front of my row was playing games and checking Instagram!” It was sad to see the number of students playing on their phones, which proved to be a distraction to others. Though not everyone liked it, overall the play was excellent, with wonderful actors who were able to portray the story very well. It was a fun trip, and we hope to return to the Dock Street Theater for future field trips!

By Naomi

An hour before the start of school on Tuesday, October 24, the high school quiz bowl team piled into the Green Machine. After sweeping the regional competition, Chris, Isabella, Avery Rose, Avi, Ryleigh, and Eli were off to Summerville to compete in the team’s third consecutive SCISA state High School Quiz Bowl competition.

Eager to win after last year’s narrow loss to Pinewood Prep, team members spent the drive in a mock quiz bowl, focusing mainly on art and literature. The girls in the front seats emerged victorious over the boys in the back seat. Confident in their preparations, the team marched into the semifinal, where they would compete against teams from John Paul II and Augusta Christian.

The semifinals were filled with more laughter than expected at an academic competition, as our team struggled with questions involving a variety of flightless birds (“Is it an emu this time?” Isabella asked the moderator, after giving that answer for three out of the four bonus questions), Shakespearean phrases (“That’s a commonly used phrase?” Chris asked incredulously), and various princes. Despite the difficulty, TGS handily won their semifinal, allowing them to compete in the finals after lunch.

The team watched nervously in the first match of the finals as Pinewood Prep lengthened their lead over Wilson Hall as they answered question after question. TGS performed similarly in the next match, beating Wilson Hall by a large margin. The last match began with bated breath – this would decide the 2017 SCISA High School Quiz Bowl champions.

The match was neck and neck. TGS began to pull ahead, making the team think they’d managed to win. Suddenly, Pinewood surged back into the lead after answering a series of questions about jelly beans, eventually winning the match by a margin of only one question. The final score was 185 to 220. “It was so close!” Chris lamented.

“Second place in state is amazing!” Avery Rose said. “I wish we could’ve won, but we did really well!” Exhausted after a long day, the team ate victory pancakes at Lil Pappy’s in Moncks Corner before driving back to the school. Congratulations to the quiz bowl team on their fantastic performance!

by Isabella

Kingfishers know Hobcaw very well indeed—sunlit pines, dusty roads, muddy marshes, and familiar and friendly faces of the staff. But each visit brings new and amazing experiences.

On Thursday, October 5, we piled into various cars and crossed the bridges over to the 16,000-acre nature preserve.  In the Discovery Center, Julie of DNR and Beth of Hobcaw welcomed us and explained a little about our upcoming boat trip down Winyah Bay on the DNR’s education vessel Discovery.

Plumes of yellow dust filled the air as our caravan rattled down the narrow dirt road to Hobcaw House. Captain Tom, Julie, and Hannah of DNR met us on the dock, where a nice stiff breeze was blowing. After donning our life vests, we were soon underway. The crew let down a type of net that would drag the bottom of the bay and capture some sea life, then they brought up a large water sample in a Plexiglas aquarium. Now it was our turn to work!

Using specially-prepared kits, groups of three to five Kingfishers performed a series of tests on the water sample, gauging its temperature, salinity, pH, nitrites, phosphates, and turbidity. We recorded our results like real scientists.

Then Julie and Hannah pulled up the net and dispersed its contents into buckets for each group. Using a field guide, we identified such species as anchovies, perch, croaker, flounder, gar, and three types of shrimp. One gar was too big to fit in a bucket so he stayed in the aquarium but some kids got to touch him and pronounced him “very slimy.” Annika said, “I liked it when we got to see what we pulled up.”

Lunch back at the Center was a quiet affair, until Ian noticed a red-waisted wasp dragging a fat green caterpillar to a spot in the sand. Efficiently, it dug a hole, then dragged its prey down inside. When the wasp was finished, it covered the hole back up with sand. Dr. Neubauer was able to record this miracle of nature on her phone.

Our visit to Hobcaw ended with a quick walk to a mostly freshwater pond, where we did some more water testing and learned to use a refractor. Back at the Center, we cooled off and enjoyed the interactive exhibits in the classroom. Many kids were taken with seeing the animal skulls and using the microscopes. “My favorite part was when the leader took out the snake,” said Ella. Kids crowded around to touch and hold the (very much alive) reptile.

After leaving Hobcaw, we visited the fishing pier and did some impromptu foot races. Then we were off to East Bay Park to swing on the swings and enjoy the sunshine. Finally, the chaperons headed to IP for a quick rinse at the car wash. The dust of Hobcaw was gone but not our memories of this awesome day.

“We wanted to do something for the 100th anniversary [of the Wright brothers’ flight],” Dan Drost explained. That something? Give young people free flights in small planes to spread the joy of flying. The Young Eagles organization, formed in 1992, recently flew their 2,000,000th student. TGS students had the opportunity to fly with the organization Thursday, Oct. 5.
Mr. Drost spoke to the school at Open Forum the day before, so as soon as students arrived at school they were buzzing with excitement. The 8th, 10th, and 12th grades rushed to the Georgetown County airport, where they met Mr. Drost and our two volunteer pilots for the day, Mr. Alan and Mr. Charlie. Two groups of three could fly at a time, and the rest of the students eagerly awaited their turn.
“It was awesome!” Margaret exclaimed as she climbed out of the plane. Students in the front seat were allowed to fly the plane for a short time while students in the back seats nervously held onto their seat belts and looked at Winyah Bay almost 2,000 feet below. Communication was possible only over headsets, which crackled with static. “I was so scared when [Mr. Charlie] asked me if I wanted to fly the plane,” Isabella said, “but it was so much fun!”
After everyone had a chance to fly, Mr. Drost showed the school his personal plane, a 1952 Royal Air Force training biplane. He opened up the engine and the cockpit, happily explaining the mechanics of the plane. Just as we arrived back at the terminal, a helicopter touched down. The pilot volunteered to show us the helicopter, which was currently engaged in pipeline monitoring, as it refueled. Before heading back to school, we stopped by Morgan Park to eat lunch. Most students wound up eating at East Bay, as the trail to Morgan Park was almost impassable. We had a great field trip and a wonderful time flying with the Young Eagles program, and hope to fly with them again soon!