Twice a year, the North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve at Hobcaw organizes a marsh sweep in conjunction with the Ocean Conservancy International Ocean Cleanup, where volunteers help to record and remove debris from the marsh. These sweeps help keep the marsh healthier as well as provide valuable information about pollution to caretakers. The TGS Environmental Science class takes a field trip to help out in the fall sweep, which was Sept. 15, 2017. This year, volunteers collected 12 bags of trash, weighing about 180 pounds, as well as an additional 150 pounds of construction materials. Though past TGS trips have found crazy things out on the marsh, such as a hobo logger and an entire floating dock, this year’s team didn’t find much out of the ordinary. After Irma, they expected unusual debris, but were instead confronted with the usual-excessive amounts of plastic bottles, fishing line, and Styrofoam pieces.
On the day of the field trip, the Environmental Science class geared up to go, dressed in old t-shirts, pants to protect them from sharp marsh grass, and rubber boots. They gathered in the marsh across the street from the USC lab in preparation, as the usual spot of Clam Bank had been flooded out by Irma, and forged ahead into the spartina grass. Their three hours under the hot sun were spent filling garbage bags full of debris, recording every piece of debris they found, and narrowly avoiding getting sucked into a patch of pluff mud. By the end of the day, everyone was covered in sweat and mud. The class returned to school tired but full of stories. Nearly everyone saw the shark’s tooth they brought back, hailed as the coolest find of the day.
Last year, volunteers collected 3,969,553 pounds of garbage in the United States alone. Worldwide, over 18 million pounds were removed from over 25,000 miles of coastline.

On Wednesday, Sep. 13, Isabella and Chris were named as National Merit Semi-Finalists – the only students in Georgetown County to be given that honor. Semi-Finalists are determined by their performance on the PSAT, which is given in October of students’ junior year. Less than 1% of seniors are named Semi-Finalists – only 16,000 out of the over 1.6 million juniors to take the test. At Open Forum this week, Dr. Gates expressed how proud he was of Isabella and Chris, adding that all students at TGS see their scores improve over their high school career. Doing homework and participating in class is key, he said. “Isabella and Chris are among the hardest workers in the school and are both deeply deserving of this national honor.” We wish them the best as they continue the college application process!

TGS’s kayaking trip on Thursday, September 7 was a wonder of controlled chaos. Originally, the trip had been scheduled for the previous Tuesday, but was cancelled due to weather. This time, however, the weather was perfect. Blue skies distracted everyone from the impending doom of Hurricane Irma, and a light breeze kept the temperature pleasant.

Leaving the school proved difficult as students raced in and out of the building, unsure of what to bring. Once we arrived at Pine Tree Landing, students congregated around the parking lot, waiting for the last few cars. Isaac, Taylor, and Ella sang a funny song involving lots of hand-clapping. All around, students marveled at nature: mostly, the amount of bugs. Then, our guides for the day from Coastal Expeditions took over. Our guide Henry explained the game plan, Mrs. Crosby announced who would be kayaking with whom, and our guide Katie demonstrated proper kayaking techniques, and we were ready to go.

At first, the river was filled with kayaks wildly swerving back and forth in mostly unsuccessful attempts not to run into each other. Soon enough, most kayaking pairs got into a rhythm, and we set off down the river after Henry. Almost an hour later, we reached our destination – a small bank on the side of the river. The first four or five kayaks were able to reach the shore, but the others simply held on to the kayak in front of them to form a giant cluster. Our guides Jeff and Greg took turns explaining the natural and human history of the Black River before we turned around to paddle back.

Where the trip out had been full of uncertain kayakers learning how to control their boats (or work with their partners), the trip back quickly devolved into a splash fight. Now fully confident pairs would maneuver their kayaks around the river to soak their targets of choice. Dr. Gates and Johnathan snuck up on several unsuspecting boats at the front of the pack and sent waves of water their way. While waiting to disembark, the seniors and their kayaking partners met up and jammed out to some music. The school then enjoyed lunch at the landing before the volleyball team left for their game at Marlboro Academy and the rest of the school traveled back to Georgetown. The kayaking adventure was over, leaving us tired but wishing for another trip. Special thanks to Coastal Expeditions for giving us this amazing opportunity!

By Isabella Neubauer

Students, faculty, and members of the community gathered on the front lawn just before dark on August 5th, awaiting the start of the second annual Glo-N-Go Fun Run. Nathan and Qulex put on some music, and the evening was filled with excited chatter. After a brief introduction from Dr. Gates, participants hurried down to the starting line on Prince Street. At a word from Mrs. Christy Anderson, they were off! Running, jogging, or walking, more than fifty participants, many accompanied by baby carriages or dogs, rushed down the street, around East Bay Park, and back. A tent full of food and water waited for them back at TGS. Nathan Gates had the fastest time, and Isaac Shumard shone as the most glowing- he even tied his shoes with glow sticks! Everyone had a fun time, and we are looking forward to next year’s race!

Two recent graduates have received art scholarships from their respective colleges.
Sarah Green was awarded a $3000 renewable Merit Scholarship to the Savannah College of Art and Design. Her primary medium is oil painting; her works have been exhibited at the Cultural Council and the Horry-Georgetown County High Schools Annual Juried Exhibition.
Langston Rockhill received a four-year Fine Arts Scholarship for $14,000 per year as an art major at Brevard College. Rockhill works both in visual art and music.
“These generous scholarships demonstrate both SCAD’s and Brevard’s confidence in the talent and training of our graduates,” said Dr. Gary Gates. “We wish Sarah and Langston all the best as they head off into what is promising to be a bright future in the arts.”
Our visual arts program is led by Mrs. Patrick. Students also receive encouragement and inspiration by visits to the school from regionally and nationally known artists such as Jonathan Green and Grainger McKoy. Sarah Green was given the opportunity to do master classes with Jonathan Green and Charles Williams through the Georgetown County Cultural Council, which also gave several other scholarships to TGS young artists and musicians.
Green’s and Rockhill’s college scholarships were awarded at the end of a very successful year of artistic achievement and recognition for the school, where several students’ works were selected to be hung at ArtFields and the Horry-Georgetown County High Schools Annual Juried Exhibition.

 

What a way to start the year!  Kingfishers and their parents gathered on the steps and the front lawn to view this most unusual of heavenly events: a total eclipse of the sun right over Georgetown.  It started slow, with a small “bite” out of the right side of the sun.  As the minutes passed, the occlusion got greater and greater until the magic moment of totality.  “I don’t remember it being this lovely,” said Laura Gates, who witnessed the total eclipse here in 1970 when she was a little girl.  “We are so lucky!”  Students and parents cheered continuously during the amazing moments of totality, then the moon was on its way again around our beautiful planet.  Many thanks to Dr. Louis Rubbo of Coastal Carolina University for his superb pre-eclipse presentation and to the Georgetown County Library for our eclipse viewing glasses.

Mrs. Montgomery’s fifth-graders did a super job at the SCISA Regional Lower School Quiz Bowl, losing to Thomas Sumter Academy by only 15 points.  Annika, Lucy, and Sophie answered a variety of questions related to history, math, science, geography, and literature.  The competition was held February 8 at LPS.  Congratulations to the small but mighty fifth grade!

 

On Thursday, March 16, Kingfishers made a school-wide trek down Highway 17S to Awendaw, home of The Center for Birds of Prey. The kids were eχcited to learn more about these beautiful creatures, and got to see some of them in a flight demonstration, and visit the avian hospital.  This trip was made possible by a grant through the Georgetown County Library.

2017 was another successful year for The Georgetown School at the Horry-Georgetown County High School Juried Art Show.  26 students from our school entered the competition, and of those, 7 were chosen.  This 27% may not seem like much, but compared to the overall acceptance rate of less than 22%, TGS did spectacularly.  All accepted pieces will be on display from April 23 to May 21 at the Myrtle Beach Art Museum. The accepted students from our school are Sarah Green, Elizabeth Exum, Lochlyn Hejl, Isabella Neubauer, Avery Rose Higgins, Grayha Hejl, and Qulex Dickerson.  Every student in the high school entered, and it must have been a hard choice for the judges because every piece was amazing.  Everyone loved all of the submitted works, and every student did extremely well. 

Furthermore, TGS had two pieces accepted to ArtFields Jr, the prestigious art competition held every year in Lake City.  Kingfisher are headed that way on April 26 to view those two works along with works by Mrs. Patrick.  Accepted artists are Riley Moore, Isabella Neubauer, Avery Rose Higgins, and Doug DeVito.  TGS is so proud of every student who entered these competitions.  Congratulations to all of our artists!

(by Ryleigh Neubauer)