Unity Day celebrated district-wide

A Bi-Monthly

Newsletter from the

Communications

Department

Students at Bennettsville Intermediate School made a Unity Tree for students to express their feelings on the leaves of the tree. They had questions to guide them like, “If you planted a seed, what would you tell your seed about bullying? How can you sup-port a friend or a peer who is being bullied? What can you do to change or impact your school’s culture about bullying?” A sam-pling of their writing display: “I can support my friends by mak-ing them feel comfortable. I can tell them to go to the teacher. I can tell them not to listen to the bullies.” Another reads: If I saw my best friend or someone else, I would stick up for him or her. I would do that because that is the right thing to do. I would tell an adult about what happened. After that I would tell them about all types of bullying. If I see another person getting bullied, I would do the same thing all over again.” Yet another reads: “I can help a friend from getting bullied by standing up for him and helping him out.”

CONNIE’S

CORNER

BIS New STEM Lab Ribbon Cutting

Distance Learning Polycom System

Partnerships with the Community

p2

p3

p4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

November 1, 2019

Unity Day is where everyone comes together in one

giant ORANGE message of hope and support, to col-

or our nation and even the world, visibly showing that

our society believes that no child should ever experi-

ence bullying. MCSD participated in this event and

displayed a sea of ORANGE throughout the county

on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Schools held assemblies with guest speakers, de-

signed “Unity Trees” and wrote personal messages

about what unity means to them. At MCSD we sup-

port our #345 and want to bring awareness about bul-

lying to assist in preventing it. We ask everyone to

join us in this effort.

#345

Marlboro County School District Superintendent Dr. Gregory McCord said “learning how to think

critically early helps people grow as individuals, community members and people of the world.”

Local Fire Departments

visit schools during

Fire Prevention Week

Students at Bennettsville Intermediate School will soon learn skills that some college students haven’t been exposed to yet. It will be in the school’s new STEM U iNoVaTe lab, which was unveiled recently during a ribbon-cutting cere-mony. Various district, Board of Education and community members had a chance to see stu-dents demonstrate how the lab will connect the dots with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Christopher Williams, Director of Partnership Development at STEM U, said STEM is all of those elements merged. “We are problem-solving,” he said. “We are teaching our scholars (students) how to problem solve, how to think critically, how to go into the real world, into different challenges and to be innovative.” The lab will be used by students with robotics, drones, and programming.

Williams noted very few schools in the state have a non-traditional learning environment like the one at BIS.

Local fire departments visit-

ed all of the primary and

elementary schools to edu-

cate young students in smoke

and fire safety. Students

learned the importance of

fire alarms in the house and

the importance of keeping

fresh batteries in them. They

learned how leaving food

unwatched while cooking and

using extension cords as per-

manent parts of your electri-

cal setup are fire hazards.

They also learned all matches

and cigarette lighters should

be out of the reach of chil-

dren and if they have any

space heaters at home, there

should be a clear space of

three feet on all sides. Stu-

dents were challenged to en-

courage all family members

to sleep with their bedroom

doors closed because it will

tend to keep rooms smoke-

free in the event of a fire.

Stop, drop and roll were

modeled by the firemen and

practiced by all students.

Students were encouraged to

talk to their parents about

creating a family plan for

fires and be sure to include

pets. Most of all the students

loved the trucks and the

horn—it was so LOUD!!!

Crystal Halma, principal at BIS, said teachers and staff there want their students to have what other districts have. We want to be able to provide them with opportunities to work with science, technology, engineering, and math, which is our STEM program,” she said.

Marlboro County School District Superinten-dent Dr. Gregory McCord said “learning how to think critically early helps people grow as individuals, community members and people of the world. It all starts right here. This is a wonderful moment for me because I get to see firsthand what 20 years later looks like.” Board of Education Chairman Larry McNeil thanked Williams and STEM U for coming to help prepare students globally. He noted opportunities like this didn’t exist for him. “And now I have the opportunity to see my grandkids do something that none of us had an opportunity to do.”

CareSOUTH Carolina Bennettsville Clinic, is a primary care clinic for public employees to utilize for quick, convenient access to health care service. The clinic was created by a partnership between CareSOUTH Carolina and Marlboro County School District. It is located in the District Office Annex, 100 Matheson Street, Bennettsville.

All government employees and retirees with or without BCBS state (PEBA) insurance along with their dependents and spouses in the immediate household are eligible to receive care.

The clinic offers most services provided by a traditional care clinic or family practice office. There is an onsite Nurse Practitioner (NP) who sees patients of all ages and accepts both appointments and walk-ins. In the next few months the clinic will also have a fully operational lab where patients can have blood drawn. Once it is in place, the clinic will also be conducting DOT physicals.

Patients can come to the clinic to receive a flu shot, have their blood pressure checked and receive other services provided by an on-site practical nurse (LPN).

To make an appointment, please call the clinic at (843)456-7752. You will need to bring a picture ID and proof of insurance to the clinic to receive care.

Hours are 7:30am-6pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Closed 1:00-1:30pm for lunch. 2

#345

Marlboro County School District recently

received a grant that allowed us to purchase a

distance learning polycom system to use

throughout the district. Each school has a

speaker and camera on a portable screen that

can be used to communicate with up to six

sites at a time. During the system’s trial peri-

od, Mrs. Toma Dees, Director of PreK-5 was

located at Blenheim Middle School and read

a book to the students there, but also used the

polycom system to have students actively

listening and watching from Bennettsville

Primary, Clio Elementary, McColl Elemen-

tary, and Bennettsville Intermediate. Upon

completion of the story, Mrs. Dees asked

questions and had the students in all locations

to complete activities. This was the start of

something BIG! Once everyone saw the op-

portunities the polycom brought to the table,

ideas started becoming reality. The system is

now being utilized throughout the district for

instructional as well as special activity use.

Zackary Quick is currently a turnaround student

at AMIkids Infinity Marlboro. He was referred to

AMI in the spring of 2019 due to skipping class

and poor attendance. Zackary has overcome

many obstacles and set many goals that

he accomplished being at AMI such as becoming

a winter graduate, taking college courses in weld-

ing, and becoming a Harbor Freight Fellow. Re-

cently, he was selected to speak in Tampa, FL

about his experience at AMI and how he is on the

right track to graduate this year. Zackary’s goal is

to become a underwater welder.

Pictured: Zackary, Mrs. Kim Dease (AMIkids

E.D.) and Superintendent Dr. Gregory McCord

MARCH OF DIMES

Bennettsville Primary

supports babies

21st Century

After School Program

So proud of BPS! In four days

BPS raised $1,416.13 for

March of Dimes. A big thank

you to Mrs. Shareika Town-

send and Mrs. Kim Turner for

heading their campaign and

counting all the coins and dol-

lar bills. Thank you for being

the giving community you are.

Healthy moms and babies ben-

efit because of you!

Students in the 21st Century

After School Program traveled

to Sumter, SC to attend the

eSTEAM Festival. eSTEAM

Sumter is a family festival cel-

ebrating and bringing together

enthusiasts in Science, Tech-

nology, Engineering, Arts, and

Math. The purpose is to expose

festival participants to advanc-

es and opportunities in these

ever-growing areas through

interactive exhibits, fun filled

displays, and hands-on activi-

ties.

3

Teachers can teach not only the class they are

standing in, they can also instruct other clas-

ses within the district who may or may not

have a certified teacher present that day.

Teachers can also use the polycom to team

teach their classes even though they are in

two different locations. Collaborative teach-

ing is often not available, but through using

the polycom system, it is only a click away.

Students can actually work and talk with the

other teacher and students as the lesson is

being taught.

Just recently Dr. McCord read a story to four

classes, located at four different schools at

the same time. The possibilities are endless

as we strive to prepare our students to be

college and career ready. Marlboro County

High School can use the Polycom to listen to

lectures or attend classes from NETC or oth-

er locations.

This is the future of learning and MCSD is

on the cutting edge. Stay tuned..... #345

DISTANCE LEARNING POLYCOM SYSTEM

#345

The Ecumenical Partnership Lunch-

eon on Wednesday, September 25th,

was a chance for faith and commu-

nity members to learn about Marl-

boro County School District and

how they can help students. Super-

intendent Dr. Gregory McCord

talked about three points of focus -

literacy, attendance, and mentoring

during the 2019-20 school year.

“Literacy is the ability to read and

write and function in an intelligent

manner,” he said. He shared how

the district is doing different activi-

ties to highlight literacy.

The next focus was on attendance.

“Daily attendance has been an issue

here in Marlboro County,” he said.

“It has not been addressed.” Those

in the faith community were encour-

aged to recognize youth in their

congregations for having good at-

tendance and encourage them to be

a HERO, which is Here Every day

Ready On Time.

Ecumenical

Partnership Luncheon

The final focus was on mentoring.

McCord said, “Kids cannot be what

they can’t see, we need more men-

tors in our schools”.

Those attending also learned about

building improvements throughout

the district. Demolition is set to

begin at Bennettsville Intermediate

soon. District officials are collaborat-

ing with CareSOUTH to provide

healthcare for employees in the

school system. Other improvements

included filtered water fountains,

new playground equipment, camera

systems, and storefront upgrades.

Marlboro County Board of Educa-

tion Chairman Larry McNeil con-

cluded by telling everyone in the

room that they were partners with

the district.

“Get in-

volved. Be

mentors,”

he said. “It

is im-

portant.”

“Children are the Priority. Change is the Reality. Collaboration is the Strategy.”

The goal of the Business/Industry Col-

laborative Breakfast at Marlboro

County High School was to provide a

bridge between the high school, the

work community, and post secondary

opportunities. Almost 30 seniors had a

chance to meet and talk with persons

from various businesses in the county

about job shadowing, internship possi-

bilities, and programs at Northeastern

Technical College. Marlboro County

School District Superintendent, Dr.

Gregory McCord said it would be the

first of many events for students. It

was hosted by Marlboro County

School District and NETC.

BUSINESS/INDUSTRY Collaborative

#345