Anderson Awarded Healthy S.C. Initiative Grant

On behalf of Eat Smart, Move More Anderson County, the United Way of Anderson County announces that Anderson County is one of ten communities across the state of South Carolina that has been awarded a community planning grant through the Healthy South Carolina Initiative. The initiative seeks to create healthier communities through community-wide efforts that reduce death and disability due to tobacco use, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and heart disease and stroke.

The grant, awarded to Eat Smart, Move More Anderson County, will allow for diverse, passionate and active local partners to come together to develop shared goals and action plans for getting their communities eating smart and moving more.

“Our approach will be to focus on fostering active community environments as well as developing ways to encourage supportive environments that promote healthy living for children and youth,” said City of Anderson Mayor Terence Roberts.” “We will focus on developing plans that build on the positive health resources we already have here in the community, such as our Complete Street efforts.“

During the past few years, the rising level of obesity in our country has become a well-known problem. Overweight and obese adults are at increased risk for diabetes, hypertension, stroke, certain cancers, heart disease, high cholesterol, gall bladder disease, sleep apnea, depression, osteoarthritis and asthma. Obesity rates in South Carolina have more than doubled since 1990, with almost two-thirds of our adult citizens considered overweight or obese.

“It’s simply not enough to just tell people they need to exercise and eat right.  Diabetes, along with other diseases that are exacerbated by a sedentary lifestyle is increasing at an alarming rate across our nation. Healthy eating and an active lifestyle can go a long way toward mitigating many of these health problems,” said Tom Allen, Anderson County Council Chairman. “Eat Smart, Move More Anderson County, is a viable, unified movement to look at the environments around us and find opportunities to create changes that make the healthy choice the easy choice for those residing in communities throughout Anderson County.”

The Eat Smart Move More partnership aims to have a core plan in place by the Fall.  They will launch the plan to the entire community and implement priority strategies thereafter.  
The Healthy South Carolina Initiative is a statewide partnership between SC DHEC, Eat Smart, Move More South Carolina, the South Carolina Tobacco Collaborative, MUSC’s Outpatient Quality Improvement Network and the University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health.

Local partners already involved in the effort include SC DHEC, Anderson School District 5, Michelin Wellness, Anderson Area YMCA, City of Anderson Recreation Department, Anderson County Recreation Department, Panera Bread, AnMed Health, Bank of Anderson, First Flight, LLC, DocLink and PlanIt! Upstate. 

Newspring Church Announces Clemson Campus

Perry Noble, senior pastor of Newspring Church, announced plans for a new Clemson Newspring campus as part of the church's Monday night Vision Service. No exact date or location was given for opening the new campus in Clemson.

"For a long time Clemson students have been coming to us," Noble said. "Now we are going to them."

The decision to build a Clemson site is in response to rapid growth at Newspring's Anderson campus, which currently averages close to 10,000 in weekly attendance. Newspring also has campuses in Greenville, Spartanburg, Charleston, Florence, Myrtle Beach, Spartangburg and Greenwood. Newspring also provides financial support to churches in Estonia, Israel and the United Kingdom, as well as supporting ministries in Kenya.

Also, as part of the plan to meet the demands of growth in Anderson, Newspring announced the purchase of the Design South building on S.C. 81 for $4.5 million. The church paid cash for the building which will serve as office space and free up rooms in the current childrens' Kidspring building.

Newspring Church was listed as one of the top ten fastest growing churches in America in 2011 by Outreach Magazine.

Meals on Wheels Hartwell Lake Boat Poker Run June 22-23

It’s time to plan for a great weekend of boating fun at the Hartwell Lake Boat Poker Run benefiting Meals on Wheels-Anderson. The dates are set for Friday, June 22 & Saturday, June 23. We’ll start the weekend off right with a Friday night captain’s meeting and VIP party with great food, drinks and music from The Smith Outfit.
 
Saturday morning, we’ll cast off from Portman Marina and hit at least five different stops to pick up poker cards, including Party Island. A great lunch will be available at the Marina, and we’ll open cards in the late afternoon. Following the opening of all poker hands, we’ll have a live auction with some great items and music from The Eric Scott Band - who is making its mark on the music scene all over the Upstate and beyond!

You don’t want to miss the fun! Kick off the summer boating season with this event and help support Meals on Wheels-Anderson. $50 per boat registration; $25 for extra poker hand; $10 for extra t-shirts. Get the full details at www.acmow.org. Register now at www.acmow.org or call 864.225.6800 or email laurie@acmow.org.
 
Meals on Wheels-Anderson serves more than 600 people every day by providing a hot, nutritious meal to the homebound and elderly of Anderson County. Without this daily meal, many people we serve would not be able to remain in their own homes and their health would deteriorate tremendously. The program receives no state or federal funding, and operations rely solely on donations from the community and proceeds from fundraising events, like the Poker Run. Ours is truly a program of “neighbors helping neighbors.”

Veterans Ceremony Set for Memorial Day

There will be a Memorial Day program Monday at 10 a.m. at the M. J. “Dolly” Cooper Veterans Ceremony, 140 Inway Drive, Anderson. The public is invited and asked to bring their own lawn chairs and umbrellas.
 
The program will include a guest speaker, Retired US Navy Commander Robert S. Fant, Vietnam Ex-POW, and a Roll Call of all names of those who have been interred here since the previous Memborial Day, 2011.

Upstate Farm Tours June 2-3

Meet local farmers at the 2012 Upstate Farm Tour June 2-3 from 1-6 p.m. The tour is for the whole family. The tour features local, sustainable farms and discover the delicious meat, dairy, fruits and veggies produced right here in the Upstate.

For more information, visit here.

Calhoun Teacher Wins Reames Teaching Award

Robin Bracken, a fifth grade teacher at Calhoun Academy of the Arts, has been named the recipient of the C.F. Reames Distinguished Teacher Award from Anderson University.
 
The award is named in honor of the late Carroll Frederick “Frog” Reames, a beloved longtime educator in Anderson School District Five.

Ms. Bracken is a true ambassador and proud graduate of Anderson University who has taught at Calhoun Academy since 2005. She received a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in integrated teaching through the arts from Lesley University in 2007.  
The recipient of the C.F. Reames Distinguished Teacher Award is selected by senior Teaching Fellow students at Anderson University each spring. The award is given to teachers who demonstrate:
Excellence – motivating students to achieve their best;
Integrity – consistently thinking, saying and doing what is right;
Respect – treating each student as valuable and full of potential;
Innovation – inspiring students to explore and make wise choices.

Robert Anderson Renewed as Demonstration School

Robert Anderson Middle School will continue as a National AVID Demonstration Site after its certification was renewed during a national site team visit.

Although Robert Anderson opened at the start of the 2011-2012 school year, it is constituted primarily of students, faculty and staff who were previously zoned for Southwood Middle School. Southwood was chosen as a National AVID Demonstration Site in 2010, and Robert Anderson carried that designation forward this year. The former Southwood Middle School is now Southwood Academy of the Arts.
AVID, which stands for “Advancement Via Individual Determination,” is an in-school academic support program that focuses students toward the goal of college eligibility and success.
As a demonstration site, Robert Anderson is open to visits from other schools throughout the region who are interested in initiating the AVID program. It is one of only two schools in South Carolina and only 118 nationwide to earn this prestigious honor.
AVID programs are in place at six schools in our district: T.L. Hanna and Westside high schools, and Robert Anderson, Glenview, Lakeside and McCants middle schools. For more information on AVID, please visit www.Avid.org

Foothills Alliance Seeking Facebook Votes for Contest

Foothills Alliance is one of 22 organizations nominated for The Children’s Trust of South Carolina’s ‘Super Heroes of Prevention’ contest. Voting is being done via FaceBook. Please log into FaceBook and vote to help Foothills win $1000 being offered to the four agencies with the most votes. Once you’ve voted, please share with others, asking them to vote and share as well. Then vote, share and encourage daily. Each FB user is allowed one vote per 24 hour period until the contest ends on May 25.
 
www.facebook.com/ChildrensTrustSC

Dist. 5 Financial Services Receives Top Award

For the 11th consecutive year, Anderson School District Five has received a prestigious award for financial reporting from a noted professional association.

District Five was awarded the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting Award from the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) International.

ASBO International provides programs and services to promote the highest standards of school business management practices, professional growth and the effective use of educational resources. Its award is recognized by accounting professionals, underwriters, securities analysts, bond rating agencies, state and federal agencies, and education, teacher and citizen groups.

 “We want to congratulate Amy Heard, our Director of Finance, and her staff for their consistently outstanding work,” said David Brooks, Assistant Superintendent for Financial Services and Operations for District Five.

“We depend daily on our extremely capable financial department to both manage our funds carefully and to ensure that we adhere to the complex regulations that govern school funding,” said District Five Superintendent Betty Bagley. “They are most deserving of this honor.”

Hanna Fishing Team Wins State Championship

Hampton Anderson has become synonymous with winning the South Carolina High School State Bass Fishing Championship. With his partner from last year graduating, the young star recruited the services of his new partner Eli Rowland to capture this year’s event on Greenwood Lake.
With a 36-boat field to work through, the pair used a top-water bite to catch a very nice five bass limit that weighed 15 lbs., 14 oz. to edge out the runner-up team of Carter McNeil and Justin Morris of Abbeville High School. The 2nd place team caught a very respectable five fish limit of 14 lbs., 4 oz. Third place went to Brad Williamson and Cory Powers from Chapin High School, who also had a five bass limit weighing 12 lbs., 11 oz.
Greenwood Lake proved to be a productive fishery as fifteen teams took home additional prizes sponsored by the Berkley “Five Alive” program that rewards anglers for catching a limit of fish which they bring to the scales alive and well.

District 5 Plans ESOL Summer Camp Programs

Anderson School District Five’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program is sponsoring a two-week summer camp.

There will be three programs filled with fun activities designed to prepare students for their upcoming grade level. The three age levels are for rising students in kindergarten, middle school, and high school.  Each camp will run June 11-22, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Monday through Friday.

The Jump Start Kindergarten Program will be held at New Prospect STEM Academy and will help prepare students for kindergarten. Students will learn skills in the basic building blocks of literacy.

The Celebrate America! Middle School Program will be held at Glenview Middle School and is designed for students newly arrived to the United States. Students will develop literacy skills while learning about the culture of their new home.  

The Strategies for Success High School Program will be held at T.L. Hanna High School.  Students will improve literacy skills while exploring the complexity of social relationships all teenagers face.

The ESOL Summer Camp Program is funded by a Title III Grant awarded to the District’s ESOL program for meeting its Annual Measureable Objectives targets in the 2011-2012 school year.
Each summer camp is free to the students, but parents are responsible for their transportation.  Please contact your child’s ESOL teacher if you would like more information.

Dist. 5 Board Calls Special Meeting

The Anderson County School District 5 Board of Trustees has called a special meeting for Friday at 7:30 a.m. in the board room at the district office to consider bids for the T.L. Hanns vestibule security project. For more information call 864.260.5000 Ext. 10144

Glenview and McCants Orchestras Earn Excellent Rating

The Glenview and McCants 7th and 8th grade Middle School Orchestras received a rating of excellent this weekend at the Trills and Thrills concert music festival in Atlanta.

The Glenview and McCants 6th grade and beginner 7th and 8th grade Middle School Orchestras will perform at the Trills and Thrills concert music festival in Atlanta this Saturday, May 12th.

Both orchestras will have their final concert of the school year on Thursday, May 24th at 7 p.m. in the Glenview Auditorium. Everyone is invited.