Archive for month: October, 2019

A resident of the downtown area, Griffin walks his dog at night and gets to see the results of the city’s efforts firsthand.

“When you are downtown and other places, you see the joy that comes upon people’s faces, the expressions,” Griffin said before he paused for a moment. “How they interact.”

Those expressions illustrate the change in the culture around the city’s downtown.

“Where I am certainly very proud of downtown, I believe that this community should be equally proud with the work that we’re doing in neighborhoods,” Griffin said.

That work, Griffin continued, meant redefining neighborhoods that have been historically neglected.

“That is as critical as anything that we do as a community,” Griffin said.

He also said he is pleased with the city council’s decision to invest $15 million to $18 million into parks and recreation projects that will result in an investment in each city park of at least $300,000.

Those community spaces, he said, were important to what the city does, because they connect streets to neighborhoods, neighborhoods to the community and the community connects to itself.

“I pray that we will be able to continue to achieve,” Griffin said. “I thank everybody: the [Drs.] Bruce & Lee Foundation, city council, my friends, this community, certainly my wife, my parents.”

When he started working in public service, Griffin received some advice from another government employee: If you make decisions in the interest of the community, then you will always be OK.

Griffin shared that piece of advice as he spoke at the dedication of the Andrew H. Griffin Plaza.

“I have been very blessed to follow those words of wisdom,” Griffin said.

The dedication ceremony also featured a performance by the South Florence Choraliers, directed by Dr. Erick Figueras.

The city-built plaza and the splash pad inside it give parents the ability to take their children downtown for lunch and then have the children play in the fountain or for parents to visit the Florence County Museum and then take their children to play at the fountain. The pad was named after Griffin at the May meeting of the city council.

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Oates said he is working with Chris Rogers, the STEM director of Florence One Schools, to move toward becoming a STEM magnet school next school year.

“I want Sneed to have something we’re known for,” Oates said.

Oates said they decided to go this route because the STEM classes have been very successful at the school and the teachers are very good.

After the eighth grade, Sneed Middle students go to West Florence High School, which is a STEM magnet school.

Sneed Middle has two leveled STEM classes: app creators and design and modeling. A modeled STEM class is one where there are two parts of the classes available to students.

Sneed Middle also has two STEM classes that are not leveled: robotics and medical detectives.

Oates also gave an overview of the school’s opportunities for students and spoke about the school’s report card for the 2018-19 school year.

Sneed Middle received an above average ranking in social studies, English language arts and science, meaning students performed higher than the state average in these subject areas, Oates said. The school also saw a 7% increase in the number of students taking high school classes.

After Oates’ presentation, the fellows toured several classrooms, including a science, math, English and STEAM class. The fellows observed classes creating pull toys, working collaboratively on math problems and English assignments and learning about honey production.

The particpants even received sample bottles of honey from the Sneed Middle beehive.

Twana McRae said her visit to Sneed Middle was beautiful, and she thinks the school is doing a fantastic job at what it does.

“Whatever they’re doing here, they need to continue doing it,” McRae said. “Other middle schools and schools should mirror what they’re doing, because they’re doing a fantastic job.”

This is the fifth year the Fellows in Education program has taken place.

The School Foundation Executive Director Debbie Hyler said they started the program to show the community what is truly going on in the walls of a modern school.

“It’s really interesting to me to see the participants’ eyes light up,” Hyler said. “I think they truly are amazed. So many people haven’t been in a modern-day classroom.”

The program consists of eight sessions. The group visits one school each month to learn about the school’s programs and needs.

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