Philanthropist Teddy Turner Jr., son of American media mogul and former Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner, visited Scott’s Branch High School earlier this month.
Director of Transform South Carolina Dr. Peggy Torrey visited the school earlier this year and was so impressed that she arranged the visit with Turner as an example of innovation in rural education
Transform South Carolina is an educational initiative of the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness.
Turner’s staff member, Desiree Watson, joined him during the visit, during which students in Tarleton Blackwell’s fine arts class demonstrated their ability to use forms of art to capture real life experiences.
Turner and Torrey visited several classes in the school and asked students questions about their projects and presentations for the day. Students also demonstrated to Turner an understanding of the state’s curriculum standards from a student perspective.
Tommy Hall’s world history classes demonstrated analytical scenes of history that began with the Briggs v. Elliott court case.
The case began in Summerton and culminated with the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, which effectively ended school segregation nationwide.
Aside from talking about the case, Hall’s students also demonstrated their creation of an authentic book of the history of Clarendon County.
U.S. history teacher Sharon Mellette said she always welcomes visitors to her class, noting that her students are almost always engaged in projects that propel their thinking to the next level.
Turner ended his visit by saying that he was amazed by the quality of the students’ presentations; their ability to articulate concepts; and their ability to relate skills to real life experiences.
School ambassadors Mercedes Oliver, Dreshawn Brunson and Sarah Middleton led Turner and Torrey through the school during their visit, giving them a class-by-class description of the projects students focused on for the day.
Turner commended the students and staff at Scott’s Branch on the overall learning environment. He praised students on their presentation skills and their ability to work together on project-based learning projects.
Torrey commended the school on their commitment to excellence.
“You have made South Carolina proud,” said Torrey. “Thank you for providing such a wonderful example of innovation in rural education.”
Scott’s Branch High School Principal Dr. Gwendolyn Harris said she was happy to receive such a glowing commendation from the school’s visitors.
“Our success is the result of a staff that is committed to excellence,” said Harris. “(It’s a) staff that believes in every child and is willing to do whatever it takes to see every child succeed.”
