Entry Archive

Last evening was the culmination of months of planning by the Teacher Forum representatives of the seven Spartanburg school districts when a candidate forum was held at the Dorman Arena.  My estimate is there were probably 1,500 people, mostly e...

For about the past fifteen years, Boiling Springs High School has held a “Legacy” event at the end of the year for their top dozen or so seniors who invite a teacher (elementary, middle or high) who has had a positive impact on their live...

Boiling Springs Middle School has named their induction teacher program TIPIT for "Transforming the Instructional Performance of Induction Teachers."  Yesterday afternoon, they celebrated the end of of the first year's journey of their seven new...

Two events I attended yesterday provided a point/counterpoint lesson to me on the value of being goals oriented. First, Boiling Springs Intermediate welcomed about 450 rising 4th and 5th graders for an orientation event complete with the chorus and ...

In the past few years, we have put some amazing programs and practices into place in District Two.  We have added the International Baccalaureate program at Hendrix Elementary.  Over thirty of our high school students are in the Scholars Ac...

Our District is in the process of examining our vision and processes for continuous improvement in preparation for our SACS/CASI accrediation visit next spring.  In order to refamiliarize myself with that process, I volunteered to part...

Tuesday afternoon, our Education Policy Fellows spent time on Capitol Hill.  We had interaction with Janice Poda, former Deputy Superintendent at the South Carolina Department of Education and now with the Council of Chief State School Officers ...

As part of the South Carolina Education Policy Fellowship Program, I am with our group in Washington, DC, this week interacting with other Policy Fellows from 11 states and DC.  Monday, we heard from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's Chief of...

Spartanburg County is extremely fortunate to have had the community and local government support to build the Miracle League Park several years ago as part of the facilities at the North Spartanburg complex in Boiling Springs.  Its painted, cush...

We are in the process of recommending candidates to the Board of Trustees to fill the positions of Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Quincie Moore who has become the superintendent in Cherokee County and for Assistant Superin...

Last Thursday was the annual “Terrific Kids” awards luncheon sponsored by the Spartanburg and Boiling Springs Kiwanis Clubs.  It was held at Spartanburg First Baptist Church and was complete with chicken tenders, green beans and maca...

It has been a while since this page has been updated.  I hope you had a wonderful Easter and that if you had vacation time, it was enjoyable to you.  The Mercers had grandparents and grandchildren over, our family went tent campin...

One phrase that is bandied about way too often and that upsets me every time I hear it is, "South Carolina is 50th in the country in education."  I heard something very similar to that spoken last evening by a legislator on the floor of the Sout...

The District honored our first year teachers this past Monday evening with a wonderful banquet prepared by a team of our own cafeteria staff.  The menu was tossed salad, rolls, chicken, pork loin, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, cheesecake ...

Boiling Springs Intermediate School hosted the Palmetto State Gender Education Institute on Saturday the 10th.  They had over 220 attendees from all corners of the state.  Principal Tammy Greer credits Assistant Principal Josh Patterson and...

The Spartanburg Little Theatre put on a fantastic production of Titanic: A New Musical the past two weekends at the Chapman Cultural Arts Center.  Toby and I were able to attend Friday evening.  What an awesome production!  The acting,...

Dr. Quincie Moore, our Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, will be leaving us the first of April to assume the superintendency in neighboring Cherokee County.  At our Board meeting Tuesday evening, I offered some reflections on her and her ...

Each year, the South Carolina School Boards Association (SCSBA) organizes "A Day at the Capitol" inviting school board members, superintendents and other interested parties to Columbia in order to initiate conversations with our legislators.  Th...

It was my honor to sit next to Patti Hardee, our District Two Teacher of the Year, her husband and her principal at the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting last week.  Ms. Hardee was recognized along with other area T.O.Y.s and s...

It is never questioned when experts say something to the effect of, "Schools Cannot Do It Alone."  We need collaboration from businesses, from civic groups, and from volunteering parents who do everything from fund raise to tutor.  Every st...

During school walk-throughs this week, I encountered marvelous examples of teachers working their magic in three areas we have focused on in this District over the past few years. First, a strong curriculum is in place.  No longer are textbooks...

Every member of the Spartanburg Two Board of Trustees and I were privileged to attend the South Carolina School Board Association's Annual Convention this past weekend.  There were some powerful and articulate speakers with clear messages for sc...

As part of the South Carolina Education Policy Fellows Program, I spent an interesting day in Columbia Tuesday.  Our group of about 25 met at the Blatt Building where the State House Representatives' offices and meeting rooms are located.  ...

Every day is a good day, depending upon one's attitude.  But I really had a good day Thursday. It started with a breakfast reception at Boiling Springs Middle School who was honoring their contingent of Jr. Scholar award winners.  They are...

When the Board of Trustees meets each month, we always have a group of students perform before we begin the regular agenda.  They serve as an instant reminder to the Board and administration of our District's motto, "Students First!"  Just...

It was my privilege to address the fine arts teachers from all over Spartanburg County this past Friday morning as they gathered at the Chapman Cultural Center for a day of staff development.  It was also a joy to be in that wonderful facility u...

It was a great day in District Two today!  For the first time in several years, we were able to actually have a full day of staff development on our February date as we have had no hazardous weather days to steal it from us. Our assistant princ...

This past Sunday, the editorial in the Spartanburg Herald Journal was entitled, "State's Obligation Is To Improve Public Schools, Not Make Alternatives Affordable:  Tax Credits And Private Schools."  It was refreshing to read the insig...

This past Tuesday evening, my wife and I went to dinner with our son and his wife and Madison, our 9-year-old granddaughter.  We were at a steak house, and Madison was the last to order.  She asked for a hamburger and fruit. ...

Sometimes all one needs is someone willing to listen.  Last week, Representative Trey Gowdy sent his legislative assistant, Christopher Ingraham, to visit individually with superintendents in Spartanburg County.  In preparation for our conv...

Five years ago, one of my nieces in West Virginia gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy.  There was one big problem, though; she was 15.  But through outstanding support of her family, their church, and her teachers, that little fello...

Monday evening, in the Tukey Auditorium at USC-Upstate, three South Carolina State Department of Education employees gave a PowerPoint overview of the ESEA waivers document that the SDE is submitting to the the U.S. Dept of Education in order to...

The Board of Trustees, school principals, and several District Office staff members honored our schools’ teachers of the year and their spouses at a dinner last evening.  It was a wonderfully gratifying event as this group of 15 teachers, ...

Sometimes educators feel singled out for the ills of society.  Read the newspaper or turn on the news and you often find someone complaining that schools do a poor job of educating our children.  Our political leaders used to call to see wh...

A group of third graders representing the student body of Cooley Springs Fingerville Elementary School met in the media center this morning to accept the award for the Christmas Reading Challenge.  Our elementary schools compete to see who ...

One of the neat things about being in education is that we have two times per year to start anew; January 1 and the first day of school in August.  Attached is an exercise I will be leading our principals and district leadership team through tom...

For children, Christmas is a magical time of year.  It is one of the privileges of being in the school business as we see the wonder and excitement as our youngest learners shiver with anticipation.  For some of our fam...

  More than 900 business, governmental, non-profit and educational leaders from across our state gathered in Columbia on November 30th for the second annual Liberty Fellowship Summit.   The afternoon-long event was designed to focus on ...

Today is Pearl Harbor Day, and the flags flying at half staff brought my Uncle Norwood to mind.   Norwood Borror was my mother’s brother, and he passed away two years ago this month.  He was 89 years old and a veteran of WW II. ...

Dr. Yong Zhao from the University of Oregon and author of Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization, spoke to about 500 educational, political, and business leaders in Columbia on November 3.  He presented a ...

Change is hard.  It just is.  But it is also necessary and is one of the constants in life.  I am not one to change something that is working well, but if there is a better way, we need to do what is best.   Our Finance Director...

Mike Schmoker wrote the book Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning (2011) that our principals read this summer.  At the instigation of our Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, Dr, Quincie Moore, and her team, we r...

I had a great 40 minutes or so at Boiling Springs Intermediate School this morning.  It was Community Readers Day and, invited to read beginning at 8:00 AM, I got there a little early; enjoyed seeing quite a few fathers downing  Krispy Krem...

In the early 1980s, while taking a leadership class for a master's degree at WVU, our professor worked us through several "in-box" simulations.  We were a group of young teachers training to be principals, and he gave us 20 situations we co...

The South Carolina Education Association has put together a little tip sheet for parents on helping their children with reading.  Here are those seven tips:·         Have your child read aloud to yo...

Recently a mother emailed a question to me.  As part of her email, she asked,   “Is there a particular reason that the District 2 elementary schools assemble in classrooms between 7:30 am and 7:40 am each day?  Has there ever b...

When I was a freshman in high school, our Civics class teacher assigned an Election Day poster project to us.  With a yardstick, I drew the word VOTE in large block letters on white poster board.  Armed with red, white, and blue glitter and...

It was an honor for me to hear Diane Ravitch speak at The Riley Institute at Furman University one evening a couple of weeks ago.  She is a prolific writer (over 20 books), and served as the assistant secretary of education during the George Bus...

Five years ago, the District was faced with a decision on what to do with the then soon-to-be-empty Boiling Springs Middle School on Old Furnace Road.  We were building the new Intermediate School on Hanging Rock Road, and this building that had...

It was my pleasure to attend the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce's 2011 Minority Enterprise Celebration Awards Dinner at the Marriott last evening.  Chris Cooper, a senior at Boiling Springs High School, was honored with the "Rising Star of...

Jason Leto and Marguerite Jones with the South Carolina Education Association's (SCEA) Uniserv representation met with me yesterday; it was refreshing to understand again that their organization, like the Palmetto State Teachers Association (PST...

Leadership Spartanburg is a program sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce each year that educates participants on the various aspects that make Spartanburg County what it is.  Over the course of a year, one day per month will be spent exploring t...

In the early 1980s, I was a physical education teacher for a few years, and stories were beginning to be publicized about childhood obesity.  Frankly, at the time, I did not see it.  There were a few students in my 450-student K-8 school th...

If you have not had the experience of spending some time in our schools, I hope that you will take the opportunity. From time to time, our administrators take visitors on tours as they are deciding where to purchase homes as the education of their ch...

District Goals Progress 2011 Each year, the administration recommends goals to the Board of Trustees and, through a collaborative process, a set is agreed upon establishing our course for the year. Attached are the goals we prepared this past Januar...

From my recollection of American history, democracy was a grand experiment in government. The writers of the Constitution were brilliant men who, with amazing insight and forethought, created a style of governance that had never existed. Comments I r...

My mother loved to sing the alto part. When I was a child, she was a member of several barbershop groups that would often meet at our home to practice their a cappella singing with those rich and close harmonies; I have fond memories of those da...

Spartanburg School District 2 Initiatives Attached is a two-page document that gives an overview of (1) our philosophy on the written, taught, and assessed curriculum and how those three important pieces of the puzzle interact to produce learni...

A couple of years ago I heard a teacher in a faculty meeting say, "I am not overwhelmed.  I am whelmed, but I am not overwhelmed."  Since I began teaching in the 1970s, teachers have always had their hands full trying their best to meet the needs ...

Employees of District Two should have received a School Messenger recorded phone call last evening between 7:30 and 8:00 PM from Connie Smith, our Board Chair.  If you did not, please let your supervisor know so that we can recheck our telephone...

What a wonderful evening we had at the UFRC this past Tuesday!  Our Center, which has been in operation since January 2007 at the old Boiling Springs Middle School campus, meeting the needs of families, exists through the generosity of grantors ...

Along with the state governorship change in 2002, the assault on public education in South Carolina began. Bills were introduced in the legislature that would divert precious resources to fund private school tuitions. Groups such as South Carolinians...

Last year, with only a $1,617 base student cost (BSC) provided to us by the state, we furloughed all 190-day+ employees for five days and 240-day administrators for ten days. We reduced the salaries of our working retirees by 15%. Along with other co...

While reading the Bible one recent morning, I came upon the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. If you recall, he had been sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt and was put in jail after being wrongly accused, but found he had a gift from Go...