Contact Erika Williams with Sumter Economic Development Board staff at (803) 418-0700.
1. NATIONAL NONPROFIT AWARDS LIBERTY STEAM $2M
A leading nonprofit organization that identifies the nation's best public charter schools and helps to fund their expansion pledged $2 million to Liberty STEAM Charter School in December.
Colorado-based Charter School Growth Fund added Liberty STEAM to its portfolio with the award to help ensure the school completes its Junior Academy at Sumter Mall and also opens its Senior Academy in fall 2029, according to a news release from the school.
Liberty is the first tuition-free public charter school in Sumter County and opened for students in fall 2021. The school initially received seed investment funding from the national nonprofit that year.
According to school Executive Director Trevor Ivey, Liberty was the first seed school in South Carolina to receive an award from Charter School Growth Fund and is now the first replication school in the state to get financial support from the organization.
2. FORMER SENATOR, 3 OTHERS FILE FOR OPEN AREA 8 SEAT ON SCHOOL BOARD
A range of candidates to include a political newcomer all the way to a retired state senator who served 32 years filed in December for the open Area 8 seat on Sumter School District Board of Trustees.
A special election for the seat is required to serve out the remaining two years of Jeff Zell's term as the area's representative after he ran for and won the state Senate District 36 seat in the November election. The special election is set for Tuesday, Feb. 11, and four candidates filed.
The candidates include Foxy Rae Campbell, Phil Leventis, Tom Montgomery and Keith Schultz, and the 10-day filing period was Dec. 6-16, according to Sumter County Voter Registration and Elections Office.
Area 8 is in the City of Sumter to include the Wilson Hall area and western suburbs in the city.
School board seats are nonpartisan races.
3. THOMAS SUMTER ACADEMY EARNS PURPLE STAR DESIGNATION
Thomas Sumter Academy has always been a school with a strong military presence, and recently it achieved the state's top honor for connection and relationship to families in the armed forces.
On Dec. 5, representatives from the South Carolina Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission and state Military Child Education Coalition recognized the school with the Purple Star designation at the Thomas Sumter campus.
In the process, TSA is the first South Carolina Independent School Association school in the area to earn the honor and just the third SCISA school overall.
The designation is a top honor and brings an ease to military members and their families when transitioning into a new area, according to Sara Jane Arnett, state coordinator of the Military Child Education Coalition.
The support is both for students' academics and extracurricular activities to allow them to continue to grow.
Locally, Sumter School District is a Purple Star School District in South Carolina, and Liberty STEAM Charter School is a Purple Star-designated charter school.
Criteria for the designation include having a trained, designated school liaison for military families to support issues including relocation, deployment and academic training, Arnett said.
4. COUNTY EMPLOYEES HOLD HOLIDAY GIFT GIVEAWAY AT RAFTING CREEK
A gift giveaway can get you in the Christmas spirit, and kids and adults experienced the "good vibes" of the holiday season at Rafting Creek Elementary School in Rembert in mid-December.
After an initial Lunch Buddies program partnership started with the school, Sumter County administration and employees enjoyed it so much that the county agency fully "adopted" Rafting Creek as its own to include more activities like the holiday gift giveaway, according to assistant county Administrator Lorraine Dennis.
All 130 or so students at the school participated in the gift giveaway that included toys, board games, dolls, books, bracelet makers, skateboards and more, Principal Anita Hunter said.
Organized by Sumter Economic Development Board staff, the purpose of the Lunch Buddies program is to allow community members to volunteer their time once per month and talk about their careers with Sumter School District students and ultimately enhance children's communication skills.
Dennis, who facilitates county government's partnership with Rafting Creek Elementary, said she initially chose the school as a Lunch Buddies partner more than two years ago because rural schools in the remote areas are often forgotten by people in the City of Sumter.
She added county staff members fell in love with Lunch Buddies so much that she decided to expand the agency's side of the program and "adopted Rafting Creek as our school."
That created the Christmas gift giveaway, participation in a job shadowing program and other events set around the school's calendar.
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