Thumbs up to school getting healthy together

Morning News Staff
Published: May 10, 2008

Thumbs up to the students, faculty and staff of McLaurin Elementary School in Florence for walking 26,000 miles in 180 days — enough to visit every state in the nation. The culmination of the year-long Road Trip USA project occurred Friday, when school officials presented T-shirts and goody bags to students for reaching the 26,000-mile mark. “This project is exercise for both mind and body,” McLaurin principal Debbie Cribb said in a press release. “Students benefited from the exercise, and our teachers integrated fun and interesting facts about each state we visited on our 26,000-mile walk.” Toby Milligan, who races in the Cylinder Stock Division and Mini Stock Truck Division at Florence Motor Speedway, also spoke with the students about the importance of lifelong physical fitness. Milligan, the owner of Milligan’s Painting Co., also showcased his No. 7 Ford Ranger Truck at the celebration. Project sponsors included BB&T, ESAB, Edick’s BP, Pepsi Cola Co. of Florence, McLeod Health, Florence RedWolves, Florence Toyota Scion, Cardinal Filtration, Knight Furniture Showroom, Logowear, and Edward Jones Investments: Robert LeMaster and Wendell Jones. Nancy Crooks, a physical education teacher, said the project demonstrated the benefits of walking to students. “It’s a low-impact, low-stress activity and is a safe aerobic exercise for kids,” she said in the release. “Ultimately, we hope this encourages our students to make regular exercise a life-long habit.” We hope so, too.

Thumbs up to everyone at Southside Middle School in Florence who’s participated in this year’s Swingin’ With Seniors, a program that has taken place each spring for the past 14 years. Senior citizens are invited to a luncheon with entertainment that is student implemented, Personal Skills teacher Sandra Brewer said. The Personal Skills classes plan, prepare and serve the food to more than 500 guests each year. Students complete a job application and treat their position as a job. The PS II students organize the event, as each of them has specific tasks, while the student supervisors solve the problems and are the “bosses” for their own peers. “It is awesome to watch as generations interact with each other,” Brewer said in a press release. “Seniors from the surrounding community eagerly await an invitation to the event. They have learned to RSVP quickly as we must turn down guests each year.” The seniors are entertained by the Southside musical department and the step team. “It is not uncommon for the seniors to dance as the jazz band plays or sing along with the choral students,” Brewer said. Southside works in conjunction with community groups to implement the program. Carolinas Hospital System and BiLo have contributed to this year’s event, while other community businesses provided door prizes. “Students are exhausted at the end of the day, but their work at their job gives them great satisfaction and feeling of self-worth,” Brewer said. That’s something everyone in the community can and should support.

While we’re talking about Southside, thumbs up to its Fellowship of Christian Athletes, along with the Christian Learning Center, for holding a POP Rally on Thursday in front of the school. Kim Osborne, the school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes advisor, said POP stands for Power of Prayer. While a PEP rally is one way to show school spirit, Osborne said, another is by participating in a POP rally in which students gather to encourage one another and lift each other up in prayer. Two eighth-grade students, Katie Krize and Charles Cox, were honored at the rally. Katie and Charles are battling cancer and haven’t been able to attend school much this year, Osborne said. The two students will be presented with blankets that were made in FCA as a service project for cancer patients. “FCA, along with our student body, wants to make sure they know they are an important part of our school family, and that we will continue to support them and pray for them,” she said in a press release. “Southside Middle School continues to strive for positive innovative ways to encourage our students!”