As another school year comes to a close, District Five is saying a fond farewell to some of its best, and most treasured employees.

In a special ceremony this week, the District honored 25 retirees who collectively have served 456 years in our schools!

Each was congratulated and given a plaque of appreciation by Superintendent Dr. Scott Turner.

Congratulations to:
Tracy Armstrong (Florence Chapel Middle), Anne Brewer (Berry Shoals Intermediate), Stephen Bruner (Byrnes High School), Susan Cooper (Byrnes High School), Paula Davis (Reidville Elementary), Christy Driggers (D.R. Hill Middle), Iris Elliott (Duncan Elementary), Barbi Franklin (Florence Chapel Middle), Cheryl Gamble (River Ridge Elementary), Rachel Gaston (River Ridge Elementary), Jeanie Gooch (Abner Creek Academy), Peggy Harrison (Byrnes High School), Sandra Hughes (River Ridge Elementary), Nona Krena (Duncan Elementary), Charlene Lewis (Transportation), Jill Martin (Lyman Elementary), Carol Nescio (Byrnes High School), Glenda Nilsson (Duncan Elementary), Pam Roberts (Florence Chapel Middle), Janet Sherbert (Abner Creek Academy), Debbie Sitman (Lyman Elementary), Kara Steward (D.R. HIll Middle), Lyn Turner (Middle Tyger Community Center), and Pam Williams (Abner Creek Academy).

Thank you to all these wonderful District Five employees!  You will always be part of our family!

Citizenship Award Given To District Five Students
 
Twelve of District Five's finest students were recognized this week for their contributions, both inside and outside, the classroom.

The District named its 2016 Superintendent's Citizenship award winners, and honored them at Tuesday's school board meeting.  The Citizenship Award, started more than a decade ago, recognizes students for outstanding service, leadership, responsibility, character and discipline.

This year's Superintendent's Citizenship Award winners are:
Izzy Rini (Abner Creek Academy), Jordan Miller (Duncan Elementary School), Laura Reznichenko (Lyman Elementary School), Caleb Jeter (Reidville Elementary School), Molly Smith (River Ridge Elementary School), Keren Munoz-Garcia (Wellford Academy), Aniyah Hawthorne (Beech Springs Intermediate), Jill Brown (Berry Shoals Intermediate), Charla Gentry (D.R. Hill Middle School), Sarah Beth Lister (Florence Chapel Middle School), Kalika Bridwell (Byrnes Freshman Academy), and Harry Stathakis (Byrnes High School).

Congratulations to these outstanding students!

A District Five employee who spends much of time "behind the scenes" is getting some much deserved time in the spotlight!

Jerry Rice, a bus driver and teacher's assistant at Byrnes High School, was named "Bus Driver of the Year" at a District banquet this week.

Congratulations Jerry Rice!

The Byrnes High School Rebel family officially has a new member.  Newly named Principal Todd Hardy was formally introduced to the Byrnes faculty and staff at a welcome reception Thursday.

Hardy is no stranger to District Five:  he served as Principal of Byrnes Freshman Academy from 2006-2010 when it first became its own campus.  Following that, Hardy was Principal at Broome High School in Spartanburg District Three.  He most recently has served as the Director of Academic Support in the Greenville County school system.

Hardy follows former Principal Dr. Jeff Rogers, who is moving to the District Office to take over the role of Chief Technology Officer.

The new Principal officially arrives in early July.  Welcome Todd Hardy!
 

The Byrnes High School  Lady Rebels softball team still has plenty to be proud of, despite losing a tough battle in the state championship game last weekend.

The Lady Rebels fought hard, but fell short, losing to Stratford, 3-2.

Byrnes had an outstanding season, ending the year with a 30-4 record, having captured the titles of Region Champions, District IV Champions, and Upper State Champions.

Players Allison Neely, Tatum Arboleda, Parker Birch, Christa Whitesides, Haven Pesce, Kasey Widmyer, Payten Bennett, and MacKenzie Marcum all earned "All Region" honors.

Pitching duo Tatum Arboleda and Kasey Widmyer were named "All State".

Byrnes head Coach Brandi Aiken was named Region II 4-A Coach of the Year.

Congratulations on a great season Lady Rebels!  We are so proud of you!

As they celebrated the end of their high school careers, nearly 150 Byrnes High School seniors were honored for their accomplishments in the school's annual Senior Awards night last week.

Students in the Class of 2016 were recognized for their achievements in everything from academics, to fine arts and athletics.  Awards were given for the top students in individual subjects, as well as civic and merit scholarships.  The Class of 2016 has earned an estimated $14 million in scholarships to attend colleges and universities across the country.

Top awards were given to:
Heather Green (JROTC Outstanding Senior Cadet), Haley Jones (English award), Austin Thomas (Math award), Harry Stathakis (Social Studies award), Josiah Meno (Chorus Director's award), Maggie Hance (Orchestra "Conductor's Choice" award, Michael Blackwell (Band John Phillip Sousa award), Maya Elhage (Science award), John Guthrie (scholarship to U.S. Air Force Academy), Christian Eitel (scholarship to United States Naval Academy), Harry Stathakis (John David Hortman Memorial Scholarship), Katelynn Kitts, Mallory Turner, and Kayla Henderson (District Five Teacher's Forum scholarships), Madison Bronson (Female Athlete of the Year), Ray Miller (Male Athlete of the Year), and Matthew Powell (Jostens Outstanding Senior Award).


For a full photo gallery from the event, visit the District Facebook page here.

Congratulations to these outstanding Seniors!

Students in Ann Salway's class at Abner Creek Academy know what hours and days of hard work adds up to:  being national champions!  The class recently received word they took home the top prize in the national Dreambox Learning Challenge, which encourages students and classes across the country to complete as many online math lessons as they can in a set amount of time.

Salway's class beat out their competition, completing 8,832 lessons in just a month!

Representatives from Dreambox visited Abner Creek last week, congratulating them on their success!  Salway's class won 5 iPads and prize bags for every student as a result of being the #1 team.

To read an article in the Greer Citizen on the Challenge, click here.

A group of young inventors from River Ridge Elementary School recently had the experience of a lifetime, being invited to the National Invention Convention in Washington D.C.!

The students, all 4th graders in Marise Sizemore's class at River Ridge, received the invitation after placing at this year's Duke Invention Convention in Greenville.

Conner Paige, Noah McGarity, Arielle Greer, and Aubrey Mayse made the three-day trip to the nation's capitol and competed along with 300 students from across the country.


Among all the competitors, Arielle Greer walked away with the top "Healthcare Award" for her invention, the "Brace Blaster".  Congratulations to Arielle and all of these outstanding students!

For the 3rd year in a row, readers at Reidville Elementary School have scored the top spot in the Greenville Drive's "Reading All Star" program!
The annual program encourages students to read a certain number of books during a specific timeframe, and then rewards them with admission to a special  Greenville Drive  game in their honor.  

Of all Spartanburg County schools,  Reidville  had the largest percentage of students who met the challenge!

The school was honored with a special  award at Fluor Field last weekend.

Way to go,  Reidvlle!

Students and staff at Berry Shoals Intermediate School laced up their walking shoes last week and logged some walking time for a great cause!

The school hosted its annual KidsWalk to benefit Relay for Life.  The KidsWalk features the survivor lap, the team lap, and the Silent lap as Berry Shoals recognized those who lost their fight with cancer. 

Following the walk, the school had its Relay  for Life celebration program in the gym. The program featured a visual presentation of all  Relay  for Life events that took place this year, student musicians, and a special speaker, former Berry Shoals student and cancer survivor, Sam Brown.  At the end of the program, several lucky teachers were silly-stringed by their students as part of a money raising incentive, all going to  Relay  for Life.

Special thank you's go out to the "Bee Cause We Care" team, led by nurse Lesa White. All in all, Berry Shoals finished as the number one intermediate school fundraiser for  Relay  for Life, and the second overall money raiser, raising just under $13,000!

Two District Five schools, and teaches, got a nice surprise for the end of the school year recently!

Jamie Jackson and Melvin Robinson were both selected as part of Papa John's teacher appreciation contest.  Jackson, a teacher at Abner Creek Academy, was nominated by 3rd grader, Zenobia Hall.  Robinson, a teacher assistant at Beech Springs Intermediate School, was nominated by Talynn Salters, a student at D.R. Hill Middle School.

Hall submitted a picture in appreciation of her teacher, while Salters wrote an essay expressing her thanks to Mr. Robinson.

Both teachers and students won gift cards for free pizza for a year as part of the contest!

Great job, students!

It may almost be summertime, but students at Abner Creek Academy are putting their game faces on for the school's annual "Summer Reading Challenge"!

To encourage students to read during the summer, Abner Creek a kick-off event to challenge students to read even more over this summer than ever before.

As part of this challenge, students dressed in crazy, creative, fabulously quirky costumes in a Vocabulary Parade i nspired by the book Miss Alaineus by Debra Frasier.   Students and teachers shared the meanings of their word to their class in an effort to build each student's vocabulary and then headed to the hallways to share their words with others.
Good luck, Abner Creek!

Fourth grade students in Diana Sheriff's class at River Ridge Elementary School are ending their school year on a giving note.

The class recently came up with the idea on their own to create  bags  to give to the homeless.  The students coordinated the entire project, typing up letters to go home describing what they were doing, and asking for items like hygiene products, snacks, and water bottles.

Students named the project " Bags   of   Hope ".  In teams, the class assembled bags, including a note  of

Congratulations are in order for District Five Math Coach, Edwina Perrin!

Perrin was recently installed as the Upstate Director of the South Carolina Leaders of Mathematics organization.  SCLME is an organization that promotes the importance of mathematics leadership and provides professional learning opportunities , maintaining a communication network for all mathematics teachers, leaders and other stakeholders.

We are proud of you, Edwina Perrin!