Some of District Five's best educators were honored this week, as the district held its annual Teacher of the Year celebration!  Twelve teachers, representing each school in the district, gathered at the Piedmont Club in Spartanburg Tuesday night.

Each educator was presented with a framed certificate, and gifts from both the district and generous business donors.  Superintendent Dr. Scott Turner praised each teacher, and thanked for the countless ways their contribute to students and their schools.  The event also included video presentations that highlight each educator in their classroom.

Dr. Turner then recognized Katie Henderson, of Wellford Academy, as the District Five Teacher of the Year.   Henderson will now go on to compete against teachers from across the state for the title of SC Teacher of the Year.

To view special video presentations highlighting each of our teachers, click here.

Congratulations to these 2015-16 Teachers of the Year!  We are proud of all of you!

The Byrnes High School Rebel Regiment Band is off to a rousing start this season, with huge wins in two major regional competitions!

This past weekend, the Regiment performed against dozens of the best bands in the Southeast at the Bands of America Southeast Regional at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem.  Their "Dark Horse" performance earned them the trophy and the title of Class 4A Champions!  Byrnes was also given "Highest Music Score" and "Highest Visual Score" in Class 4A. 

The Rebel Regiment then moved on to the finals, where they placed 2nd among the very top bands in the country!



The award-winning performance marks the 2nd big win of the season for the Byrnes band.  To open up the competition year, they performed at the Gaffney High School Reservation Tournament of Champions on October 8.  For the second year in a row, Byrnes walked away with the title of Gold Division Grand Champion!  They also earned the following awards:  1st Place Color Guard, 1st Place Percussion, 1st Place Drum Major, and 1st Place Music.

This marks the Rebel Regiment's 89th Grand Championship overall.

Way to go, Byrnes!
 

Super heroes showed up in full force across District Five recently, in memory of a life taken too soon.

Many District Five schools marked Wednesday, October 5th as "Jacob Hall Day", to honor the 6 year old victim killed in a tragic shooting at Townville Elementary School, in Anderson County District 4.

Students and teachers dressed up as super heroes of all kinds, from Superman, to Batman and Wonder Woman to pay tribute to the young boy.  At Byrnes High School, where students were celebrating Homecoming, student leaders voted to change one of their traditional "dress up" days to Super Hero Day, in Hall's memory.



To watch a video presentation of D5's Tribute to Jacob, click below.

D5 Superheroes For Jacob

Byrnes High School's AFJROTC Drill Team walked away with a big win at a major meet this weekend!

The 34 Freshman and Sophomore cadets who make up the team took home 1st place honors at the East Henderson Strike Eagle Drill Meet in North Carolina.  Upper classmen from the team served as judges for the multi-service event.

Way to go SC-932!

Members of the Berry Shoals Intermediate School Beta Club got their hands dirty recently, for the sake of their community!

The club continued their commitment to keeping Shoals Road "trash free" by participating in the "Adopt a Road" program on a recent Saturday.  More than thirty students and parents, along with teachers, showed up to take part in the effort.

Great work, Berry Shoals!

Economics students at Byrnes High School got a real life lesson in business recently, from a successful local franchise owner.

Terry Stephenson, owner of several area McDonald's, visited students in Lance Hansen's Honors Economics class to talk about franchises and businesses, and his personal experience.

Special thanks to Mr. Stephenson, and great job, Byrnes students!

Liz Smith, K5 music teacher at River Ridge Elementary, is taking her students on a new musical adventure!  Smith is teaching each K5 student how to play a ukulele.  Students recently serenaded the administration with a good morning song, as their strummed their new instruments.

Keep up the good work, River Ridge musicians!

Take a trip to Byrnes Freshman Academy sometime soon, and you might some "taped treasures" all over campus.

Students in Megan Parlow's art class have created figures made of tape, which are on display all over the Freshman Academy's building.

Here, you can see a "mermaid" peering into the school's aquarium.  Awesome work, BFA students!

Students from Berry Shoals Intermediate and Florence Chapel Middle School joined theatrical forces last week, for a spectacular performance of "Beauty and the Beast."

The joint cast performed the Disney favorite at the District Five Fine Arts Center.

Way to go, Berry Shoals and Florence Chapel!

Want to empower your students with more STEM education activities?  Try learning with ozobots!  That's what students are doing in

Marise Sizemore's 4th grade class at

River Ridge Elementary School.

The use of ozobots, tiny programmable robots, introduces kids to basics of coding and then advances their skills with increments of more advanced programming concepts. 

Sizemore's students having been going through the first set of training steps and have enjoyed writing programs based on simulations of ozobot and then actually programming their real ozobot to perform the same tasks. 

Students use communication and collaboration to discuss new and inventive ways to code their ozobots. They use higher level thinking skills to help create their own learning, all while having fun!

Keep up the great learning, River Ridge students!

 

Some students at Florence Chapel Middle School are getting a little extra help this year, thanks to awesome volunteers from the community!

The school recently kicked off its "Adopt a Cougar" mentoring program, with a great breakfast at the school.  Thirty six students will be paired with mentors from the community, and teachers, to help them through the school year.

Keep it up, Florence Chapel!

Congratulations to Susanne Cash, of Byrnes High School, who has been named a finalist for FSI Office's "Teacher of the Week" recognition program!

As a reward for her work, a special box of school supplies was delivered to Cash last week.

Let's help Susanne earn top honors!  Just click here to vote!

Way to go, Mrs. Cash!

Students report to the school early every Tuesday and Thursday morning to explore the world of robots and computer programming.  They've learned to perform simple tasks like playing a xylophone or conquering an obstacle course, all while learning fun ways to use technology.

Florence Chapel Scores Conference Championship

A big congratulations goes out to Florence Chapel Middle School's volleyball team, and coaches Tamara Branch and Raelyn Chambliss, after the Cougars were named Peachtree Conference champions this weekend!

The team went 11-0 to take the regular season conference championship, and then went 3-0 to win the title of Conference champion!

Way to go, Florence Chapel!

The Byrnes High School Rebels took home a big win this weekend, with a victory over Nations Ford!

The Rebels beat the Falcons at Nixon Field, 42-27.

Way to go, Rebels!

Faculty and staff at Reidville Elementary School are embracing a "212 attitude" this year!  The motto is modeled after the thought that at 211 degrees, water is hot, but at 212 degrees, it boils.

The steam that's created is enough to power a train!  Reidville believes going one extra degree as teachers and staff works with students every day can make all the difference!