South Carolina General Assembly
119th Session, 2011-2012

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S. 1522

STATUS INFORMATION

Concurrent Resolution
Sponsors: Senator Matthews
Document Path: l:\council\bills\gm\25077zw12.docx

Introduced in the Senate on May 9, 2012
Introduced in the House on May 15, 2012
Adopted by the General Assembly on May 15, 2012

Summary: Bethune-Bowman Middle/High School

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    5/9/2012  Senate  Introduced, adopted, sent to House 
                        (Senate Journal-page 6)
   5/15/2012  House   Introduced, adopted, returned with concurrence 
                        (House Journal-page 15)

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VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

5/9/2012

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THE ADMINISTRATORS, FACULTY, AND STAFF OF BETHUNE-BOWMAN MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT THEY HAVE MADE ON THE LIVES OF THEIR STUDENTS, AND TO CONGRATULATE THE STUDENTS FOR THE EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS THEY HAVE ACHIEVED.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly are pleased to commend the Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five's Bethune-Bowman Middle/High School for its outstanding commitment to excellence and for the success of its students; and

Whereas, having a school population of ninety-two percent African American, seven percent Caucasian, and one percent Hispanic, Bethune-Bowman Middle/High School is a rural school in Orangeburg County with an enrollment of 337 students; and

Whereas, of those students, nine out of every ten receive free or reduced-rate lunches, and during the 2003-2004 school year, the school administrators began overhauling the school's curriculum and assessments to align with South Carolina Curriculum Standards and immersed the school in reconstruction; and

Whereas, the faculty began to utilize curriculum mapping for every subject to ensure all lessons were standards based and would serve as a guide for effective instruction, which required every teacher to develop a daily instructional outline for each classroom; and

Whereas, compiling data on the weaknesses of individual students enabled teachers to develop a plan to improve each student's achievement in core areas on national and state standardized tests, necessitating continuous staff development for the teachers; and

Whereas, the administration began to emphasize parental and community involvement at the school with such activities as ministerial luncheons, parent content nights for each core area, revitalization of the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), back-to-school bashes, and parent shadowing; and

Whereas, after the middle school won the district's annual Middle School Spelling Bee, student attitudes toward the school improved, the school dropout rate began to decline to a low of one and a half percent, and the graduation rate rose to a high of ninety percent in 2011; and

Whereas, from 2004 to 2012, Bethune-Bowman has received either Palmetto Silver or Palmetto Gold award status from the South Carolina Department of Education and the department's Magna Cum Laude Award for high achievement on the ACT; and

Whereas, the department also awarded the school the Red Carpet Award for customer relations and for providing a user-friendly environment, and Bethune-Bowman was the only high school highlighted on ETV's Showcase of Palmetto Gold and Silver Schools; and

Whereas, the school received the High-Flying School Award for two consecutive years from 2009 to 2011 and the National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award from 2008 to 2011, and during the 2007-2008 school year, Bethune-Bowman was recognized by the magazine U.S. News and World Report as "One of the Nation's Best High Schools," a recognition they would enjoy for four straight years; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, are grateful for the dedication which the administration and faculty at Bethune-Bowman Middle/High School have shown on behalf of their students and congratulate them for the outstanding strides they have made in education. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, recognize and honor the administrators, faculty, and staff of Bethune-Bowman Middle/High School for the significant impact they have made on the lives of their students, and congratulate the students for the educational success they have achieved.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Principal Marvin Foster.

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