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TO CONGRATULATE THE STUDENTS, PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND ADMINISTRATORS, PAST AND PRESENT, OF LONNIE B. NELSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN RICHLAND COUNTY, ON THE OCCASION OF THE SCHOOL'S FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY, AND TO EXTEND TO THE LONNIE B. NELSON SCHOOL COMMUNITY BEST WISHES FOR MANY MORE YEARS OF EDUCATING STUDENTS IN NORTHEAST COLUMBIA.
Whereas, the Senate of the State of South Carolina is pleased to learn that Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary School will commemorate five decades of academic achievement in Northeast Columbia on May 15, 2014; and
Whereas, the original campus of Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary in 1963 boasted only the cafeteria where the Town Hall now sits, a lower hallway for grades one through six, and the main hall; and
Whereas, named for a prominent businessman in the community who served on the school's board from 1946 to 1969, Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary has honored the man who played a major role in the development of Northeast Columbia; and
Whereas, Spring Valley High School opened seven years after Lonnie B. Nelson as Two Notch Road added more businesses, and portable classrooms were needed to meet the demanding enrollment on the campus of Lonnie B. Nelson; and
Whereas, when construction on Richland Northeast High School began eight years later, Two Notch Road had widened to four lanes almost to Pontiac, and Columbia Mall had opened, requiring more portable classrooms on campus; and
Whereas, after North Springs Elementary opened in the Northeast in 1982 to alleviate crowding at Lonnie B. Nelson, more portables were needed within a year. A new classroom wing was completed three years later, which included a music room, a multi-media room, a media center, and office space; and
Whereas, despite the growth in the Northeast that continued to test the limits of its capacity, Lonnie B. Nelson earned its first recognition as a Blue Ribbon School in 1988, and the school's first computer lab opened in 1993; and
Whereas, the school earned its second National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence recognition in 1998, and although four new schools were added to Richland Two, Lonnie B. Nelson needed to expand its classrooms again, so a new wing for kindergarten and first grade were added; and
Whereas, the campus has enjoyed the addition of a beautiful new cafeteria and a fully renovated media center since 2004; and
Whereas, the Integrated Thematic Instruction (ITI) model was adopted at Lonnie B. Nelson in 2006 to accomplish two main goals: to create participating citizens willing and able to engage in our democratic processes to improve life now and for future generations and to help educators translate current brain research into practical school-wide strategies for the classroom; and
Whereas, in 2007, the Academy for Civic Engagement (ACE) began as a magnet program within the school; and
Whereas, the South Carolina Senate is grateful for the half century record of accomplishment of Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary School in educating students in Northeast Columbia and expects to hear of the school's continuing success throughout the next fifty years. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate:
That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, congratulate the students, parents, teachers, and administrators, past and present, of Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary School of Richland County on the occasion of the school's fiftieth anniversary, and extend to the Lonnie B. Nelson School community best wishes for many more years of educating students in Northeast Columbia.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to Principal Karen Beaman.
This web page was last updated on April 15, 2014 at 3:10 PM