McCampbell School honored in Graniteville

Aiken reporter Rob Novit can unearth some real gems in his coverage for the Aiken Standard, and this is one of them.

The Leavelle McCampbell school building received a historical marker on Saturday, with the event taking place in the school's 90th year.

Among the dozens of graduates and others in attendance was Minnie Ferguson, 94. She is living history, having started first grade at the school in 1923, the year after Leavelle McCampbell opened.

Ferguson cheerfully named her first three teachers at the school. Her fourth-grade teacher was Juanita Schroder, and she was strictest of all of the teachers Ferguson had.

"I'm very proud of this school," she said. "It's amazing to me that it's still here. Of course, I can hardly believe I've lived this long either. I wouldn't have missed this for anything."

The marker, formally approved by the S.C. Department of Archives and History, is sponsored by the Leavelle McCampbell School Alumni Association.

"This school has a strong foundation," said association president Joe Taylor. "It was built out of Graniteville Company granite and has withstood the test of time."

Originally a grade 1-12 facility, Leavelle McCampbell later served grades 7-12. After Midland Valley High was constructed in 1980, Leavelle Campbell became a middle school serving grades 6-8.

Taylor praised all of the principals who have served the school, including the current administrators, principal Dr. Lloydette Young and assistant principal Brad Weston.

The ceremony Saturday had plenty of lighthearted moments. Four 1949 graduates unveiled the marker, and Taylor introduced them by their nicknames of Slim, Goat, Monk and Hotshot - Lenwood Melton, Bill Whittle, Buddy Wise and Gene Wilson, respectively.

"This was a special place," Melton said. "Really, it was the only place. There weren't many schools around as magnificent as this one."

When he returned to the community a number of years ago, Wilson did some volunteer work at Leavelle McCampbell for then-principal Al Lamback. The principal showed Wilson the boiler room, which was an athletic room in Wilson's time.

"I showed Al where some stairs used to be, where I would sneak down for a smoke now and then," Wilson said with a smile. "Really, it's a pleasure to be back and be a part of this community. I get emotional thinking about this school."

William Gregg, who founded the Graniteville Company in the mid-19th century, believed in the value of education well ahead of his time and insisted on compulsory schooling for his employees' children. When the existing school was dedicated in 1922, a company executive echoed Gregg's philosophy. For the past 75 years at that time, the policy was to give every child an education. The new building would be a token of appreciation for the services provided by the company's employees, the executive said.

When Carolyn Hardy was growing up in Graniteville in the 1950s, she was fascinated by the large and majestic three-story Leavelle McCampbell school. But she was an African-American, and separate schools were the norm then. Hardy attended the Schofield school in Aiken for junior high and high school.

Before her senior year, however, freedom of choice policies were adopted, and Hardy became the only black senior to enroll at Leavelle McCampbell that year. Many black students through the county generally faced challenges during this early phase of desegregation but not Hardy.

"I had a wonderful time. I loved it," she said. "Seeing the building again today is amazing."

Other alumni association board members are Pat Bates, Brenda Taylor, Merle Bush, Sally Jennings, Wanda McGee, Joel Randall, Skippy Pate and Tommy Wooten. Also participating in the event were the Rev. James Addy, GVW Investment Corporation chairman Ronald Wood, Kirk Bennett and LMMS chorus members, directed by Charla Coffin.

Growing up in Graniteville and attending Leavelle McCampbell until his graduation in 1955 was ideal, Wooten said.

"We were one big family," he said. "It was same group of kids from the first grade, and life revolved around the school. I appreciate its unique place in history."

O'Gorman to become associate supt in Berkeley

News from Aiken includes this school personnel change, as reported by the Aiken Standard: Associate Superintendent Kevin O'Gorman will leave in June to begin work in Berkeley County.

Like many other educators throughout Aiken County, Wagener-Salley High School principal Pat Keating was surprised to learn that Kevin O'Gorman, the associate superintendent for instruction, is leaving in June for a similar position in Berkeley County.

Keating became a first-time principal in 2008, the same year Superintendent Dr. Beth Everitt appointed O'Gorman to his current position.

"Kevin was a big help, teaching me about data-driven instruction and curriculum," said Keating. "He showed me how to build an initiative that was manageable in moving our students so they would get meaningful instruction."

Over the last four years, O'Gorman has spearheaded the district's new literacy model and has been coordinating the transition to national Common Core academic standards.

In Berkeley County, O'Gorman has been appointed as the chief academic officer. He will work in the Office in Instructional Accountability with duties related to special education, federal programs, instruction, curriculum and professional development.

"I've thought long and hard about this," O'Gorman said. "I see it as a chance to grow professionally. I've learned a lot in Aiken and have developed a lot of close friends and good working relationships with people. I'll have nothing but good memories of my time in Aiken."

He came to Aiken in 2002 as the Schofield Middle School assistant principal, then spent four years as the North Aiken Elementary School principal. He initially asked the staff to express their vision for the school.

"We wanted to bring up test scores and build up the reputation of North Aiken," O'Gorman. "Students deserved to have a great education when they walked out the door."

When he arrived at North Aiken, the school had received two major federal grants with a focus on reading. That gave O'Gorman the opportunity look at best practices, many of them now incorporated into the district's literacy program model.

Everitt took office as superintendent in January 2008 with the associate superintendent's position later becoming vacant.

"I was looking for someone who had successfully led a school to improve student achievement by looking at improving instruction by using data," Everitt said. "Kevin had done all that and had led a lot of professional development with his staff. I was impressed with his leadership and thought he could bring something to the whole county."

The literacy model, O'Gorman said, focuses on immersion in specific strategies to address strong and struggling readers in a variety of ways. Teachers now focus more on small-group and individual instruction to help students with a wide range of abilities.

From the start, O'Gorman was pleased with Everitt's focus on instruction and student achievement. Both have emphasized the need to include special education students along with general education students when making instructional decisions.

"I couldn't be more thankful to Dr. Everitt," O'Gorman said. "I appreciate the guidance and the opportunities she has given me. She taught me a lot."

Aiken Standard: Time to leave NCLB

Agreed!

When the No Child Left Behind act was enacted 10 years ago it was heralded as a program to bring accountability to the country's education system. It set standards and measurement methods designed to reward achievement and punish failure.

But the program has flaws. For one, it ignores differences in favor of a one-size-fits-all method. And, success is all or nothing. If a school passes 16 of 17 objectives, the school fails.

So for a decade, teachers and administrators have been battling these cumbersome mandates. The result, too many schools, especially schools in poorer areas, have turned to teaching what it will take to pass the one-size-fits-all tests. It's even more distressing to know what's happened to many special needs students who are expected to stay on grade level despite their disabilities.

There have been some gains in academic achievement. But teachers are burdened by massive paperwork, and schoolchildren are unreasonably pressured to do well on standardized tests.

To be vindicated in one's lifetime is a supreme joy. Educators -- people who know their profession best -- HAVE been saying these things since 2002, to no avail. After a decade of being ground down, it is comfort -- cold comfort, but comfort -- to hear opinion-makers like newspaper editors finally reach the same conclusions.

When the Obama Administration opened the door for states to opt out of portions of the program, South Carolina Superintendent of Schools Mick Zais wisely raised his hand quickly to take advantage. Zais has made no secret of his abhorrence for federal intervention in public schools. He's turned down millions of dollars in federal money because it came with strings attached.

Tonight, State Department of Education officials will be in Aiken to explain the proposal for the state to opt out of some of the program. A waiver would change the assessment of student performance to a growth model so that increases in student achievement from year to year would become a larger part of the assessment process.

According to its drafted application, South Carolina would pilot its revamped teacher and principal evaluation systems in 2013-14 with schools that volunteer. It would expand statewide in 2014-15.

It includes replacing the all-or-nothing label of making progress with a grade, from A to F. It also adds a carrot to the accountability system: The highest-performing schools and those that show the biggest gains would get rewarded, with $5,000 going to finalists in each category and $10,000 going to the winners.

Out of one deep fryer and into another. If I interpret the Zais proposal correctly, he intends to operate his own little NCLB here in South Carolina using the federal education funding, with letter grades to boot.

At what point do we allow educators to govern education, rather than political ideologues and corporate profiteers?

If South Carolina gets the waiver, it will be up to Zais to make sure the methods used do improve the system are fair and do make a significant difference.

So much for that.