Mrs. Brewer's Class Participate in Special Olympics!

The Area 13 Special Olympics took place Friday, April 25th at Clemson University. This marked the 40th anniversary for the Special Olympics! Seneca High School's TTI athletes were victorious! Danny Hall, Joshua Loser, Paul Hammond, and Shane Quick won 1st place in the 4x100 relay. Danny Hall and Shane Quick along with Carson Lecroy and Jake Edgar won gold in the 4x100 unified relay. Zach McElroy-Burside won first place in the 50m slalom. Jody McAlister won 1st place in the shot put. Heather Connally won first place in the standing long jump and the 50m run. Bruce Steenburg won first place in the softball throw.Mitchel Blackwell won first place in the shot put. Justin Lingerfelt won first place in the softball throw. Gina Davis placed second in the 50m run. Each athlete competed well to bring home a total of 4 gold metals, 11 first place ribbons, 7 second place ribbons, 5 third place ribbons, and 4 4th place ribbons. With the help of the SHS students and staff who volunteered as buddies for the TTI students, the SHS football and softball program for providing uniforms, and the SHS band for providing flags and banners, this year's Special Olympics was unlike no other!

I am so proud of our students!!

Mrs. Brewer's Class Goes Bowling!

Recently, Mrs. Brewer and her TTI class took a trip to the bowling alley! Students and teachers had a great time!

School Board Recognizes Coach Amanda Holder

The Board of Trustees recognized Mrs. Amanda Holder this past Tuesday during its regularly scheduled board meeting. Coach Holder won her 600th basketball game during this year's basketball season. This is quite an accomplishment. Coach Holder received a certificate of accomplishment from Board Chairman, Mr. Harry Mays, and School District of Oconee County Superintendent Dr. Mike Lucas. Congratulations Coach Holder- we appreciate your dedication to Seneca High School and our student athletes.

Principal's Blog featured on PrincipalsPage.com

Seneca High School's Principal's Blog has been featured on PrincipalsPage.com this week. Principals Page is a resource for administrators across the nation. PrincipalsPage was recently featured in the America Association of School Administrator's April issue. I have attached the link if you would like to view http://principalspage.com/pagetwo.htm

HSAP Begins This Week

Students in their 2nd year of high school will be taking the High School Assessment Program test this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Passing the math, reading, and writing portions of the HSAP test are required for students to earn a South Carolina High School Diploma. We encourage students to get plenty of rest and eat breakfast so they can do their very best.
Go Bobcats!

Drama Production A Success

Students in Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Halliwell's drama classes performed "A Night of Mystery" in the Hamilton Auditorium April 17 and 18. Within this drama, students performed two separate acts entitled "Til Death Do Us Part," and "Trouble at the Talent Show." The following students performed in the production: Sam Turner, Rachael Kierecki, Taylor Edens, Ryan Haguewood, Jesse Worley, Jake Wilson, Brianna Hyslop, Mallory Warlick, Will Smith; Jennifer Haferkamp; Nicole Regeness; Katie Simpson, Lauren Moore, Faith Holley, Alanda Parker, Cooper Littlejohn, Stephanie Maxey, Travis Marchbanks, Alexis Gagne, Adaunnis Dodson, Lauren Yuda, Avery Oglesby, Forrest Cox, Darren Fontenot, Tabitha Krabbe, Ashleigh Moman, Andrew Willard, Jacob Bornmann, Lauren Lipscomb, Megan Carter, Victoria Jordan, Charles McMillan, Sam Turner, and Katie Simpson. Congratulations to all of our students for an excellent performance.

Students Complete Service Project

Students in Mrs. Dalton's class have created flower beds around the school. Mrs. Dalton and her students wanted a project to give back to the school. Students and teachers will enjoy the flower beds during the spring months. I would like to thank our students for their contribution to our school.

Board Meeting at Seneca High School

The Board of Trustees held its April Work Session at Seneca High School on Tuesday, April 16th. Emily Holleman, senior at Seneca High School, led the Pledge of Allegiance. Mrs. Edgar-Crain's father, Reverend Edgar, delivered the prayer. We appreciate our school board and their support of the School District of Oconee County.

April Student of the Month: Lauren Marie Kirk

We are proud to announce that Lauren Marie Kirk is Seneca High School's Rotary Student of the Month. Lauren will be acknowledged at the Rotary luncheon Thursday, April 17th. Lauren is a senior this year and is planning to attend Clemson this fall. She was born in California and moved here in 1997. She lives with her Dad, Grandmother and 3 siblings and a dog named Sadie.

While at Seneca, Lauren has been involved with Future Educators Association and Tri-M Honors Music Society. Lauren has also participated in the Choral and Orchestra programs at SHS.


Congratulations Lauren!

Ethiopia Reads

Ms. Kelly Crowe, in collaboration with Mrs. Chrissy Robinson, hosted Seneca High School's first Ethiopia Reads event. On Friday, March 28th, students participated in a read-a-thon in the school's Media Center from 6:00 p.m. until 2:00 a.m. to raise money for books for Ethiopia students. Students (and teachers) enjoyed reading together for this worthy cause. A huge thank you to Ms. Crowe, Mrs. Robinson, Ms. Kelsey Crowe, Mrs. Holleman, Coach Wright and Mrs. Ford for their support.

Bobcat Battalion Drill Team Wins Honors

Congratulations to the Bobcat Battalion drill team! Seneca took 1st place in 4 of 5 events and 1st and 3rd places in the Knockout competition to out-distance Walhalla and West-Oak in the "shootout." Coupled with earlier outstanding performances in this series of round-robin meets, the Bobcat Battalion has claimed the 2007-2008 Oconee County JROTC Drill Championship. The drill team was presented the South Carolina National Guard championship trophy in ceremonies following the competition. It is on display on the counter in the front office. Again, congratulations to our championship drill team and Colonel Huckabee and Sgt. Major Aviles.

Congratulations to SHS Choral Students

The Seneca High School Honors Chorale captured 1st place in the AAA division at the South Carolina Music Educator's Choral Festival in Columbia. They received a superior rating for their outstanding performance and a superior rating on the sight singing portion of the festival.

The Honors Women's Chorus placed 4th and also received superiors on their performance and sight singing. This is the Honors Chorale's eighth state championship in twelve years. I am proud of our students, Mrs. McFarlane, and Mrs. McClain!

Transition To Life Class Opens for Business

Mrs. Brewer's class began selling Fruitful Bars the week before Spring Break. This is a great opportunity for students to order, sell, inventory, and determine the profit they have made. In addition, all of our students have enjoyed the cool treats.

Pep Rally to Honor Spring Sports

On Friday, March 20, 2008, SGA held a pep rally to honor spring athletics. Members of the baseball, softball, boys' golf, boys' tennis, girls and boys' soccer, and track were recognized. Students at Seneca High School spent the week raising money for MS. A check for $1500 was presented to Ms. Sue Lord and Mrs. Kelly Holleman on behalf of the MS Foundation. I am proud of our students!

March Rotary Student of the Month

Congratulations to Vicki Roberts for being named Seneca High School's March Rotary student of the month. Vicki is a sophomore at Seneca High School. She has accelerated in art and plans to continue focusing on Graphic Communications at the Hamilton Career Center. In addition to art, Vicki is a writer and plays the guitar.

Congratulations to Vicki!

Zach Bailey Sings the National Anthem at the Clemson Baseball Game Friday Night

Freshman Zach Bailey had the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at Clemson on Friday night. Zach is a member of the choral program at Seneca High School. He has an amazing voice and did a great job! Congratulations to Zach!

Shea Martin Receives Anatomy in Clay Grant

Mrs. Shea Martin was suprised last week by receiving a $3500 Anatomy in Clay Grant. This grant will be used to support our new Biomedical class at Seneca High School. Mrs. Nancy Allen and Mrs. Laura Hewitt visited Seneca High to announce the winning of the grant to us. Mrs. Martin was one of 7 recipients state-wide to receive this award. Mrs. Allen brought refreshments for Mrs. Martin's class. We are proud of Mrs. Martin! (Mrs. Martin also received a grant through the Education Foundation).

CAT Parent/Student Advisory Day- A Huge Success

On Friday, Seneca High School hosted its 2nd CAT Parent/Student Advisory Day. We had many parents and students meet with their CAT Advisor to discuss course selection for next year and Indvidual Graduation Plans. We thank the Hamilton Career Center and Tri County Technical College for being available to answer questions. We hope that parents found this to be a valuable opportunity. We appreciate your involvement on Friday!

Mock Trial Returns From State Competition

Seneca High students traveled to Columbia this past Friday and Saturday for the state competition. While we have not received our scores, we know our students did well. Congratulations to:

Jenna Lay (doctor)- for winning most effective witness

Hunter Jarrett- for winning best attorney

I will post our results once we receive them.

Seneca High Teachers Visit Ron Clark's Academy

On Wednesday, March 5, 2008, 11 teachers, Mrs. Phillips, and I traveled to Atlanta to see award winning teacher Ron Clark. I first saw Ron speak after he had won the Disney Teacher of the Year award. He was one of the most inspiring, enthusiastic teachers I had ever met. This past summer, I had the opportunity to hear him again at a conference. He shared with the audience that he had opened a school in Atlanta, Georgia. At that time I thought how wonderful it would be for new teachers to observe Ron Clark- see his excitement and learn about his different approach to teaching. In August, I made a reservation for our teachers to attend. We began by reading his book, The Essential 55. This book explains 55 expectations teachers and students should demonstrate in the classroom and in life. We watched several clips of Ron as he appeared on Oprah and on nightly news shows. We all anxiously awaited our March 5th trip. I met the teachers at 5 a.m. yesterday morning at SHS to begin our travels. We arrived at the Ron Clark Academy at 8:00 a.m. for one of the best experiences of our lives. There, in one of the toughest parts of town, is the most amazing school I have ever seen. We spent the day observing teachers and students. We ended our day sliding down the slide in the front lobby- we became "slide certified." People magazine was visiting the school today to do a story....