In mid-December 2012, the Alliance for Young Artist and Writers announced the winners of the regional Art Competition. It was USL’s first time participating in the art side, and thanks to Mrs. Logan for giving the nudge to our students to be the first to enter. University School of the Lowcountry had two students enter two pieces of work into the regional competition, and they both received awards: Sasha Grigorieff (7th grade) – Honorable Mention in Design for “Lucca the Cat” ; Samantha Hull (8th grade) – Honorable Mention in Film & Animation for “Sora the Marshmellow”
Two University School graduates were also award winners: Anita Echlin (class of 2009) – Wando High School – Silver Key award in Painting for “Birds of a Feather”;
Kate Frain (class of 2010) – Wando High School – Honorable Mention in Drawing for “Thanatopsis”
University School of the Lowcountry 8th graders took the PSAT in October 2012 along with sophomores and juniors across the country. As with our results on the Stanford Achievement test that we administer to all of our students every March, our 8th graders excelled on the PSAT and performed superbly in comparison to students several grade levels above them. Their average score on Critical Reading was higher than 74% of all 10th graders and for Writing was higher than 76% of all 10th graders (over half of them performed better than 90% of all 10th graders). Their average cumulative score in Reading, Writing and Math placed them in the 60th percentile of college-bound 11th graders.
On December 5, 2012, the Island Eye News shared University School’s exit polling experience and success, and this included highlighting the polling we did at Sunrise Presbyterian Church on Sullivans Island and at the Isle of Palms Recreation Center (“See You at the Polls “).
YALLFEST is a Young Adult Literature Festival founded and based in Charleston, and the second year of the event was held last Friday and Saturday. USL is friends with Jonathan Sanchez, the owner of Blue Bicycle Books and the driving force behind YALLFEST. We were able to participate in the Middle School Writers’ Symposium associated with it last year and this year. For a full review of the event, please read USL 8th grader Olive Gardner’s article, “Spiderwick Bones, Grimm Creatures, and Endangered Robots convene for YALLFest,” in the City Paper (November 12, 2012) about the experience.
Click here for the results of our 2012 exit polling. Our efforts were featured in a Charleston City Paper article from November 6, 2012 (“Across Charleston County, students run a serious exit poll”), and they also spotlighted our predictions. Head of School Jason Kreutner appeared on The Post and Courier’s Election Night video updates with reporter Warren Peper to discuss USL’s exit polling program.
The Post and Courier noted University School’s participation in the United Way’s Day of Caring in an article on September 8, 2012 (“Thousands turn out for Day of Caring projects“). Here is a picture of some USL students interacting with residents of Carter-May Assisted Living Home, and here is a posting from the International Primate Protection League about USL’s projects there (and our 3rd year in a row helping IPPL).
On August 14, 2012, University School was recognized as one of 34 organizations that are Partners in Prevention of Darkness to Light — a national leader in child sexual abuse prevention. “This group of organizations are most certainly on the leading edge of making our community safer,” said Jolie Logan, chief executive officer of Darkness to Light, in an article from the Post and Courier (“D2L recognizes 34 groups for efforts to end sex abuse”).
Seven University School 7th graders receive state recognition on the Duke TIP SAT for 2011-2012. Over 40% of USL students have received this honor in our history. Congratulations to Anne Adragna, Sophie Bello, Olive Gardner, Allison Horan, Clayton Johnson, India Manigault, and Jeanne-Marie Martin. The Island Eye News spotlighted one our students, Allison Horan, for this achievement.
University School had eight state winners in the 2011-2012 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition and one national winner! Congratulations to USL Writing instructor Jackie Scarafile, to 8th grader Sarah Hand for her national recognition, and to the following students for state recognition:
Silver Key Winners
India Manigault – Silver Key in Flash Fiction for “Life on Earth”
Allison Horan – Silver Key in in Science Fiction/Fantasy for “Will of a Wolf”
Lily Frain – Silver Key in Short Story for “The Death of Rose”
Sophie Bello – Silver Keys in both Humor (“Welcome to Their Humble Abode: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Retold”) and Flash Fiction (“Autobiography of a Baseball Bat”)
Gold Key Winners
Sarah Hand: Gold Key in Short Story for “Tracked”
Carter Falk: Gold Key in Dramatic Script for “Guardian”
Kate Fairchild: Gold Key in Flash Fiction for “Washed by the Sea”
On February 8, 2012, The Moultrie News provided a recap of our explorations in politics and elections this year in an article (“University School students study politics in action”).
University School students who explored journalism careers through the Job Shadow program had pieces published in their respective newspapers: The Post and Courier (February 6, 2012) and the Charleston City Paper (January 18, 2012).
While covering Ron Paul’s speech at C of C on January 19, 2012, Channel 4 spotlighted University School’s special LOTC to spread out across the Lowcountry in groups, and each student visited campaign events for two of the following four candidates: Gingrich, Paul, Romney, and Santorum.
The Post and Courier discussed the status of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream with four University School students in an article (“Keeping the Dream Alive”) on January 12, 2012.
In an article about a competition for East Cooper middle schools to use CARTA, William Hamilton of the Moultrie News noted the strong support University School has given to public transportation in the area. This includes using the new #401 route for local field trips and making a short video about one of our trips. You can find the story (“Mount Pleasant middle schools compete in CARTA bus bowl“) in the January 4, 2012 issue.
USL teacher Bucky Buchanan was featured in the Post and Courier on January 2, 2012, and Lowcountry Parent’s January issue in an article on communicating with parents (“Holding Class: Local teachers seek improved communication with parents “).
