Richland One teachers and staff kick off new school year ahead of students’ 1st day back

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — A brand new school year for students across Richland One is only a week away.

The Back-to-School Convocation serves to energize and excite teachers and staff from across the district as they amp up for a new year.

The event featured performances by the Richland One Employee Choir led by Coordinator for Visual and Performing Arts Walter Graham, the Faculty Jazz Band instructed by Lead Band Director Daryl Byrd, and a solo number from Instructional Assistant Bobby Craft.

Superintendent Dr. Craig Witherspoon spoke to the audience — delivering a positive message around the importance of always showing up for students, starting each new day with gratitude, and reiterated the power of teamwork.

“As the saying goes, ‘Together everyone accomplishes more.’ And the tasks that we have educating our future generations — it takes a collective to do that,” he says.

Joshua Pegram is a 6th grade Science teacher at Southeast Middle School.

“Just like Dr. Witherspoon said, what’s inside comes out. So if you go into the school with a negative mindset, the kids see that, and they feed off of your energy within the classroom. So coming into the classroom with a positive mindset — the kids see it, they’ll love it and they’ll follow suit,” Pegram says.

Witherspoon believes that oftentimes in the lives of a troubled student, the most stability and the most smiles they get– may come from teachers at school.

“We’ve got to look beyond that in terms of the why and what can we do individually and collectively and to make that child’s situation better so that they’re more accepting to learning and working with each other in groups and so forth, so it’s important for us to remember that and know the importance of us showing up with gratitude and being able to make a difference in the lives of the students that we serve,” he says.

Classes for the 22,000 students across Richland One will begin on Thursday, August 8th.