Thumbs up to keeping kids safe, teacher of the year

Thumbs up to Safe Kids Florence, led by McLeod Health, which received a $30,641 grant awarded by Kohl’s Cares for Kids. The Kohl’s Cares for Kids donation will continue to fund the Third Thursday with Kohl’s program. The program offers free child safety seat checks, as well as 20 free child safety seats to the community on the third Thursday of each month from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Florence Kohl’s parking lot, as well as fund quarterly bicycle rodeos at Kohl’s to teach children wheel safety and provide free helmets to children while supplies last. McLeod Safe Kids received a $25,000 grant from Kohl’s Cares for Kids in November 2008 which initiated the Third Thursday program. Since then, Safe Kids has checked more than 300 seats and provided nearly 300 child safety seats to those in need at the Florence Kohl’s events. “Safe Kids Florence, led by McLeod Health, is honored to once again be the recipient of the Kohl’s Cares for Kids grant. This funding means more growth for our program while enhancing the safety of the children who live in our community,” McLeod Community Education Coordinator Erin Faile said. “Four out of five child safety seats are installed incorrectly. This program allows our trained technicians to decrease this number through education in our area. With this year’s expansion, we will also teach children about the importance of bicycle safety and proper helmet usage. Providing education to children and their caregivers is what will change the habits of our community.” To date, Kohl’s has donated more than $56,000 to McLeod Health. Other McLeod Health programs supported through Kohl’s include the McLeod Children’s Hospital Radiothon and Children’s Miracle Network Celebration Broadcast.

Thumbs up to Johnny Chard, a secondary mathematics teacher at West Florence High School, for being named Florence School District 1’s 2009-2010 Teacher of the Year. The 12-year teaching veteran will represent Florence 1 in the South Carolina Teacher of the Year Program. Local Florence businesses which support the district’s teacher of the year program will award Chard $500. Among them are BB&T, Pinnacle Network Solutions, Segars Realty, Roche Carolina Inc., American Trophy Co., FW Architects Inc., Herbert Smiling, Horace Mann Insurance, Pee Dee Federal Credit Union and Pepsi Cola of Florence. Chard also will receive $1,000 from corporate sponsors established by the state Department of Education. Chard said he thinks that all students are created equal, equally important and equally valuable.
“They each have a unique combination of gifts, abilities and knowledge. I can learn something from each of my students,” he said. “I don’t just teach math, I teach students.”
Chard was named based on a selection committee’s review of his educational history and professional development activities; awards and recognitions; professional biography, including influencing factors, contributions and accomplishments; philosophy of teaching; and a personal interview. Honor roll teachers in this year’s teacher of the year program include Jeannine Franco of South Florence High School, Patricia Hyman of Delmae Heights Elementary School and Carol Holliday Schweitz of Carver Elementary School. Honor roll teachers are those teachers whose applications packets, along with the teacher of the year, received the highest ratings.

For a listing of school teachers of the year, visit http://www.fsd1.org online.