Scotland County Schools holds 2022 convocation

Aug. 26—LAURINBURG — To get ready for the start of the 2022-23 school year, Scotland County's schools staffs gathered in the Scotland High School gym for the 2022 Convocation Service Wednesday morning.

Apple Education Leadership Executive Anthony Johnson delivered the keynote address to excited educators, encouraging them to know their why.

"Had I known how hard life was going to be with just a GED, I would've been a different student," he said. Before Johnson became an Apple executive, he had been a "problem" student, uninterested in doing worksheet and uninspired by the work in his classrooms. Johnson said he was socially promoted, until high school where he was asked to leave.

But after getting married and moving to North Carolina, where he thought he wanted to be a music teacher, he had to do community service at Livingstone College, where he was a student and when he walked into an elementary classroom and saw two students sleeping in the back, it was as if he'd walked back in time.

That's when his why came into focus. he knew he needed to reach students like those boys before they reached high school.

So, he changed his major from music education to elementary education.

"When I told my professors all of the things I was going to do in my classroom, they told me I would be fired by the end of the school year," he said. But with his why in focus, Johnson created a learning environment that taught kids not only life lessons, but their school work as well.

"One of the things I didn't like when I was in school was that teachers would give projects and tell students to give 110 % or 120 % but for only one person to see," he said. "Think about the kids in your school who have TikTok and YouTube channels and Instagram. What are they posting? Content. In my class, all of the work that I assigned to my students was posted online."

Johnson said he had a fourth grader who became a published author, they created a reality show of their class and other unique things.

"My whole why for becoming a teacher was to give students a different experience than I had so that they could become a leadership executive," he said.

Scotland County Superintendent Takeda LeGrand encouraged staff to focus on the word new from now until the last day of school.

"New means something that has never existed before and this is the first time. Today has never existed before and it is a new day. Yes, I'm asking you to focus on the word new until June of 2023, because if we act as a team to take advantage of each new day, we can work together to do great things for our children, our families and our community and each other by focusing on the opportunities ahead," she said her welcome address.

Also at the convocation, the district celebrated the best of the year.

Patrick Peed of Carver Middle School was named Principal of the Year.

Dan Hersey of Spring Hill Middle School was named Teacher of the Year.

Francis Graham of Sycamore Lane Elementary School was named Beginning Teacher of the Year.

Lisa Alford of Scotland High School was named Teacher Assistant of the Year.

Nurse Angela Nabors of South Johnson Elementary School was named Student Support Staff Personell of the Year.

Mattie Parsons of Laurel Hill Elementary School was named Child Nutrition/Cafeteria Staff member of the Year.

Alex McDonald of Laurel Hill Elementary School was named Custodial Staff Member of the Year.

James Bethea of Scotland Early College High School was named Bus Driver of the Year.

So, every project we did, I put it online

Cheris Hodges can be reached at (910) 506-3169 or chodges@laurinburgexchange.com.