Lowcountry Class XII, Fall 2017 | The Riley Institute at Furman

Investing in Islanders

For a number of years enrollment at St. John’s High School on John’s Island has been declining. Students are being lured away by magnet and charter schools and other opportunities, leaving the school at a disadvantage with lower student numbers and funding. In an effort to create opportunities for the current student body and to better compete for potential student enrollment, St. John’s High School embarked on a strategic planning process. To that end, a strategic plan was established with several goals. One goal is to create internship opportunities for St.

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Team 5 Alive

During the first project meeting, team member and pediatrician, Dr. James Simmons shared that he recently lost three patients in a house fire. He questioned the need for smoke alarms in homes. Everyone sympathized with James. Team member and City of Beaufort Fire Chief, Reece Bertholf shared that fire detectors are often in homes but are not working. Reece also shared a safety tip some of us were not aware of and that is sleeping with your bedroom door closed can buy you minutes needed to escape and stay ALIVE.

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Team Get Together

OUTLINE: “Team Get Together” presents the Charleston Privilege Walk as our Capstone Project.

NEEDS ADDRESSED: The goals of this group were to create a piece of art that would live on after project completion, one that would speak directly to concepts learned during the DLI, and one that gives viewers—despite their level of comfort on the subject—a subjective piece that would allow them to internalize the conversation around privilege and show how we are all affected by its existence.

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Leadership Landscape

The Leadership Landscape Speaker Series is a program designed to bring local leaders with diverse backgrounds, and from a variety of different industries, into public elementary, middle and high schools to talk to students about the path to professional success. Many of the speakers identified for this series will share the characteristic of being distinctive in their respective fields due to their gender, racial, or ethnic background.

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Pencil Pushers

Pencil Pushers focused on a sustainability plan for the Teacher’s Supply Closet. The Teacher’s Supply Closet provides free supplies for K-12 Teachers in Charleston, Berkley and Dorchester counties. Over the last ten years, the Teacher Supply Closet has gone from serving teachers working at schools with 100% of students in poverty to now serving schools with 79% poverty index. In the next few years they hope to expand to schools with a 50% poverty index.

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