August 5, 2025 • 32 mins
What does it truly take to build a premier school district? Superintendent Anita Huggins reveals the transformation underway at Charleston County School District with remarkable candor and vision that extends far beyond typical education rhetoric.
After nearly three decades serving Charleston's students—first as a middle school English teacher, then through various leadership roles—Huggins brings a uniquely grounded perspective to her superintendency. Her "power of one degree" philosophy isn't just administrative jargon; it's yielding tangible results with remarkable academic gains across grades 3-8, a projected 90% graduation rate, and 85% college and career readiness metrics.
Most compelling is Huggins' recognition that schools alone cannot solve educational challenges. Through the innovative LOCAL initiative (Linking Opportunities to Classroom And Learners), she's systematically connecting businesses, faith groups, and community organizations directly to schools with specific needs. This ecosystem approach has already eliminated lunch debt, provided crucial supplies, created internships, and established mentorship programs—proving that collective community investment yields powerful outcomes.
The conversation reveals surprising innovations within CCSD: a student cabinet providing direct feedback on issues like budgets and dress codes; universal pre-K collaborations with private providers; employee childcare centers addressing teacher retention; and Centers for Advanced Studies experiencing 50% enrollment growth as students pursue industry certifications. Perhaps most impressive, Charleston has achieved what many districts can't—starting the school year with certified teachers in every classroom, two years running.
Ready to help shape Charleston's educational future? Visit the LOCAL website to explore partnership opportunities or connect directly with Superintendent Huggins. As she powerfully states, "Public education is a moral imperative"—and Charleston County is demonstrating how a community-wide commitment to excellence can transform that imperative into reality.
Mount Pleasant Chamber's 15th Annual Business and Community Expo
Venue
Omar Shrine Convention Center
Address
176 Patriots Point Road
Mount Pleasant, SC 29464, US
Starts
Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, 11:00 a.m. EDT
Ends
Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, 5:00 p.m. EDT
Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Studio Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions
Production Sponsor: RMBO.co
Design Sponsor: DK Design
Committee:
Kathleen Herrmann | Host | MPCC Immediate Past President | Mount Pleasant Towne Centre
Mike Compton | Co-host | Marketing Chair | RMBO.co
Rebecca Imholz | Co-host | MPCC Executive Director
Amanda Bunting Comen | Co-host | Social ABCs
Ben Nesvold | Co-host | In-coming President | Edward Jones
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi everybody.
I'm Rebecca Emols.
I'm the Executive Director ofthe Mount Pleasant Chamber of
Commerce, so excited today to bea co-host along with Mike
Thompson.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hello folks.
Yes, of course, rumbleAdvertising here and your
co-host.
We are super geeked out rightnow because we have somebody we
say special all the time, butsuper, super special this time.
Sorry, mayor, we always sayyou're a special too, but this
one is quite special.
We've got Anita Huggins in thehouse, our superintendent of the
Charleston School District.
Say hello, anita.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
It's great to be here .
Thanks for having me.
I'm not sure how special I amspecifically in comparison to
the mayor, but I appreciatethose kind of words Of course,
of course, everybody's special,everybody's special, everybody's
special special that comes onthe show.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
But, anita, you're kind of on top of the list right
now.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Anita, where are you coming from?
Are you from?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
here, I'm from off.
I'm from off, but not too faroff.
Okay, it's so cute how you saythat Okay, I'm sorry, you're
from off.
I've never heard it like thatbefore.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Just up the road a piece.
I grew up outside of Loras,south Carolina, in Horry County.
I went to Green Sea Floyd'sHigh School where I was raised
in the middle of a field and Ihad a younger sister and we grew
up there and we're really happyto be raised in that
environment.
(01:16):
We learned lots of things abouthard work and dedication and
commitment and the value of apublic education.
Two really great parents whovalued education made sure we
were in school every day, nevermissed a day of school K-12.
Yes, my mother did make me gosick.
She did dose me up rightregularly.
She was a teacher and gotmarried and moved here to
(01:36):
Charleston and we've made thisour home.
We've raised our three childrenhere and in the public schools
here in Charleston.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
When did you move here and what was your first job
?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So we've been here almost 30 years.
My first job was an Englishteacher over at Fort Johnson
Middle School on James Island.
I was really excited thatsomeone in Charleston, south
Carolina, would hire a countrygirl from Loras, south Carolina,
to teach in the city quoteunquote and I fell in love with
(02:07):
middle school there.
I always thought I'd teach highschool advanced placement
English, even with this accent,but nonetheless my first job
offer was in a middle school andI absolutely loved it and from
there I began working withteachers, mentoring teachers,
and somehow here I am today.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
My mother was retired public school, middle school
teacher seventh grade algebra.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I know it takes a special person.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
It does In middle school.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
It's a challenging year for those kids.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
You either love middle school or you really
don't.
I used to tell parents don'tworry, you'll eventually get
your kids back, they will comeback to you.
But middle school is such aspecial time and I fell in love
with the middle school age childand that's really helped me
raise my own three childrenthrough those middle school
years.
They can be quite challenging,as you know.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, and your kids went through the school system,
I'm assuming.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
They did All three of them and they go to school.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Where are they now?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yes, so our oldest all three of our children
started at Bell Hall Elementaryin Mount Pleasant.
We were zoned for that school.
And our oldest daughter now isat Clemson.
She's a rally cat.
She'll be a junior next year.
That means she's a dancer.
She danced her whole life.
And then our middle son, asher,just graduated from Lucy
(03:19):
Beckham.
He'll go to the University ofVirginia in the fall, which
means I'll be working Until I'm135 somewhere.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Same.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
He's a wahoo.
He's going to be a who For sureI'm a hokey.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
We have no idea what wahoos are or hokeys are, but go
ahead.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I hear there's a formidable Bit of a rivalry, a
bit of a rivalry there In theUSC Sort of Sort of.
Absolutely.
And then I have a risingsophomore also at Lucy Beckham
for the coming year.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
So all three of them have gone through the Charleston
County Public.
Schools Rising sophomore.
I'm not ready for that.
My boys are nine, going intofourth grade.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
You'll be fine, You'll make it Again.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
You're going to go to middle school and then you'll
be like, oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
High school no problem, no problem whatsoever.
It's going to be great.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Mike Talk to you about the power of one degree,
and what does that mean to you?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
So our theme for this year really is around taking
the system to the next level.
I believe firmly thatCharleston County School
District can be a premierdistrict it really already is
but when we look nationally, Ithink it can be at the top of
the list and I think the publicIs going to be really proud Of
(04:27):
the results that we share withthem when they're released in
the fall by the state.
We've shown significantincreases across the board
Grades 3-8 in reading and math.
We've seen increases in Algebra1, us History and English2.
Our graduation rate Is going tobe right at 90%.
Our college and careerreadiness rate will be around 85
(04:48):
percent.
Again, we'll share all thegreat work going on in our
classrooms.
When the state formally tellsus that we can, so that we
believe, to take the system tothe next level, it's going to
take a little bit of extraeffort from everyone, including
me.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Well, congratulations on that.
I know that's been part of yourvision for 2027, the three
pillars of those areas that youjust discussed.
I also had read when you did aninterview not only being
college and career ready, butbeing ready as citizens
Absolutely Can you talk aboutthat I'm happy to.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Our goal really pre-K through 12 is to get kids ready
for whatever they want to dowhen they leave our system,
which includes being productivecitizens being able to
collaborate and communicate andthink critically about the world
.
If we've not done that, we'venot readied our youngsters to be
productive with great peoplelike you right now.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
So I love that that you talked about being able to
communicate and collaborate,because I do think that COVID
had such a negative impact insome of those formative years
for our students and I think now, as you know, this is building
business.
That's our podcast.
So, as people who are leadersin the business and the
community, we recognize so muchthe importance of having our
(06:06):
youth be able to have thosestrong communication skills.
But all of that helps providethat those foundations literacy
and algebra readiness and, asyou talked about, some of the
career and college readinessthat's so important so that they
can communicate with others andbe successful with whatever
they want to do.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Absolutely, our goal is to make sure kids can read
and write and they can add.
But at the end of the day, weoften talk about it not
necessarily mattering the levelof your intellect if you can't
communicate things to others andwork with others to produce
outcomes and solutions forproblems that plague whatever
(06:48):
system you're in.
So that communication piece iscritically, critically important
to people being able to besuccessful.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Talk about the student cabinet.
That was an exciting thing Iheard about.
I would probably not have beena part of that, but I want to
have my kids be a part of that.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Well, you know, I'm sure your kids could be eligible
for that.
Mike, student voice and studentagency is critically important
in our system If you think aboutwho our primary stakeholders
are.
In fact, they are our kids.
They are our kids nearly 51,000of them and so we brought in,
for the first time in a reallylong time, a student cabinet
(07:23):
this year that consisted of twomiddle and high schoolers from
across the district, and theycame in once a month and sat
down with me and we talked aboutmatters relative to the
district of which we thoughtthey would have particular
interest.
And it would really surprisethe listening public, the
viewing public and you to knowthat they ask us questions about
(07:45):
things like the budget.
They wanted to know about thebudget, so we created Monopoly
money with my face and the CFO'sface on it and widely
distributed it to them, and wedid a couple of exercises with
them.
But they have given us input onthings like dress code, cell
phones.
Things really are important tothem and when you listen to your
most valuable commodity, whichhappens to be our students, it
(08:08):
really helps you formulatesystems that serve the system
best.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
So we have with school improvement councils, we
have student representatives.
I love the fact that you'veelevated them to the district
level, so to speak.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Absolutely.
It's really important for me tohear from all stakeholder
groups and to me they really areforgive me board they really
are the most important.
We hear from parents, we hearfrom pastors, we hear from
business folks, we hear from thechamber, and all of you are all
.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
The adults are really important, but the kids are
most important, but you do bringin that transparent
communication with the public.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Absolutely.
That is critically important tome as a superintendent.
This is my community.
I've lived here for nearlythree decades.
My kids have gone to schoolhere.
I've really grown up in theschool system myself, as a
teacher, as a principal, all thethings relative to education.
And one thing, after nearlythree decades in the system,
(09:08):
that I know has plagued thesystem through no one's fault is
a lack of communication ortransparency Again, not
intentionally for people toreally understand what's
happening, why it's happeningand how they can work with us to
make it better in cases wherethey might not understand.
(09:31):
So we've done a lot ofdifferent things and Michelle
Mills, our executive associateof communications, has helped
with that through social media,through regular communications,
through opportunities like this.
So thank you again for havingme.
I hope your ratings don't godown.
They're going up.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I'm just saying I hope your ratings don't go down.
They're going up.
I'm just saying They'll be up.
They go down from here.
Rebecca, what do you got?
Speaker 1 (09:52):
So I want to talk about the importance of local.
Oh, that's great.
So let's talk about local, sure.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
So local is an initiative we've launched in the
last six months linkingopportunities to classroom and
learners, and it really is a wayto build an ecosystem of
support for kids.
Okay, just very bluntly andhonestly again, in a commitment
to transparent communication, ifthe school district could have
done the work itself inelevating the achievement of all
(10:23):
of its kids and I mean all ofits kids, special education
students, children who speakEnglish as a second language,
pupils in poverty, we would havedone it decades ago.
No educator ever gets intoeducation and says I want kids
to leave still not reading,right.
So we've recognized that it'sgoing to take people outside of
the system to help make thesystem better.
(10:44):
And local is the opportunity forbusinesses, sororities, church,
faith-based groups, smallgroups of whatever means to come
together and say, hey, here'swhat we're good at and here's
how we can help.
So we've had all sorts ofbusinesses who've come to us
churches again faith, our faithbased partners and said here's
(11:07):
what we can do.
We're this small or we're thislarge, and where can you utilize
this best?
And each school has a profileand they've told us what two or
three things they think theyneed for students, parents and
their teachers and we've triedto be very strategic in how
we've plugged in support systemsto help schools and it's really
(11:29):
been quite remarkable.
We've been able to open upopportunities for kids to have
internships and work-basedexperiences, and some of our
partners with the chamber havedone that We've been able to
eradicate school lunch debt insome instances We've been able
to provide school supplies andother things.
We've been able to providementorships for teachers through
this partnership.
(11:50):
But we're always looking togrow it because we still need
more.
We still need more.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
So how can the viewer , listener learn more about it?
How can they get immediatelyplugged in?
Speaker 3 (11:59):
So we have a website?
That's a great question.
I'm dedicated solely to local,where we have listed each of the
school's profile sheets andbusinesses can see that.
There's also a way to email usdirectly, but the public always
has full access to me.
I'm a little crazy and starteda Facebook page recently which
has been quite rewarding to meas a human.
(12:22):
But they can always email medirectly.
I'm happy to respond.
It may be an early morningemail, but I'll get back to
folks.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
And so as a chamber, we have also made the commitment
to local in a variety of ways.
We are having our 15th AnnualBusiness and Community Expo
September 18th Awesome and thisyear we added a component a job
recruitment opportunity.
So CCSD is participating inthat.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
So those of you out there, I highly recommend you
check it out.
Charleston County SchoolDistrict will be there.
They can talk all about the jobopenings available.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Yeah, we're really excited about that.
Actually, just yesterday, weput together 285 backpacks of
school supplies.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
That is amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
We have wonderful, generous members in our chamber
and we delivered those to StJames Santee.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Oh, that's fantastic.
I know Principal McMillan willbe so excited about that.
In fact, I may have an emailfrom her right now with
excitement.
That's just wonderful.
And again, that's evidence of acommunity that really wants to
wrap around its children,recognizing that public
education really is the key tomaking communities the best they
can be.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
I'm sorry you talked about internships.
So throughout the district, notjust in East Cooper, there's
Center for Advanced Studies.
That's another opportunity forkids to become career ready.
Absolutely, and the businesscommunity.
If they haven't known aboutthat, what are the Center for
Advanced Studies?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
The Centers for Advanced Studies are premier
centers in West Ashley, in NorthCharleston and here in Mount
Pleasant.
That offers children, students,the opportunity to complete
pathways in whatever area ofcollege and career readiness
that interests them.
We have, I think, over 700certifications that students can
leave those centers with readyfor the world of work, and we're
(14:04):
constantly.
In fact we met on this.
Just yesterday I met with RichGordon, who's our executive
director of our CTE programs,and he and I talked about how
those programs need to be everchanging.
I talked about how thoseprograms need to be
ever-changing, dependent uponthe community that we live in
response to that and the worldtoday and the world at large, so
we're really excited this.
(14:27):
Rich might be upset with me, butwe believe our enrollment will
increase by 50% next year inthese centers.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
It really is remarkable.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Michelle's working on that with us right now but,
it's a testament to ourdedication to getting kids again
ready.
Not everybody wants to go tocollege, and that's okay.
We want them ready to dowhatever they want to do to be
successful.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Thank you for bringing that up, Rebecca.
The CAS program is really,really cool.
It's got my interest as well,as far as I'm a film producer so
a.
Tv producer adds that type ofthing.
I own an advertising agency butmy part is the production side
of things Sure sure, and so I'vebeen talking with Justin and
Jeff over there at CAS Wando.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Oh good.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
And I'm going to raise my hand.
I'm going to become asubstitute teacher.
Oh, that's fantastic, Molly,yeah yeah, and we have somebody
in common too.
I was going to save this forthe end, but let me just tell
you a little guess who this is.
He's very grumpy, but he's thesweetest man you'll ever meet.
He'll do anything for you.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
But he's an ex-referee.
He's an ex-vice president ofWando, anything.
I know there's a lot of viceprincipals out there, vice
principals of Wando.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
It's coming to me.
A little grumpy Starts with an.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
S.
He's my direct neighbor.
He won't let me mow the lawn onthe weekends Because of Clemson
games.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Well then, he is really grumpy.
Oh my gosh.
Now how do I not know?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
this I'm old.
His wife's name is Val.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
How do I not know?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
this Steve Leggett.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Steve, when you said X, that's because I thought
Maybe he wasn't in the systemanymore.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
He's still in the system.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
And Steve is just wonderful and he's great and I'm
sorry, he's your neighbor.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
You're grumpy grumpy, grumpy Steve.
In fact, I just saw Steve twodays ago.
He's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yes, yes, but he's a big proponent of getting me into
the system.
Absolutely Well, I'd beinterested in talking to you
more about that.
Oh well, I consider this myinterview.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Well then, get the rubric out, Michelle.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
You're hired.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
There you go, yes.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
But again, we need folks like you who can pour into
our kids in different ways andget them ready.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
We were talking with Justin and Jeff over there to
maybe even edit these podcaststhat we're recording right now
we're a nonprofit.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
That would be fantastic.
Little things like that thatcould give the students some
real life experiences.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Real life experiences Maybe use membership spotlights
with that type of thing.
We're talking about all thatstuff.
And then North Charleston Highas well.
Let's talk about that.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Right, the North area would be just fantastic to plug
in.
They have that media centerover there.
The kids have, in fact,principal Brown.
They've actually produced afilm that we showed several
months ago to our principals.
A lot of things going on, so weneed to talk more about that,
mike.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Yes, ma'am For sure, no problem Not going anywhere.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Okay, steve Leggett, we are excited you're listening.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I'm just saying and I also want to bring up we've
talked a lot about the kidsbeing college and career ready.
As a mother, I know howimportant it is for, when
they're little, to get themready their early childhood
component.
What is the school districtdoing for those little
four-year-olds?
Speaker 3 (17:32):
That is a great, great question, Rebecca.
Early readiness public isreally key to the future success
.
We know that not all parentshave that ability or that means,
and so we're here to help.
We offer as much pre-K in ourschools right now as we have the
means to do.
Ideally, pre-K would beuniversal.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
I would love that.
Oh, my gosh as would I.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
So if the governor's listening, we would love that
here in Charleston, it would befantastic.
But in the interim I'll tellyou what we've done in just the
last year.
And we started here in MountPleasant because of the number
of private preschool providersand the number of students on
the waiting list for pre-K herein Mount Pleasant.
And we've expanded that now toworking with all of our private
(18:18):
preschool providers inCharleston County to provide
education to them, to providecollaboration for them, to
provide site visits to and forthem.
So, for example, I think one oftheir recent visits was out to
Laurel Hill Primary so theycould see what was happening in
that space.
Because until we have enoughmoney and resources and space
(18:41):
For universal pre-K, we have toget out into the community, into
that ecosystem, work with our.
It really is not a competition,this is about kids.
So we have to work with ourprivate preschool providers To
make sure that together we arereadying kids for kindergarten,
which we're excited about.
So we have to work with ourprivate preschool providers to
make sure that together we arereadying kids for kindergarten,
which you know we're excitedabout thousands of kids on
(19:02):
August the 12th joining us forkindergarten.
So we're doing our best,rebecca, to get kids ready.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
I love that.
Everything from early childhoodto college, career readiness,
building citizens for the future.
I mean that is why the schooldistrict is a Charleston
original.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Right, that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
And I have been.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
I've lived here 30 years.
I'm just so excited to seewhere the school district is now
.
I'm really excited and lookingforward to see where it's going.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Well, that's very kind of you.
We've got a great team ofpeople.
We have premier teachers in thedistrict.
They really my job doesn'treally matter, and I want the
public to really know that I'mgenuine.
I mean, I I'm honored to servein this season.
I'm I'm humbled by theopportunity to serve in this
season.
I love the work, but at the endof the day, it's the teachers
(19:50):
in the classrooms across theschool district, in
collaboration with the parentsat home, that make the biggest
difference for kids, and I wantthem to know that I value them
as one of them.
I'll always be an educator.
My mother was an educator.
I tried to not be an educator,but I couldn't get it out of my
blood.
Um, they are doing the realwork that really makes this a
premier system, along with theprincipals and the leadership of
(20:12):
their schools yeah, youmentioned laurel hill.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Jason simms over there does a great job.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
He has a podcast too, by the way, does he?
Yes, he does you know, know,he's an author, he's all things.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
He's an angel.
I'm not sure how angelic he is.
Well, they did a lot for us.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Well, the last time I saw him, his halo was tilting a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
It might be a little tilted, but in my eyes the man's
an angel.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Jason Sims is just wonderful.
I think he taught kindergartenfor 17 years.
He's a tremendous leader inthis district and there are lots
of folks just like him, buthe's doing a great job.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Now we're up to Tiffany Henderson.
We're going up the ladder here.
Yeah, she's fantastic too.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Her mother, jean Sawicki, was a colleague of mine
.
You might remember, jean, shewas the principal of Moultrie at
one time.
She was excellent.
Tiffany has that in her bloodas well.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
I've always loved that school.
Yes, it's wonderful.
They love the whole four housething.
I still don't know the names.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
No, it's the Ron Clark system.
I do Scary for you.
I've been around a little bit.
It's the Is it.
Bindi?
I was about to say is it Bindi?
There are four different houses, yeah, Green red.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
it's midday, my mind is just bad about midday.
But my point is they love thepoint system, they love the
competition, they love thedifferent events that they had
surrounding that and the wholeHarry Potter type of house thing
is really cool.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
It's built on that Ron Clark, that Harry Potter
thing, and we have premierschools here east of the Cooper
and our goal is to make surethat all of our neighborhood
schools, whether they're here ineast cooper, out in ravenel, up
in north charleston, areschools where all parents want
to send their kids um, so thatkids leave again ready for
whatever's next, even if that'smiddle school or college at usc
(21:54):
there you go, go tigers do wehave?
Speaker 1 (21:56):
do we have time to talk about the education
foundation?
Absolutely those who are yes Iwant to help, but I simply.
You know my day goes by quickly.
Where can they send money?
Speaker 3 (22:06):
I am so glad you asked, rebecca.
We are excited that we justlaunched, or we just announced
the launch of the EducationFoundation, which is a 501c3.
It will have its own governingboard and all the things
associated with foundationswhereby businesses and
philanthropic partners can giveto support creative
(22:28):
outside-of-the-box thinkingabout how we do business.
You may have seen last year,for example, that we piloted an
attendance incentive program.
Some people were for it, somepeople were against it.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
That's the weighted student.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Well, it's a little different than the weighted to
student funding, but it waswhere we actually provided
compensation okay to to to kidsand families that were present
in school every day, and youwould be amazed at the
tremendous results that wegarnered through that.
But it's the.
This foundation would allow us,when the gof won't necessarily
support certain things we wantto do, to have funding to do so
(23:04):
without raising taxesnecessarily, and so we're
thrilled at the opportunity.
We've hired an excellent,highly regarded new director,
patrick Arnold, to manage it andwe're scheduled in September to
take some policies to our board.
Talk about it in the public andwe're thrilled.
The Chamber's excited about it.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Oh, yes, very much so .
I love that.
I like the creativity andthinking outside the box to
address problems with creativesolutions.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Well, you're kind.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Well, we, as a community, we know how important
a thriving, productive schooldistrict is to our quality of
life, frankly, and it all goestogether.
So that's what we want to do asa chamber we want to connect
our businesses, our resourcesout there to you all, because it
all works together well itreally does in partnership and
(23:51):
they're all of our children andum they are all our children.
They really don't have childrenanymore.
I still have that with thewanda band and I want yes, I do,
they're all my kids.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
They really are In my neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
They're my kids.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
It's really a moral imperative, it really public
education is just a moralimperative and if we're going to
be premier here in Charleston,the public school system has to
reflect the excellence that thepublic demands.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yep, yep, kind of in closing.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Is it already time to wrap up we?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
don't have to.
I mean it's 20 to 1.
I mean we have a good time here.
Yeah, we can just keep talking.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Well, look at Michelle, do we need to go?
No, I can get to my nextdestination really quickly.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
You were saying that I know, I know.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Well, we won't discuss that.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Buzzwords Leadership is an honor, leading with
humility, amplifying studentagency those are more than just
buzzwords to you, right To me,but I love them.
They're great, they're greatsounding, but you put them in
practice.
So what are your priorities assuperintendent moving forward
this year?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Like what are your top?
That's a great question.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
With those buzzwords in mind.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
So, with those buzzwords in mind, we have a lot
of those in education, yeah,but in my heart, leadership
matters.
It matters and it starts withme.
It starts with me and it'simportant for me to lead by
example, and I'm far fromperfect, but I believe in kids
and I want this system toreflect that heart for kids.
(25:16):
But our primary goals this yearare really going to be focused
on high quality instruction,making sure we're giving
teachers the tools in theclassroom that they need to be
successful and that they'rereally challenging students,
regardless of how those studentsarrived at their classroom door
, to be the best they can be.
Second, we really want to be astudent-centered, evidence-based
(25:39):
system where we're using datain real time to make quick
course adjustments when we seethat kids aren't getting it.
So it's like that old CharlieBrown cartoon where you know
Lucy holds the ball and CharlieBrown gets really confused and
Lucy tricks him into believingthat she's going to hold it and
he's going to kick it.
It keeps falling right.
(25:59):
Because she always does the samething.
If we know something's notgoing to work, we need to change
it, and that's whatstudent-focused, evidence-based
decision-making.
And really, lastly, we'refocused on building community
professional learningcommunities with our educators
that really focus on action andkids, not necessarily adult
issues.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
You know lots of adult issues creep into business
.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
They creep in sometimes to churches.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Adult issues creep in everywhere.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
School boards, indeed , and they creep into schools
too.
My job is to make sure that thework stays focused on kids.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yes, love that.
And then another hard questionhere AI Absolutely yeah, Love
that.
And then another hard questionhere AI Absolutely, absolutely.
What are we doing to benefitour children and what are we
doing to safeguard our children?
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Well, it's not going anywhere.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
It's not going anywhere.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
So you know, we have some folks who say we need to
block it and some folks say weneed to open it all up.
I think the answer is reallysomewhere in the middle.
We need to open it all up?
I think the answer is reallysomewhere in the middle.
We have to teach kids how touse AI resourcefully,
respectfully and to betterthemselves, and that's what
we're doing.
We currently have a groupdedicated solely to that.
They're looking at bestpractices across the nation and
(27:17):
developing systems.
For that we plan to engage withour student.
That's one of the first topicson our student cabinet for the
fall, and so we're not banningAI, but we are trying to teach
kids how to use it responsibly,as we did with everything else
along the way that wasintroduced.
That's right, you know, back towhen we were kids way back when
, in the Stone Ages right, wehad to learn how to use
(27:39):
computers and the Internet.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Typing typewriters, social media all things.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
So really it's incumbent upon us to get kids
ready, because colleges aren'tbanning AI.
They have systems around it andhonor codes around it, but
they're trying to teach theircollege students how to
responsibly use it, and that'sreally important for us.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I love that you have a committee.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
We do.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Of pros looking into dedicated to that.
I think every institution needsone, it's very forward thinking
Well, we try.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Last week we had our Charleston Educator Symposium it
was really the kickoff to our25-26 school year and we had
several sessions dedicated to AIwhere we listened to feedback
and we provided systems andguidelines and sort of
guardrails around how we'removing forward.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Love it.
Good answer.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
I did the best I could, Mike.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
This is your interview now I don't normally
take over interviews but, okay.
Real quick recruitment-wiselike myself, people like
professionals that want to haveanother career.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
There's a CTE program that's out there, because I
don't have a teachingcertificate right.
So, there's other programs outthere that we could.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Mike, we're going to never stop this interview.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
This is fantastic, so I want the public to know that
all of our classrooms are fullwe never do that in Charleston
but it, so I want the public toknow that all of our classrooms
are full.
We never do that in Charleston,but it's the second year we've
done it in a row.
When you say that, what doesthat mean?
Speaker 3 (29:04):
That means everybody has a certified teacher in the
classroom.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
So that blew my mind Because I thought that was an
assuming thing.
But it's not.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
There's a national teacher shortage and up until
the last two years We've neverstarted the school year With all
of our classrooms filled andthey're filled.
Part of that's due, I think,part of it due to our pay raises
for teachers which we startteachers now at $65,000.
We've also tried to improve thequality of work.
We offer employee daycare,Jason Sims.
(29:33):
In fact we've expanded to MountPleasant this year.
It's already in NorthCharleston, West Ashley.
That's wonderful.
Yes, I did not know that we InNorth Charleston West Ashley,
that's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Yes, I did not know that we have employee daycare.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
How brilliant is that we are expanding Every year To
a different area.
But, mike, we also have Our.
We have the most Grow your ownEducator programs Of any
district In South Carolina.
So we have a Teach Charlestonprogram.
Yep, heard about that, we're bypeople like you who are
professionals.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Right, smarter than me, I got a 2.3 and a 2.75 to
get into that.
Stop telling all your secretson the air.
My goodness, don't be tellingall that.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
But you.
There's an alternate routecertification whereby you can
attain certification.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
PACE program.
Yep CTE program.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
But Teach Charleston is our homegrown sort of PACE,
which was the state's and stillis the state's and still is the
state's alternative route.
So we have lots of differentroutes.
If you're interested, if youlove kids, you want to do the
right thing by kids and you wantto be part of a premier system,
let us know that interest andwe can help get you connected
(30:34):
All right.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
That's wonderful, Including you.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Mike.
Hey all right, I'm in.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Even with a 2, would you say it was a two, three,
something like two, five, likethat a little bit.
You do also have volunteerprograms going out there, don't
you?
Um, with the school districtlike this one coming up this
Saturday for serving theunhoused and underserved event.
That's really cool, that youguys keep doing that type of
stuff for the community.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
We do.
We have a homeless populationthat impacts hundreds of
children in the CharlestonCounty School District, and so
Saturday's event is one outreachwhere we really try to give
back.
We realize that we're blessed.
Many of us are very, veryblessed, and so, again, it's
somewhat of our moral obligationto give back and to help
(31:15):
wraparound families that need itthe most so they can be the
best for their kids, becausenobody ever had a kid and said
said, I don't want to serve them.
Well, like that's really notyeah in our dna.
We want to do the right thing.
Everybody's just not alwaysable.
So we're here to provide helpas we can love it.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
You're doing the right thing.
We're trying to appreciate you,absolutely appreciate you.
Go back to work, thoughactually I do need to go back to
work I do need to go back towork.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
I've got a lot of things to do.
I think I've got 49 emailssitting here.
I'm just saying.
But it's great to see you.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Thank you for being on the show.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Thank you too, rebecca.
Thank you, it was a wonderfulconversation.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
I appreciate you having me I really do and I
appreciate your commitment toour kids.
It's going to take all of ustogether and I hope those
listening today will reallyembrace that.
Hi everybody.
I'm Rebecca Emols.
I'm the Executive Director ofthe Mount Pleasant Chamber of
Commerce, so excited today to bea co-host along with Mike
Thompson.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hello folks.
Yes, of course, rumbleAdvertising here and your
co-host.
We are super geeked out rightnow because we have somebody we
say special all the time, butsuper, super special this time.
Sorry, mayor, we always sayyou're a special too, but this
one is quite special.
We've got Anita Huggins in thehouse, our superintendent of the
Charleston School District.
Say hello, anita.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
It's great to be here .
Thanks for having me.
I'm not sure how special I amspecifically in comparison to
the mayor, but I appreciatethose kind of words Of course,
of course, everybody's special,everybody's special, everybody's
special special that comes onthe show.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
But, anita, you're kind of on top of the list right
now.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Anita, where are you coming from?
Are you from?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
here, I'm from off.
I'm from off, but not too faroff.
Okay, it's so cute how you saythat Okay, I'm sorry, you're
from off.
I've never heard it like thatbefore.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Just up the road a piece.
I grew up outside of Loras,south Carolina, in Horry County.
I went to Green Sea Floyd'sHigh School where I was raised
in the middle of a field and Ihad a younger sister and we grew
up there and we're really happyto be raised in that
environment.
(01:16):
We learned lots of things abouthard work and dedication and
commitment and the value of apublic education.
Two really great parents whovalued education made sure we
were in school every day, nevermissed a day of school K-12.
Yes, my mother did make me gosick.
She did dose me up rightregularly.
She was a teacher and gotmarried and moved here to
(01:36):
Charleston and we've made thisour home.
We've raised our three childrenhere and in the public schools
here in Charleston.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
When did you move here and what was your first job
?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So we've been here almost 30 years.
My first job was an Englishteacher over at Fort Johnson
Middle School on James Island.
I was really excited thatsomeone in Charleston, south
Carolina, would hire a countrygirl from Loras, south Carolina,
to teach in the city quoteunquote and I fell in love with
(02:07):
middle school there.
I always thought I'd teach highschool advanced placement
English, even with this accent,but nonetheless my first job
offer was in a middle school andI absolutely loved it and from
there I began working withteachers, mentoring teachers,
and somehow here I am today.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
My mother was retired public school, middle school
teacher seventh grade algebra.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
I know it takes a special person.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
It does In middle school.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
It's a challenging year for those kids.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
You either love middle school or you really
don't.
I used to tell parents don'tworry, you'll eventually get
your kids back, they will comeback to you.
But middle school is such aspecial time and I fell in love
with the middle school age childand that's really helped me
raise my own three childrenthrough those middle school
years.
They can be quite challenging,as you know.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, and your kids went through the school system,
I'm assuming.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
They did All three of them and they go to school.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Where are they now?
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yes, so our oldest all three of our children
started at Bell Hall Elementaryin Mount Pleasant.
We were zoned for that school.
And our oldest daughter now isat Clemson.
She's a rally cat.
She'll be a junior next year.
That means she's a dancer.
She danced her whole life.
And then our middle son, asher,just graduated from Lucy
(03:19):
Beckham.
He'll go to the University ofVirginia in the fall, which
means I'll be working Until I'm135 somewhere.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Same.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
He's a wahoo.
He's going to be a who For sureI'm a hokey.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
We have no idea what wahoos are or hokeys are, but go
ahead.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I hear there's a formidable Bit of a rivalry, a
bit of a rivalry there In theUSC Sort of Sort of.
Absolutely.
And then I have a risingsophomore also at Lucy Beckham
for the coming year.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
So all three of them have gone through the Charleston
County Public.
Schools Rising sophomore.
I'm not ready for that.
My boys are nine, going intofourth grade.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
You'll be fine, You'll make it Again.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
You're going to go to middle school and then you'll
be like, oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
High school no problem, no problem whatsoever.
It's going to be great.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Mike Talk to you about the power of one degree,
and what does that mean to you?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
So our theme for this year really is around taking
the system to the next level.
I believe firmly thatCharleston County School
District can be a premierdistrict it really already is
but when we look nationally, Ithink it can be at the top of
the list and I think the publicIs going to be really proud Of
(04:27):
the results that we share withthem when they're released in
the fall by the state.
We've shown significantincreases across the board
Grades 3-8 in reading and math.
We've seen increases in Algebra1, us History and English2.
Our graduation rate Is going tobe right at 90%.
Our college and careerreadiness rate will be around 85
(04:48):
percent.
Again, we'll share all thegreat work going on in our
classrooms.
When the state formally tellsus that we can, so that we
believe, to take the system tothe next level, it's going to
take a little bit of extraeffort from everyone, including
me.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Well, congratulations on that.
I know that's been part of yourvision for 2027, the three
pillars of those areas that youjust discussed.
I also had read when you did aninterview not only being
college and career ready, butbeing ready as citizens
Absolutely Can you talk aboutthat I'm happy to.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Our goal really pre-K through 12 is to get kids ready
for whatever they want to dowhen they leave our system,
which includes being productivecitizens being able to
collaborate and communicate andthink critically about the world
.
If we've not done that, we'venot readied our youngsters to be
productive with great peoplelike you right now.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
So I love that that you talked about being able to
communicate and collaborate,because I do think that COVID
had such a negative impact insome of those formative years
for our students and I think now, as you know, this is building
business.
That's our podcast.
So, as people who are leadersin the business and the
community, we recognize so muchthe importance of having our
(06:06):
youth be able to have thosestrong communication skills.
But all of that helps providethat those foundations literacy
and algebra readiness and, asyou talked about, some of the
career and college readinessthat's so important so that they
can communicate with others andbe successful with whatever
they want to do.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Absolutely, our goal is to make sure kids can read
and write and they can add.
But at the end of the day, weoften talk about it not
necessarily mattering the levelof your intellect if you can't
communicate things to others andwork with others to produce
outcomes and solutions forproblems that plague whatever
(06:48):
system you're in.
So that communication piece iscritically, critically important
to people being able to besuccessful.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Talk about the student cabinet.
That was an exciting thing Iheard about.
I would probably not have beena part of that, but I want to
have my kids be a part of that.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Well, you know, I'm sure your kids could be eligible
for that.
Mike, student voice and studentagency is critically important
in our system If you think aboutwho our primary stakeholders
are.
In fact, they are our kids.
They are our kids nearly 51,000of them and so we brought in,
for the first time in a reallylong time, a student cabinet
(07:23):
this year that consisted of twomiddle and high schoolers from
across the district, and theycame in once a month and sat
down with me and we talked aboutmatters relative to the
district of which we thoughtthey would have particular
interest.
And it would really surprisethe listening public, the
viewing public and you to knowthat they ask us questions about
(07:45):
things like the budget.
They wanted to know about thebudget, so we created Monopoly
money with my face and the CFO'sface on it and widely
distributed it to them, and wedid a couple of exercises with
them.
But they have given us input onthings like dress code, cell
phones.
Things really are important tothem and when you listen to your
most valuable commodity, whichhappens to be our students, it
(08:08):
really helps you formulatesystems that serve the system
best.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
So we have with school improvement councils, we
have student representatives.
I love the fact that you'veelevated them to the district
level, so to speak.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Absolutely.
It's really important for me tohear from all stakeholder
groups and to me they really areforgive me board they really
are the most important.
We hear from parents, we hearfrom pastors, we hear from
business folks, we hear from thechamber, and all of you are all
.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
The adults are really important, but the kids are
most important, but you do bringin that transparent
communication with the public.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Absolutely.
That is critically important tome as a superintendent.
This is my community.
I've lived here for nearlythree decades.
My kids have gone to schoolhere.
I've really grown up in theschool system myself, as a
teacher, as a principal, all thethings relative to education.
And one thing, after nearlythree decades in the system,
(09:08):
that I know has plagued thesystem through no one's fault is
a lack of communication ortransparency Again, not
intentionally for people toreally understand what's
happening, why it's happeningand how they can work with us to
make it better in cases wherethey might not understand.
(09:31):
So we've done a lot ofdifferent things and Michelle
Mills, our executive associateof communications, has helped
with that through social media,through regular communications,
through opportunities like this.
So thank you again for havingme.
I hope your ratings don't godown.
They're going up.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I'm just saying I hope your ratings don't go down.
They're going up.
I'm just saying They'll be up.
They go down from here.
Rebecca, what do you got?
Speaker 1 (09:52):
So I want to talk about the importance of local.
Oh, that's great.
So let's talk about local, sure.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
So local is an initiative we've launched in the
last six months linkingopportunities to classroom and
learners, and it really is a wayto build an ecosystem of
support for kids.
Okay, just very bluntly andhonestly again, in a commitment
to transparent communication, ifthe school district could have
done the work itself inelevating the achievement of all
(10:23):
of its kids and I mean all ofits kids, special education
students, children who speakEnglish as a second language,
pupils in poverty, we would havedone it decades ago.
No educator ever gets intoeducation and says I want kids
to leave still not reading,right.
So we've recognized that it'sgoing to take people outside of
the system to help make thesystem better.
(10:44):
And local is the opportunity forbusinesses, sororities, church,
faith-based groups, smallgroups of whatever means to come
together and say, hey, here'swhat we're good at and here's
how we can help.
So we've had all sorts ofbusinesses who've come to us
churches again faith, our faithbased partners and said here's
(11:07):
what we can do.
We're this small or we're thislarge, and where can you utilize
this best?
And each school has a profileand they've told us what two or
three things they think theyneed for students, parents and
their teachers and we've triedto be very strategic in how
we've plugged in support systemsto help schools and it's really
(11:29):
been quite remarkable.
We've been able to open upopportunities for kids to have
internships and work-basedexperiences, and some of our
partners with the chamber havedone that We've been able to
eradicate school lunch debt insome instances We've been able
to provide school supplies andother things.
We've been able to providementorships for teachers through
this partnership.
(11:50):
But we're always looking togrow it because we still need
more.
We still need more.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
So how can the viewer , listener learn more about it?
How can they get immediatelyplugged in?
Speaker 3 (11:59):
So we have a website?
That's a great question.
I'm dedicated solely to local,where we have listed each of the
school's profile sheets andbusinesses can see that.
There's also a way to email usdirectly, but the public always
has full access to me.
I'm a little crazy and starteda Facebook page recently which
has been quite rewarding to meas a human.
(12:22):
But they can always email medirectly.
I'm happy to respond.
It may be an early morningemail, but I'll get back to
folks.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
And so as a chamber, we have also made the commitment
to local in a variety of ways.
We are having our 15th AnnualBusiness and Community Expo
September 18th Awesome and thisyear we added a component a job
recruitment opportunity.
So CCSD is participating inthat.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
So those of you out there, I highly recommend you
check it out.
Charleston County SchoolDistrict will be there.
They can talk all about the jobopenings available.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Yeah, we're really excited about that.
Actually, just yesterday, weput together 285 backpacks of
school supplies.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
That is amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
We have wonderful, generous members in our chamber
and we delivered those to StJames Santee.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Oh, that's fantastic.
I know Principal McMillan willbe so excited about that.
In fact, I may have an emailfrom her right now with
excitement.
That's just wonderful.
And again, that's evidence of acommunity that really wants to
wrap around its children,recognizing that public
education really is the key tomaking communities the best they
can be.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
I'm sorry you talked about internships.
So throughout the district, notjust in East Cooper, there's
Center for Advanced Studies.
That's another opportunity forkids to become career ready.
Absolutely, and the businesscommunity.
If they haven't known aboutthat, what are the Center for
Advanced Studies?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
The Centers for Advanced Studies are premier
centers in West Ashley, in NorthCharleston and here in Mount
Pleasant.
That offers children, students,the opportunity to complete
pathways in whatever area ofcollege and career readiness
that interests them.
We have, I think, over 700certifications that students can
leave those centers with readyfor the world of work, and we're
(14:04):
constantly.
In fact we met on this.
Just yesterday I met with RichGordon, who's our executive
director of our CTE programs,and he and I talked about how
those programs need to be everchanging.
I talked about how thoseprograms need to be
ever-changing, dependent uponthe community that we live in
response to that and the worldtoday and the world at large, so
we're really excited this.
(14:27):
Rich might be upset with me, butwe believe our enrollment will
increase by 50% next year inthese centers.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
It really is remarkable.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Michelle's working on that with us right now but,
it's a testament to ourdedication to getting kids again
ready.
Not everybody wants to go tocollege, and that's okay.
We want them ready to dowhatever they want to do to be
successful.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Thank you for bringing that up, Rebecca.
The CAS program is really,really cool.
It's got my interest as well,as far as I'm a film producer so
a.
Tv producer adds that type ofthing.
I own an advertising agency butmy part is the production side
of things Sure sure, and so I'vebeen talking with Justin and
Jeff over there at CAS Wando.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Oh good.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
And I'm going to raise my hand.
I'm going to become asubstitute teacher.
Oh, that's fantastic, Molly,yeah yeah, and we have somebody
in common too.
I was going to save this forthe end, but let me just tell
you a little guess who this is.
He's very grumpy, but he's thesweetest man you'll ever meet.
He'll do anything for you.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
But he's an ex-referee.
He's an ex-vice president ofWando, anything.
I know there's a lot of viceprincipals out there, vice
principals of Wando.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
It's coming to me.
A little grumpy Starts with an.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
S.
He's my direct neighbor.
He won't let me mow the lawn onthe weekends Because of Clemson
games.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Well then, he is really grumpy.
Oh my gosh.
Now how do I not know?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
this I'm old.
His wife's name is Val.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
How do I not know?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
this Steve Leggett.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Steve, when you said X, that's because I thought
Maybe he wasn't in the systemanymore.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
He's still in the system.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
And Steve is just wonderful and he's great and I'm
sorry, he's your neighbor.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
You're grumpy grumpy, grumpy Steve.
In fact, I just saw Steve twodays ago.
He's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yes, yes, but he's a big proponent of getting me into
the system.
Absolutely Well, I'd beinterested in talking to you
more about that.
Oh well, I consider this myinterview.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Well then, get the rubric out, Michelle.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
You're hired.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
There you go, yes.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
But again, we need folks like you who can pour into
our kids in different ways andget them ready.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
We were talking with Justin and Jeff over there to
maybe even edit these podcaststhat we're recording right now
we're a nonprofit.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
That would be fantastic.
Little things like that thatcould give the students some
real life experiences.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Real life experiences Maybe use membership spotlights
with that type of thing.
We're talking about all thatstuff.
And then North Charleston Highas well.
Let's talk about that.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Right, the North area would be just fantastic to plug
in.
They have that media centerover there.
The kids have, in fact,principal Brown.
They've actually produced afilm that we showed several
months ago to our principals.
A lot of things going on, so weneed to talk more about that,
mike.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Yes, ma'am For sure, no problem Not going anywhere.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Okay, steve Leggett, we are excited you're listening.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I'm just saying and I also want to bring up we've
talked a lot about the kidsbeing college and career ready.
As a mother, I know howimportant it is for, when
they're little, to get themready their early childhood
component.
What is the school districtdoing for those little
four-year-olds?
Speaker 3 (17:32):
That is a great, great question, Rebecca.
Early readiness public isreally key to the future success
.
We know that not all parentshave that ability or that means,
and so we're here to help.
We offer as much pre-K in ourschools right now as we have the
means to do.
Ideally, pre-K would beuniversal.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
I would love that.
Oh, my gosh as would I.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
So if the governor's listening, we would love that
here in Charleston, it would befantastic.
But in the interim I'll tellyou what we've done in just the
last year.
And we started here in MountPleasant because of the number
of private preschool providersand the number of students on
the waiting list for pre-K herein Mount Pleasant.
And we've expanded that now toworking with all of our private
(18:18):
preschool providers inCharleston County to provide
education to them, to providecollaboration for them, to
provide site visits to and forthem.
So, for example, I think one oftheir recent visits was out to
Laurel Hill Primary so theycould see what was happening in
that space.
Because until we have enoughmoney and resources and space
(18:41):
For universal pre-K, we have toget out into the community, into
that ecosystem, work with our.
It really is not a competition,this is about kids.
So we have to work with ourprivate preschool providers To
make sure that together we arereadying kids for kindergarten,
which we're excited about.
So we have to work with ourprivate preschool providers to
make sure that together we arereadying kids for kindergarten,
which you know we're excitedabout thousands of kids on
(19:02):
August the 12th joining us forkindergarten.
So we're doing our best,rebecca, to get kids ready.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
I love that.
Everything from early childhoodto college, career readiness,
building citizens for the future.
I mean that is why the schooldistrict is a Charleston
original.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Right, that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
And I have been.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
I've lived here 30 years.
I'm just so excited to seewhere the school district is now
.
I'm really excited and lookingforward to see where it's going.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Well, that's very kind of you.
We've got a great team ofpeople.
We have premier teachers in thedistrict.
They really my job doesn'treally matter, and I want the
public to really know that I'mgenuine.
I mean, I I'm honored to servein this season.
I'm I'm humbled by theopportunity to serve in this
season.
I love the work, but at the endof the day, it's the teachers
(19:50):
in the classrooms across theschool district, in
collaboration with the parentsat home, that make the biggest
difference for kids, and I wantthem to know that I value them
as one of them.
I'll always be an educator.
My mother was an educator.
I tried to not be an educator,but I couldn't get it out of my
blood.
Um, they are doing the realwork that really makes this a
premier system, along with theprincipals and the leadership of
(20:12):
their schools yeah, youmentioned laurel hill.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Jason simms over there does a great job.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
He has a podcast too, by the way, does he?
Yes, he does you know, know,he's an author, he's all things.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
He's an angel.
I'm not sure how angelic he is.
Well, they did a lot for us.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Well, the last time I saw him, his halo was tilting a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
It might be a little tilted, but in my eyes the man's
an angel.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Jason Sims is just wonderful.
I think he taught kindergartenfor 17 years.
He's a tremendous leader inthis district and there are lots
of folks just like him, buthe's doing a great job.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Now we're up to Tiffany Henderson.
We're going up the ladder here.
Yeah, she's fantastic too.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Her mother, jean Sawicki, was a colleague of mine
.
You might remember, jean, shewas the principal of Moultrie at
one time.
She was excellent.
Tiffany has that in her bloodas well.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
I've always loved that school.
Yes, it's wonderful.
They love the whole four housething.
I still don't know the names.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
No, it's the Ron Clark system.
I do Scary for you.
I've been around a little bit.
It's the Is it.
Bindi?
I was about to say is it Bindi?
There are four different houses, yeah, Green red.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
it's midday, my mind is just bad about midday.
But my point is they love thepoint system, they love the
competition, they love thedifferent events that they had
surrounding that and the wholeHarry Potter type of house thing
is really cool.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
It's built on that Ron Clark, that Harry Potter
thing, and we have premierschools here east of the Cooper
and our goal is to make surethat all of our neighborhood
schools, whether they're here ineast cooper, out in ravenel, up
in north charleston, areschools where all parents want
to send their kids um, so thatkids leave again ready for
whatever's next, even if that'smiddle school or college at usc
(21:54):
there you go, go tigers do wehave?
Speaker 1 (21:56):
do we have time to talk about the education
foundation?
Absolutely those who are yes Iwant to help, but I simply.
You know my day goes by quickly.
Where can they send money?
Speaker 3 (22:06):
I am so glad you asked, rebecca.
We are excited that we justlaunched, or we just announced
the launch of the EducationFoundation, which is a 501c3.
It will have its own governingboard and all the things
associated with foundationswhereby businesses and
philanthropic partners can giveto support creative
(22:28):
outside-of-the-box thinkingabout how we do business.
You may have seen last year,for example, that we piloted an
attendance incentive program.
Some people were for it, somepeople were against it.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
That's the weighted student.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Well, it's a little different than the weighted to
student funding, but it waswhere we actually provided
compensation okay to to to kidsand families that were present
in school every day, and youwould be amazed at the
tremendous results that wegarnered through that.
But it's the.
This foundation would allow us,when the gof won't necessarily
support certain things we wantto do, to have funding to do so
(23:04):
without raising taxesnecessarily, and so we're
thrilled at the opportunity.
We've hired an excellent,highly regarded new director,
patrick Arnold, to manage it andwe're scheduled in September to
take some policies to our board.
Talk about it in the public andwe're thrilled.
The Chamber's excited about it.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Oh, yes, very much so .
I love that.
I like the creativity andthinking outside the box to
address problems with creativesolutions.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Well, you're kind.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Well, we, as a community, we know how important
a thriving, productive schooldistrict is to our quality of
life, frankly, and it all goestogether.
So that's what we want to do asa chamber we want to connect
our businesses, our resourcesout there to you all, because it
all works together well itreally does in partnership and
(23:51):
they're all of our children andum they are all our children.
They really don't have childrenanymore.
I still have that with thewanda band and I want yes, I do,
they're all my kids.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
They really are In my neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
They're my kids.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
It's really a moral imperative, it really public
education is just a moralimperative and if we're going to
be premier here in Charleston,the public school system has to
reflect the excellence that thepublic demands.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Yep, yep, kind of in closing.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Is it already time to wrap up we?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
don't have to.
I mean it's 20 to 1.
I mean we have a good time here.
Yeah, we can just keep talking.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Well, look at Michelle, do we need to go?
No, I can get to my nextdestination really quickly.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
You were saying that I know, I know.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Well, we won't discuss that.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Buzzwords Leadership is an honor, leading with
humility, amplifying studentagency those are more than just
buzzwords to you, right To me,but I love them.
They're great, they're greatsounding, but you put them in
practice.
So what are your priorities assuperintendent moving forward
this year?
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Like what are your top?
That's a great question.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
With those buzzwords in mind.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
So, with those buzzwords in mind, we have a lot
of those in education, yeah,but in my heart, leadership
matters.
It matters and it starts withme.
It starts with me and it'simportant for me to lead by
example, and I'm far fromperfect, but I believe in kids
and I want this system toreflect that heart for kids.
(25:16):
But our primary goals this yearare really going to be focused
on high quality instruction,making sure we're giving
teachers the tools in theclassroom that they need to be
successful and that they'rereally challenging students,
regardless of how those studentsarrived at their classroom door
, to be the best they can be.
Second, we really want to be astudent-centered, evidence-based
(25:39):
system where we're using datain real time to make quick
course adjustments when we seethat kids aren't getting it.
So it's like that old CharlieBrown cartoon where you know
Lucy holds the ball and CharlieBrown gets really confused and
Lucy tricks him into believingthat she's going to hold it and
he's going to kick it.
It keeps falling right.
(25:59):
Because she always does the samething.
If we know something's notgoing to work, we need to change
it, and that's whatstudent-focused, evidence-based
decision-making.
And really, lastly, we'refocused on building community
professional learningcommunities with our educators
that really focus on action andkids, not necessarily adult
issues.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
You know lots of adult issues creep into business
.
Speaker 3 (26:23):
They creep in sometimes to churches.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Adult issues creep in everywhere.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
School boards, indeed , and they creep into schools
too.
My job is to make sure that thework stays focused on kids.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yes, love that.
And then another hard questionhere AI Absolutely yeah, Love
that.
And then another hard questionhere AI Absolutely, absolutely.
What are we doing to benefitour children and what are we
doing to safeguard our children?
Speaker 3 (26:50):
Well, it's not going anywhere.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
It's not going anywhere.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
So you know, we have some folks who say we need to
block it and some folks say weneed to open it all up.
I think the answer is reallysomewhere in the middle.
We need to open it all up?
I think the answer is reallysomewhere in the middle.
We have to teach kids how touse AI resourcefully,
respectfully and to betterthemselves, and that's what
we're doing.
We currently have a groupdedicated solely to that.
They're looking at bestpractices across the nation and
(27:17):
developing systems.
For that we plan to engage withour student.
That's one of the first topicson our student cabinet for the
fall, and so we're not banningAI, but we are trying to teach
kids how to use it responsibly,as we did with everything else
along the way that wasintroduced.
That's right, you know, back towhen we were kids way back when
, in the Stone Ages right, wehad to learn how to use
(27:39):
computers and the Internet.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Typing typewriters, social media all things.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
So really it's incumbent upon us to get kids
ready, because colleges aren'tbanning AI.
They have systems around it andhonor codes around it, but
they're trying to teach theircollege students how to
responsibly use it, and that'sreally important for us.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I love that you have a committee.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
We do.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Of pros looking into dedicated to that.
I think every institution needsone, it's very forward thinking
Well, we try.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Last week we had our Charleston Educator Symposium it
was really the kickoff to our25-26 school year and we had
several sessions dedicated to AIwhere we listened to feedback
and we provided systems andguidelines and sort of
guardrails around how we'removing forward.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Love it.
Good answer.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
I did the best I could, Mike.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
This is your interview now I don't normally
take over interviews but, okay.
Real quick recruitment-wiselike myself, people like
professionals that want to haveanother career.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
There's a CTE program that's out there, because I
don't have a teachingcertificate right.
So, there's other programs outthere that we could.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
Mike, we're going to never stop this interview.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
This is fantastic, so I want the public to know that
all of our classrooms are fullwe never do that in Charleston
but it, so I want the public toknow that all of our classrooms
are full.
We never do that in Charleston,but it's the second year we've
done it in a row.
When you say that, what doesthat mean?
Speaker 3 (29:04):
That means everybody has a certified teacher in the
classroom.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
So that blew my mind Because I thought that was an
assuming thing.
But it's not.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
There's a national teacher shortage and up until
the last two years We've neverstarted the school year With all
of our classrooms filled andthey're filled.
Part of that's due, I think,part of it due to our pay raises
for teachers which we startteachers now at $65,000.
We've also tried to improve thequality of work.
We offer employee daycare,Jason Sims.
(29:33):
In fact we've expanded to MountPleasant this year.
It's already in NorthCharleston, West Ashley.
That's wonderful.
Yes, I did not know that we InNorth Charleston West Ashley,
that's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Yes, I did not know that we have employee daycare.
Speaker 3 (29:41):
How brilliant is that we are expanding Every year To
a different area.
But, mike, we also have Our.
We have the most Grow your ownEducator programs Of any
district In South Carolina.
So we have a Teach Charlestonprogram.
Yep, heard about that, we're bypeople like you who are
professionals.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Right, smarter than me, I got a 2.3 and a 2.75 to
get into that.
Stop telling all your secretson the air.
My goodness, don't be tellingall that.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
But you.
There's an alternate routecertification whereby you can
attain certification.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
PACE program.
Yep CTE program.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
But Teach Charleston is our homegrown sort of PACE,
which was the state's and stillis the state's and still is the
state's alternative route.
So we have lots of differentroutes.
If you're interested, if youlove kids, you want to do the
right thing by kids and you wantto be part of a premier system,
let us know that interest andwe can help get you connected
(30:34):
All right.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
That's wonderful, Including you.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Mike.
Hey all right, I'm in.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Even with a 2, would you say it was a two, three,
something like two, five, likethat a little bit.
You do also have volunteerprograms going out there, don't
you?
Um, with the school districtlike this one coming up this
Saturday for serving theunhoused and underserved event.
That's really cool, that youguys keep doing that type of
stuff for the community.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
We do.
We have a homeless populationthat impacts hundreds of
children in the CharlestonCounty School District, and so
Saturday's event is one outreachwhere we really try to give
back.
We realize that we're blessed.
Many of us are very, veryblessed, and so, again, it's
somewhat of our moral obligationto give back and to help
(31:15):
wraparound families that need itthe most so they can be the
best for their kids, becausenobody ever had a kid and said
said, I don't want to serve them.
Well, like that's really notyeah in our dna.
We want to do the right thing.
Everybody's just not alwaysable.
So we're here to provide helpas we can love it.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
You're doing the right thing.
We're trying to appreciate you,absolutely appreciate you.
Go back to work, thoughactually I do need to go back to
work I do need to go back towork.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
I've got a lot of things to do.
I think I've got 49 emailssitting here.
I'm just saying.
But it's great to see you.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Thank you for being on the show.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Thank you too, rebecca.
Thank you, it was a wonderfulconversation.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
I appreciate you having me I really do and I
appreciate your commitment toour kids.
It's going to take all of ustogether and I hope those
listening today will reallyembrace that.
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