Lady Wolverines handle high expectations well B1 THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 75 cents CFO: Studies will help Council discusses rats, funding and opioids school district’s planning BY ADRIENNE SARVIS state's general revenue funds [email protected] would be split among the 46 BY BRUCE MILLS has previously said the two studies could help counties in South Carolina. [email protected] facilitate the Board of Trustees' decision- Ahead of its 2018-19 budget A funding plan created by making process on whether to close certain process, Sumter County the South Carolina Associa- Given fluctuating overall enrollment trends smaller, low-enrollment schools in the dis- Council continued its discus- tion of Counties states that a in recent years and the lack of a detailed fa- trict. sion regarding the allocation base amount of funding shall cilities' analysis, Sumter School The demographics study will provide a 10- of the local government fund be appropriated to each coun- District administrators believe year forecast of enrollment projections for which members are already ty and that amount will in- two consultants' studies now each of the district's 26 schools, Griner said. guessing will be less than crease — by up to 5 percent under way will provide valuable Templeton Demographics out of Texas will what is needed. of the base amount — as the information for short- and long- conduct that study with an expected comple- Members of the state Ways state's general revenue fund term planning purposes. tion date of March 30. Griner said Templeton and Means Committee think increases. District Chief Financial Offi- has access to a tremendous amount of hous- the county receives sufficient The state House Ways and cer Chris Griner made his com- GRINER ing data and building permit data through al- funding, but council needs to Means Committee does not ments this week regarding a liances it has made and also has geographic show that is not true, council- use either formula to provide county population demographics mapping capabilities. The district will pay man Gene Baten said. the appropriate amount of study and a facilities' assessment study that Templeton $38,000 for the study. The original funding for- money, Baten said. independent consultants have just begun for mula, developed decades ago, the school district. District administration SEE DISTRICT, PAGE A6 stated that 4.5 percent of the SEE COUNCIL, PAGE A6 Ebenezer Middle celebrates Black History Month Living museum project teaches 7th-grade class research, culture BY KAYLA ROBINS PHOTOS BY MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM [email protected] A seventh-grade student in On the far side of the Ebenezer Middle School Melissa Pollard’s class at library on Tuesday, Barack Obama sat in a Ebenezer Middle School rocking chair, still, at seventh-grade sized, with- portrayed Oscar-winning out a beard or silvered hair. actor Morgan Freeman. When students rang a bell on the table that also held a poster board with photos and facts about the former and first black United States president, the student who was impersonating him stood up, walked to a podium to his left and recited a monologue about the man the pre-teen chose to be for a living museum project. Shyheem Haynes was one of a baker’s dozen of English and honors English seventh-graders at the Dalzell school who participated in the Black History Month living TV STAR VISITS museum. Stu- EBENEZER dents chose a black American Go to Page A6 to read from history, more about this sports or pop program and what culture to re- guest speaker Richland search, make a County Deputy Kevin Lawrence, from the A&E TV show “Live PD,” poster about, Desia Hall portrayed the told students. Go to www. first modern era black dress up like theitem.com/studiosumter to and recite a bi- Major League Baseball play- watch an episode of Sumter er, Brooklyn Dodgers’ Jackie ography about. Today on the event. The idea is to Robinson. bring a wax mu- seum to life. “I feel like he made a big impact in the U.S., and he made history by being the first black president,” Haynes said about why he chose Obama. He said in his research, he learned Obama lived in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Indonesia. Learning through research and learning how to research were key points Melissa Pollard wanted students to glean from the assignment. “And just the thirst for knowledge to get to know more about their own culture, as well,” the teacher said of this first-year assignment. “I just want kids to see that differences are what make the world go ‘round. We all have our own identities, and it never hurts to learn more about another culture.” In front of Haynes’ Obama stood Jackie Rob- inson, portrayed by seventh-grader Desia Hall. She said she chose the Brooklyn Dodgers player who became the first black person to play Major League Baseball in the modern era because she plays softball at Ebenezer and was inspired after seeing the movie “42” that told his story. Shyheem Haynes portrayed former and first black U.S. President Barack Obama. SEE HISTORY, PAGE A6 VISIT US ONLINE AT DEATHS, B3 WEATHER, A8 INSIDE Daisy T. Williams James A. Webb BAD HAIR DAY 2 SECTIONS, 14 PAGES the .com VOL. 123, NO. 95 Ellen Dyson Terrance O. Ragin Grab an umbrella or a raincoat. Letha P. Richardson Emma H. Carey With 60 percent chance of rain, Comics B4 Television B5 Cleo L. Goodman Ruth Ann C. Hampton you are likely to get wet. Classifieds B6 Obituaries B3 Joseph G. Godin Edward R. Barwick HIGH 79, LOW 47 Sherry Maple Priscilla Bing Opinion A7 Sports B1 A2 | THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] PHOTO PROVIDED The Sumter Community Concert Band will present a spring concert Sunday afternoon at Patriot Hall. Admission to the concert is free. Band invites public to its spring concert Sunday BY IVY MOORE trumpet solo on “Georgia on My piece was written for the Cotton States fans as well as Clemson supporters. Special to The Sumter Item Mind,” Mitchum noted. and International Exposition of that Among the other works in Sunday’s The patriotic piece titled “Let Free- year, when cotton was still very im- concert is “Lola Flores,” written by Sunday afternoon offers one of few dom Ring” is also a medley. Arranged portant as a crop in the southern Unit- Alfred Sadel and Terry Tucci in trib- opportunities to hear music by a live by the prolific Kenny Bierschenk, the ed States, including South Carolina. ute to the famous singer/dancer/ac- concert band played by some of the medley includes “Yankee Doodle,” “King Cotton” can be heard in the tress of the same name. The tune has area’s finest musicians. “Semper Fidelis,” “America, the Beau- films “The Sting,” “The Adventures of a “Spanish flair,” Mitchum said, be- “It’s music you can’t hear on the tiful” and several others. Milo and Otis” and “Superman III,” as ginning with a fanfare resembling that radio,” said Rick Mitchum, trumpet The band’s own Emmett Anglin, well as in an episode of the TV show of a bullfight. player and spokesman for the Sumter who plays trumpet, frequently arrang- “30 Rock.” Admission to the concert is free, and Community Concert Band, which will es music for concerts. For Sunday’s “Perthshire Majesty” will be con- ample free parking is available. Dona- present its spring concert at 3 p.m. program, he has arranged Karl L. ducted by Joni Brown and will tions are voluntary and accepted in a Sunday at Patriot Hall. King’s “Excelsior Galop.” A galop is a begin with a soprano saxophone box in the lobby. The 45-member band directed by fast-paced, ballroom-style dance popu- solo by Bates Middle School band The band rehearses from 7 to 9 James H. “Jimmy” Mills always be- lar in the late 18th and early 19th cen- instructor Sean Hackett. Written by p.m. Thursday evenings in the Pat gins its concerts with “Star-Spangled turies. Samuel Hazo as a Scottish ballad for Veltre Rehearsal Room inside Patriot Banner” before playing a varied pro- “Ticonderoga March” is distin- wind ensemble, the piece has a lush, Hall, 135 Haynsworth St. Prospective gram. guished by the fact that it’s the only full sound. “Perthshire Majesty” band members are welcome to come Mitchum said most of the music on march composed by Leroy Anderson, won Hazo the 2003 NBA William D. to rehearsals, Mitchum said. There the program is new to the band; how- better known for his light concert Revelli Memorial Composition Con- is no audition, but they should have ever, the melodies themselves are fa- pieces such as “The Syncopated test. experience in a concert band, such miliar, as in the medley titled “The Clock,” “The Typewriter” and the “Themes Like Old Times II,” ar- as in middle school, high school or Genius of Ray Charles.” In this piece, popular Christmas tune “Sleigh Ride,” ranged by Warren Barker, is a medley college. The membership fee is $15 the band will play Charles’ hits “Geor- Mitchum said. that includes “Swanee,” “For Me and per year to help with the cost of gia on My Mind,” “What’d I Say?,” “I John Philip Sousa, “the March My Gal,” “Pretty Baby” and “Tiger sheet music. Can’t Stop Loving You” and several King,” is represented by his 1895 mili- Rag,” which Mitchum said should For more information, call Mitchum other tunes.