SDPC holds Back-to-School Celebration

Administrators, teachers and staff in the School District of Pickens County (SDPC) welcomed the start of the 2018-19 school year on Thursday, Aug. 16. The celebration was held at Brushy Creek Baptist Church in Easley. During the event, the SDPC recognized the Teacher of the Year and Support Employee of the Year. The Teacher of the Year was Amanda Wylie, who is a fourth grade math teacher at Six Mile Elementary School with 18 years of teaching experience, 12 in her current position. In recommending Mrs. Wylie for the award, one of her colleagues wrote, “Year after year, students leave fourth grade with a passion for not only the subject taught, but for school and for life itself! Amanda teaches way more math. She teaches love, kindness, faith, forgiveness, fairness, and the list goes on and on. The amazing thing is that sometimes Mrs. Wylie teaches these things without saying a word. She is the picture of what a real teacher is.” Her principal, Melissa Terry, wrote, “As an administrator, when I go in for observations, it is so easy to become absorbed in her lessons. I always think to myself, ‘I really wish I could have had her as a teacher.’” The Support Employee of the Year was Daniel Durham, who is the Communication Technology Specialist in SDPC’s Accountability and Information Technology Services Department. He has worked in the SDPC for 24 years in roles including Bus Washer, Warehouseman, Electronics Technician, and Computer Technician. In recommending Mr. Durham for the award, Barbara Nesbitt, SDPC’s Director of Technology, wrote, “He deals with over 2,000 phones and voice mail accounts, nearly 1,600 cameras, plus paging consoles, microphones, audio amps and servers. He understands thousands of technical minutiae, yet somehow never makes me feel stupid when I ask him to draw me a picture so I can better understand his work.” One of his colleagues wrote, “If you had to sum him up in one word, I think that word would be ‘faithful.’” The keynote speaker at the 2018 Back-to-School Celebration for the SDPC was Clemson University President, Dr. Jim Clements. He spoke to teachers both as an education leader in the community and as and SDPC parent.