Walhalla High School Improvement Council wins 2018 Riley Award

The School Improvement Council (SIC) of Walhalla High School in the School District of Oconee County has been named the recipient of the 2018 Dick and Tunky Riley Award for School Improvement Council Excellence. The award was presented Saturday afternoon during the SC School Improvement Council (SC-SIC) Annual Meeting at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia. The annual Riley Award for SIC Excellence was created in 2002 to highlight the significant contributions made to public education by the over 13,000 School Improvement Council members who volunteer in every public school in the state. The award is named in honor of the former SC Governor and US Secretary of Education and his late wife, recognizing the couple’s longstanding commitment to quality public education. “Walhalla High SIC has done outstanding work well-deserving of this statewide honor,” said SC-SIC Board of Trustees Chair Amelia B. McKie. “Parents, educators, students, and community members working collaboratively on their School Improvement Councils are vital in making significant, positive, and lasting impact for our schools, our students, their families, and our communities.” Presented with Honorable Mentions for their work last school year were: Chapin Intermediate SIC (School District Five of Lexington and Richland Counties); Hilton Head Island High SIC (Beaufort County School District); Saluda High SIC (Saluda County Schools); and South Florence High SIC (Florence County School District One). Part of the Center for Education Partnerships within the University of South Carolina College of Education, the SC School Improvement Council (SC-SIC) was established in state law 40 years ago to provide the member training, technical assistance, statutory accountability, and other operational resources necessary for the continued success of the community-based SICs in each of the state’s 1,110-plus K-12 public schools. More information on SC-SIC’s programmatic efforts can be found online at http://sic.sc.gov.