16 minute read
THE CHILDREN'S CENTER: TEACH THEM WELL AND LET THEM LEAD THE WAY
On a Saturday in July, the CH2 crew visited The Children’s Center to take photos for this story. The kids were excited to show off their wall climbing skills for the camera.
Teach Them Well and Let Them Lead the Way
For the last 54 years, the Children’s Center has been quietly leading a revolution in early childhood development.
Ask any business owner you know, particularly anyone who owns a restaurant, and they’ll tell you in no uncertain terms: We are in the midst of a labor crisis on this island. Companies can’t find workers, because workers can’t find the support they need to work here. There are no easy answers, either, making this crisis one that may take years to solve. And while the debate rages over things like affordable housing and fair wages, one aspect of this crisis has been overlooked: the children.
Let’s say you’re a worker and a parent and you do want to commute onto the island to work. What do you do with your child? Can you afford daycare on a place like Hilton Head Island, or do you find somewhere on the mainland and pray that you can beat the bridge traffic every day to pick them up on time?
There may not be any easy answers to the labor crisis, but to this one aspect we can at least steer you toward a solution.
“The thing people don’t realize is that childcare is an economic driver. Right now, we’re in a real employment crunch, but that crunch is made worse when there aren’t enough daycare options,” said Jody Levitt, executive director of The Children’s Center. Established in 1967, the center provides care for up to 200 children, ages six months to eight years. “Right now, we have 50 kids on a waitlist, and that’s 50 people who can’t work on our island. It’s foundational when it comes to economic vitality.”
Of course, when you’re providing childcare for the workers of Hilton Head Island, affordability is key. “The thing that makes us unique is our sliding-scale tuition,” Levitt said. This sliding scale takes in a number of factors, from family size and income to current poverty levels, and creates a way forward for parents struggling to afford childcare. Factor in that The Children’s Center partners with the state of South Carolina to accept tuition vouchers, and you have daycare that’s within reach for parents at any income level.
“There are multiple ways to make it affordable, and our rack rate is probably lower or as low as anyone else in the
The children sit quietly and smile for a photo before the Saturday morning concert starts.
Lowcountry,” Levitt said. “We work really hard to make it affordable to start with.”
And while making childcare affordable is a part of the mission, delivering a quality pre-school education is the true goal. “We really are an early education center,” Levitt said. “Our goal is that when kids leave here, they’re ready for kindergarten. We don’t want to see children in a situation where they’re just watching TV all day.”
To achieve this, The Children’s Center has spent the last year and a half piloting a revolutionary new developmental measurement tool. Built in conjunction with Dr. Ron Erdi at USCB, this tool creates a database of innumerable points of data, comparing them against state standards and letting each teacher and parent know exactly what kind of progress a child is making.
“We give out reports quarterly, letting parents know what they can do at home and what they can keep an eye on,” Levitt said. “That way parents get to be involved in it just as much as we are. The children’s brains are developing at their fastest right now. If we don’t keep them caught up now, they’re behind for the rest of their lives.”
Of course, it takes a little extra effort to create such a well-rounded educational atmosphere, and it takes a little help to make that exceptional instruction affordable. Through special events, grant writing and individual contributions, The Children’s Center has to raise somewhere near 50 percent of its revenue to sustain itself. “Fortunately, we
Teach Them Well and Let Them Lead the Way
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Kenny laughs as famous local musician Jevon Daly sings about a seagull stealing his sandwich on the beach.
The children are in awe of a dancing shark who shows up just in time for Jevon Daly’s smash hit, “Sharks are our Homies.”
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live in an amazingly generous community,” Levitt said. “We’ve been around for 54 years, so we’re actually the second-oldest non-profit on the island.”
In addition to events like the annual gala to be held in April of next year and the annual Swing for the Future golf outing in Long Cove every September, The Children’s Center recently unveiled its newest (and quite possible cutest) event, the Tot Trot.
The event not only saw the cherubic student body at The Children’s Center playing in the sunshine around Jarvis Creek Park, but it helped raise funds that went directly back into the classroom. “We had a goal of $1,500 per classroom. We ended up with $2,250,” Levitt said.
It’s these supporters who have helped keep The Children’s Center molding young minds for 54 years, but it ultimately all comes down to the folks interacting with those young minds every day.
The result is children who are ready to take on the challenge of kindergarten and parents who can get back to work and help ease the labor crisis.
To learn more, visit thechildrenscentersc.org.
Putting green A Summer Wind
FOR ALL SEASONS
Their new Beaufort enclave features more amenities than traditional neighboring waterfront homes: indoor hydrotherapy pool and hot tub; fully equipped fitness center; golf simulator, golf workshop and putting green; stylish state-of-the-art billiard room. And yes, even their own signature “Pelican Bar.” John and Lisa Cregan dreamed big when they decided to build in coastal South Carolina. It all began on the golf course.
“John first brought me to Beaufort to play a round at Secession Golf Club. I immediately fell in love with the incredible beauty of the Lowcountry and knew right then I wanted to live here,” Lisa said.
The couple shopped around for a while, exploring other Lowcountry communities and keeping an eye on less trendy, more authentic qualities in their potential new neighborhoods. In the end, an intuitive Realtor led them to a remote corner of Beaufort along the Port Royal Sound.
“We chose our new neighborhood because it offers everything we wanted: deep water access and the ability to have a private dock, easy access to the Intracoastal, golf, shopping, restaurants and beaches within minutes of our new home,” Lisa said. “Beaufort is a wonderful historic town with great people and abundant remarkable wildlife,”
Relaxed casual flow inspires frequent entertaining with cocktails at the full-service Pelican Bar, featuring the artwork of interior designer Margery Berringer Schuran.
A Summer Wind
FOR ALL SEASONS
Open-concept living allows multiple dining options from the sweeping kitchen island to the glass-encased dining room.
she added. It’s also a welcome change of pace for Lisa, who maintains a critical leadership role as a Managing Director for the global wealth management firm, Morgan Stanley.
She and John selected Court Atkins Group to steer the architectural design of their island home. Since they purchased the property in 2004, they had plenty of time to create a wish list. Once they had their preferred local builder, Powell Brothers Construction, in place they provided a vision statement to CAG president William Court, describing how they hoped their new home would flow and feel.
“The Cregan residence rises on a remote southern-facing marsh front with a fabulous cove adjacent to the outdoor screened living area,” Court said. “So, the house is intended to be a blend of casual and graceful Lowcountry elements with wraparound porch, integrated dormers and a sweeping panoramic outdoor living environment.”
CAG associate Jen Foster teamed with Court on the home design and noted the intentional separation of living spaces. “In order to ensure we didn’t overpower the main
A little Asian, a little Lowcountry and a lot of elegance in the Cregan's master suite, which offers soothing nature and water views.
house, the garage and carriage house spaces are separated into a series of components that are connected by breezeways and lower roof formed elements,” she explained.
Washington DC design maven Margery Berringer Schuran guided the Cregans’ approach to interior choices. “She is magical with colors and actually created the artwork for the etched Pelican Bar mirror,” Lisa said. “She helped us select our palette, all the finishes and furniture, from master suite to the centerpiece, our main entry,” she said.
John Cregan, a PGA Teaching Professional, said he and Lisa enjoy the reaction of visiting friends and family when they walk through the front door. “The house is designed to maximize our beautiful water and marsh views, and it does just that … the entry hall glimpses are breathtaking,” John said. “Our friends love how comfortable the house is and how many fun things there are to do.” Among his favorite indulgences when he’s not instructing golf students is sipping a cold beverage at the prized Pelican Bar or indulging in evening cocktails on “Martini Landing,” outdoors on the dock.
The Cregans have affectionately named their Beaufort
retreat “Summer Wind,” keeping in mind the familiar song lyrics by beloved crooner Frank Sinatra. They admit there is a special story behind the name they chose for the full-service custom Pelican Bar, though John insists it’s better left a secret. “Let’s just say the bar’s named after a memorable encounter with a feathered friend during an earlier escape to Mexico,” he joked.
It’s safe to say John and Lisa have found their quintessential escape along the shores of South Carolina’s intracoastal. They recently relocated—permanently—to their sprawling Beaufort compound and are prepared to play all summer long with countless guests at Summer Wind.
It's all about the water at this resort home, complete with indoor SwimEx pool, porchside hot tub and, of course, dockside dining plus ski boat at the ready.
A Summer Wind
FOR ALL SEASONS
—JOHN CREGAN
FAR MORE THAN A CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT
A BUDDING LEADER HOPES HER MISS SOUTH CAROLINA WIN IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF A LIFETIME OF IMPACTING SOCIAL CHANGE.
Julia Herrin is the crown-wearing embodiment of taking advantage of opportunity. At age 13, the shy piano-playing middle child of Lowcountry musical entrepreneurs Jeff and Jennifer Herrin decided to forge a completely foreign path by trying to become Miss Teen Hilton Head Island.
“My best friend, my mom, convinced me to try. I laughed it off at first. Me in pageants? I would never win, so why even try?” said the now-19-year-old Bluffton resident.
She didn’t win that first try, didn’t even place. But she “got bitten” by the competition bug, and five tries, one second runner-up and two first runner-ups
later, Herrin has hit the big time. On June 26, she was named Miss South Carolina 2021.
“It was absolutely surreal, still is. My little sister Jenna tells me every day, ‘You know you’re Miss South Carolina, right?’” Herrin said of her victory at Columbia’s Township Auditorium. She is now in her second month of a year-long full-time job, traveling the state to promote both the organization and her platform of empowerment to women of all ages.
Herrin, a piano performance and communications double major at Auburn, wowed the judges with her flawless performance of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement.
She impressed the panel even more with her track record of giving (at age 15, she founded a local nonprofit to collect and distribute books to underprivileged kids and mentor struggling third graders on how to read) and her meticulous plan to execute her platform. #RealNotPerfect is a message for young people to fight back against the cesspool of negativity on social media and learn the tools to make it a positive experience that builds self-esteem and makes them catalysts for change in the community.
“I was 12 when I got my first social media account. My parents had no roadmap for coaching me there; I was online, seeing all the photos and all the hashtags and the focus on this fakeness,” Herrin said. “Being part of this organization for five years now, I have learned life skills and communication skills that have transformed me. I know now that my worth doesn’t change because of a random tweet or insult; there’s no pressure to fit a certain mold, and who I am is enough.
“And now, I have the confidence to understand the business behind social media—the positives I can make out of having a worldwide megaphone—and I own my brand and my message. I want to show teens how to be authentic, to maximize social media for good and not be dependent on validation from online ‘friends’ to find their self-worth.”
Herrin graduated from high school as a product of the Classical Conversations homeschooling program. She had outlets locally to hone her piano skills and join groups such as the Debate and Mock Trial Club, but as the last of the Lowcountry pageants shuttered after her first year of competing, she had to travel the state to battle for any more sashes and crowns.
Miss South Carolina rules allow for anyone without a local competition to represent any area around the state for a year.
So, Herrin was the 2016 Lexington and 2017 Clarendon County representative in the Miss Teen South Carolina competitions. She was state first runner-up in 2018 and 2019 representing Columbia and Georgetown before returning to Clarendon for 2020, her first year competing in the adult competition. Due to the COVID pandemic, she had to wait more than a year to try to earn the statewide title.
“My family has given me the strength and belief in myself to keep trying and doing what I love with this organization. I have been so focused on getting over that runner-up hump for the past couple years. Getting through this crazy year, I just decided to go in there, tone down my drive and intensity and just have fun and soak up the experience—be me to the fullest,” Herrin said.
Herrin won the overall talent portion of the event en route to besting Miss Spartanburg Lindsey Burrell to become the youngest Miss South Carolina since 1999. She won $66,000 worth of scholarships in three days in Columbia and is now taking a year off from Auburn as part of her full-time job fulfilling her role as Miss South Carolina—zigzagging the state, helping to both encourage new participants statewide and to recruit sponsors, while spreading her platform messages in daily appearances around the region.
Consider her schedule from one recent week alone: Herrin led business development and recruiting sessions in Charleston, met to partner with the South Carolina Internet
Crimes Against Children Task Force in Columbia, headlined an event in Greenville, helped crown the first 2022 Miss Teen winner in Camden, and then finished back in Charleston at a joint appearance with reigning Miss America 2020, Camille Schrier. She used the facetime with Schrier just as she had in talking to former Miss South Carolinas ahead of the June competition to research what it takes to earn the title. Most of her days will be spent between “I WANT TO USE MY SKILLS her home base of Bluffton and the
AND MY PASSIONS FOR organization’s headquarters in Columbia GOOD TO IMPACT CHANGE ahead of representing the state in the
AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS. one hundredth Miss America competition AND I’M SO PROUD AND HONORED THAT BEING MISS SOUTH CAROLINA IS PART in December. Herrin is determined to get competitions restarted in Bluffton, Hilton Head and Beaufort and will meet with
OF THAT JOURNEY.” local officials to espouse the importance of Miss South Carolina beyond the dated pageant stereotypes of years past. “This is a completely volunteer organization of strong, confident leaders—women who earned master’s degrees, doctoral candidates and career professionals,” said Herrin, who plans to be a lawyer after earning her Auburn bachelor’s, with dreams of becoming an entertainment lawyer, a White House press secretary or even a legal advisor to the president. “I want to use my skills and my passions for good to impact change at the highest levels. And I’m so proud and honored that being Miss South Carolina is part of that journey.”
