Thursday, September Courtyard by Marriott Rooftop Bar

JEEP ISLAND

October 9

The main event is combined with the Kiwanis Chili Cook-off. Hop in your jeep, and enjoy chili, football on the big screen, live entertainment, and much more. Click here for details.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND OYSTER FESTIVAL

November 12 — 13

The Hilton Head Oyster Festival highlights steamed, fried and stewed oysters along with other delicious food for nonoyster eaters! There will be live entertainment, kid zone, marshmallow roasting and Sports Lounge for those fall Football games. Click here for details.

If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else up.

-Booker T. Washington

Be Kind Lowcountry

If you start seeing green ribbons around town or hearts in the doorways of businesses, there’s a reason for that: spreading kindness throughout the community.

Our frontline staff is working harder than ever before, and they deserve our respect, patience, flexibility, and kindness. Our fellow neighbors have been dealing with the pandemic for nearly a year and a half. Let’s show everyone that they matter by being kind.

Join us by tying a green ribbon outside your place of business or home. If you’d like a window cling for your business, contact us.

Right before Labor Day weekend, we’ll host another Chalk The Walk with Kindness event. Check our social media pages or website for details.

While you’re out and about, remember to simply be kind.

5Questionswith Dr. Frank Rodriguez

Early in his tenure, Beaufort County School District Superintendent Dr. Frank Rodriguez was just getting settled when the COVID-19 Pandemic hit. He sits down with our CEO Bill Miles to chat about what he’s learned, what’s ahead, and more. Click here to listen to their full conversation.

Photos courtesy of Beaufort County School Facebook Pages

1

What does the 2021-2022 school year look like?

One of the things I’m most excited about is having our kids back in school five days a week.

What we’ve learned over the last year is that - although I believe we managed the pandemic very, very well with our mitigation strategies and protocols that we had in place - virtual instruction works well for some students, but the vast majority need to be in school. So, we want to make it as normal as possible.

We know the pandemic is still out there, and we are watching it closely but there are things like masks we can’t require, and virtual is a limited option.

State data shows that seven to eight out of every 10 kids grades three through eight will be behind grade level. That’s the impact of the pandemic. There’s a lot of academic learning loss that you can’t recover in just one year.

So, we have a lot of programs in place like after school programming and tutorial support. We are really building on the fine arts. We really feel that the fine arts are ways we can connect with and reach kids, keep them engaged, and still develop their learning in the core subject areas.

2

The school district received almost $5 million in CARES Act money. What is that being used for?

The money we received will go to PPE, academic recovery programming to deal with learning loss, and enhanced sanitation protocols.

3

What are some ways the community can help support teachers, and students?

As we emerge from last year, I see this as a moonshot moment. It’s a great opportunity to galvanize the support of our community.

We live in a very generous community - not just financially - but there’s such a vast skill set from people who live here. We have retired teachers, scientists, you name it - we have it. And I’ve found them to be very generous in terms of their time, their talent, and of their treasure.

I find that the type of things we can benefit from … whether its mentoring programs or volunteering to come and support a classroom. If somebody has a love for trains, we have a place for them.

We want our kids to get a well-rounded education, it’s not just about the core standards.