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Opinion
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NEW SCHOOL YEAR, NEW SCHOOL LEADERS
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BY FRANK RODRIGUEZ
I am excited to share some information about the district’s new principals who will lead schools in this publication’s readership areas:
Michelle Brockway, an assistant principal at Hilton Head Island Elementary School since 2014, will replace outgoing HHIES principal Sarah Owen, a veteran educator with more than 25 years of experience, who decided to return to her love of teaching at the secondary and collegiate level. Brockway began her educational career at Hilton Head Island Elementary School, having held various positions there and at the Hilton Head Island School for Creative Arts for the past 22 years.
Tracy Lanese, an assistant principal at Okatie Elementary School since 2021, replaces longtime principal Jamie Pinckney, who retired. Lanese has been with BCSD for 23 years as an elementary teacher, interventionist, and assistant principal at our South of the Broad schools.
Clinton Austin, an assistant principal at May River High School since 2017, will take the helm at Hilton Head Island Middle School. He has served Beaufort County School District for a decade, having held educational positions at Bluffton Middle School and May River High School, in addition to coaching athletics at Bluffton Middle and High schools.
School security
I know a top priority for many families is school safety. BCSD has a strong relationship with our local law enforcement partners. In fact, the morning after the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas unfolded, our district held a joint press conference with law enforcement agencies from across the county, reinforcing our solidarity and partnership in support of school safety.
Additionally, we have School Resource Officers (SROs) at all our middle and high schools. As the state continues to fund two SROs per year, we plan on adding them to elementary schools. In the meantime, we have armed security guards at our elementary schools.
Combatting the national teacher shortage
As many are aware, there is currently a teacher shortage across the nation. Every day we are competing with districts throughout the country and state to recruit and retain educators. This proves especially difficult, given the high cost of living in Beaufort County. But, I am excited to share that this summer Beaufort County Council approved the district’s submitted budget proposal for the 2022-2023 school year. This budget was also unanimously approved by our board of education with the intention of attracting and maintaining superior educators and staff, supporting the District’s commitment to increased student outcomes.
The salary for BCSD starting teachers is now $45,566 in comparison to $37,928. Coupled with additional supplements, the total compensation package for starting teachers in the 2022-2023 school year is now $50,066. (And, this pay bump is not just for new teachers.)
BCSD is now one of the top-paying districts for educators in the state of South Carolina.
Fulltime classified staff, to include bus drivers, will also see salary increases.
Beaufort County has amazing educators and support staff whom I appreciate. I am also grateful to our Board of Education and County Council for supporting these salary increases that will help us recruit the best and the brightest teachers and support staff in the state to serve our students.
By focusing on compensating our staff, we are really focusing on our students, directly benefiting the future of our region.
GIVING THANKS
Monthly was excited to assist Evelyn & Arthur Hilton Head, which partnered with Giuseppi’s Pizza & Pasta last month to show their appreciation for some of Hilton Head Island’s first responders by throwing a pizza party.
Brittany Smart of Evelyn & Arthur said that during the past year there has been an increased presence of first responders in the area and after personally witnessing a few events, it was obvious how much the community relies on first responders.
“I wanted to do something special to show appreciation for all their hard work,” she said. “They are true superheroes.”
Smart decided to throw a pizza party for the island’s fire departments. With the support of company CEO Adrianne Weissman and their customers, Smart raised enough money to feed the fire departments.
Evelyn & Arthur teamed with Giuseppi’s, which helped with the delivery and logistics.
“I couldn’t have done it without them or the support of our community,” she said.
The deliveries covered seven stations a day for three consecutive days. Forty-eight pizzas were delivered.
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
SUMMER FUN AT HOME
Summer is heating up in the Lowcountry. If you’re looking for some at-home ideas to keep the family busy, we’ve rounded up some unique ideas.
HOLD A COOKING OR BAKING COMPETITION: Search for a family-friendly dinner or dessert recipe online (try to find one with a lot of steps.) Print the recipe out, set up cooking stations for each member of your family, then set a timer and see who wins. For younger children, be sure to pick easier or no-bake recipes like trail mix or Rice Krispie treats.
TAKE A FAMILY BIKE RIDE: We are so blessed to live in an area with beautiful biking trails and winding beaches. Spend a morning or afternoon on a bike ride as a family. Stop along the trails and make a list of any interesting wildlife you encounter. When you get home, Google what you found as a family and learn more about different native species.
HOST A SPA DAY: Every vacation calls for a bit of relaxation. Start with fresh fruit smoothies for breakfast. Make a pitcher of lemon and cucumber water to sip on throughout the day. Find a yoga class on YouTube and practice together in the backyard. Spend the rest of the day meditating, reading, and listening to soothing music.
DIGITAL DETOX: No matter the at-home adventure, stepping away from constant technology is a great opportunity to get away from the allure of our devices. When enjoying family time, put away all phones or tablets and focus on each other. With fewer distractions, the family will be more engaged.
CHECK IT OUT @ HILTONHEADMONTHLY.COM
DEVOTED TO THE ORANGE&BLUE
BY CLAY BONNYMAN EVANS | PHOTO BY RITTERBECK PHOTOGRAPHY
Jamm Wise is a friendly guy. So, when religious solicitors knocked on his door a few years back, Wise invited them into his Bluffton home.
One of the men looked down to see a University of Florida doormat and knew he’d stepped into a swamp. Gator gear and memorabilia — helmets, blankets, wall hangings, toys and more — were everywhere.
“You might not want to hear this…” the man started to say, and Wise suddenly knew he had an enemy in his midst: a fan of Florida’s archrival, the University of Georgia Bulldogs.
“He didn’t have to explain. ‘Get out!’” Wise, 49, recalls saying.
He is a friendly guy, so he sent that proselytizing ‘Dawg’ packing with as much good humor as he could muster (and let the other guy stay), but he was dead serious: The only Georgia fan allowed in his house is his son’s “old lady,” and even then, Wise says, “I don’t want her here.”
The Bluffton native can’t help himself when it comes to his beloved Gators. He considers himself the biggest Florida fan on the planet.
He also can’t quite explain how a South Carolina resident became Gator Fan No. 1; call it instinct. It began when he was a boy, watching Southeast Conference football games. His devotion accelerated in 1990, when he was a student at Hilton Head Island High School.
That’s when former Gator and NFL quarterback Steve Spurrier took the head coaching reins at his alma mater and turned around a program that hadn’t been a real contender for years.
“People call him cocky, but it’s confidence,” Wise says.
The coach’s confidence was not misplaced: The Gators went on to win six SEC championships and beat their other archrival, Florida State, to take the first of their three national championships on Spurrier’s watch.
Wise became all Gator, all the time. He has attended every home football game at “The Swamp” in Gainesville, as well as several away games, for decades. When he can’t attend an away game, he watches at home — alone.
“Nobody is allowed at my house. People would be trying to talk to me, and I can’t have that,” he says.
Wise’s devotion infuses his life. He wears Gators gear 365 days a year. His semi-truck is painted in Florida colors. Memorabilia fills his house: game gloves, custom Nike shoes signed by former Gator and current Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts, a back scratcher, helmets, wall hangings, a metal, boxing-style belt celebrating the Gators’ three national football titles — they’re everywhere.
Thirteen years ago, Wise even turned his golf cart into a blue-and-orange Gator-mobile, complete with a meanlooking reptile chomping on FSU Seminole and UGA Bulldog logos. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he had his photograph taken so he could “attend” home games in his usual seat.
But Wise’s Gator love goes well beyond football. He’s a booster for the whole university, touting all its men’s and women’s teams as well its reputation as a top public university.
Living his Gator pride daily, at work (he’s a truck driver at the Port of Savannah) and at home, Wise likes to think he’s made it easier for others to show their pride, whatever their allegiances.
“It may seem a little crazy, but I do believe I had a little to do with the change in culture around (Bluffton) displaying fandom for your college program,” he says.
While his beloved Gators have not yet managed to make college football’s four-team national-championship playoff, Wise says it’s only a matter of time.
In the meantime, he’s OK waiting — well, as long as Florida beats Georgia, as it has in 22 of the last 32 years.
“The Florida-Mutts (Georgia) game is the one game that means the most to me. It makes or breaks my season,” he says.
BLUFFTON’S JAMM WISE HAS ‘INDESCRIBABLE’ PASSION FOR THE FLORIDA GATORS
CALLING THE SHOTS
MARK RENNIX RELISHES TENURE AS LONGTIME OFFICIAL
BY JUSTIN JARRETT | PHOTOS BY ROB KAUFMANN
If you’ve been to a sporting event in Beaufort County in the past two decades, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Mark Rennix. If you’re the type who must let officials know every time they missed a call — or made a borderline call one way or the other — you’ve probably yelled at him.
No matter: while the county and the country are mired in a dire shortage of willing officials, Rennix, 63, presses on.
You might find him behind the plate chatting up catchers in the youth rec league or the burgeoning Beaufort County Adult Baseball League one night, calling a rec soccer game the next, and on the ladder officiating volleyball the next.
On Friday nights in the fall, you can guarantee he will be striped in black and white under the lights somewhere. Basketball season used to be the one time you knew where Rennix would be on a given night, but last year he gave wrestling a shot after hearing of a pressing need for referees to allow local teams to compete.
Sports have ruled his life since a young age. Growing up in Lower Merion, Pa., — the hometown of late NBA legend Kobe Bryant, he’s quick to point out — Rennix played every sport but excelled in soccer and track in high school. He earned an opportunity to play soccer at NCAA Division III Virginia Wesleyan.
After college he took a job in Virginia Beach with the landscaping company TruGreen, and transfers led him to Little Rock and Fayetteville, N.C., before an opening became available in Bluffton. “We had family here and already came down every summer to visit and play golf,” Rennix recalls. “It was a no-brainer.” The family quickly put down roots, and Rennix, who had started coaching his son in Dixie Youth Baseball in North Carolina, was drawn to the local sports scene. Dissatisfied with what he saw, he decided to become part of the solution.
“When I started going to his games, especially basketball, what I saw was … it wasn’t very good officiating,” Rennix says with a laugh.
He went through the training to become an official for the county recreation department and soon ventured into calling local private school basketball games, as well as high school and college soccer matches. He eventually branched out to football, volleyball, and most recently, wrestling. He also serves as the coordinator of officials for the county, handling the administrative tasks of hiring, scheduling, and managing officials across numerous sports.
It’s a tall task, but one he relishes.
Rennix hopes to see more athletes in the area take up officiating when their playing careers end so future generations can continue to play.
“As you have seen, our officials in the Beaufort County area are, you know, getting a little long in the tooth,” Rennix says. “They’re great guys, and they’ll always show up and work, but we can’t count on those guys forever, and we can’t count on people that are just there for the money. It takes someone who cares about the kids and cares about the game.”
Rennix has come to truly value his time in stripes.
SET UP FOR SUCCESS
Makenna Mason grew up on the volleyball court — or nearby — hanging around while her mom coached the middle school team at St. Francis Catholic School. She eagerly awaited her ascension to fifth grade, when she could join the team.
But she didn’t grow up — physically — for a few more years, so the shortest player on the team latched onto the libero role reserved for a defensive specialist who can substitute freely on the back row.
Then came a growth spurt, giving Mason the opportunity to thrive in a new and vitally important role as a setter. It’s a job that demands crisp communication, quick instincts, and consistency on every point, and the soon-to-be star was more than ready to take it on.
“It’s very frustrating to start a new position, and there’s also so much pressure on the setter,” Mason said. “You have to get the perfect set for the hitter.”
Now heading into her senior season at Hilton Head Island High School, Mason has come about as close to perfecting the role as possible. She already has a state title on her resume, and the reigning SCHSL Class 4A state volleyball player of the year (she had 840 assists in leading the team to the Lower State final) is ready to take on a new challenge — leading a new group of Seahawks back to the title match.
Not every player is skilled, knowledgeable, or confident enough to excel at the setter role, but Mason quickly showed she could handle it all. She absorbed all she could from veteran players like Brooke Simons and state-champion coach Garrett Talarczyk.
Like a master chess player, Mason always seems to be one move ahead of her opponent on the other side of the net, putting the ball in the optimal spot for her teammates to make the play. Her upbeat personality and excellent communication skills make her a paramount fixture in the lineup, and her unmatched work ethic on the court emulates the always-grinding mantra of her coach, who pushed her to elevate to the next level, both physically and mentally.
“Coach T’s favorite thing is the mental side of the game,” Mason said. “He tells us, ‘You’ve gotta have a strong mindset.’ He also cares so much about us being a family and a team.”
After a terrific freshman season at Hilton Head High, Mason set her sights higher. It helped having an elite attacker (Ady O’ Grady ) with the skill to put a ball away from anywhere.
Mason’s and O’Grady’s connection on the court was a thing of beauty in 2020 and propelled the Seahawks to their first state championship since 2016.
The rest has gone by in a flash. Suddenly, Mason is the star of a new group of Seahawks and she’s being counted on to lead them back to the top. Talarczyk’s squad lost seven seniors from last year’s team, giving an extra complextion to Mason’s job description.
“I never thought I’d see the day when I would be the oldest,” Mason said. “Hopefully we grow a lot this year. We’ve got a good group of girls. It’s more of a defensive team, but I’m excited.”
