Matters of the Mind

Cross has a good track record for winning accolades in sporting competitions but shines just as often in non-sporting events too. To date, Cross teams have competed in SCISA Spelling Bee, SCISA Quiz Bowl, SCISA Battle of the Books, DAR Essay Writing Competition, SCISA Literary Meet, SCISA Chess Championship, SCISA Art Competition, SCISA Math Meet, Sea Island Regional Science Fair, South Carolina Science Olympiad, and various local and national writing competitions.

Students honored for their work in the local and state level DAR competitions include Peyton Dukes, first place, sixth-grade category, local and state and Jillian Newcaster, first in the seventh-grade local category; Max Homann who placed as a finalist in the Chapman University Holocaust Art and Writing Competition and third in the essay writing section of the SCISA Literary Meet. Lower School placed first in SCISA chess state-level championship and individual participant Fielding Riddle, placed second with Maddox Folscroft in third place overall.

Pictured above, top to bottom:

In support of this mission, in March, 10th and 11th graders participated in the DUI and Lutzie 43 (Distracted Driving) experience with the Beaufort County Substance Abuse Prevention Team. Eleventh graders Xavier Toles and Alex Marinov commented that driving, “even at such slow speed, was challenging” as “depth perception and balance was messed up”, putting the driver in places they did not want to be.

Students at Cross are talented artists and this year William Stansfield won the Lions Club Peace Poster Competition. SCISA Art Competition was successful for middle schooler Ali Murphy, who took first place, open media category. Also congratulations to Malin Weitze for placing 1st in the 2023 Promising Picasso contest for her mixed media entry titled “Dalesman!”

Upper school students participated in the Youth In Government Conference (YIG) 2022 where Emma McCollum, Ethan Land, and Alana Stokes were recognized. Ethan and Alana both won Outstanding Statesman Awards and Emma won the Philip Bradley Leadership Award, presented to only one of 1,600 student delegates.

Cross Charms at Chapman

Ella Land, Ethan Land, and Brynn Madden put the finishing touches to an auction item for the 17th Annual Pearls to Pluff Mud Dinner and Auction Event. Upper School student, Ethan Land, volunteered to build the beach playhouse as a student contribution to the school’s annual fundraiser. Bethany Carlson crocheted a Stingray, the school’s mascot, as a donation for the auction. Keeping healthy is a high priority for many of today’s teenagers. This is what motivated fifteen upper school Cross students to start a Teens for Healthy Youth (THY) club on the school campus three years ago. The program was created for schools in 2014 by Lowcountry Alliance for Healthy Youth (LCAHY), to engage teens in healthy choices. Cross Schools nurse and club sponsor, Wendy Cummings, shares that “THY students are helping to improve and promote healthy choices around our school. My hope for THY is to bring more awareness and publicity to the club. I want these students to encourage everyone in the school to make good, healthy choices.”

Freshman Max Homann embraced this year’s writing challenge set by Chapman University, themed The Strength of Love and the Will to Survive, and his efforts paid off. Homann placed as a finalist (students whose works were chosen to move forward with the possibility of winning a top prize) among 115 entries in the poetry and prose division of the competition. This year 7,000 students from 241 schools internationally entered the competition. Homann chose to study the testimony of Bluma Goldberg, who settled with her husband Felix, in Columbia, South Carolina after WW2, as inspiration for his essay. His essay is also entered into the local writing competition hosted by the SC Council on the Holocaust.

Photo Credit: Ms. Brougham-Cook

Pictured right: Max Homann and Ms. B-C discuss Max’s The Strength of Love and the Will to Survive essay.

• “Beach Etiquette: Sea Turtles & Tourists,” an informational session by Amber Kuehn, director of the Hilton Head Island Sea Turtle Patrol, will be held at 5:30 p.m. May 16 at the USCB Hilton Head Campus, One Sand Shark Drive.

Attendees can learn how to help the turtles who come to the island annually. The session is a launch for sea turtle season.

For more information, visit seaturtlepatrolhhi.org.

• Sabor Latino Spring Festival will be held from noon to 9 p.m. May 21 at Shelter Cove Community Park on Hilton Head Island.

The event features Latin music and dancing by various groups.

Cost is $10 per person. For more information, visit laislamagazine.com.

• The Bluffton Library will offer a number of events during June and July to celebrate Summer Reading. The first will be Trivia by the Book, presented by Good Company Readers Theatre on June 3. All ages are welcome to play a game that mingles trivia with short passages from well-known books, poems, and stories related to this year’s Summer Reading theme, “All Together Now!”

The children’s session is 1 to 1:45 p.m.; adult session is 2-2:45 p.m. Cookies and punch will be served, and prizes will be awarded.

In addition, Chloee McGuigan, Beaufort County Recycling Coordinator, will discuss “Trash Less, Recycle More: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!” at the library from 10 to 11 a.m. June 7. She will talk about the importance of waste reduction and the vital role recycling plays in accomplishing waste reduction goals.

McGuigan will also discuss how to promote proper waste disposal that diverts waste from the landfill, improving our waterways and helping to keep Beaufort County beautiful! Register at 843-255-6503.

The Bluffton Library is located at 120 Palmetto Way in Bluffton Village. For more information, visit beaufortcountylibrary.org.

• The monthly Palm Trees & Pistons car show will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. June 10 at Sea Turtle Marketplace on Hilton Head Island, in the parking lot of the former SteinMart store.

The show will feature vintage, antique, exotic, muscle and unique cars owned by area locals.

Any car owner who would like to display their vehicle(s) are welcome to bring them for show and tell, and to meet others of like mind.

Not a car owner? Come by and see some cool cars. It’s all free!

The show is held the second Saturday of each month and is free and open to the public. The event is weather dependent.

• Gullah/Geechee Famlee Day 2023 will be held from noon to 4 p.m. July 29 at the Frissel Community House at Penn Center, 16 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, St. Helena. Activities will include authentic Gullah/Geechee food, arts and crafts, presentations, music and dancing. The event is presented by the Gullah/Geechee Nation and is free and open to the public.

SUBMIT YOUR EVENT NEWS

The Bluffton Sun welcomes news of community, club, church, school and organization events. If the event is open to the public, email info to editor@blufftonsun.com.