IN SPORTS: County rivals Wilson Hall, Thomas Sumter clash as region foes B1
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Lee program helps build parenting skills BY MATT BRUCE matthew@theitem.com Parenting is a skill that, like anything else, blossoms with practice. And for the past several months, a Lee County organization has provided heads of household with an opportunity to hone their skills, offering a specialized program that teaches dozens of parents the art of proper child rearing. “Ultimately, from research, children do better when they have strong families to offer support,” said program director Alexis Pipkins. “Over the years, parenting has been one of the No. 1 issues that have been identified as a high priority.” The 14-week training curriculum is dubbed the Strengthen-
ing Families Program. It is a national, research-based framework designed to increase family stability, enhance child development and reduce child abuse and neglect. Lee County became one of 19 South Carolina counties to offer the program when its First Steps group launched the first volley of classes in April. The first two cycles were offered in Bishopville at Lee County Adult Education Building. Last fall, the program spread to Lynchburg’s Green Bay Missionary Baptist Church. Both sites offered weekly session lessons such as conflict resolution, problem solving and coping skills in the household. “I wish we had this program when I was bringing my daughter up, because if we would’ve
Haley insists S.C. can afford to cut taxes, fix its roads
known all of this, I think a lot of kids would have been better off,” said Phyllis Clark, who participated in the Lynchburg classes during the fall. Clark, who raised her children in the 1970s, attended the program with her niece, a mother of two who is currently bringing up a 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter. Clark plays a backup role in the children’s parenting and represents one of the blended families to which the program caters. Clark said the classes set a structure for parents to follow in home training. “We’ve still got to parent, no matter whether we get it on paper or we’re taught,” she said. “We need to allow our kids to make mistakes but correct them. They need to
MATT BRUCE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Phyllis Clark, left, looks on as her 9-year-old nephew Ronnie Wells and 7-year-old niece Jamila Scarborough work together with their mother during a parenting session in Lynchburg. The group participated in Lee County’s recent cycle of the Strengthening Families Program. experience the mistakes and be able to learn from them. Everybody just has to remember that we’re all at a growing state — even the adults. And they can learn from the chil-
dren as well as the children learning from the adults.” Lynchburg hosted about 16 families in its first 14-week
SEE PARENTING, PAGE A6
GIVING BACK
Volunteers pack food for students
BY SEANNA ADCOX The Associated Press COLUMBIA — Gov. Nikki Haley insists South Carolina can afford her proposal to cut income taxes by $9 billion during the next decade without cutting spending. The Republican governor said Friday the state can absorb that in surpluses as its economy grows. The past decade doesn’t reflect that kind of growth, but she dismissed questions about what she would cut. “There will be a lot of people who want to talk about spending and how we can’t afford something. That’s not who we are in South Carolina. That’s not this administration,” Haley told reporters after her Cabinet meeting. “There is more revenue. We can choose to squander it away and spend it, or we can give it back to the taxpayers.” State economic advisers predict her plan to cut the top income tax bracket by 2 percentage points would reduce revenue by $1.8 billion yearly once the 10year phase-in is fully implemented. That’s equivalent to 25 percent of her $6.9 billion spending proposal for 2015-16, released last week. Her budget doesn’t account for the first year of the cut’s phase-in, she said, “because we just came out with the plan.” If she had, her budget couldn’t pay for her own recommended spending increases, including those for the second year of her education initiative. Haley makes her case by looking at the last few years of postGreat Recession recovery. “You can’t ignore the surpluses we’ve had,” she said. Tax collections have grown $1.5 billion since 2010. But collections next fiscal year are expected to be less than $400 million above those of 2006-07, as health care costs have climbed. Economists have said the Legislature’s tax cuts of 2006 and 2007 exacerbated the budget crisis during the downturn. South Carolina is still digging out from those deep, recessionera cuts, said Senate Minority Leader Nikki Setzler, D-West Columbia.
Llynn Bolen closes a backpack while Adrian Mills loads another one at Willow Drive Elementary School on Friday. Every Friday, volunteers from Aldersgate United Methodist Church fill 38 backpacks with canned goods, fruit, cereal bars and other items to help children who otherwise might not have enough to eat during the weekend.
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Local groups help Sumter children keep eating on weekends BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com Thanks to two churches and a sorority, some students are taking home something to nourish their bodies as well as their brains on Fridays. Aldersgate United Methodist Church has partnered with Willow Drive Elementary School to provide food for its backpack program, and St. Mark United Methodist Church as well as the Sumter chapter of Zeta Phi Beta are working with Crosswell Drive Elementary School to help hungry students. In both cases, volunteers load up the knapsacks with child-friendly food items such as granola bars, raisins, pop-top canned foods and more. Then the
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students collect them before they go on breaks or home for the weekend. At Willow Drive, the initiative’s inspiration came after a former assistant principal and Rachel Johnston noticed some children were repeatedly stealing food. They soon realized the children were having trouble getting enough to eat when away from school, where breakfast and lunch are provided. “As an educator, I know providing our students with a high-quality education entails much more than just meeting their academic needs,” said Johnston, the reading interventionist and coordinator of the backpack program at that school. “If their basic material needs are not met, they cannot
DEATHS, A7 Eugene L. O’Konek Johnnie L. Elmore John W. Evans John T. Tidwell James P. Lawler Fernando L. Stewart Roy Lee Thompson
focus on learning. I love that we are able to provide them that opportunity.” She approached her pastor at Aldersgate, Webb Belangia, about the situation, and he readily agreed to provide any assistance the church could. Now in its second year, the program at Willow Drive serves 38 students at about $6.50 per child a week, Johnston said. It’s funded through the school’s Parent Teacher Organization, Aldersgate and community donations. “As a church member, it makes me proud to be a part of a congregation who is always willing to help,” Johnston said. “Being able to extend God’s love to those around us is why we are here. When we really know
and serve each other, we can make true progress together. I am always grateful to have the opportunity to do that.” While they don’t take food donations because of allergies and continuity between the backpacks, the church is “more than willing to take monetary donations,” Belangia said. “Every child has to have the same stuff,” he said. “If one kid pulls out a box of Oreos, they better all have Oreos, or we’re going to have a scrap. So it’s easier to do the shopping ourselves.” If you’re interested in giving to the cause, financial donations may be dropped off at or mailed to Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 211 Alice Drive,
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