SC | agenda

Write on target

Connection to their local cooperatives and tapping into their creativity helped three young South Carolina students win the 2023 Children’s Book Challenge. A panel of independent judges selected books written and illustrated by Kaia Bishop, Sawyer Blakeley Costello and Aydin Soner among submissions from across the state, and the books will be published and distributed to South Carolina elementary schools this fall. Sponsored by EnlightenSC an educational initiative of the state’s electric cooperatives the competition challenges fourth and fifth grade students to write and illustrate stories that focus on the impact of electricity in their lives, communities and state.

Bishop and Costello, fifth grade students at Hilton Head Island Elementary School for the Creative Arts, co-authored The Electric Trail, which was selected as a regional winner by their local co-op, Palmetto Electric, before advancing as a statewide finalist in the group category. The students split the contest’s $500 cash prize, and their teachers, Jennifer Friend-Kerr and Alexandria Holland, each received a $100 prize.

“This is an unbelievable program,” says FriendKerr, whose students have participated in the Children’s Book Challenge for the last three years. “I’ve seen students just grow and engineer and develop their imaginations through storytelling.”

Soner’s Captain Co-op, the New Assistant, and the Tornado won the individual division after claiming Fairfield Electric’s local contest. The homeschooled fourth grader in Columbia received a $500 cash prize, and his teacher, who also happens to be his mother, Kutina Williams, received a $100 prize.

Captain Co-op, the New Assistant, and the Tornado is about a superhero lineworker who teaches his new partner about co-ops as they restore power after a tornado.

“This is my first time getting a book published, so it’s exciting,” says Soner. “I hope the kids who read it think that it’s good and they learn something from it.”

Have you seen this bird?

Probably not. The rare red-cockaded woodpecker is notoriously difficult to spot, but you can increase your odds with a visit this month to the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge near McBee. Point your browser to SCLiving.coop/travel for a guide to the 46,000-acre longleaf pine forest and learn why this is the perfect time of year for a bird-watching expedition.

Rounding up your weekend

There is no excuse for boredom in South Carolina—not when you have our online Calendar of Events page at SCLiving.coop/calendar, with plenty of festivals, concerts and shows to choose from. May’s listings include the Black Cowboy Festival in Rembert May 25–27. This annual event celebrating the contributions of African Americans to America’s beloved cowboy culture is open to all and takes place at Greenfield Farm.

Tasty homegrown tomatoes

Upstate gardeners take note: You have until the end of this month to get your tomatoes planted. If you’re up to the challenge, download our free 2023 gar-

When