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TO CONGRATULATE THE STUDENTS, PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND ADMINISTRATORS, PAST AND PRESENT, OF LONNIE B. NELSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL OF RICHLAND COUNTY, ON THE OCCASION OF THEIR FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY, AND TO EXTEND BEST WISHES FOR MANY MORE YEARS OF ACADEMIC IMPACT IN NORTHEAST COLUMBIA.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to learn that Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary School will celebrate a half century of educating students in Northeast Columbia on May 15, 2014; and
Whereas, in 1963, Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary consisted of a diminutive campus with a cafeteria, which is now the Town Hall; the main hall; and a lower hallway for grades one through six; and
Whereas, a prominent businessman in the community, Lonnie B. Nelson served as a school board member from 1946 to 1969 and actively contributed to the growth of Northeast Columbia; and
Whereas, seven years after the school opened, Spring Valley High School had its inaugural year, Two Notch Road began to expand to four lanes with more businesses, and portable classrooms began to dot the campus at Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary; and
Whereas, eight years later, Richland Northeast High School was under construction; Two Notch Road had widened to four lanes almost to Pontiac; Columbia Mall had opened; businesses proliferated; and portable classrooms grew on the campus; and
Whereas, even though North Springs Elementary opened in the Northeast in 1982 to relieve Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary, within a year the portables were needed again; and
Whereas, by 1985, an addition for the building was needed on the campus, and construction on a new classroom wing was completed three years later, which also housed a music room, a multi-media room, a media center, and office space; and
Whereas, although growth in the Northeast kept the school straining at the seams, by 1988, Lonnie B. Nelson earned its first recognition as a Blue Ribbon School, and by 1993, the first computer lab opened on campus; and
Whereas, the second National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence recognition came in 1998, and even though four new schools had been added to Richland Two in the previous few years, the buildings on campus needed more expansion, so construction of a new wing for kindergarten and first grade began; and
Whereas, since 2004, a beautiful new cafeteria and a completely renovated media center have been added to the campus; and
Whereas, in 2006, Lonnie B. Nelson adopted the Integrated Thematic Instruction (ITI) model which has two main goals: to create participating citizens willing and able to engage in our democratic processes to improve life now and for future generations and to help educators translate current brain research into practical school-wide strategies for the classroom; and
Whereas, the Academy for Civic Engagement (ACE) opened on the campus in 2007 as a magnet within the school; and
Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives is grateful for five decades of outstanding academic service that Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary School has provided to the Northeast Columbia community and looks to hear of the school's continued accomplishments in the days ahead. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, congratulate the students, parents, teachers, and administrators, past and present, of Lonnie B. Nelson Elementary School of Richland County on the occasion of their fiftieth anniversary, and extend best wishes for many more years of academic impact in Northeast Columbia.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to Principal Karen Beaman.
This web page was last updated on March 25, 2014 at 1:13 PM