A house RESOLUTION

 

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR ELLEN WOODSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FOR ITS LONG HISTORY OF BETTERING THE EDUCATION OF STUDENTS IN GREENVILLE COUNTY AND TO CONGRATULATE PRINCIPAL SHAWN MCCAIN, THE STUDENTS, AND THE FACULTY UPON THE OCCASION OF THE SCHOOL'S ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY.

 

Whereas, born in 1938, Ellen Permelia Charles Woodside was the third of eight children born to Israel Charles and Pamelia Sullivan Charles. At the age of nineteen, Ellen Charles married Dr. John Lawrence Woodside, and together they reared thirteen children. During the Civil War, when Dr. Woodside was away, Mrs. Woodside regularly treated patients who needed medical help; and

 

Whereas, the project of building Ellen Woodside High School began several years before its construction started when bonds were sold to raise funds for the new high school. The school district acquired a bond of thirteen thousand dollars for building the school, which was less than half of the funds needed. Mr. John T. Woodside, a son of Ellen and John Woodside, donated five acres of his home place acreage for the school's site and offered to pay one-half the cost of the first new school building, and construction began; and

 

Whereas, before construction was completed, classes were held in the Community Hall over the Woodside Store, and Mr. W. C. Hall served as principal with a faculty of three teachers. Near the close of the first school year, about April 1925, the building was ready for school purposes. When the trustees realized that funds for the building were five thousand two hundred dollars short, three of them signed personal notes from the Bank of Woodville for enough money to pay off the debt; and

 

Whereas, the new two-story Ellen Woodside High School grew from three teachers, including the principal, in 1925 to seven full-time teachers ten years later. Through the years the school provided night classes for World War II veterans, a community cannery for canning vegetables, and a potato house for storing vegetables in the winter months; and

 

Whereas, when the original Ellen Woodside High School building was destroyed, a more modern one-story building replaced it on the original school site.  When the new Woodmont High School was built in Moonville in 1966, combining students from Ellen Woodside and Piedmont High schools, the former high school became the community elementary school; and

 

Whereas, Ellen Woodside Elementary School continues to serve the needs of the community as Ellen Woodside herself did.  Ellen Woodside Elementary has been celebrated with several honors and awards including a Palmetto Silver Award, Duke Energy Award, an Exemplary Writing School Award, as well as being designated a Safe Kids School. The school is also home to five National Board-certified teachers; and

 

Whereas, the Ellen Woodside Elementary School serves the needs of inquiring students preparing to become productive citizens and our future leaders. Events such as author visits, character education programs, intramural sports, safety patrols, and school musicals engage and inspire young learners. An automated media center with over 15,000 books, an outdoor garden classroom, and STEAM lab ensure students have access to information and resources that invigorate young minds. Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

 

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor Ellen Woodside Elementary School for its long history of bettering the education of students in Greenville County and congratulate Principal Shawn McCain, the students, and the faculty upon the occasion of the school's one hundredth anniversary.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Principal Shawn McCain.

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