the blythewood leader

Blythewood Middle School Character Awards Breakfast
On Friday, April 24th,
Blythewood Middle
School held its Character
Awards Breakfast.
Nineteen students were
honored for consistently
demonstrating positive
character and life skills.
The students recognized
were Abby Truitt, Dominic
Delfidio, Hannah Johnson,
Courtney Grooms, Whitney Evans-Wipple, Teco Proffitt, Zakki Parker, Grayson
Sanders, Bethany Mitchell, Emma Lenker, Jameel Lewis, Kenny McCray, Michael
Gay, Derek Massey, Shaq Owens, Richard Weeks, Taylor Klein, Naiesha Wise and
Abby Mayes.
BMS was recently selected as one of three finalists for the South Carolina
Schools of Character Award and also received an honorable mention as a National
School of Character for its outstanding character education program. The Character
Awards Breakfast is just one of the many ways Blythewood Middle promotes good
citizenship.
BMS Students Compete in Mythology Bee
Corey De Jongh (on left), Mythology Bee winner,
Mrs. Gregory, and runner-up Larkin Hancock.
Congratulations to Corey
DeJongh, who won the Percy
Jackson Mythology Bee on
Wednesday, April 29, 2009, and
to Larkin Hancock, who was
the runner-up, and to all who
competed! The competition
started with 26 students who
took a written test. The top
15 scorers came back on
Thursday afternoon for the oral
mythology bee. The questions
were hard and the students
showed their great knowledge
of mythology. The mythology
bee was sponsored by Mrs. Kristin Mixson, 6th grade social studies teacher, and
Mrs. Betty Neal, media specialist. Corey has been entered into the national Disney
competition to win a trip for four to Greece this summer.
The following top 15 scorers advanced to the Oral Rounds of the Mythology
Bee: Rebecca Fantone, Larkin Hancock, Cedrick Brown, Durrand Smith, Jr., Sarah
Dorsey, Aaron Guymon, Hannah Cowan, Devin Lowry, Shakia Thompson,Tanner
Bessinger, Corey de Jongh, Alex McIver,Josh Baker, Patrick Reid, D. J. Newton.
Columbia SC 76ers Win Tournament
The Columbia SC
76ers, comprised of
youths from around the
area, competeted in the
state tournament April
17-19, and became 2009
10U AAU SC State
Champions. This win
qualifies the team for a bid
to Nationals which will
be in Lexington, KY July
13th through July 19th.
The Columbia SC 76ers: First Row: Bryan Haynesworth, Dontrell Shuler, Carlos
Nuttry, Jr., Tre’, Neal & Ryan McCray. Second Row: Bryson Cannon, Khalil Shakir-
Harris, Rodney, Gunn, Jr., Tyrell Mendenhall, Tyler McBeth, Jordan Davis &
Davontae Shuler. Third Row (coaches): Charles Green, Curtis Cannon & James Neal.
Not pictured: Coach Kenny Frinks & Blake Harris
Page 18 • May 21, 2009 •
Kelly Mill Student Qualifies For National Competition
Anthony McCallum, a sixth grade
student in the INC. program at Kelly
Mill Middle School, travelled to the
Cincinnati Men’s Gymnastics Junior
Olympic National Championship.
He competed against the 287 other
gymnasts in his group in Cincinnati,
Ohio on May 8. He earned his spot
at the National Championships by
winning the state competition and
placing well at the regional event in
Miami, Florida.
Anthony has been competing
in gymnastics for the nine years.
His coaches cite his dedication,
determination, and hard work as the
primary reasons for his success in
Anthony competing on the rings at the
regional competition in Miami.
gymnastics. He is the first male gymnast from his gym (Carolina Gymnastics
Center) to qualify for a national competition.
Kelly Mill Students Win
Readers’ Challenge Competition
On April 30, teams from
the six middle schools of
Richland School District
2 gathered at Blythewood
Middle School to compete
in the district’s second
Readers’ Challenge
competition. This is a
trivia-style competition in
which students are asked
questions to determine
which team knows the
most about the twenty
books nominated for the
South Carolina Junior Book Award. In preparation for the competition, teams of
five students read all twenty books on the list. Each school then selected one team
to advance to the district competition. The district competition was won by the
team from Kelly Mill Middle School. The winning students were: (Front Row L
to R) Charlie Nguyen, Matthew Chandler; (Back Row L to R) Zach Bills, Jason
Erno, and Adam Groth. All of these students are sixth grade students from the
Kelly Mill, INC. program.
Killian Elementary Student Wins REEDS
Jewelers Mother’s Day Essay Contest
REEDS Jewelers
congratulates Nathan
Johnson from Mrs. Harris-
Young‘s 5th grade class for
writing the winning essay
entitled, “Why I Love My
Mom.” Nathan’s essay
was chosen from among
one-hundred fifteen
submissions. Everett
Black, Village at Sandhills
Store Manager presented
Nathan’s mother, Carol
Cruse, with a beautiful Mother’s Day Diamond Pendant. Each participant also
received a bookmark voucher.
The Blythewood Leader