Superintendent Dr. Sean Alford, (above left) talks with Mark Bolton, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Centerra-SRS, during Silver Bluff High School's annual State of the Bluff Address.
There’s new energy behind the effort to ensure Aiken County Public Schools students have a solid foundation for the advanced careers of the future. Centerra-SRS, the contractor for security services at the U.S. Department of Energy, Savannah River Operations Office, announced tonight a $75,000 donation to support Silver Bluff High School’s partnership with the National Math + Science Initiative.
Centerra-SRS’s Senior Vice President and General Manager made the announcement during Silver Bluff High School’s second-annual State of the Bluff Address. The event, established last year by the school’s Principal Mr. Bert Postell in partnership with the school’s Parent, Teacher and Student Organization (PTSO), allows an opportunity for the community to celebrate the school’s history while coming together to envision a greater future for the school.
Postell joined the Silver Bluff Family last August, having previously served as Principal of Ft. Dorchester High School, where he implemented the state’s first National Math + Science Initiative (NMSI)-partnered school. There, much like the state’s second and third NMSI-connected schools (South Aiken and North Augusta High Schools), Ft. Dorchester saw huge gains in Advanced Placement (AP) enrollment and qualifying scores.
With research indicating increased rigor among high school students better prepares them for the demands of college, districts and communities throughout the nation are beginning to expand access to more students and shifting the paradigm of AP from a program for an elite group of students to a program for all. NMSI removes all barriers to student success, including costly exam fees and access to the latest lab equipment, graphic calculators and other classroom materials needed to support high-level courses, and simply makes taking the AP challenge more desirable for all students at all ability levels.
NMSI’s College Readiness Program includes Educator Support with course-specific training through four-day Summer Institutes, two-day workshops in the fall, and targeted training for teachers in lower grades to build the pipeline of students ready for rigorous AP courses. Expert teachers with a proven record of success in AP performance will serve as individual mentors for teachers, offering one-on-one support with curriculum, pacing guidance and instructional feedback.
At the County’s other NMSI-connected schools, South Aiken and North Augusta, Academic Pep Rallies and other events have helped shift the culture and enthusiasm for highly rigorous coursework, and encouraged more students to participate and excel in AP courses. The financial rewards of $100 to each student for each qualifying score on an AP exam has not hurt student enrollment or engagement levels either. South Aiken’s advanced course enrollment numbers increased by 107% and North Augusta’s by 95%; the number of students earning a college-credit qualifying score of 3, 4 or 5 on the AP exam increased at both schools as well, with an increase of 67 and 91 scores, respectively.
“With the right supports, all students are capable of advanced coursework,” Postell stated. “We’re extremely grateful to Centerra-SRS for their investment in Silver Bluff’s students. It will be our great honor to prepare students well here at Silver Bluff to ensure they are ready to serve in the future at the site or wherever they are called.”