Members of the Bamberg School District Two Board of Trustees expressed thanks for recent donations to the district during December's regularly scheduled meeting.

Trustee Loretta Goodman expressed her thanks to the Nehemiah Project, a program of Christ Central Ministries, for the donation of 500 jackets to students in the district. Superintendent Dr. Jake Sello also announced that the group is in the process of donating exercise equipment to the high school.

The Nehemiah Project, an organization that has been providing D-O students with tutorials and mentor experiences, has gone a step further in sharing their hearts. They have provided 500 coats for the students of the Denmark-Olar School District. The coats are shared across the district.

“Students and staff members are amazed by the project’s generosity and were pleased that they were Aeropostale coats, (for the un-initiated, Aeropostale coats are popular design wear, particularly for teens). One of our students, Angel Saxon, said, ‘Oh, I’m getting one of those coats’. The coats may be the new fashionable thing to wear. around DO High,” said Denmark- Olar Principal Mickey Dibble. “The students were appreciative, to say the least, and their Christmases will be much warmer in more ways than one.”

Dibble also explained that the Project has also given the high school food packages for the school’s after school programs and weight-lifting equipment will be arriving to give the students additional resources for physical health.

Sello also gave an update on a recent $10,000 donation, saying the money was given for the purpose of expanding and developing programs for the arts within the district.

In other business, Goodman reported she had received complaints regarding the temperature in the district's classrooms.

"We'll look into it and we'll rectify it," the superintendent replied.

Students Heaven Moody of DO Elementary School, Jess Gleaton of D-O Middle School, and Precious Reardon of D-O High School were presented certificates of Student of the Month for December.

During a discussion of alternative diplomas, board member Alvin Maynor commented “I know for a fact that all three of our schools have all types of opportunities for our kids advancement. The parents have to get involved,” he said. “They’re going to have to make sure their children are involved. They're going to have to make sure that their children take advantage of all of the opportunities available…we’ve got to get serious. The parents have to get serious. The students have to get serious. We're going to have to make sure that they (the state legislators) see that public education works.”