Teachers ‘excited’ about new RCES
Jerry E. Halmon, Staff Reporter
“This is one year that
everyone will be excited in
going back to school,” said Lisa
Thomas, a 3rd Grade, ELA
Teacher, at the new Richard
Carroll Elementary School
(RCES) in Bamberg, as she was
busy Monday morning
preparing her class for the first
day of school. “I feel the
excitement of everyone to return
to school this year,” Thomas,
who is a 27-year veteran
educator, said because of her
and her fellow staff members
relocating to the spacious new
RCES located on Highway 301
North in Bamberg.
Thomas noted the
technology choices were
“endless” at the new RCES,
with interactive “whiteboards”
connected to Mac Apple
Computers for each teacher.
She noted the new school was
“very energy efficient” when it
comes to water usage. And she
stated having bathrooms in the
classrooms will “solve a ton of
problems” instead of having
kids leave the classroom and go
down the hall. Thomas said she
hoped the new school would cut
down on behavior problems
“because students will take
pride” in a nice, new facility.
Surprisingly, one of the
biggest comments Thomas
hears about the new school is
the much larger cafeteria and
the new stage. Thomas stated
the new school is really
“coming together” with the help
from the students and faculty
members from RCPS, RCES,
and the Sixth Grade students
and teachers from BEMS.
She said that last year all
the teachers were asked to sign
up to be on different committees
to make the new school a more
welcoming place and to get
more parent involvement in the
school. Thomas noted to foster
a sense of unity the committees
came up with a logo for a school
tee shirt that says: When one
door closes another one opens.
Ours are brand new. She
continued to say, “We want to
get the parents and community
more involved.”
Linda Warren, who has 20
years of experience in
education, and is a 5-year old
Kindergarten teacher at the new
RCES, said she “was glad” to be
at the new school. Warren noted
that she was “so excited” that
kids in Bamberg School District
One would now have the same
quality learning environment as
other kids in other areas of the
state.
Everything is coming up
roses for Richard Carroll
Elementary School First Grade
Teacher Lindsey McCully.
McCully, who attended
Winthrop University, and
received her master’s degree in
Educational Technology. This is
her first year of teaching and
starting her career in a brand
new school. “I’m really excited,
a little nervous, but more
excited than nervous,” McCully
said Monday morning.
McCully, who comes from a
long line of educators, is the
niece of RCES Teacher Madge
Fleming and BEHS Head
Baseball Coach Tracy Fleming
of Bamberg, and the
granddaughter of former 1970s
BEHS Head Football Coach
Richard Phillips.
McCully described the
faculty at RCES as being “very
close knit” noting, “I can tell,
I’m going to be on a great team
that really cares and will be
open to sharing ideas and
listening to my ideas too.”
McCully described her teaching
style as “hands-on.” She noted
she likes to “build
communities” of learning and
“individualize” her teaching for
each child.
On having her first teaching
job being in a brand new school,
McCully said, “All my friends
who have teaching jobs are
jealous,” she said. “I’m blessed
to have gotten in a brand new
school my first year. Most
people don’t even get to be in a
brand new school at anytime
during their careers.”
