South Carolina Principal Loses Bet Rides Camel
It seems with each passing day we get nothing but bad news when it comes to schools, kids, teachers and education. Every time I see a school (especially an elementary school) in a headline, I hold my breath. What tragedy am I about to learn? That’s why this small story about an elementary school principal in South Carolina makes me smile.
Janet Campbell is the principal at Annie Burnside Elementary School in Columbia, South Carolina. She made a bet with her students. If they would read 50,000 books, she would ride a camel. It’s unclear if Janet has some public, deep fear of camels or why this would be such a catalyst for students to achieve. Who cares?! What matters is this apparently was the motivation that the kids at Burnside needed. They didn’t just read 50,000 books by May 5, they read 64,000!
So, on Tuesday, Janet Campbell hopped aboard “Abraham The Mountain Dew Drinking Camel.” SEE THE VIDEO HERE.
There’s something inspirational about a school setting and achieving a goal in the post-pandemic world. I don’t know if we’ll ever fully overcome the damage isolation and remote learning did to our kids. A year ago, Principal Campbell and her team at Burnside Elementary School decided to roll up their sleeves and make reading, English, and literacy their school’s focus. Their efforts have yielded improved test scores.
Oh, and this reading challenge? It built upon the success of the one last year. In 2022, Principal Campbell set a reading goal for her students at 15,000 books. They blew past that one and read more than 20,000.
So, hat’s off to the kids of Annie Burnside Elementary School in Columbia, Principal Janet Campbell, her staff and the students’ parents. Job well done!
These Are The Best Public Elementary Schools In North Carolina
Choosing the right school for your child can feel like the most important decision in the world. It’s a factor in where you purchase a home. Should you shell out the big bucks for a private school education? How can you set your child up for success? So many parents stress about these decisions for years and years. Good think Niche.com is here to help with rankings of schools and universities across the country. They recently released their 2023 rankings of schools. This includes K-12 as well as higher education. You can play around with the filters and view the rankings based on a variety of factors. One of the more intriguing, and important levels of schooling is elementary schools. This is often when the path is set for children. So what are the best public elementary schools in North Carolina? Let’s find out.
For this list, we are counting charter schools as public schools since they are free to attend. And well the bad news is if you aren’t looking at a charter school or don’t live in the Chapel Hill area, then you’re school isn’t on this list. Yes, of 25 spots there wasn’t a single one that wasn’t a charter school or in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School district. But where did these rankings come from you may ask? According to Niche:
The 2023 Best Public Elementary Schools ranking is based on rigorous analysis of key statistics and millions of reviews from students and parents using data from the U.S. Department of Education. Ranking factors include state test scores, student-teacher ratio, student diversity, teacher quality, grade school ratings, and the overall quality of the school district. Read more on how this ranking was calculated.
If you’re struggling with where to send your child to school hopefully this list will help you narrow it down. These are the 25 best public elementary schools in North Carolina.
Charlie Nance is the Afternoon Drive co-host (along with his wife) of "The Charlie and Debbie Show" at WSOC, Country 1037 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The couple have been with the radio station since 2006. Charlie has won the prestigious CMA (Country Music Association) Award for Radio Personality of the Year and has been a finalist for the Country Radio Hall of Fame four times. Prior to his time in Charlotte, Charlie (along with Debbie) spent more than a decade hosting successful morning radio shows in Greenville, SC; Augusta, Ga; and Birmingham, Al. As a content creator for Country 1037, Charlie writes about dream lottery windfalls, sports, restaurants and bars, and travel experiences in North and South Carolina.
