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Community celebrates AR Lewis Elementary

Jason Evans/Courier
Former A.R. Lewis Elementary School principal Kathy Brazinski explained the significance of the red butterflies on the school’s murals. Her aunt once told her “Wherever you see a red butterfly, there I am.” Brazinski told the crowd during A.R. Lewis Day that she hopes they think of her when they see a red butterfly, too. 

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

PICKENS —Members of a close-knit community recently gathered to say goodbye to A.R. Lewis Elementary School.

The school hosted a celebration, A.R. Lewis Day, on Saturday, May 7. A large crowd gathered to share memories of the school and walk its halls — for many, for the last time.

Members of the Pickens County School Board voted on March 14 to close the school, along with Holly Springs Elementary School, at the end of this school year.

Jason Evans/Courier A.R. Lewis principal Melissa Terry shared the early history of her school with the crowd. She said the school’s first eight teachers strove to make the school “one of the best elementary schools in Pickens County.”

Jason Evans/Courier
A.R. Lewis principal Melissa Terry shared the early history of her school with the crowd. She said the school’s first 8 teachers strove to make the school “one of the best elementary schools in Pickens County.”

Principal Melissa Terry welcomed the crowd on “this very special day” and shared the school’s early history.

The school is located on “some of the most beautiful land in Pickens County,” she said.

A.R. Lewis opened for its first term in September 1959.

The school was built to consolidate smaller schools — even one-room schools — including Martin School, Shady Grove School and Mile Creek School.

The school was formally dedicated on March 20, 1960. The school is named for former Pickens Centralized Schools trustee Albert R. Lewis. Lewis served as the trustee of the newly-formed Pickens County School District A until his death in 1957.

“Pickens County honored his memory by naming our school after him,” Terry said.

When it was built, the school had eight classrooms and 258 students, she said.

The approximate cost of the building at that time was $199,000, Terry said.

“At that time, the eight teachers said they intended to make this one of the best elementary schools in the county,” she said. “And I would say that they did.”

The school was extensively renovated and added on to in 1991 and again in 2009.

“A.R. Lewis has had a rich history,” Terry said. “It has won numerous awards and it has been recognized for many accomplishments in education. That is wonderful.”

Terry said her two years as principal had been “the best years of my professional career.”

Jason Evans/Courier Mayor David Owens reads a proclamation declaring May 7 “A.R. Lewis Elementary School Day” in the city of Pickens.

Jason Evans/Courier
Mayor David Owens reads a proclamation declaring May 7 “A.R. Lewis Elementary School Day” in the city of Pickens.

“I fell in love with this school upon arrival, and I will always have a special place in my heart for it, for the students and for the families,” she said. “The families of this community are to be commended for the love and support that they have shown this school over the many years. Thank you so much.”

Pickens mayor David Owens read a proclamation declaring May 7 to be “A.R. Lewis Day.”

“A.R. Lewis has nurtured and educated some of Pickens County’s finest citizens for more than half a century,” Owens said. “A lot of them, if you look around, are here today.”

Dr. Henry Hunt, a former principal at A.R. Lewis, shared his

Jason Evans/Courier Dr. Henry Hunt was once the principal at A.R. Lewis Elementary School. He remembered parents and teachers working together to make the school even better.

Jason Evans/Courier
Dr. Henry Hunt was once the principal at A.R. Lewis Elementary School. He remembered parents and teachers working together to make the school even better.

memories of the school.

“That tree was a lot smaller when I was here before,” Hunt said with a laugh.

“I remember fondly the students,” he said. “It’s good to see former students, our present and former teachers that are here. It’s been a real pleasant experience for me to come back and walk around and talk to folks, to look at the facility.”

He praised the parents and the school’s Parent Teacher Association.

“The PTA when I was here was very supportive, and I know they still are,” Hunt said. “In fact, in the spring of 1982, the parents, through the PTA, raised funds and air-conditioned the classrooms. That was a major milestone for us.”

Before that, open windows and loud fans were commonplace in every classroom in warm weather.

Hunt remembered the “big, long lines” at the water fountains after recesses before the rooms were air conditioned.

A.R. Lewis Elementary School was a family, he said.

“The students, they know the teachers,” Hunt said. “The principals know the students — it certainly was that way when I was here. We know the community, we know the parents. Parents were very supportive when I was here, and I’m sure they still are. If there are issues and problems, we could call on them. They would help us out, help us out with individual children or help us with funds.”

The very ground the stage was sitting upon was graded thanks to the PTA so students would have a level playing area, he said.

Hunt said he hoped the students and others would be comforted by their own fond memories of the school in the days ahead.

“We had a great school, and it will live in our memories,” he said.

Jason Evans/Courier Former A.R. Lewis principal Kathy Brazinski said the teachers, staff and parents at the school “were a family.”

Jason Evans/Courier
Former A.R. Lewis principal Kathy Brazinski said the teachers, staff and parents at the school “were a family.”

Former principal Kathy Brazinski said the tradition embodied by the school began in 1890, “when community residents saw a need to properly educate its children while providing the closeness and individualized supervision a small school can provide.”

“So for over 100 years, this community has provided that,” she said.

She said the PTA provided school funds for “whatever the district budget didn’t cover.”

“People in the community were always willing to provide special learning experiences, and it has continued through to today,” Brazinski said.

She spent 12 years at A.R. Lewis. Her dealings with the school first began with teaching gifted and talented students, a program students from A.R. Lewis took part in.

“They came to me on Tuesdays, and I was always especially excited on Tuesdays because I was getting the students from A.R. Lewis,” Brazinski said.

“What a close-knit school A.R. Lewis was when I was first introduced to this wonderful school and community,” she said. “Little did I know that I would have the privilege of being the principal here and being a part of this family.”

Jason Evans/Courier Teachers and staff line up to receive a special memento from the PTA — framed pictures of the school.

Jason Evans/Courier
Teachers and staff line up to receive a special memento from the PTA — framed pictures of the school.

Teachers and staff went the extra mile for their students by securing grants for innovative programs for A.R. Lewis, she said.

One such program was Project Success, a writing program to teach teachers how to teach writing skills to their students. The program was part of the National Diffusion Network.

“Because the teachers did just an excellent job, and the students did just an excellent job, it was the only school in this nation that was a Model National Diffusion Network Writing School,” Brazinski said. “The only one in the country.”

While she was heading up Simpson Academy, Brazinski said she was “still wishing for an elementary school.” That wish was granted in 1998, when she became principal at A.R. Lewis.

“What a beautiful and fun ride,” she said.

She remembered the work that went into providing affordable afterschool childcare for the community.

The school isn’t near any childcare facilities, “so we made our own,” Brazinski said.

“That’s what families do when they need something,” she said.

She listed some of the school team’s many accomplishments, achieved, she said, because teachers, staff, parents and students banded together to accomplish them.

A.R. Lewis was the first Red Carpet School in Pickens County, first in 2001 and again in 2009.

It was a South Carolina School of Promise. It was named a USDA Healthier School in 2009.

Other achievements include Palmetto Silver and Gold Awards, Safe Kids programs, proving fresh fruit and vegetables to the students, Nickelodeon coming and building the school’s water garden, the nature trail and the garden, which was available to the larger community during the summer months-  and “11 straight years of closing the achievement gap.”

Jason Evans/Courier Albert and Louise Lewis live on as the namesakes for these eagles behind A.R. Lewis Elementary School. Students created the eagles, their eggs and their nest.

Jason Evans/Courier
Albert and Louise Lewis live on as the namesakes for these eagles behind A.R. Lewis Elementary School. Students created the eagles, their eggs and their nest.

She drew many laughs as she recalled times when she fulfilled some outlandish promises made to students and teachers for certain achievements they made and milestones they reached.

During the Freezing for Reading program, Brazinski sat on a block of ice. She remembered taking quick trips to the cafeteria, where pan warmers awaited “so I could run in and warm my buns and then go sit on the ice again.”

“I got my hair dyed red, I got my hair dyed rainbow,” Brazinski said. “I was taped to a wall. My skin could not breathe, and my feet turned purple. I had whipped cream in my ears and my face and my nose.”

She remembered snakes appearing not only on the playground but in trash cans inside the building. That wasn’t the only wildlife — many times horses, pigs and goats had to be lured from school grounds and reunited with their owners.

She recalled a near miss from a tornado.

Brazinski remembered the motto on the school’s pens, “Never Stop Caring.”

“I sincerely want to thank every teacher and staff member and parent,” she said. “Thank you for taking care of your children, our children here at A.R. Lewis.

“I’ll never stop caring, and I hope that each of you will not stop sharing with me your hopes, your dreams, your successes and your failures,” Brazinski said. “I love you all.”

During the celebration, the PTA presented framed photos of the school to all the staff present during the special celebration.

Some of the school’s youngest students, in K4-K5, sang “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” for the audience.

“It’s because they want to honor the friendships they have made over their little time here at A.R. Lewis and they’ll continue to have throughout their future in Pickens County schools,” Terry said.

Jason Evans/Courier The youngest students at A.R. Lewis sang a special song, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” during the celebration day program.

Jason Evans/Courier
The youngest students at A.R. Lewis sang a special song, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” during the celebration day program.

A.R. Lewis students taking part in the Young Appalachian Musicians program then played several songs.

Following the YAM performance, the band Left Lane Bluegrass performed for the crowd.

A.R. Lewis Elementary School’s last day of instruction for students will be June 1.