PICKENS — With the Pickens County School Board currently considering a proposal that would close Ben Hagood Elementary School, located at 435 Sparks Lane in Pickens, the school’s PTO is working hard with the community on a “Save Hagood” campaign to keep the school’s doors open.

[cointent_lockedcontent]The Hagood PTO plans to stand up for the students by speaking at the Pickens County School Board meeting on Jan. 25. The meeting, which will be held in the board room of the Curtis A. Sidden Administrative Office at 1348 Griffin Mill Road in Easley, is open to the public and begins at 6 p.m.

The PTO is urging all who want to see the school remain open to attend the meeting to show their support.

Courtesy Photo
Ben Hagood Elementary PTO member Stephanie Sampson hands out information in the student pick-up line about the upcoming efforts to save the school.

The current Ben Hagood Elementary School opened its doors in 1980 and has impacted Pickens County as a community and family.

Since then, thousands of students have walked the halls and have continued down a successful path in life. The PTO believes the community wants and needs this school to stay open for future generations to come. The school is growing both academically and with extracurricular activities and events.

The PTO recently helped raise more than $12,000 for new playground equipment and new technology in the classrooms.

The school enjoys a meal together on the first Thursday every other month at the local Wendy’s, with the restaurant chain allowing Hagood to keep 15 percent from the sales that evening as a way to raise money.

The students have also sold Yankee candles. The sales have made the school $7,000 in profit in the bi-annual event, which takes place with help of the community and families of students at Hagood.

The school also offers Literacy Night, where students participate in reading, eat dinner and receive a book to take home.

Another part of Hagood Elementary School’s importance to the community is that it houses the Young Appalachian Musicians (YAMs) program. The YAMs program introduces children to the traditional music of their heritage. It is open to all students, third through fifth grade, who are interested.

The PTO is working hard to voice its concerns, with community members recently passing out flyers asking Pickens-area businesses to use their outdoor or indoor signs to get the message out by placing the moniker “Save Hagood” on them.

The intent is to make sure all in the Pickens community know what is happening. The message is another way to stand up for the children and staff of the school. PTO officials said their biggest fear if the school is closed is that its students will be divided among other schools, raising the number of children in those schools, as well as in their classroom sizes.

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