Grand Strand Newsmakers

CCU Rotaract Club attends youth leadership awards

During the summer '2016, the Rotaract Club of Coastal Carolina University Officer Team attended the five-day Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) in Washington, D.C., held at George Washington University.More than 200 Rotaractors from over 45 countries attended, and the officers were exposed to many cultures. The team attended leadership seminars which addressed topics such as conflict resolution, team service projects and fundraising.

Local guidance staff gathers for workshop

Guidance personnel from schools that are members of the South Carolina Independent School Association gathered in September for a workshop on how to enhance a college counseling and guidance program.

Larry Watt, SCISA executive director, said Laura Hogue, a member of the staff at Conway Christian School, was one of the counselors from SCISA schools who attended the single-day event.

Topics covered included: Ranking policies and Palmetto Fellows Scholarship qualifications.; Pre-high school counseling; Parent counseling; CAA clearing house requirements; Testing and college applications; Qualifications for the Junior Scholars Program.

Workshop facilitators included Earl Mayo, director of the S.C. Tuition Grants Commission; Katie Harrison, deputy director of the S.C. Tuition Grants Commission; Tanya Weigold, scholarship and grants program manager at the S.C. Commission on Higher Education, and Nicole Ivery, an education associate at the S.C. Department of Education.

“This annual workshop was designed for both new and experienced guidance counselors,” Watt said. “Since college funding formulas change every year, this annual workshop serves to update experienced counselors as well as explain the processs to those who are new to the field.”

The South Carolina Independent School Association is a non-profit, voluntary association of over 120 independent schools serving more than 37,000 teachers and students.

Founded in 1965, the State of South Carolina incorporated SCISA as an exclusively educational organization with the responsibilities of establishing accreditation standards, coordinating academic and athletic competition and providing professional development for member organizations.

CCU one of five US universities to receive study abroad scholarships to France

The Institute of International Education has announced that Coastal Carolina University has received a $5,000 matching grant as a part of the new French Embassy Benjamin Franklin-Generation Study Abroad Scholarship for 2016-2017. The program supports study abroad scholarships targeted to underrepresented students who traditionally do not go abroad due to lack of sufficient resources.

The program, which is supported by the Embassy of France, is being launched this year as a component of the Transatlantic Friendship and Mobility Initiative, a joint effort of the U.S. Department of State and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to strengthen the historic ties between the U.S. and France by doubling the total number of French students studying in the U.S. and American students studying in France by 2025. As one of the original group of commitment partners of the Generation Study Abroad initiative to enhance study abroad for U.S. students (http://www.iie.org/Programs/Generation-Study-Abroad#.V4fdsSfD-po), CCU was eligible to submit an application for the program.

Being named one of the five award recipients will enable CCU to provide $2,500 scholarships for four students that will offset expenses for study-related travel to France, tuition and books during the 2016-2017 academic year. Applications are due on November 11, 2016, and are available at this link.

“We are delighted to receive this grant,” said Darla Domke-Damonte, associate provost for global initiatives for Coastal Carolina University. “Our application targeted first-generation college students, veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, high financial need students or those pursuing international internships in France in an effort to expand the diversity of our study abroad participation. We are seeking to double study abroad in the coming four years, and this program and other initiatives supported by Generation Study Abroad have been very helpful to us in these efforts.”

With less than 10 percent of American college students studying abroad—and an average of 18,000 in France per year—the Institute of International Education (IIE) Generation Study Abroad Scholarship Program aims to facilitate the participation of more U.S. students in academic, internship or service-learning experiences abroad.

“The Institute of International Education has done remarkable, ambitious work over the years to promote France as a destination country for study abroad,” said Bénédicte de Montlaur, cultural counselor of the French Embassy and permanent representative of French universities in the U.S. “This new collaboration with IIE will help us take our Benjamin Franklin Program to the next level by increasing not only the number of U.S. students going to France, but also the amount of funds available per student. Increasing and diversifying mobility are two key priorities for French-American exchange in higher education, and we are very grateful for the support, wisdom and knowledge that IIE has brought the French Embassy in this domain.”

For more information, please contact Domke-Damonte at 843-349-2129 or ddamonte@coastal.edu. Learn more about study abroad programs at CCU at coastal.edu/academics/studyabroad.

Myrtle Beach Seafood Festival Supports Local Community With Thousands in Cash and Supplies

The Myrtle Beach Downtown Redevelopment Corporation and City of Myrtle Beach hosted the inaugural Myrtle Beach Seafood Festival on Saturday, Oct. 15 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. between 8th and 9th Avenues North in Myrtle Beach at the Burroughs & Chapin Pavilion Place. Festival organizers estimate attendance between 6,000-7,000 for the first year festival that showcased the Grand Strand area’s love of seafood. Admission was free and featured live entertainment including Jim Quick & Coastline, The Bounty Hunters, The Castaways and The Tams, as well as a huge Kidz Zone, arts & craft and business exhibitors and a corn hole tournament hosted by Coastal Tailgating with seventeen teams competing. Over thirty vendors participated in the event.

Festival organizers announced during the event that $5,000 from event proceeds would be donated to the Hurricane Matthew Relief Fund, whose funds will aide in local disaster relief efforts in Horry and Georgetown Counties. Additional information about this recovery fund can be found at www.helpthegrandstrand.com.

In addition, a donation of $1,500 from event proceeds will be given to the Horry County Special Olympics of South Carolina, whose mission is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes, and the community.

Dozens of cases of water and hundreds of canned foods and toiletries were collected at the festival from event attendees, and festival organizers donated all to the Helping Hand of Myrtle Beach located on Joe White Avenue.

Funeral Home, Rotary Club help with flood relief

The staff at Lee Funeral Home and Crematory and volunteers from the Rotary Club of Little River load a truck with emergency supplies for the hard hit area of Nichols, SC. The truck will deliver the supplies to the Harvest Church in Green Sea which is a distribution center for aid to Nichols and the surrounding area.

The folks at Lee Funeral Home organized the drive. The Rotary Club of Little River provided volunteers and goods and added financial support to the effort. Many, many people in the area contributed supplies and money to help.

The drive continues. School supplies are also needed. If you can help in any way, contact Lee Funeral Home and Crematory at 843-390-2525.

VFW Calabash teaches flag education

VFW Calabash Post No. 7288's Flag Education Team is always happy to speak before elementary school students about the American Flag. It's at that young age that lessons learned are seldom forgotten and the flag education sessions always reveal that the students, usually 5th graders, hunger for information about Old Glory, its history and how the flag should properly be handled and respected. On October 20th the team of Post members headed for Jessie Mae Monroe Elementary School and explained flag etiquette to four classes of young Americans curious about the flag and about the veterans' military experiences. There will be other flag education classes in Brunswick County elementary schools during the school year and they are always rewarding for the VFW Calabash Post #7288 Flag Education Team and the students as well.

This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Grand Strand Newsmakers."