H 3920

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 3920
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
A house RESOLUTION
TO RECOGNIZE AND
HONOR ELLEN WOODSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FOR ITS LONG HISTORY OF BETTERING THE
EDUCATION OF STUDENTS IN GREENVILLE COUNTY AND TO CONGRATULATE PRINCIPAL SHAWN
MCCAIN, THE STUDENTS, AND THE FACULTY UPON THE OCCASION OF THE SCHOOL'S ONE
HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY.
Whereas, born in 1838,
Ellen Permelia Charles Woodside was the third of eight children born to Israel
Charles and Pamelia Sullivan Charles. At the age of nineteen, Ellen Charles
married Dr. John Lawrence Woodside, and together they reared thirteen children.
During the Civil War, when Dr. Woodside was away, Mrs. Woodside regularly
treated patients who needed medical help; and
Whereas, the project of
building Ellen Woodside High School began several years before its construction
started when bonds were sold to raise funds for the new high school. The school
district acquired a bond of thirteen thousand dollars for building the school,
which was less than half of the funds needed. Mr. John T. Woodside, a son of
Ellen and John Woodside, donated five acres of his home place acreage for the
school's site and offered to pay one-half the cost of the first new school
building, and construction began; and
Whereas, before
construction was completed, classes were held in the Community Hall over the
Woodside Store, and Mr. W. C. Hall served as principal with a faculty of three
teachers. Near the close of the first school year, about April 1925, the
building was ready for school purposes. When the trustees realized that funds
for the building were five thousand two hundred dollars short, three of them
signed personal notes from the Bank of Woodville for enough money to pay off
the debt; and
Whereas, the new two-story
Ellen Woodside High School grew from three teachers, including the principal,
in 1925 to seven full-time teachers ten years later. Through the years the
school provided night classes for World War II veterans, a community cannery
for canning vegetables, and a potato house for storing vegetables in the winter
months; and
Whereas, when the
original Ellen Woodside High School building was destroyed, a more modern
one-story building replaced it on the original school site.  When the new
Woodmont High School was built in Moonville in 1966, combining students from
Ellen Woodside and Piedmont High schools, the former high school became the
community elementary school; and
Whereas, Ellen Woodside
Elementary School continues to serve the needs of the community as Ellen
Woodside herself did.  Ellen Woodside Elementary has been celebrated with
several honors and awards including a Palmetto Silver Award, Duke Energy Award,
an Exemplary Writing School Award, as well as being designated a Safe Kids
School. The school is also home to five National Board-certified teachers; and
Whereas, the Ellen
Woodside Elementary School serves the needs of inquiring students preparing to
become productive citizens and our future leaders. Events such as author
visits, character education programs, intramural sports, safety patrols, and
school musicals engage and inspire young learners. An automated media center
with over 15,000 books, an outdoor garden classroom, and STEAM lab ensure
students have access to information and resources that invigorate young minds. Now,
therefore,
Be it resolved by the House
of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize
and honor Ellen Woodside Elementary School for its long history of bettering
the education of students in Greenville County and congratulate Principal Shawn
McCain, the students, and the faculty upon the occasion of the school's one
hundredth anniversary.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution
be presented to Principal Shawn McCain.
----XX----
This web page was last updated on April 29, 2025 at 01:26 PM