The time has come to soon vote for another South Carolina State Superintendent. Molly Spearman has recently shared that she will not run again.

What characteristics do you want to see in our new Superintendent? Here is my take on it!

When I think about the state of affairs here in South Carolina regarding the teaching profession, here is what I see:

1. Educators want a leader who sees a vision and shares that vision with the state. We need to know where we are going and the why behind it.

2. Educators want someone who has been in our shoes. We want a leader that has been a teacher and a school leader. We want someone that is willing to do all the things that are asked of us each day.

3. Educators want building-level leaders that allow for choice and voice. We want our voices heard. If we want that from our school leaders, we definitely want that from our State leader. We want someone that is willing to take risks with the legislators. We want a leader that will fight for more teaching and less testing.

Relationships matter when it comes to leading and serving others - at the classroom level, school level, and state level. I hope that our new leader feels that way too!

We all wish Molly Spearman well as she closes this door and moves forward. She had a tough job, a VERY tough job. We salute you, Molly, for your hard work!

Bottom Line - to serve others well, you have to love them well first.

Let's vote well, people. Our profession depends on it.

Have a great Winter Break!

Dr. Ann Marie Taylor, SCCEC President

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the cancellation of our 2022 SC CEC Conference that was to be held in Myrtle Beach in February.

Due to the spread of Covid, the board met several times and discussed our abilities to safely host the annual conference. This decision was not made lightly and has been thoroughly discussed for a few months to get a clearer picture of where our state sits with Covid. We looked at South Carolina’s case numbers, the vaccine numbers, and historical trends from last year’s Covid cases to help us. We know how much everyone loves data; we just don’t like what our data is showing us right now.

At this time, we do not believe that we can keep our attendees and members safe from the spread of the illness and have decided to cancel the upcoming conference. It is our hope to get back together for our annual conference as soon as we are able to meet in a large group safely.

Katie Mark, SCCEC President-Elect

Vice President (4-year term)

Recording Secretary (2-year term)

As chair of the 2021/2022 Nominating Committee, I am writing to seek your nominations of candidates to stand for election for the Executive Committee and Executive Board.

Member engagement is critical to the success of SCCEC, and the Board relies upon your recommendations for strong candidates. Even if you represent a different category of membership, please consider colleagues you know at other institutions that are current SCCEC members.

We encourage you to consider someone who embodies the spirit of serving as a deserving candidate.

December 15, 2021– deadline for nominations

If you have any questions or if you are interested in running for one of the above positions: please email Constance Mays, SCCEC Past-President, at maysconstance@gmail.com).

Nominations are currently being accepted for the 2021-2022 SC Council for Exceptional Children awards. The deadline for submissions is December 15. You can access the nomination page through this link: https://forms.gle/fGCKNC9aWWi9MEFV6 This year has been hard. Nominate someone you know for an award to celebrate their hard work!

Below you will find a list of all awards. If you want to know the criteria and necessary documentation for each individual award, visit https://southcarolina.exceptionalchildren.org/sccec-awards or email correspondingsecretarysccec@gmail.com.

• Advocate of the Year

• Betty Brown Training Grant

• Exceptional Teacher of the Year

• General Educator of the Year

• Laura Mohr Scholarship

• Instructional Mini Grant

• Para-Educator of the Year

• Principal of the Year

• Rookie Teacher of the Year

• SCCEC Member of the Year

• Student Member of the Year

• YES! I Can Award

• VIP Award

Click below to read about USC's Project Promote, with an interview with our very own Maria Jimenez!

Executive Board Meetings

April 2nd, 11:00am

Newsletter Submissions:

March 2nd

April 9th

Conference:

Canceled

Important Dates:

December 15th - Officer Nominations Due

December 15th - Award Nominations Due

January 15th - Submit Names of Representatives for TA

February 15th - RA Reports Due

February 26th - Representative Assembly

Email: sccecpublications@gmail.com
Website: https://southcarolina.exceptionalchildren.org/
Location: South Carolina, USA
Facebook: facebook.com/SouthCarolinaCEC
Twitter: @MySCCEC