COASTAL OBSERVER

The gym was quiet. Students sat  together on the basketball court. Staff stood on the sidelines. All eyes were on a pair of televisions.

Cheers rippled through the crowd when the first winners were announced, elementary schools in Florence and Charleston, breaking the tension.

Then it was Waccamaw Middle’s turn.

Georgetown County School Superintendent Bethany Giles had already reminded the students that they were champions by virtue of being one of two middle school finalists in the Palmetto’s Finest awards sponsored by the S.C. Association of School Administrators.

The televisions streaming the awards from Columbia showed images from Gold Hill Middle in Fort Mill, and how it educates “the whole child” through a community that’s “deeply engaged.” That’s the “Bulldog Way.”

There were giggles and pointing fingers when the images turned to Waccamaw Middle, its range of academic and extracurricular activities and examples of “Warriors Pride.”

Then Quincie Moore, executive director of the association, opened the envelope, paused and read the winner.

The gym erupted with a frenzy of cheers and pumping fists that disappeared under a blizzard of confetti fired from cardboard tubes.

An exuberant principal, Ginny Haynes, said she thought the result could have gone either way.

“I would put these teachers and staff up against anybody in the world,” Haynes said. “If you don’t take opportunities in life to put yourself out there, you will never truly know what you’re capable of doing and accomplishing.”

Waccamaw Middle received an overall “excellent” rating on its state-issued report card for a third consecutive year in 2025.

“You have done the work. You do it on a daily basis, and I want to say this: you do it with kindness,” Giles said. “Every time I come to this school, I am treated with so much respect, so much kindness. I can tell that’s not pretentious.”

London Grant, a seventh-grader, said that’s the point of showing Warrior pride.

“When we see adults that we don’t know, we still respect them. We say hi, have good manners,” London said. “We all worked together to come this far.”

“I’m proud of everyone. I’m proud of myself, too,” said Kennedy Williams, an eighth-grader.

Making students feel like they belong is an integral part of the middle school’s culture, Haynes said. 

“That Warrior pride shines from within. It’s finding pride in themselves, finding pride in who we are as a family at Waccamaw Middle School,” she said.

The school was one of 30 that applied for Palmetto’s Finest awards in four categories last September.

The 22-page application includes data on student achievement, instructional programs, professional learning communities and school culture.

Along with that, Haynes created an “artifact room” as part of the application.

A selection committee visited the school before it was named a finalist in January and again before the final decision was made.

Emphasizing student involvement was a key component, she said. The middle school has a student advisory group called The Tribe that meets with Haynes once a month to gain student feedback on what needs to be adjusted, monitored or discussed from a student perspective.

“This allowed us to really open our eyes and go, ‘OK. Maybe we can adjust this to be more student-centered,’ ” Haynes said. “They can be heard. They have a buy-in. They’re a part of what we do and why we do what we do.”

Waccamaw Intermediate School was named Palmetto’s Finest in 2019. Waccamaw High won in 2008. Kensington Elementary was the first school in the district to win the award in 1993.

The winners receive a banner, bumper stickers for their staff and a ring for the principal.

“We just can’t hide that Warrior pride,” Haynes said.