We are very excited to be able to tell you that the actual construction on our nature trail has begun. They are in the process of finishing the grading and we are on our way to having a trail. We just hope the weather will cooperate with us some and that generous benefactors will come through with the money for railings. 

When you visit the school, be sure to take a look at the shared artwork we are displaying. First graders from Heritage Elementary have sent over their portraits of Martin Luther King, Jr in observance of Black History month, and students from Brook Glenn Elementary have shared colorful samples of several of their recent art projects. We are very grateful to these children for the work, and we will be sending samples of our students’ work to them to display in their schools.

As in the past, we have been offered twenty tickets for the South Carolina Children’s Theater’s annual Character Breakfast. This year it will be held on Saturday, March 10 at the Poinsett Club. A hot breakfast will be provided and thirty child friendly characters will be there to visit with everyone. We are making these tickets available first to Washington Center students, so parents, if you would like to attend this event with your child, please let us know by Thursday, the 15^th. If we have more tickets requested than tickets available, we will have a drawing Thursday afternoon. Tickets remaining after Thursday will be offered to staff members for their children. 

This week we had dog therapy on Tuesday and Christ Church “Reading Buddies” on Wednesday. Classes had lessons on safety rules, the French and Indian War, African American History, and parts of a chapter, among other topics. Students went off campus for shopping, bowling and dining, and at school made valentines and worked on other Valentines projects. The Bebo word of the week was “drink”.   

Today we had visitors from Bob Jones University ---Dr. Neal Ring, Athletic Director and Mr. Gustavo Nieves, a member of their Bruins Board. They were here for a tour and to talk about their upcoming fundraiser where Tim Tebo will be the featured speaker. For the event, they have invited two of our students to escort Mr. Tebow to the stage as a way of showing the extent to which they value the connection Bob Jones University has with Washington Center. 

Next week we are excited about our Valentine Dance on Wednesday and the following week volunteers from GE will be here to install four new boards in our multi-sensory room. Also next Friday is a student holiday, as is the following Monday, the nineteenth, so be sure those are on your calendar. 

Please keep in mind that our PTA is selling bricks for the pavers needed for the nature trail. We are getting close to the amount of money required for that aspect of the project, but we still need to sell as many as possible. Also, Amazon Smile is a great way to support the school with very little effort, so if you can help us with that we will be most grateful.

That’s it for us. Have a good weekend and we will look forward to having everybody back on Monday.