Wedding & Event Venue Near Barnwell, SC.

BARNWELL — A pledge made as freshmen came true Wednesday morning for four seniors from Barnwell High School’s powerhouse football program.

Team captains Jaden James, Maurice Odom, Clay Pender and Tyler Smith dreamed of the moment when they would sign to play college football - and they dreamed of doing it together. They did that Wednesday in the school gymnasium.

The linebacker duo of James and Odom will remain together at Limestone, Pender will reunite with older brother Craig at Erskine, and Smith will continue a family tradition by heading to South Carolina State.

For James, Limestone offered an opportunity to grow not just as a player but also as an individual, plus the chance to build bonds like the ones he’s forged in high school.

James has done a bit of everything for the Warhorses, bringing his high-intensity playing style to the outside linebacker, tight end and H-back positions while also contributing on special teams. An All-State selection and the Region 6-AA H-back of the Year, James accounted for 100 tackles (eight for loss), 51 assists and five sacks as a senior.

He intends to study sports management at Limestone, where he and Odom will be able to lean on each other academically and athletically as they continue on as teammates.

“I mean, that’s my boy for sure,” James said. “It’s going to be us conquering another level.”

Odom echoed those sentiments, asserting that together they’re going to make something happen at Limestone. He said that signing felt like a weight lifted off his shoulders as years of hard work turned into a chance to play at the next level.

“As a kid, I dreamed of this,” he said. “As kids we all dreamed of this, playing football in the backyard. Going to the next level, going to college, going to the NFL.”

A National Honor Society and Beta Club member, Odom will study nursing in college. He said Limestone simply felt like home, and the Saints’ desire to win mirrored his own.

Like James, Odom has stood out as a high-energy talent for the Warhorses at inside linebacker, tight end, H-back and on special teams. The Region 6-AA Linebacker of the Year and an All-State selection, Odom is also a finalist for Aiken Standard Defensive Player of the Year after accounting for 124 tackles (eight for loss), five forced fumbles, three sacks and three blocked field goals.

Pender truly did do it all for Barnwell, earning All-State honors at multiple positions throughout his high school career. He starred at wide receiver and defensive back, handled kicking duties and was the backup quarterback when the Warhorses went into the Wishbone, and he proved to be a threat to score any time the ball was in his hands.

He’ll play wide receiver at Erskine, though he said he told the Flying Fleet coaching staff that he’s willing to line up wherever to make plays. He felt like he had more of an influence on his brother transferring back to Erskine than Craig did on him to sign there, and they’ll have the opportunity to be teammates again rather than adversaries.

“Maybe if I was playing DB so I could pick him off or something,” he said with a laugh. “If I was playing wide receiver somewhere else, I would just have to watch him throw touchdowns. That would’ve been a little disappointing.”

Pender, like Odom a member of the National Honor Society and Beta Club, is leaning toward studying sports management.

The Region 6-AA Wide Receiver of the Year, he averaged 19 yards per catch and had 736 yards and 12 touchdowns on 37 total touches. At defensive back, he had 10 career interceptions, and as a sophomore he was the Region Specialist of the Year.

Smith has done nothing but set the bar for himself higher over the course of the last two seasons, and each time the Warhorses’ star running back cleared that bar with room to spare - he is the reigning Class AA state champion in the high jump, after all.

One of seven seniors chosen as a finalist for the state’s coveted Mr. Football award, Smith is joining the tradition-rich program at South Carolina State while also continuing a proud family tradition of attending the school. He intends to study athletic training.

The numbers speak for themselves. As a senior he rushed for 2,903 yards and 46 touchdowns, bringing his two-year totals to 5,054 and 74 scores. He’s ranked among the nation’s top backs in terms of yardage and touchdowns, and with those numbers has come a lot of recognition.

In addition to being named a Mr. Football finalist, he’s been a multi-time All-Region performer in basketball, football and track - twice an All-State pick in the latter two. He was named a North-South all-star, the Region 6-AA Player of the Year, the Class AA Lower State Offensive Player of the Year and is again a finalist for Aiken Standard Offensive Player of the Year.

“Crazy. Crazy, just shocking,” he said. “A guy like me from a small-town school like this right here, I never thought I’d be in that situation. That’s all I can say.”

This group helped lead Barnwell to an undefeated regular season as seniors, and the year before they reached the state semifinals.

“I’m happy for them. Happy for the families. Not happy for me, because they’re gone,” said Barnwell head coach Dwayne Garrick. “They’ve been the core and the nucleus of this program for the last three years, especially. Great football players. Did what they had to academically to give themselves a chance to be successful. Kind of sad to see them go, but at the same time happy for them. Happy for them for the next four or five years in their lives, and the doors that this is going to open for them to be successful.

A South Carolina high school teacher allegedly roughed up an honor roll student after the teenager quietly refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, the youngster, her parents and attorney said Thursday.

Marissa Barnwell, 15, was walking in the hallway on her way to class at River Bluff High School on Nov. 29 when the pledge was being recited on the campus intercom system, according to the family's federal lawsuit.

While some students stopped to observe the patriotic ceremony, Barnwell "elected to continue walking to her class and refrain from" reciting the pledge, the family claimed.

As she walked "silently in a non-disruptive manner to her class," special education teacher Nicole Livingston violated the ninth-grader's "constitutional rights by yelling and demanding that M.B. stop walking and physically assaulting her by pushing M.B., on the wall and forcefully touching M.B., in an unwanted way without her consent," the federal complaint said.

Barnwell said she wasn't the only student walking in the hallway who didn't stop for the pledge. The student said she didn't recognize the teacher who was saying "stop" and assumed Livingston was talking to someone else.

"She grabs me by my shoulders and starts to push me up against the wall and she like, she snaps my ID and she's like she's going to report me to the office," the student told reporters on Thursday.

"And I'm just confused I'm like, 'Get your hands off me, get your hands off me.' You can hear me say that in the video (of the confrontation). I was just in disbelief. I had never expected something like that to happened to me while being at school."

The girl's parents, Fynale and Shavell Barnwell, said they asked principal Jacob Smith to take action against Livingston but nothing came of it.

Livingston was still listed on the school's faulty roster on Friday.

"They saw the video, they saw this lady attack my child and still there has not been anything, that we are aware of, that has been done to this teacher," the girl's mother Fynale Barnwell said.

While state law requires pledge to be recited every day at school, the code also states that no one should be "penalized for failing to participate" as long as non-participation does not "disrupt school activities."

The youngster has regularly not participated in the pledge, family lawyer Tyler Bailey said.

"She's conscious of the injustices going on in the country," Bailey told NBC News on Friday. "She's conscious of the words and she delivered her actions. And she wasn't being disruptive. She was just going to class."

The Lexington School District One, Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait, the South Carolina Department of Education, Smith and Livingston are all named as defendants.

"Because this is an ongoing legal matter, the only information I can provide at this time is that the attorney representing the district is working on a response to the lawsuit," according to a statement by the district's chief communications officer, Elizabeth “Libby” D. Roof. "The response will be filed in the coming weeks."

Livingston, Smith and a representative of the state education department could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.

David K. Li

David K. Li is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

Nicole Duarte and Anthony Cusumano contributed.

About the data

Data is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hospitalization data is a daily average of Covid-19 patients in hospital service areas that intersect with Barnwell County, an area which may be larger than Barnwell County itself.

The number of daily hospital admissions shows how many patients tested positive for Covid in hospitals and is one of the most reliably reported indicators of Covid’s impact on a community.

Data is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hospitalization data is a daily average of Covid-19 patients in hospital service areas that intersect with Barnwell County, an area which may be larger than Barnwell County itself.

An updated vaccine is recommended for adults and most children. Statewide, 7% of vaccinations did not specify a home county.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notes: The hospitals map shows the average I.C.U. occupancy at nearby hospitals in the most recent week with data reported. The data is self-reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by individual hospitals. It excludes counts from hospitals operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service. Numbers for hospitalized patients are based on inpatient beds and include I.C.U. beds. Hospitalized Covid-19 patients include both confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients. The C.D.C. stopped reporting data on cases in May 2023.

How trends have changed in Barnwell County

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notes: Weekly county death data prior to Jan. 2021 was not reported by the C.D.C. and is sourced from reporting by The New York Times. Hospitalization data is a weekly average of Covid-19 patients in hospital service areas that intersect with Barnwell County. Hospitalization numbers early in the pandemic are undercounts due to incomplete reporting by hospitals to the federal government. Test positivity data is based only on test results reported to the federal government and is a seven-day average.

Historical trends in Barnwell County

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data in this chart has been archived and is no longer being updated. Weekly county case data prior to Jan. 2021 was not reported by the C.D.C. and is sourced from reporting by The New York Times. The C.D.C. stopped reporting data on cases in May 2023.

Bluffton Today

Barnwell, S.C. {April 25, 2023} – The South Carolina Career Development Association (SCCDA) announced the state winners of their 2023 National Career Development Association Poetry & Art Contest, all of whom will now compete in the national competition. Barnwell School District 45 would like to congratulate Reid Barker for being the state winner in the 9th through 12th-grade division.

Reid represented the Barnwell County Career Center (BCCC) in the contest and her entry was sponsored by BCCC Guidance Counselor Mercedes Walker.

Reid Barker, a senior at Barnwell High School, plans to attend the College of Charleston in the fall to pursue a degree in Biochemistry. She is scheduled to deliver the Valedictorian address to her fellow classmates on May 26, 2023, as the top academic performer in the class of 2023.

Reid Barker is the granddaughter of Buddy and Joanne Phillips of Hampton and the late Owen and Margie Barker.

As a state winner, Reid received a certificate and a gift card, as well as having her poem shared statewide. Reid’s poem focused on her future ambition to be in the medical field. Her poem can be read below in its entirety.

The Cycle of NursingFrom the first time you put on a baggy pair of scrubs to "play pretend" on your stuffed animalsThat's when love grew.A love for always asking questionsA love to take care of othersA love for helping others in needThat love transforms into ambition.An ambition to take rigorous classesAn ambition that drives you to apply to competitive programsAn ambition that is the key component that gets you an acceptance letterThen comes determination.Determination that pushes you through grueling hours of studyingDetermination that allows you to persevere through 6 AM clinicalsDetermination that will earn you a degreePassion follows determination.Passion which tells you to never give up on a patientPassion is what motivates you to always do betterPassion is what you need to get through what seems like a never-ending shiftAlong comes dedication.Dedication is what allows you to leave all the hardships of your day at the front doorDedication to a profession in which sickness and death will surround youDedication is what keeps you goingNevertheless, problems will persist…Complications will arise,Obstacles will stand in the way of success,And doubt will rear its ugly head.It takes grace to overcome.Grace to lift yourself up, when fearfulGrace to admit when you make mistakesGrace which follows you as you walk the floors of a hospital andTo the time where you put back on those scrubs from earlier that suddenly fit and get ready to save a life.

Reid is the daughter of Rusty and Missy Barker. According to them, “Reid is so smart, so determined and very creative. Words cannot express how proud we are of her accomplishments on the high school level. Ultimately, Reid is the best child we could have ever hoped for.”

Reid’s mother is also a long-time educator in Barnwell School District 45.

“Reid’s poem was so touching as it described so well the medical field, including the joys and challenges one will face when choosing that career path,” said BSD45 Superintendent Dr. Crissie Stapleton. “Reid’s poem truly embodied the love and passion a medical professional must have, and we are so proud of her as she moves forward to begin her studies in the medical field.”

Barnwell School District 45 applauds Reid’s accomplishments and future plans. According to Barnwell High School Principal Franklin McCormack, “Reid embodies the true spirit of a Barnwell Warhorse. She is well rounded and humble but make no mistake about it – she’s also very determined to succeed on the highest level regardless of the academic or extracurricular activity she is pursuing.”

TCL graduates more than 300 students

Beaufort County native Rufus Pinckney honored with Presidential Medallion

The Technical College of the Lowcountry graduated 321 students at its annual commencement ceremony held Friday, May 12, at Beaufort’s Waterfront Park.

Students earned certificates, diplomas and associate degrees from more than 60 programs of study including nursing, computer technology, early care and education, business administration, culinary arts and many more.

Upon graduating, students also have the distinction of becoming college alumni, TCL President Dr. Richard Gough noted. He went on to say that while many alumni further their education at four-year colleges and universities, most would remain and work in the area.

“They keep our hospitals, our construction companies, small businesses, law firms and everything in between running,” he said. “TCL alumni are the fabric of this community.”

Also graduating on Friday were dual enrollment students, or high school students enrolled at TCL and working toward a certificate, degree or diploma. Of the more than 300 TCL graduates, 43, or 13% of TCL’s class of 2023 were dual enrollment students – the largest number to date.

Tori White, one such student, served as the commencement’s student speaker. A senior at Whale Branch Early College High School, White was chosen from a pool of candidates who applied for the honor.

White earned an Associate Degree in Arts and an Associate Degree in Science from TCL. She also earned a Certificate in Arts/General Education and a Certificate in Arts/Liberal Arts Core – also while at TCL. She plans to attend South Carolina State University in the fall. Ultimately, she would like to go on to medical school and specialize in obstetrics and gynecology, she said.

“My career goal …is to one day be able to provide accurate information to assist women of color with their health,” she said.

Beaufort County School District Superintendent Frank Rodriguez, who served as commencement speaker for the ceremony, commended White on her career aspirations and spoke about the importance of education and what it has meant to him personally.

“The education that you receive here empowers you to chart your own course and make a positive impact in our community,” he said.

Rufus Pinckney

TCL’s Presidential Medallion was also revealed and awarded at Friday’s ceremony. Each year, the Presidential Medallion recognizes a distinguished community leader who exhibits enthusiasm, integrity and perseverance beyond the ordinary to help build a better and stronger community.

This year’s honor went to Rufus Pinckney, President of the Mather School Coastal/Lowcountry & Alumni Chapter. A Sheldon native, Pinckney also serves as Board Chairman for the Mather Interpretive Center in Beaufort and serves on the Board of Directors for the TCL Foundation.

Pinckney graduated from Robert Smalls High School in 1967 and attended Mather Jr. College, which was located on what is now TCL’s Beaufort Mather Campus. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Savannah State University in 1972 and went on to work at the International Paper Corporation in Savannah, Georgia, retiring in 2015 after 46 years on the job.

Pinckney has a passion for working with community leaders and organizations that have a mission to enhance and enrich the lives of those around them.

About TCL

The Technical College of the Lowcountry is the region’s primary provider of higher education and workforce training. The public, two-year, multi-campus community college serves approximately 5,000 students annually. TCL has campuses in Beaufort, Bluffton and Hampton and serves Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper Counties. For more information visit www.tcl.edu.

Jonathan C. Vickery, Publisher / Owner of The People-Sentinel, contributed to this article.