Wando students have been “Bringing Home the Gold” in recent weeks.  In recognition of high levels of academic achievement, the South Carolina  Department of Education  designated Wando  High School as a Palmetto Gold award winner  for the 8th straight year for our overall school performance.  

South Carolina public high schools are rated annually based on student performance on the Exit Exam, graduation rates, and the percentage of students passing end-of –course tests.

Winning this Palmetto Gold Award is a huge honor for our students and staff and a tribute to our parents and community who support academic excellence here.  Wando also earned a second state award, a Silver Closing the Achievement Gap Award, based in the academic gains made by  our students  who fall into four subgroups: African American students, Hispanic students, students who qualify for free or reduced lunch assistance, and students with disabilities. Our school’s goals are to elevate achievement for all students, to close the achievement gap, and to increase graduation rates.  These state awards indicate we are making significant progress in these areas.

Wando students also excelled at the local Quest competition and brought home two, large gold trophies as the overall winners in the high school divisions. Trident Technical College annually sponsors Quest, where students from area middle and high schools compete in a variety of academic areas.  This annual academic bowl is the only regional opportunity for such a broad range of competition from the high schools in the three area school districts. Trident Tech does an outstanding job of organizing and hosting this large-scale academic event at their main campus.

Our Wando students earned in Level III (9th and 10th grade)  a 1st place  in social studies, a 2nd place in math,  a 1st place in composition, and a 3rd place visual arts.  Our Level IV team (11th and 12th grade) won 1st place in math, a 2nd place in science, a 1st place in composition, and a 2nd place in  visual arts.  Wando students also won the following special competitions with awards of 1st place in Engineering Design and Construction, 2nd place in Culinary Arts, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in Hospitality.

At Quest, schools compete for points in specific academic competitions: Math, Social Studies, Science, Composition, Visual Arts, and Public Speaking.  For math, social studies, and science, teams of up to three students per school take a qualifying exam.  The top three schools then go on to compete in a buzzer/quiz bowl round.  First place is awarded 40 points, second 25 points, and 3rd 10 points.  Visual arts students are given a poem in advance and then they create artwork which represents that poem.  Public speaking is given a topic in advance and then they prepare their speeches.  Composition has one hour to write an expository essay based on the prompt given in the testing room.  All three of those categories are awarded three points for 1st place, two points for 2nd, and one point for 3rd.  Schools are awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place overall based on the amount of points scored.

Special competitions are not awarded points toward the school, but the students are still awarded prizes.  Engineering Design and Construction involves building a bridge of balsa wood according to certain specifications.  Bridges are constructed in advance, can be finished on site if necessary and testing is open to the public.  The culinary competition team is given a list of pantry items and ingredients and must submit their recipe ahead of time.  Other competitions are in the categories of hospitality service, French, Spanish, Computer Programming, Welding, and AutoCAD.

All students who place in a competition are awarded a medal. Students who participate receive a certificate and T-shirt.  

Trident Technical College is doing a great community service by sponsoring Quest and giving middle and high school students the opportunity to be on a college campus and participate in interscholastic academic competition.

Wando students will continue to reach for “Gold” in every area of competition from academics to athletics to student activities.  

We have had an outstanding school year to date.