Lancaster County students read their way to e-books for school, residents mark wins

York and Lancaster County students and businesses are celebrating accomplishments.

Here are a few:

Indian Land Middle School wins reading challenge

Students at Indian Land Middle School in Lancaster County read a combined total of more than 177,442 minutes in October, according to a release from LightSail, an online reading platform offering personalized libraries for students, classrooms and school districts.

The LightSail Launch Challenge in October pushed students to read to help their school. Tens of thousands of students from across the U.S. and Mexico read more than 300,000 books on LightSail and read for more than 5.1 million minutes on classroom e-readers and tablets, a release states.

The challenge was to accumulate the most reading minutes. Indian Land students came in first and received $3,000 worth of e-book titles, about 250 books, from LightSail for their school’s library. Schools in New York came in second and third.

Fort Mill student performs with Coastal Carolina ensemble

Christopher Colon, a music major from Fort Mill, performed in an Oct. 17 concert in Coastal Carolina University’s Edwards Recital Hall, a release states.

Colon performed with the university’s saxophone ensemble and low brass ensemble for their fall concert, directed by music lecturers Daniel O' Reilly and Chris Connolly.

The concert featured jazz and classical music from ragtime composer Scott Joplin, classical composer Franz Biebl, jazz composer Kai Winding and American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.

J. Marion Sims Foundation contributes up to $75K to Lancaster County foundation

The J. Marion Sims Foundation will donate up to $75,000 in 2018 to the Lancaster County Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Foundation for the Carolinas based in Charlotte, a release states.

The donation is to help the foundation continue to provide grants to Lancaster community organizations.

“We have been studying the data, looking at indicators of community health, and believe we can make a bigger impact together,” said Chip Cox, Chair of the Lancaster County Community Foundation. “It is our hope that this generous contribution by the J. Marion Sims Foundation will have an immediate impact on our grant-making efforts and also spark other giving to strengthen our county.”

The $75,000 will support:

• $40,000 to support areas in education, health, higher education, workforce development and human services
• $10,000 to grow arts and culture efforts in the community
• The J. Marion Sims Foundation will also match dollar-for-dollar, up to $25,000, contributions to the Lancaster County Community Foundation through March 2018.

“Both foundations share the vision of healthy and vibrant community and have been working together to find opportunities to elevate philanthropy,” said Robert Folks, chair of the J. Marion Sims Foundation. “Our gift today is designed to have immediate impact and also to challenge others to join us in building a healthy community.”

York woman named S.C. Department of Probation employee of the year

Cheryl Martin, offender supervision specialist in the York County office, has been named the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services 2017 employee of the year, a release states.

Martin has been with the office for 10 years. She is a mother of four and a Pineville, N.C., native. Martin graduated from York Technical College.

“(Martin) has assumed many roles in our county office and has made sure every task is completed professionally and in a timely manner,” the release states. “She is extremely hard working and always makes and effort to go above and beyond her call of duty. Martin is the backbone of the York County Office.”

Local woman takes home pie win at state fair

For the second time in eight years, Susan Rodgers of Rock Hill proved her baking skills are award-winning.

Rodgers took home the grand prize at this year’s South Carolina State Fair for her blueberry icebox pie, said her husband Mike Rodgers.

Rodgers said his wife has been baking since the couple came to Rock Hill from California and has won several ribbons in the past. Susan enters contests every year at the fair.

Susan said she was shocked to win again.

“To me, I just bake pie,” she said. “I just enjoy baking.”

This story was originally published December 3, 2017 at 8:53 PM with the headline "Lancaster County students read their way to e-books for school, residents mark wins."