|
The President
Speaks:
KENNY BLAKENEY
SCSPMA PRESIDENT
Planning For The Future
As the 2007-2008 school year comes to an end, it is very encouraging to see the
number of new school
projects on the agenda for the
coming year in South Carolina. This means that we are planning for the future
education of our children.
In Colleton County alone we are planning to build a new elementary school to
replace one that was built in
1938. We will be building a
new high school and converting our existing high school into a large middle
school
along with renovations and repairs to many of our aging
facilities.
Many school districts in the state of South Carolina are in the middle of this
same type of planning. As we enter
into our facilities plan, it is
imperative that we always keep the future of our children in mind.
Our winter conference was held at the Milliken Plant in Spartanburg. For those
of you who could not attend,
you missed two very important
presentations. One on terrorism in our schools and another on property tax
reform. As you are aware these are two very important topics for
every school in the state of SC.
We look forward to seeing all of you this summer.
Kenny Blakeney
SCSPMA 2008 Winter
Conference
January 25th at Milliken
Research Center, Spartanburg, SC
This year’s winter conference was held at
the Milliken Research Center. Our organization was fortunate to have Mike
Patrick and his team extend the invitation to host the winter conference another
year. The conference topics included Terrorism in Schools, Property Tax Reform
and how it is affecting districts across the state. First on the agenda was
Jeff Scott, Director of Campus
Security for Charleston County School
District. Jeff discussed global terrorism and how it effects our schools.
Second presenter was Greg Mack , from Spartanburg 3. For all of us working on
2009 GOF budgets, we are now realizing the budget shortfalls Greg spoke about in
his presentation.
Lunch was provided by Milliken and as
always it was first class. The afternoon session was lead by Bill Blackstock and
was
centered around Milliken carpet products
used in the K -12 environment. The conference was beneficial to all who attended
and
provided up to date information on the
challenges everyone faces today in managing maintenance, operations, security,
and
funding for school districts throughout the
country.
Current SCSPMA President, Kenny Blakeney,
introduced Jim Vicar as the SCSPMA part time Executive Director. (See page 3
for additional information.)
Again, a special thanks to our host Mike
Patrick and the Milliken team for allowing SCSPMA to hold it’s conference at the
Milliken Research Center.
SCSPMA Executive Director
Jim Vicar
The Executive
Board of South Carolina School Plant Management is always looking for ways to
improve our organization , in the areas of quality conferences, increasing
membership, vendor support and working with state level officials to
facilitate statewide awareness of facility needs. All members of the Board
work in our respective districts and while we are committed to our organization,
it is challenging to move SCSPMA forward and to also perform our district
responsibilities. Over the last several years many changes have been implemented
in our organization to further enhance the overall operation of SCSPMA.
With this in
mind, the Executive Board bench marked neighboring state organizations and
analyzed their organizational structure so we could align SCSPMA to maximize the
organization’s operation. In all organizations researched, all had Executive
Directors to manage major components of the operation.
After many
hours of deliberation and reviewing SCSPMA future goals and objectives, the
Board made the decision to appoint a part time Executive Director to oversee
many facets of our operation. The consensus of the group was to offer the
position to Jim Vicar. Jim is no stranger to SCSPMA. He served two terms as
president, and is a charter member of SCSPMA, was the first president for
National School Plant Management and is currently serving as treasurer for NSPMA.
His extensive background in facilities and his networking connections throughout
the state and country made him our obvious choice as a part time Executive
Director. A few examples of Jim’s responsibilities as our Director will be to
solicit vendor advertisements for the newsletter, compile a vendor data base,
act as liaison to South Carolina Department of Education, increase participation
from Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents, Directors, Managers,
Supervisors, and Procurement/Finance personnel involved with facility
operations, coordinate conference training classes, and assist the organization
in implementing new means to increase our membership. Jim was introduced at the
winter conference as our Executive Director and immediately began organizing the
summer conference. The Executive Director of South Carolina School Plant
Management reports directly to the President. All current members of the Board
feel appointing an Executive Director will position our organization to continue
an aggressive growth plan moving forward.
Please join the Board in welcoming
Jim into an official role with SCSPMA.
South Carolina School Plant
Management Mourns the Loss of Three Members
Yvonne Coleman
September 14,1954 -July 26, 2008
In August of 2007, Richland School District
One and SCSPMA lost a very good and dear friend. That person was Mrs. Yvonne
Coleman. I have the honor of putting together a few words about her from some
of her friends and co-workers.
Mrs. Coleman
came to work for RCSD1 in 1984 as a building supervisor at Lower Richland High
School. She remained there for a number of years and moved on to become an area
supervisor for the district. After a number of years in that position she left
and returned to Moncrief Army Hospital. After being gone for a few years she
returned to the district as the training coordinator. That same year, she
attended her first meeting at SCSPMA and was elected to the position of Vice
President and remained in that position for about two years. She remained a
loyal member of SCSPMA and a very strong voice for the workers of RCSD1. She
was the type of person that could put work in one place and play in another
place with the same people. Everyone acquainted with Yvonne Coleman will miss
her very much.
I, myself, had
known Ms. C., which is what I called her, for over 20 years. I first met her at
Moncrief Army Hospital, where she was a supervisor. She was a super lady to
work for and with. When she said something, you could take it to the bank, and
cash it in. (Delores Palmer)
Below you will
find some words that other co-workers have to say about her:
James Vant has this to say about her- “When talking about Mrs.
Coleman you have to talk about how good she was, not only as a person, but also
her work. She was one of those, “WELL DONE IS BETTER THAN WELL SAID PERSONS.”
Jacquence Carl Porter has these words to say: Mrs. Yvonne
Coleman was such a humorous, entertaining, straight forward and supportive
supervisor to be around. She loved working with people and always provided
encouraging words when my work day did not go as planned. I will miss seeing
her in the office.
If there was ever a more committed and dedicated person ensuring
that the staff and students of Richland One were taught, learned, worked and
lived in the most appropriate environment, I would not know who that person
would be. Ms. Coleman exhibited passion for doing things right and doing the
right thing. She worked closely with her colleagues—hand-in-hand and
side-by-side. She continually fought to raise the level of expectations and
therefore, the quality of the outcome. Ms. Coleman will be missed, as she
touched students and staff throughout the district. She will be remembered as a
person of the highest quality in the Richland One family, one who, in her
remembrance, will allow us to strive for even greater results in our efforts to
ensure that our young people have the very best experience possible in Richland
One. This comes from
Michael
Bobby, Chief of Operations Officer, Richland County School District One.
Diane Wyatt, Executive Assistant to the Chief of Operations,
Richland One writes these words: In my mind’s eye, I see Yvonne with that warm
smile on her face as she would come and go in the hallways of our building. Her
disposition was always the same. During the construction meetings as
discussions centered around working out the cleaning schedule in order to allow
students and staff back into the new/or renovated buildings, Yvonne was never
shy in letting district staff and construction managers know HER expectations
and standards as to what constituted cleanliness. She did not back down!
Yvonne led by example. She was noted for working along side her staff—not just
supervising them. She wasn’t afraid of hard work or of the long hours it
regularly required. Richland One has lost a loyal, dedicated employee whose
shoes it will be difficult to fill. Yvonne, we miss you!!
Melvin Henry, Director of Maintenance has
these words to
say about Yvonne: She was knowledgeable, and more importantly, passionate about
her work. There were countless times that her passion to get the job done right
and on schedule kept her in schools into the wee hours of the morning.
Mrs. Coleman’s motto was …”I’m doing it for my children!!” My first encounter
with Mrs. Coleman was during the 2nd round of interviews for my
present position almost three (3) years ago. There were more than a dozen
representatives from Maintenance Services in the room and each had a specific
question relating to their particular discipline….but not Mrs. Coleman!! When it
was her turn to ask questions, she had only one……she asked “Mr. Henry…we are
here to take care of the children of Richland One; what exactly are you bringing
to the table to help us?” I don’t remember exactly what I said at that moment,
but it was evidently good enough to pass her scrutiny…
Once I began to
work with Mrs. Coleman, I was told by some that she was too tough, hard to talk
to, and not caring enough. I soon realized that although Mrs. Coleman was
TOUGH, she was also extremely caring and ALWAYS looked after the best
interest of the
custodial workforce of Richland One. She was a constant champion of their cause
in every way. As I mentioned at her home going service, she would always remind
me...”If you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all”. She always expected 1st
class!! Mrs. Coleman also had the unenviable task of coordinating the cleaning
of all newly renovated schools along with the monumental task of keeping the
remainder of the district (over 50 sites) in control as well. She juggled
custodians and schedules from many different areas to accomplish these tasks
with ease. In one of our recent construction meetings, she reminded
everyone that
she had NEVER failed to have her schools clean and ready to open on time for her
children…never failed!! As I now look back over the time I spent with Mrs.
Coleman…..she in fact never failed to do anything she said she would do…and
always went 1st class all the way!!! Although I had known Yvonne
Coleman for only two (2) years, it seemed as if I had known her all my life.
She was affectionately known as Mrs. Coleman, Mrs. “C”, Yvonne, and to some,
just “Coleman”.
Phil Corley says: Yvonne Coleman was a very dedicated
and hard working employee for Richland School District One. She loved her job
and performed it with a passion. Many people were influenced by the way she
lived her life. Part of her
legacy
was hard work and dedication in the performance of her job. She is missed by
many people.
Many thanks to Delores Palmer for working with Mike Johnson in
obtaining these fond memories of Yvonne Coleman
Phillip “Coach”
Clark
June 28, 1928-, January 7, 2008
A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, son of
the late George W. and Maude Phillips Clark, Coach Clark was a graduate of
Wofford College, where he was a member of the Wofford College Hall of Fame and
the South Carolina Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He earned a Masters Degree
from USC. He was the head coach in the 1954 North-South All Star game and head
coach in the 1954 South Carolina Shrine Bowl Team. The North-South Football All
Star game was dedicated in his honor in 1996 and the new Greer High School
Athletic Complex was named in his honor in 1998. Coach Clark served 27 years at
Greer High School as a coach and athletic director. He was a member of the
Memorial United Methodist Church and a U.S Coast Guard Veteran of World War
II.
Leroy “Skeeter”
Lewis
June 13,1946 – March 18,2008
Leroy “Skeeter” Lewis of Greenville, South
Carolina past away on Tuesday, March 18, 2008. Born on June 13, 1946, in
Greenville, South Carolina, he was the only child of Leo and Ethel Lewis. After
receiving his diploma from Washington High School, he enrolled in Voorhees
College in Denmark, S.C., where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social
Studies. He later matriculated to Clemson University, where he earned a Masters
Degree in Personnel Services. He was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving three
years in the Vietnam War.
His employment included: Youth Director at
the Phillis Wheatley Center; Social Worker, Attendance Officer/Truancy Officer,
Assistant to the Area Superintendent, and Director of Operations and Maintenance
for Greenville County Schools. He retired with thirty-plus years of service.
Leroy's organizational affiliations included: membership in Alpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity; The Esquires; and 100 Black Men of the Upstate. He was inducted into
the Piedmont Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2007.
PLEASE SUPPORT
SCSPMA GOLD SPONSORS
GOT PIPES AND
FAUCETS THAT LEAK ???
ATLANTIC COASTAL SUPPLY
has the parts you need to get the job done RIGHT
Full line of plumbing parts, supplies,
and fixtures
www.acparts.net
Call
Mike Krolicki
today at (252) 321-0556
NEED IT TO BE
CLEAN BUT WANT TO STAY GREEN ???
THEN GIVE THE
HANDI-CLEAN LINE A TRY…
The most comprehensive line of cleaning solutions on the market today
A SOLUTION FOR ALL OF YOUR PROBLEM
SPOTS
www.handiclean.com
Call
Larry McClain
today at
(336) 292-3083
|
