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HCS Students and Staff Awarded by the Horry Soil & Water Conservation District
On October 1, the Horry Soil & Water Conservation District (associated with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources) hosted an awards banquet that honored several Horry County Schools students and staff members.
Five students were honored as winners of the district’s essay contest. Students in 5th and 7th grades submit essays to the competition, and the winners earn cash prizes. At the fifth-grade level, first place went to Kartik Shivnani of Myrtle Beach Elementary, and second place went to Renata Diza-Mina of Pee Dee Elementary. At the seventh-grade level, Lucas Provost of St. James Middle won first place, Katrina Horm of Ocean Bay Middle took second, and Will Cecil of Conway Middle claimed third.
The Conservation Educator of the Year award went to Gretchen Ayers, HCS’s learning specialist for middle school English Language Arts. This award is given for an individual’s dedicated leadership in conservation education.
Another award presented at the banquet was the Conservation Service Award. This award for outstanding conservation efforts was given to Ben Hardee, a long-time employee of HCS who retired earlier this year. In Ben’s early years with HCS, he taught agriculture at Loris High. At the time of his retirement, he served as the Director of Career and Technology Education.
Horry County Schools wants to congratulate all of these ecological-minded winners!