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May 2019 on Knowitall.org

Images from featured content for May 2019 on Knowitall.org

Featured content on Knowitall.org for May includes a new series we’re very excited about, Women Vision SC, plus a reminder to teens of the importance of staying safe, especially at this time of year, and a reminder to all to live your healthiest life, especially now that the days are a little longer! Make use of the time and find fun ways to be well and fit!

In addition to our featured content, we offer resources for Yom HaShoah, World Press Freedom Day, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, Armed Forces Day, International Day for Biological Diversity (see the multitude of resources listed below) and Memorial Day.

And in this month in which we show appreciation for our teachers, we encourage everyone—at every age—to honor your teachers by committing to learn something new every day! For starters, visit our May Factoids!

 

NEW IN MAY - WOMEN VISION SC

A series that focuses on issues affecting women throughout the state and the nation, and a new generation of young people pursuing public service for their communities and the state at large. The program is produced and hosted by former South Carolina ETV president Linda O’Bryon.

Karen Alexander

As Karen Alexander approached her 40th birthday, she took a risk and “stepped out on faith,” mortgaging her house, spending her savings and investments to launch the Auntie Karen Foundation. Her love of arts inspired her to leave her position with Xerox Corp. to start the foundation, whose mission is to “empower, enlighten and educate through the arts.”  Her creations include a young entrepreneur’s conference to foster economic empowerment, a concert series for young people and an online children’s series, carried on Knowitall.org. -- Auntie Karen’s Place.  She is also the creator of 14 original characters and the author of two books. 

Her advice to young people:

“Find someone who is doing what you want to do.  And even if you can’t see them, they probably have a video or a book or some talk.  And use them as a guide or model.  Because success leaves clues. And if somebody has done it before.  There’s a good chance they have done it before and they have gone through the hard knocks.”

 

Hope Blackley

Hope Blackley defines leadership as “making other leaders.”  “It’s really that simple.  I’m only as good as my team.  And if my team isn’t good, then I’m not good,” she said.  Hope Blackley served as Spartanburg County Clerk of Court for almost nine years. At the outset, she inherited numerous issues including a building with mold issues.  She successfully championed a new building, slated for completion in several years.  She began her career as a preschool teacher before becoming a child victim advocate. In 2004 Governor Mark Sanford appointed her as the Crime Victims’ Ombudsman for the state. More recently she joined Congressman William Timmons’ office as District Director. 

Her advice to young people:

“No matter the obstacles, work hard. Never let anyone put limitations on your life. … You are the determining factor on what you can do.  And although efforts or initiatives may be very hard and they may look bleak, if you’re doing it for the right reasons and not being self-serving, they’ll be a lot of positives that will come out of that.” 

 

Jennifer Gutierrez Caldwell

Jennifer Gutierrez-Caldwell has been described as a “change-agent.” As director of Youth Services at Pendleton Place in Greenville, she works to keep children safe and support families in crisis.  “I truly believe that I was put on this earth to make change happen,” she said.  “I believe in the rights of people, especially those communities that don’t have a voice or a seat at the table,” she added.  Before her work at Pendleton Place she was Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Wofford College and earlier served as Coordinator for Multicultural Recruitment at Furman.   As a daughter of immigrant parents, she grew up in Los Angeles, and she chose to live in South Carolina, where she believes she can make a difference. 

On the role of women:

“I feel like the possibilities are endless. I really believe if you see it, you believe it and you can become it.”

 

Elaine Freeman

Elaine Freeman founded the ETV Endowment from her dining room table. For over 40 years, the member organization has funded and supported programming on SCETV and South Carolina Public Radio. Freeman retired In 2008, after 31 years as executive director, but still remains active in support of programs such as South Carolinians in World War II and the Man and Moment series. Freeman is also a major force in the Spartanburg community.  She headed the fundraising campaign for the Charles Lea Center board.  Her vision helped establish the Ellen Hines Smith Girls’ Home, later merged as part of the Hope Center for Children.  She believes there is a plan for your life.  “With a little help from your family and friends, and the stewards you know, you can try to make your life count for something.  I’m an octogenarian now and I’ve had a whole lot of fun with a lot of friends.”

Her advice to young people:

“Watch the people around you who are successful.  Try to learn from them.  Try to become part of their team.  Find a goal you want to accomplish.  That makes your life fulfilled and happy. And don’t lose as much sleep as I have done at raising money!” 

 

Heather Holmquest

Heather Holmquest is not on social media. It’s a personal choice for her. Her style of management is to build relationships in-person.  As president of the Maritime Association of South Carolina, she oversees an association that includes 240 member companies in Charleston and across South Carolina.  “My way of disconnecting is to be in relationships, to be one-on-one with people, to be learning from them, to be listening and having a dialogue,” she said. As a champion for workforce development, she points out that many positions in her field pay 40 percent higher than entry-level wages out of college.

Her advice to emerging leaders:

“You have to be your biggest champion and your most vocal advocate. … Be loud and proud and talk about your accomplishments.”

 

Pastor Nannie Jefferies

Pastor Nannie Jefferies would often visit the jails to encourage and pray for her church’s members and their children. She is the Pastor of Maranatha Free Church of Jesus Christ.  During her visits, she witnessed “a feeling of despair and a lack of hope” among the incarcerated women. Seeing this community need, Pastor Jefferies launched Angels Charge Ministry.  The program offers transitional housing, case management and advocacy to deter recidivism. She is working to teach women work and life skills. Supported by donations and volunteers, the first two houses opened in 2014 and a third was under renovation in 2018.  Pastor Jefferies is a life-long resident of Spartanburg, where she says, “we are a community offering a hand up not necessarily a hand out.” 

Her advice to young people: 

“Read.  I want children to read.  And to love reading and to explore reading.  And to travel in reading. I just think that reading broadens their horizons.”

 

Minor Mickel Shaw

Minor Mickel Shaw grew up talking about business at the dinner table with her family. She said her parents always had confidence in her and felt strongly about giving back to the community. Today she is president of Micco LLC, a private investment company based in Greenville.   For decades she has been involved in numerous civic, educational philanthropic and business activities in her community and the region.  She is chairman of the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport Commission, and her efforts, going back to the early 2000s, have helped transform the airport and the region as a whole. 

How she defines leadership: 

“You need to be willing to step forward and to take a stand on issues. … it’s much better when you can develop a larger group of leaders around you and hopefully empower those people -- hopefully younger people --  to stand up and go forward and be the leaders for the next generation.”

 

Anita Singleton-Prather

Anita Singleton-Prather grew up thinking she would study law and become a civil rights attorney. Instead she became a master storyteller, author and educator. Her work has influenced civil rights and has preserved stories and history about the Gullah culture and South Carolina. Known as Aunt Pearlie Sue, she has performed at the World Bank and the White House, but her roots are in Beaufort. “As Aunt Pearlie Sue, I get to say things and address issues that maybe Anita Prather can’t say,” Prather said. She added, “There’s only one earth. We can decide to destroy it together or we can decide to try to preserve it together.”

Her advice to young people: 

“You have to love yourself first, before you’re ready for someone else to love you. And there’s no such thing as my better half.

 

Inez Tenenbaum

Inez Tenenbaum  entered law school in her 30s.  She cashed out her state retirement to pay for her first year of law school. That was a turning point in her life, and she credits that move for later success, including top positions at state and national levels.  She was a two-term Superintendent of Education in South Carolina and served a four-year term as Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.  She oversaw implementation of major legislation to protect children nationwide -- the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Act.  She said her law degree gave her the tools to be a more effective advocate and to have more confidence.  “Once I understood the law and how it could protect children and families, it took me to different venues,” she added. 

Her advice to young people:

“… I’ll say, what really makes you happy, what do you love doing?  And they’ll tell me what their interest is.  I’ll say, then find a job that focuses on that interest.  And then you’ll never work a day in your life.”

 

South Carolina Chief Justice (Retired) Jean Hoefer Toal

South Carolina Chief Justice (Ret.) Jean Hoefer Toal has a saying, “if you get a little something, leave the ladder down and pull your sisters up the ladder with you.” She decided early on that as she achieved some prominence and broke barriers she would reach down and pull her sisters along. She has done just that.   She became the first woman to serve as a justice on the South Carolina Supreme Court and then the first and one of the longest serving chief justices in South Carolina history. Earlier in her career, she served in the South Carolina House of Representatives representing Richland County for 13 years.   

When she started practicing law in the late 1960s, less than one percent of attorneys in South Carolina were women. Chief Justice Toal is still active in her retirement and mentoring women.  “It’s amazing how much of a difference you can make in young people’s lives when you get them to talk about their aspirations and their goals, and assure them that you’ll be there for them,” she said. 

Her advice for young people going into the legal profession:

“Establish those contacts and networks that can put you with other people who are aspiring to be participants in the legal profession … We have a unique talent at making democracy work that we learned in the atmosphere of law school.“

 

JoAnn Turnquist

JoAnn Turnquist has held leadership positions with the Clorox Company, Procter and Gamble and JohnsonDiversey.   She moved from the corporate world to the world of philanthropy more than a decade ago. As the President & CEO of Central Carolina Community Foundation, she heads up a $140 million dollar charitable organization with donors throughout the Midlands.  She said, “while it’s fabulous to have a great career and watch people around you succeed, the opportunity to give back to a community…. to see the impact on your work on communities was the driving reason for me to make the change.”   When the thousand-year flood hit South Carolina in 2015, she helped Governor Haley establish the One SC Fund to provide grants to support disaster recovery projects across the state. 

Her advice to young people:

“Trust yourself. Trust your instincts.  Be as courageous as possible in tuning out both your own inner voice that says I can’t do it, and other voices that ask you, why are you trying this?”  

 

 

FEATURED CONTENT FOR MAY

At a time when traffic deaths among teens spike, we encourage teens 14 and above to view our series, Keep It Realwhich emphasizes the importance of avoiding risky behavior and provides an up-close look at consequences. Please encourage teens you know and care about to view them, in advance of proms and other celebrations, and as they head out on vacation. We also feature our Knowitall Healthy resources, which provide important pointers for living healthy, active lives—as well as some inspiring stories!   

 

KEEP IT REAL  – FOR TEENS 14 & ABOVE - IMPORTANT AND TIMELY VIEWING FOR TEENS IN MAY

As the spring semester comes to an end, our thoughts turn to proms, graduations and the start of summer vacations. Almost in an instant, this joyous, celebratory time of year can become a time of immense heartbreak and tragedy when a young person’s life is taken all too soon, as a result of risky behavior or inexperience.  South Carolina ETV encourages you to influence a teen in your life, age 14 or above, to view Keep It Real and consider the possibility that such a tragedy could occur in their life or the life of a friend or family member. These videos offer a reality check that may serve as a valuable lesson in avoiding risky behavior. But it won’t work unless they actually view them! Please encourage teens in your life to do so and give them fair warning that the videos are difficult to watch.

 

KNOWITALL HEALTHY

Now is a great time to consider small steps we can all take toward being more physically fit and eating healthier foods! View the resources here and make the changes that you can—even in small increments. It all adds up to a healthier you! 

In this Collection, we also feature content that informs students on various ways to stay safe and healthy, including these series:

Please note that all of the content in Knowitall Healthy is organized into these Topics:

 

 

South Carolina African American History Calendar

May Honoree: Jannie Harriot​

As the founding Chairperson for the Butler Heritage Foundation, Harriot was instrumental in getting the Darlington County Board of Education to deed her high school alma mater to the Foundation for restoration and preservation. In 1993, she was appointed by Governor Carroll Campbell as a charter member of the South Carolina African American Heritage Council, which became the African American Heritage Commission in 2001. She currently serves as the Chairperson of the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission and Executive Director of the South Carolina African American Heritage Foundation. In 2005, she stepped down as Executive Director for the Allendale County First Steps for School Readiness.

During her tenure as SCAAHC chair, she published the “African American Historic Places in South Carolina,” the “Teachers’ Guide to African American Historic Places in South Carolina” and its “Arts Integration Supplement.” In addition, Harriot also published a project identifying African American schools in S.C. titled, “How Did We Get to Now?”.

She is a 2009 Purpose Prize Fellow, and in 2010, was selected as one of S.C.’s Top 100 Black Women of Influence. In 2014, the SCAAHC awarded her the Herbert A. DeCosta Jr. Trailblazer Award for her dedication to the preservation of African American history and culture in S.C. In 2018, the S.C. Conference of NAACP awarded her the Presidential Citation in Education and Advocacy.

View the interstitial here

View the video on Knowitall.org here.

Download the SC African American History Calendar here.

 

 

Dates for Your Calendar

May 1-2              Yom HaShoah

May 3                  World Press Freedom Day

May 5                  Cinco de Mayo

                            Hand Hygiene Day

May 7                  National Teacher Appreciation Day 

May 6-10            National Teacher Appreciation Week

May 12                Mother’s Day

May 18                Armed Forces Day

May 22                International Day for Biological Diversity

May 27                Memorial Day

 

 

DATES & RESOURCES FOR MAY

 

May 1-2        Yom HaShoah – View the HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE COLLECTION

Seared Souls: South Carolina Voices of the Holocaust 

Trace the events of the Holocaust through the testimony of survivors who settled in South Carolina. Interviews are combined with dramatic archival footage for a powerful and moving record of the inhumanity that was experienced during the Holocaust.

 

S.C. Voices: Lessons from the Holocaust 

Full interviews with South Carolinians who survived the Holocaust and those who liberated the concentration camps or witnessed the atrocities that took place. 

 

May 3 – World Press Freedom Day – Journalism, Broadcasting & Communications Collection

Pulitzer Prize Winners in South Carolina: Commentary

Two Washington Post columnists who have South Carolina connections discuss writing for their columns.

Pulitzer Prize Winners in South Carolina: Reporting

Journalists Natalie Caula-Hauff, Jennifer Berry Hawes, and Glenn Smith of the Charleston Post and Courier discuss the series, Till Death Do Us Part, published in August 2014. The series won the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service Journalism in 2015.

Visit the Journalism, Broadcasting & Communications Collection under the Libraries, Literature & Learning Collection for these resources!

 

May 5 - Cinco de Mayo – Hispanic Heritage Collection

Celebrates the Mexican Army’s victory over France during the Franco-Mexican war, but it also celebrates the heritage of the Mexican people. View our Hispanic Heritage Collection. Spanish language resources are also available in this collection. 

 

May 5 – Hand Hygiene Day – Illness Prevention Collection | Knowitall Healthy!

Hand Hygiene Day, established by the World Health Organization, is held on May 5 every year. Check out our Flu PSAs - Illness Prevention Tips in English and Spanish & the Wash Hands Song. These videos provide important reminders for everyone, all through the year. Four key illness prevention tips are highlighted in English and with Spanish subtitles, along with the Wash Hands Song with Danielle Howle.

 

May 7 - National Teacher Appreciation Day  /  May 6 through 10 - National Teacher Appreciation Week

 

May 8 – V.E. Day – Victory in Europe Day

Visit our Memorial Day Collection and hear the stories of those who served!

 

May 12 - Mother’s Day

As we honor the women who have played such an important part in both their family’s lives and in their work, we also honor the outstanding women featured in our Women’s History and Women in Leadership Collections.

In a dynamic and growing Southern career landscape, Palmetto Voices looks to female leaders in South Carolina to share the experiences, skills and decisions that have brought them success. These voices of the Palmetto State offer advice and suggestions for excellence in various career clusters and fields of study.

From Middle School to High School, teenage girls face unique pressures every day. Between issues with bullying, body image, boys, friends and “frenemies,” life during that awkward transitional period can feel like it’s filled with challenges.

It’s important our girls have role models, people to look up to, think about, and speak with, to help to navigate those land mines. Project Lead South Carolina is a video series for young women, that follows notable women in South Carolina to gather advice for what makes a successful leader. 

A series that focuses on issues affecting women throughout the state and the nation, and a new generation of young people pursuing public service for their communities and the state at large. The program is produced and hosted by former South Carolina ETV president Linda O’Bryon.

When you visit the Women’s History and Women in Leadership Collections, take a moment to scroll down to view the Topics, which are available in both collections:

 

May 18 - Armed Forces Day

On Armed Forces Day, we honor and thank those who serve in all five branches of the United States Armed Forces including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.

Be sure to scroll down to the area below the Series to view the entire collection!

 

May 22 - International Day for Biological Diversity – View These Collections and Series!

COLLECTIONS

SERIES

 

May 27 - Memorial Day

On Memorial Day, we’ll pay tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, for our country, and for all of us.

Be sure to scroll down to the area below the Series to view the entire collection!

 

 

WHAT'S NEW ON KNOWITALL? CLICK HERE OFTEN FOR UPDATES! 

(Located under Collections)

Recapping below a few assets recently added, in case you’ve been too busy to look!

RECENT ADDITIONS TO EXISTING SERIES

MARCH 2019

NEW SERIES ADDED

 

ADDITIONS TO EXISTING SERIES

 

 

REMEMBER TO VISIT THESE AREAS!

  • Be sure to visit the May Factoids and learn something new every day!
  • And visit our Knowitall Blog for information on all of our Collections and other content featured in each of our Knowitall blogs! 

 

 

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