News and Updates

Johnston, SC – The Edgefield County School District (ECSD) is continuing its new regular feature, “Three Questions With …” in which our community is introduced to interesting voices within our school district.

This week’s interview guest needs no introduction, especially in the late summer and early fall each year. Strom Thurmond High School Head Football (STHS) Coach Andrew Webb is a fixture on sidelines and under the lights each Friday night leading the Rebels. He joined the STHS/ECSD family as the 12^th head coach of the Rebels in 2022, and the team has won region championships in three of his four seasons at the helm, with teams as Batesburg-Leesville, Silver Bluff, and Saluda to contend with each season.

Webb comes from a coaching family. His dad (Jimmy) and mom (Jo) were celebrated coaches and his sister (who also needs no introduction on campus), Heather Webb, serves as the head volleyball coach at STHS. He is married to his best friend, wife Mindy, and the couple have two boys, Lanham and Brees.

The top-ranked Rebels (8-2) face off against the Chesterfield High School Rams (4-6) tonight (11/7) at home at 7:30 p.m. in the opening round of the Class AA high school football state playoffs.

Here are our “Three Questions With …” Strom Thurmond High School Football Coach, Andrew Webb.

ECSD: Senior night seemed as though it was an especially emotional time for you. Then you had to transition immediately and play and coach for a region championship. How were you able to do that?

ANDREW WEBB: Well, selfishly, I was ready to hurry up and get to the kickoff, you know? As I get older, these senior nights, they get a little harder and harder. It’s because, you know, you’re getting to the end of the season and it's obviously a special time. You know, we keep working, but there's part of it that pulls on my heart because I know we're getting to the end. This group of seniors, I’ve told you many times before how special they are to me. I know in another six or seven weeks it's not going to be the same with those guys. There are seniors who have graduated from here, guys like Chase Brightharp, Michael Blocker. Izzy Glanton, Quan Edmonds. Juju Stevens, and H.D. Yonce. They're special to me and I don't see them every day like I did when they were here. And the relationships we build with them is ultimately what's the most special. I guess it's my mama's genes in me. I got a little emotional. I couldn’t help it.

ECSD: Why did you choose a career in teaching and coaching?

ANDREW WEBB: I chose to get in this profession because of the impact that my teachers, and especially my coaches, had on me. And, you know, competing is a lot of fun. Football is a lot of fun, but teaching the game of life through the game of football has always been what's most important to me. One day, when I have to stand in front of my maker, he’s not going to ask me ‘how many games did you win?’ or ‘how many championships did you win?’. He’ll ask me, ‘what kind of impact did you have with the platform I gave you? You know, that's always been important to me. And ultimately, I have to lay my head down at night and know that I'm doing the best I can with the platform that He's given. 

ECSD: Looking back to 2022 for just a moment, with all the success you had at your alma mater (Clinton High School) as a coach and later at Saluda High School, I'm sure you had many different coaching opportunities. Why did you choose Strom Thurmond, and how do you feel about that decision now?

ANDREW WEBB: Oh man, my family is tickled to be here. And not just at Strom Thurmond High School, but here in the community as well. My boys love (W.E.) Parker (Elementary School), my boys love the recreation department. My boys love their friends. We’ve made good friends here, and this is somewhere I hope we can, you know, stay for a long, long, long time. Strom Thurmond had been on a pedestal to me ever since that 2005 state championship, because I was on the losing end of it (as a coach). And, you know, this is a place where football is important and coaching somewhere where football is not important was not an option. Here, football is important to the school district and football is important to this community. I don't think there are a lot of places where football is as important as it is here in Edgefield County. So, we are extremely blessed and grateful to be here. We hope we can make the community as proud as we feel to be here.

BONUS QUESTION: Coaching is a legacy in your family. How has that family legacy impacted you as a coach?

ANDREW WEBB: My dad was a coach when I was little, and I would go to middle school football practice with him. As I got older, I would ride the bus to the high school after practice where my mom was coaching volleyball, and I didn't always want to be in the gym with the volleyball players, so she would send me down the hill with Coach Andy Young and Bill Rhodes, both of whom I'm named after. They took care of me at football practice. There's nothing else I've ever dreamed of wanting to do than coach. And it's because of those people, you know, my mom, my dad, Coach Young and Coach Rhodes. Those people have always been special to me, and that's why I do what I do.

Contact the ECSD Public Information Office (PIO) by email at ecsdpio@edgefieldcountyschools.org.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Legally Blonde, Jr. opens with shows on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 9, at 3:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at sttheatre.ludus.com. Interviews for this article were conducted after the 2024-25 school year.

Johnston, SC – When an inevitable life moment finally arrived, Clare Henry was ready for the biggest role of her career.

During the 2024-25 school year, beloved Strom Thurmond High School (STHS) Theatre Director Steven “Peanut” McKinney, after more than four decades of service, announced his retirement and directed his final two productions (Mary Poppins and Frozen), his final ECSD Fine Arts Festival, and his last STHS commencement ceremony.

As McKinney took the final bows of a legendary career, a question reverberating throughout the entire Edgefield County community centered around the person who would lead Strom Thurmond Theatre (STT) into the future.

A beautiful, state-of-the-art theatre facility provided by Edgefield County voters through a bond referendum in 2018 was already in use. A dedicated cast of technical, stage, and production volunteers were ready to go, and there was a large, talented pool of student performers (at the middle and high school levels). The only person needed was a new director.

By this time, Clare Henry was herself a Strom Thurmond Theatre veteran and an Edgefield County School District (ECSD) employee, directing shows of her own at Merriwether Elementary School (MES) where she was adored by students and respected by parents for bringing the best out of their children. She had met McKinney five years earlier prior to the Covid pandemic as a performer during an Aiken Community Theatre production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The two shared a love of the stage, music, and Lander University (both are alumni) and a friendship quickly formed, with Henry joining McKinney to support a number of his high school productions, including Shrek, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King.

“That was just the most wonderful experience,” Henry says of the final shows in the STHS cafetorium. “Sold out shows and incredible casts. There were incredible leads in those shows, and it was amazing what they could do on a cafeteria stage.”

Henry was hooked, and a metaphorical stage was set for a bigger leadership role if she were interested. However, while the opportunity to later serve as STT’s director was extremely attractive, Henry loved her MES students and the school.

“I had a lot of things to really think about,” Henry recalls of that moment. “When you're employed at a school, it's not just about the one class and the students you teach. It's about the school environment. It's about the staff you teach with and the administrators you work with. All of that plays an important part (in any decision).”

When she looked at her long-term career goals, teaching high school was already right up there at the top. So, after considering everything over several weeks, she felt the opportunity at STHS was simply too good to pass over.

“I knew I wanted to teach high school at some point, and I genuinely couldn't ask for a better way to step into a high school situation or to transition from elementary to high school,” stated Henry. “I know a number of those kids. I know the facility. I also know what is expected of me. There's a certain comfort level in that, but at the same time, there's that professional side of it to where it’s like, oh wow, now all of this is in my hands. You know, what is that going to be like?”

LEARNING MORE FROM A LEGEND, ONE SHOW AT A TIME

Following up on the tremendous success of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, Clare Henry was right there to lend her talent and growing skillset to STT performers for Little Shop of Horrors, Aladdin, and finally, Mary Poppins and Frozen. She also helped develop a summer performing arts program where the next generation of theatre talent would take shape.

“With each show I just learned more and more, and that's exactly how Steve had learned, too, just by getting out there and doing it,” Henry said. “Working with someone like him who is so experienced, and someone who really is, truly, a mentor, was really helpful in making this transition, because it’s definitely a big transition.”

THE FUTURE OF STROM THURMOND THEATRE

When asked what a Clare Henry-directed Strom Thurmond Theatre production might look like, she smiles.

She hopes there will be a familiarity for longtime patrons, but it almost certainly will not be the exact same. There’s no way it could be. She fully appreciates what a futile enterprise it would be to attempt to be Steven McKinney.

“Of course it won’t be the same in the sense that I cannot replace Steve McKinney,” she says. “I certainly can’t do that, and I will never try. There are aspects of his shows that made his shows so good that are necessary, though. For one, Steve is always looking for the kids to make the story believable. You have to actually believe it. Whether it's wearing coats because the setting is cold and it's winter, even though we're sitting in a 72-degree theater, or whether it's coming on stage already in character being clearly bothered by something, or in a hurry because they've forgotten something. Anything you can do to help make the story believable is important.”

It's something she incorporated into her shows and a skill she cultivated in her students at Merriwether Elementary.

“We performed Willy Wonka this year and there's a lot of magic that happens in the story, and teaching elementary school students how to make it believable was a challenge,” she said. “There's a shrinking room where they enter the room and it gets smaller and they're squished together and they're really tight together, and then all of a sudden, they open the door that they come in and they're in a much bigger space. So, the kids have to make it feel like you're getting smaller and smaller and smaller. How do you do that on a stage? So it's really up to the actors. Keeping the shows believable is the most important thing. Another thing I love to put into a show is just really clean choreography and really strong vocals, which are all things we've come to expect of the students, and something the students have come to expect of a show at Strom Thurmond, and that's something that will not change.”

UNIQUE CHALLENGES ARE UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES

Serving as the director of Strom Thurmond Theatre comes with a number of unique challenges and opportunities.

First, the school has one of the very best theatre designs in the entire state, with lighting and technology far exceeding that of many larger schools. Second, the sheer number of talented students provides a challenge of its own.

For Clare Henry, these are obviously tremendous “problems” to have entering year one as a high school theatre director.

“There are only a handful of high schools in the state who have facilities like that,” she said. “Being able to perform on that kind of stage, and to also perform with the kind of technology we have, between the lighting and our lighting design and the sound in that theater, is incredible. We can do some pretty amazing things even some community theaters struggle with these days. More importantly, we have students who want to make things competitive. They want to make things incredible for their audiences and that is also hard to find. Yeah, it's very exciting. I'm really excited about it.”

Just in case anyone is still wondering, yes, Clare Henry is all in on Strom Thurmond Theatre and her new students and families – heart and soul. And if that sounds familiar to everyone, it really should. She will tell you she’s learned from the very best.

“I do not do things halfheartedly, and Steve will not do something halfheartedly either,” she said. “When you’re really passionate about something you put your whole entire self into it and that's exactly what I’m going to do.”

Johnston, SC – The Edgefield County School District (ECSD) is pleased to announce its annual school Veterans Day celebrations to honor our school district’s veteran service members and all those in our Edgefield County community.

The celebrations begin Friday, November 7, 2025, with the Veterans Day program at Johnston Elementary School (JES) starting at 1:00 p.m.

The remainder of our school celebrations will take place next week on Tuesday, November 11, 2025 (Veterans Day). Please see the listing below for all program locations and times.

2025 ECSD VETERANS DAY CELEBRATIONS

- Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, at Johnston Elementary at 1:00 p.m. (514 Lee Street, Johnston SC)

- Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, at W.E. Parker Elementary at 8:15 a.m. (41 Crest Road, Edgefield SC)

- Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, at Merriwether Elementary at 8:30 a.m. (565 Springhaven Drive, North Augusta SC)

- Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, at Douglas Elementary at 8:30 a.m. (215 Samuel E. Diggs Road, Trenton SC)

- Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, at J-E-T Middle at 9:00 a.m. (1095 Columbia Road, Johnston SC)

- Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, at Strom Thurmond High at 1:00 p.m. (1131 Columbia Road, Johnston SC)

- Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, at Merriwether Middle at 2:30 p.m. (430 Murrah Road, North Augusta SC)

Contact the ECSD Public Information Office (PIO) by email at ecsdpio@edgefieldcountyschools.org.

MERRIWETHER MIDDLE SCHOOL EARNS ‘EXCELLENT’ RATING WHILE J-E-T MIDDLE, DOUGLAS ELEMENTARY AND W.E. PARKER ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS DISPLAY INCREASED RATINGS

Strom Thurmond High shows improved performance on its latest school report card as graduation rate increases to 88.6%. 

Johnston, SC – Edgefield County School District (ECSD) schools displayed academic growth and improvement in a number of categories with this week’s release of 2025 state report cards by the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE).

Highlighting the school district’s overall performance is Merriwether Middle School’s earning of an “Excellent” rating, or the highest rating a school may receive in the current ratings system, for a second consecutive year. An excellent rating means school performance substantially exceeds the criteria to ensure all students meet the Profile of the S.C. Graduate. Also showing excellent performance at the middle school level, Johnston-Edgefield-Trenton (J-E-T) Middle School increased seven school rating points, moving from an “Average” school rating to an overall rating of “Good”. A good rating means school performance exceeds the criteria to ensure all students meet the Profile of the SC Graduate.

Meanwhile, at the elementary school level, both W.E. Parker Elementary school and Douglas Elementary School displayed tremendous academic gains and double-digit rating points increases. W.E. Parker moved from “Average” school rating to an overall rating of “Good” (a 10-point rating increase), and Douglas Elementary School moved from a rating of “Below Average” to “Average” (a growth of 13 rating points).

“Our test results show us that all of our schools are continuing to move in the right direction,” stated ECSD Superintendent Dr. Kevin O’Gorman. “Merriwether Middle was excellent again, which is awesome. They had an average rating two years ago and skipped over the good school rating completely to excellent and have maintained that this year. That’s pretty powerful. We also had three other schools in J-E-T Middle, W.E. Parker Elementary and Douglas Elementary to increase their report card ratings, which is fabulous.”

Dr. O’Gorman says the school district remains on a very positive trajectory as he looks forward to seeing what another year of continued development and growth in ECSD classrooms.

“There are certainly areas where we have the opportunity to continue to make improvements and see additional academic growth and performance over time,” Dr. O’Gorman commented. “For example, the Multilingual Learners' Progress category has been a challenge for us, so that’s an area we’re going to have to focus on across the board.”

“Moving to a common curriculum and common assessments is paying off,” he added. “It's taken some years to get there, but we're seeing the benefits of that move. Our English Language Arts scores are within reach of the state average, and our math scores are coming up. We’ve been recognized this year as having the second highest math gains in the state so that’s a highlight. It's all coming together at different speeds in different schools, but we’re looking forward to the future.” 

 

2025 ECSD SCHOOL REPORT CARDS 

HIGH SCHOOL

Strom Thurmond High School: A school rating of “Average” with an increase of four rating points over the 2024 report card and an increase in graduation rate from 84.2 percent to 88.6 percent. An “Average” rating means school performance meets the criteria to ensure all students meet the Profile of the S.C. Graduate.

 

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Merriwether Middle School: A school rating of “Excellent” with an increase of one rating point over the 2024 report card and a rating of “Excellent” in the “Student Progress” performance category.

J-E-T Middle School: A school rating of “Good” with an increase of seven rating points over the 2024 report card and a rating of “Excellent” in the “Student Progress” performance category.

 

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

W.E. Parker Elementary School: A school rating of “Good” with an increase of 10 rating points over the 2024 report card and a rating of “Good” in the “School Climate” performance category.

Douglas Elementary School: A school rating of “Average” with an increase of 13 rating points over the 2024 report card and a “Good” rating in the “Student Progress” performance category.

Merriwether Elementary School: A school rating of “Average” with a decrease of three rating points over the 2024 report card, but a “Good” rating in the “Academic Achievement” performance category.

Johnston Elementary School: A school rating of “Below Average” with a rating of “Good” in the “School Climate” performance category.

Contact the ECSD Public Information Office (PIO) by email at ecsdpio@edgefieldcountyschools.org.

 

Ninety Six, SC – Senior standout Deonte Phillips rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns, sophomore Kaden Wigfall added 52 rushing yards another score on the ground and senior quarterback Bri’Shaun Lee passed for over 100 yards with a touchdown to senior wideout Sha Williams as the Class AA top-ranked Strom Thurmond High School (STHS) Rebels wrapped a successful regular season schedule Friday on Halloween Night (10/31) with a 32-10 road victory at Ninety Six.

The team also learned its opponent in the opening round of the state playoffs as the Region 2-AA champion Rebels (8-2) will play host to the Chesterfield High School Rams (4-6) of Region 4-AA at 7:30 p.m. Friday (11/7) at STHS Stadium. Playoff tickets will be $10 at the gate and only SCHSL-approved passes will be accepted.

Chesterfield High School enters the playoffs following a pair of shutout setbacks to region foes No. 3 Central-Pageland and Cheraw. Offensively, the Rams have averaged 22 points per game this season while allowing 33 points per game on defense.

Meanwhile, Strom Thurmond has averaged 37 points per game while holding opponents to 15 points per game.

Season statistical leaders for the Rebels include Deonte Phillips (692 yards rushing with 17 touchdowns on 7 yards per carry); Bri’Shaun Lee (79-141 passing for 1,435 yards and 17 touchdowns and a 107.1 QB rating; Sha Williams (608 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns on 35 receptions for a 17 yards-per-catch average); and Bryston Coleman (69 tackles with five sacks and a blocked punt).

Additional statistical standouts for Strom Thurmond include Kaden Wigfall (561 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns on 9 yards per carry) and Zy Rouse (385 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns on 10 yards per carry); Kaleb Simpkins (513 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 23 catches for a 22 yards-per-catch average); and Wytravious Dugar (59 tackles with a fumble recovery) and Grayson Smith (47 tackles with 4 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries).

Contact the ECSD Public Information Office (PIO) by email at ecsdpio@edgefieldcountyschools.org.