Local News

The Foundation for Excellence in Education recently had the Foundation Friends volunteers deliver the first of many gifts and words of encouragement to Pierce County's new teachers this year. The Foundation Friends were developed to help let the freshman educators know, they are NOT alone. Most of the Foundation members are former educators or have family in education and understand the importance of keeping motivation alive, especially in the first few years of teaching. Every month the teachers will receive a card, gift, calendar, etc. to let them know we all support and love them.

The Foundation for Excellence in Education partnered with Pierce County Family Connection to bring Character Counts week to the Kindergartners at Midway Elementary. Every child was able to hear a story about how special sharing can be , each student was given two books to bring home, highlighting positive character traits and matching coloring pages as a fun reminder of their day. These two organizations understand the importance of teaching positive behaviors from an early age and Character Counts Week is the perfect time to introduce them.

October 31st brought the masses down to Blackshear City Park for a safe Trick-or-Treating alternative. Businesses, non-profits and several organizations came together to create a fun family environment this Halloween by providing candy, prizes, contests, games and options for dinner all in one place. A good time was had by all!

Pierce County didn't let the storm keep them away when it came to helping their friends, family and neighbors. Even though most residents were without power and running water they showed up in high numbers to help make sure others didn't feel the same level of suffering. Meals, bottled water, cleaning supplies, hygiene items, diapers, home goods, free coffee and even clothing if needed was handed out around the area at churches, businesses, town halls, and even right in front of the Chamber of Commerce where the Salvation Army served lunch and dinner everyday for 10 days straight, 400-600 meals at each sitting. We are a close-knit community but this storm made us more, it made us family.

Check out the end of year review of what Pierce County Family Connection has been up to!

On June 2-4, some Family Connection coordinators from Regions 9, 11, and 12, got together for a Teen Maze summit hosted by the Southeast Health District (SEHD). Ambi Bess and her team from the SEHD wanted to use this opportunity to get our Teen Mazes back on track after the pandemic disruptions and as a way of thanking us for being such stalwart partners through it all. We enjoyed group activities, planning sessions, fantastic speakers, great food and even better team building adventures. In the end, we all agreed, it's time to get back into the schools and get back on track!