electrician in Fort Mill, SC

School leaders say new students enrolling in the district will be assigned to different schools in an effort to maintain favorable student-teacher ratios.

FORT MILL, S.C. — New students enrolling in the Fort Mill School District will be placed at different campuses as school leaders enact an enrollment freeze.

In a statement Wednesday, the district said the freeze affects families in the attendance zones for Gold Hill Elementary School, Gold Hill Middle School, and Pleasant Knoll Middle School.

The purpose, according to district leaders, is to maintain favorable teacher-student ratios and limit overcrowding at current buildings amidst a growing student population.

"What we certainly don't want to end up happening is to continue to pack kids into a school where we end up with, you know, 30 kids in a kindergarten class," Joe Burke, Fort Mill Schools chief communication officer, said. "Or you know, over too many kids to serve for lunch or breakfast time at the school."

Fort Mill is growing at a record pace, according to experts.

"Fort Mill overall has experienced 5% growth year over year, but the population growth has actually grown by over 16% since 2020," Laurie Plyler, a real estate agent and CEO of Keller Williams Connected in Fort Mill, said.

The area is not only seeing transplants from inside South Carolina, but its proximity to Charlotte is attractive for some families.

"Fort Mill is a really unique area because you get a mix of small town and big town amenities, you have new business, new growth, and education system is really attractive," Plyler said.

The district stressed that students currently attending the impacted schools will not be affected, and only affects students who enroll after the freeze is enacted.

"They're going to have those same opportunities at their newest school," Burke said. "So we've worked really hard to make sure that that experience is uniform across the board for all of our kids."

School leaders say the number of students impacted won’t be too large.

"It can be anywhere from five to 20 kids at each school, depending on the number of people who move into that particular area," Burke said.

Here's how the campus reassignments will work:

Students who take the bus to school will remain on their assigned bus and travel to their assigned school each day. The district will shuttle students to and from their homes to their assigned schools.

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FORT MILL, S.C. — Talk about out of this world: a group of sixth graders in Fort Mill won a national NASA contest.

Students at Forest Creek Middle School were among 60 other winning teams of students from across the country to win the NASA TechRise Student Challenge.

This is a STEM competition for grades 6-12.

This year’s challenge was to design a science or technology experiment that will be tested on a NASA-sponsored high-altitude balloon.

The design had to be something that can help with space exploration and the study of Earth.

The students at Forest Creek designed a phone case that could protect a phone in different atmospheres.

Joanna Barney, a science teacher at Forest Creek Middle School, is leading the students through this challenge.

“They’re gonna create phone cases made of different materials and see which one is best if you were to take it to another atmosphere so that would help our pilots, that could help astronauts,” Barney said.

“Maybe in the future, like, we could use phones in like, in space, like in the future maybe if we could get to Mars,” said student Aahil Raza.

Students are excited.

“What I’m most excited about is building it and then coding it,” said student Katelyn Stokes.

The students meet once a week with a NASA engineer to discuss their design.

Once completed, the phone case will be placed in a box that will be attached to the balloon.

The balloon will ascend 70,000 feet and float for four hours.

Students will also be responsible for building the sensors that will be put on the box so they can measure data as the balloon is floating.

“So we’ll get data from the machines that we're building and we’ll be able to monitor the data when it goes up,” Barney explained.

NASA awarded the students $1,500 to buy the materials needed to make this idea come to life.

There are also two schools in North Carolina that won this challenge, including Cross Creek Early College High School in Fayetteville and Nesbitt Discovery Academy in Asheville.

FORT MILL, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Allconnect, the leading comparison marketplace platform that simplifies connecting home services, announces the launch of Chameleon, a digital white-label application that enables any website to generate incremental revenue by offering a choice-based marketplace for home services to its customers.

“In addition to fiber, cable, telco and 5G options, Chameleon will soon add the ability to offer energy, insurance, protection, streaming, and other services, making it a one-stop shop for any website looking to increase conversion and customer satisfaction.”

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Allconnect, part of the Red Ventures portfolio, built Chameleon on patented technology with proprietary data structures and machine learning to enhance the experience for consumers searching for broadband solutions available in their area. At the heart of Chameleon is an engine that identifies multiple providers over 99% of the time and blends into a publisher’s brand guidelines. Further, it allows consumers to quickly compare and order the services that make the most sense for them.

Wesley Higgins, Customer Experience Technology Manager of Alabama Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company stated, “We've had a strategy to provide more personalization in our online customer experiences and Chameleon was a perfect fit for that. Also, many customers are accessing our website through a mobile phone and Chameleon has a great look and feel to it. It was really simple to put in place and increases customer satisfaction creating a win-win for our business and customers.”

“Chameleon extends the technology behind our choice-based platform and enables a tailored CX presented seamlessly within our client’s websites,” said Allconnect Executive Vice President Kim Shumway. “In addition to fiber, cable, telco and 5G options, Chameleon will soon add the ability to offer energy, insurance, protection, streaming, and other services, making it a one-stop shop for any website looking to increase conversion and customer satisfaction.”

About Allconnect

For the last 25 years Allconnect’s proprietary platform has offered over 40 million consumers a free, one-stop comparison marketplace to personalize and connect broadband, media, telecom, utility, energy, and home protection products. Part of the Red Ventures portfolio, our clients can now leverage the power of our next generation platforms to enable them to offer their customers expert advice, personalized experiences, and relevant information and tools to make informed decisions. For more information about Allconnect, visit us on LinkedIn.

About Red Ventures

Red Ventures (RV) is home to a diverse portfolio of industry-leading brands and businesses, strategic partnerships, and proprietary technology – including Allconnect, Bankrate, Lonely Planet, CNET, The Points Guy, BestColleges and more. Together, RV helps millions of people worldwide make life’s most important decisions, accelerates digital adaptation, and innovates the online consumer experience by improving every step of the consumer journey – from first discovery of information, throughout the decision-making process, to transactions. Visit www.redventures.com or follow @RedVentures on social media to learn more.

Fort Mill, SC (RestaurantNews.com) Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill is inviting the Fort Mill community to come gather around the grill for its official grand opening celebration on Thursday, Feb. 9.

Located at 816 Brayden Pkwy., off Hwy. 160 and near the I-77 intersection, the Middle Eastern Grill is hosting an official ribbon cutting ceremony on Feb. 9 with special guests from the Fort Mill Chamber of Commerce and members of the city council.

From the crispy falafel to the pillowy and fresh pita, Nafers will want to arrive early for this grand celebration because the first 50 guests in line will eat for FREE. Winners start being selected at 11 a.m. so don’t lose your spot in line!

“We couldn’t be more excited to officially celebrate our big debut in South Carolina,” said Owner and Operator Neel Patel. “We’re extremely thankful for all the support we have received from the Fort Mill community since we soft opened in November and we look forward to fanning the flame with local Nafers at the grand opening!”

The new Naf Naf is open every day from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. It marks the first location in Fort Mill and first in South Carolina with plans to have over 40 locations systemwide by the end of 2023.

“Neel has led such a successful debut for our expansion into the Carolinas,” said CEO Greg William. “With our passion for creating unique dining experiences filled with Middle Eastern flavors paired with Neel’s expertise, we can’t wait to see what the future holds for Naf in this area.”

Naf Naf invites guests to customize entrées like a stuffed pita sandwich or create a bowl with base choices ranging from warm grains such as basmati rice and couscous to salad greens or even Middle Eastern spreads like hummus and Baba Ghanoush. Then, choose a protein, like the original plant-based protein – the crispy outside and tender inside falafel – or select from award-winning roasted Chicken Shawarma, Middle Eastern Steak or Crispy Chicken. From there, add any or all of Naf’s fresh toppings, including Sumac Onions, Purple Cabbage, Middle Eastern Pickles and Chopped Tomato Cucumber Salad. Finally, finish it off with any of Naf’s scratch-made signature sauces.

To learn more about Naf, visit nafnafgrill.com. Naf Naf is always seeking passionate owners who want to fan the flame in their neighborhood. For more franchising information, visit nafnafgrill.com/franchise.

About Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill

Naf is making fresh Middle Eastern cuisine a mainstream favorite across the United States. Inspired by tradition, Naf’s genuine hospitality paired with handmade dishes derived from Old World recipes create a welcoming atmosphere where guests are invited to fan the flame of culinary exploration. Every order is customized to the guest’s liking with choices of top-quality meats, like its award-winning Chicken Shawarma roasted on a vertical spit, to freshly ground falafel and pillowy pita baked in-restaurant throughout the day. Naf is headquartered in Chicago with 39 locations nationwide. For more information, visit nafnafgrill.com.

Before he even began his first year at Furman, Charles Miles II ’23 was already connecting with mentors at the Shucker Center for Leadership Development. As a high school junior in Fort Mill, South Carolina, he came to campus as a Summer Scholar and worked with the center’s director, Kim Keefer, on assessing his strengths and other leadership lessons.

“That’s what really did it for me,” Miles said. “It made Furman stand out.”

Back home, Miles was being encouraged by members of his Charlotte, North Carolina, church who were alums of historically Black colleges like North Carolina A&T or Winston-Salem State University to consider their alma maters. “But the opportunities I was seeking were what drew me to Furman, rather than caring about the demographics,” he said. “My mindset was always that if I can go to Furman, maybe I can convince another Black student from my area to also go there, or just share my story and impact diversity that way.”

After finishing the two-year Shucker Leadership Institute program his sophomore year, Miles, a double major in mathematics and communication studies, joined the center’s leadership team as a junior. During a summer internship in 2022, he started developing educational opportunities to expand the center’s offerings.

Working with Michelle Speitz, director of the Furman Humanities Center, as well as Keefer and Shucker Center Assistant Director Natalie Kindler, Miles designed the Leadership Certificate Program along the lines of Furman’s Cultural Life Program, in which students attend educational events throughout their undergraduate years. After attending a specific number of events, a student will receive a certificate documenting the leadership training. The first round of Leadership Certificate events is planned to launch in late February through the Pathways Program for first- and second-year students, with the goal of making sessions available to any interested students by the end of the semester.

Another new offering is Leadership Quest. Miles and Kindler are leading 15 students through what Miles, who was one of five seniors named a Furman Fellow for 2023, describes as a six-week crash course in the different aspects of leadership the Shucker Center emphasizes.

“I have a great group of mentors who make me feel like the things that I hope for can be achieved but also push me to strive for more,” said the senior, who is also a member of the Quaternions and other honors societies for communication studies, mathematics and leadership, as well as captain of the men’s club basketball team. “You don’t get that same connection at bigger schools where a professor might not even know a student’s name.”

Since his first year, Miles has been pleased with Furman’s growing efforts toward diversity, equity and inclusion, including seeing more people of color in leadership positions.

“We have a lot more representation on campus than we used to,” he said.

During Black History Month, Miles will help lead “I Feel You, Man,” a discussion of Black men and mental health, on Feb. 20.

“There’s a certain stigma in our society, especially with Black men, about being emotionally available, in sharing your mental health and being vulnerable,” he said. “I love to have conversations about that kind of thing and maybe touch some people who might need to hear it.”

Originally pursuing an education career, Miles has pivoted to seeking opportunities in professional services and management consulting after graduation.

“I always love educating people and being in a mentorship and coaching role,” he said, “which is kind of seen in my involvement on campus.”