Academic Performances Showcased

Wednesday, April 19, was a special day on the Coker College campus.

Wednesday was a showcase of Academic performance in about every venue that can be imagined. This week students, faculty and even a few alums have been showcasing their talents from science research, to communication analysis to stage performance.

The Theater was packed last night for the Performing Arts part of this showcase and that got me to reflecting again about the rich 'life' environment that characterizes this Coker campus and by extension, the Hartsville community. This academic showcase week was a real reminder that Hartsville is a college town!

Coker College Play Day a Hit

Dr. Darlene Maxwell of the Coker College Education Department is an expert in early childhood education. A few years ago she came up with the idea of having a Play Day for pre-school children from Hartsville area pre schools. While it was breezy in Hartsville and on the Coker Campus this morning (April 7) the children turned out as did the Coker students who had come up with a variety of activities for the children to play. Fact is, for many of the activities, the college students had at least as much fun as the younger students. Faculty even got into the event. Provost Dr. Pat Lincoln had a large group of faculty, staff and little ones going on an elephant walk that was a hit. Dr. Joe Rubinstein, who teaches math education courses, engaged in the magic of numbers with some of the children. You will see an example in one of the videos. Dr. Maxwell has several objectives for this event with one being a chance for college students to get into the spirit of engaging with children and volunteering their time. The Play Day gave me the opportunity to provide some "feet on the ground" reporting experience for my writing for the media class. While everyone might still be experiencing some shivering, hearts are still warm from the sounds of happy children.