DILLON COUNTY, SC – A Pee Dee school district, once named as part of the “Corridor of Shame”, is receiving the final touches to its facelift.
It’s move in week or the Dillon District Four administrative personnel and the finishing touches are coming together for the last of the district’s projects.
Superintendent Ray Rogers says he’s been with Dillon schools for twenty-eight years and during that time he’s seen the district make major moves.
“We’re progressive, we’re moving forward, we’re going to do a lot of things in this district, and it’s not going to stop,” said Rogers.
Students like Savannah Evans say that attitude pushes students to excel.
“When the people in charge of the school show pride in the school, it makes the students feel like well, hey, you know, they care about my education, maybe I should care about my education, too,” said Evans.
And the highly decorated valedictorian should know. She and her fellow students won the Academic Challenge State Championship this year and says it’s the teachers and the pride that comes with growth in the district that helped them succeed.
Rogers says that pride does not go unnoticed.
“Every time I go in to one of the new facilities, you can see the pride in the kids. They walk a little taller, they smile, they really feel better about themselves, and I feel better about what we’ve been able to accomplish,” said Rogers.
The Lake View High School Media Center is one of the district’s many renovations. It’s filled with state of the art technology and books for all reading levels. Most importantly, students like Evans say it’s a place to feel comfortable and call home.
“You feel more comfortable in the new library. It’s actually a place you can go and study and read and that kind of thing. Before, it was just somewhere you can go in and get your books and go out,” said Evans.
Rogers says the renovations throughout the district are important because they give students something to be proud of.
“It makes everybody proud of their surroundings. They feel good about themselves and they feel like somebody cares, that’s the main thing,” said Rogers.
Rogers says he hopes the new facilities will give the district a new image and will help to draw more teachers to the area.
