TEACH Program has Produced Results for Education in Hartsville

  Five years ago, the Darlington County School District began an ambitious education improvement program, called TEACH, in schools with highly impoverished student bodies in Hartsville. Partnering with program sponsor Sonoco Products, the program has produced impressive results: improved scores, decreasing behavior problems and more. Sonoco Executive Chairman Harris DeLoach recently reported on the program’s progress to the Columbia Rotary Club, and he and retired Darlington County Superintendent of Education Dr. Rainey Knight talked about the program’s effect on students, and building on the program’s success for the next five years. Though the program’s initial funding will soon end – as planned – the lessons learned will continue to benefit the schools, and perhaps others. Knight says that other schools around the state have inquired about replicating the program for their own communities.