Seahawk Scoop

Nominee for Teacher of The Year

By: David Hernandez and Steven Putbrese

“I don’t think teachers get enough recognition for all the things teachers do and I think this is something nice to show for all the hard work, and It’s nice recognizing teachers for their hard work and all the time and effort teachers put in,” says Mr. Talarczyk.

High school teacher and high school coach, Mr. Talarczyk discusses his thoughts about being one of the nominees for Teacher Of the Year.

Mr. Talarczyk says, “I was honored to be nominated, and when I got to the top 3, I was really shocked and surprised because I never really thought about being a nominee for Teacher of The Year. I come to work everyday and I enjoy what I do and I try to do my best to my abilities. I enjoy working with students and I never really thought about being nominated and I just enjoy what I do. If you are passionate about it, good things happen and maybe this is why I'm here.”

Many teachers are nominated for Teacher of the Year for their good qualities such as being “Open minded, organized, relaxed,” It can be many things. Mr. Talarczyk says, “Doctor Williams had written a letter recommending me and I've known her since she started teaching here and we worked in the same department and she worked next to me for many years and her knowing me, my teaching style, seeing my coaching style and me working with my volleyball program, she might of felt like she wanted to nominate me?”

Mr. Talarczyk says, “Be open minded, organized, relaxed, build good relationships with students, engage with students, appreciate education and be a little of everything but the biggest thing is to learn to build bonds with the students so that students have trust in you and work more and learn more.”

Coach T did end up becoming TOY of the year. The video is on our YouTube Channel at Seahawk News Network.

Casino Royale: The Return of Prom

By: Leah Jackson, Jessica Staigar, Andrew Jeffrey, Lilly Friday, Landon Brockway and Caleb Spangler

Prom returned to HHIHS on Saturday April 22, 2022 after two years of cancellation due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The theme this year was “Casino Royale” and featured different aspects of a casino inspired night through the decorations and desserts.

According to the prom coordinator, Mr. Wall, “the invitations were casino themed. They were oversized playing cards.” There was an inside and outside area to “give students different things to enjoy throughout the night."

The Ukraine Project: A follow up Story

By: Laurel Hawkins and Amy Broome

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered the third month, students and faculty at Hilton Head Island High School increased their efforts to offer their support to the nation in need. The invasion continued to impact an increasing number of Ukrainians. Since Russia’s invasion on February 24th, 2022, almost 3,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, and an additional 7.1 million have been displaced without the necessary means to survive. With this massive exodus from the country, schools have been forced to close, leaving over 350,000 students without access to education. Worldwide efforts have been enacted to help combat this educational crisis, from global organizations in the United Nations to local efforts like those made at Hilton Head Island High School.

T-shirts: As part of the “United With Ukraine” effort at the high school, students worked with a local t-shirt company to design a t-shirt. The shirt has the names of the International Baccalaureate sister schools in Ukraine, as well as the IB mission statement. T-shirts were sold before school to students and staff, and proceeds from the sales went to UNICEF.

Ribbons: Along with the t-shirts, students also made blue and yellow ribbons. The ribbons were given to anyone who donated $2.00 or more. The ribbons allowed students to show their support of the Ukrainian people. Students who purchased a ribbon were allowed to wear pajama pants on Wednesdays.

International Night: At the elementary school’s International Night, a few students from the high school had a table to raise awareness for Ukraine. Students created a poster board with facts about Ukraine. One student even made traditional Ukrainian bread. “I had a really great time. I learned a lot, and I think we raised a lot of awareness for Ukraine,” said Victoria Polites (class of 2023), who attended the event.

Prayer flags and coloring sheets: Students at the school had the opportunity to color and write messages to Ukrainian students. Students also had the opportunity to contribute to a Tibet prayer flag. This allowed all students to participate during their structured learning time (SLT). HHIHS hopes to eventually send these to the schools in Ukraine.

Arts classes: The art classes took a strong role in showing the school’s solidarity for Ukraine. An art class decorated the large anchor outside the front entrance of the high school to display support for the Ukrainian people. The art classes also created pysankas - a Ukrainian style Easter egg decorated in wax- to show support during the Easter holiday. They held pysankas tutorials after school and funds from those also went to UNICEF.

Local news: Several students spoke to the local news station (WSAV), and the Beaufort County News station to discuss the school’s efforts. This was a great way to inform the community of and get more people involved in helping HHIHS’ efforts. HHIHS raised $2,612 for Ukraine; all of the proceeds went to UNICEF. The money raised will be used to help the displaced Ukrainian children who are unable to garner an education due to their displacement. The students and staff at HHIHS will continue to raise money and support for Ukraine through sales and fundraising that will come from the combined efforts and donations of students, staff, and the Hilton Head community. There is also Ukraine Project documentary on the Seahawk News Network YouTube page. If you want to help displaced Ukrainian students, please consider donating to UNICEF.

Beaufort County Purple Star: District Military Appreciation Week

By: David Hernandez & Emerson Montes

Mr. Schidrich said in an email to staff and parents that “the Purple Star School program is designed to help schools respond to the educational and social-emotional challenges military-connected children face during their transition to a new school and keep them on track to be college, workforce, and life-ready."

In an interview with The Seahawk Times, Mr. Schidrich said, "every school in the district is encouraged to do Military Appreciation Week and some schools may be doing it a little bit differently, but the whole district is encouraged to do this.”

Hilton Head Island High School participated in this event by doing a spirit week and these were the spirit days:

Monday April 18: Support Your Favorite Military Branch of Service Day: Camo Day or favorite Military Branch shirt.

Tuesday April 19: Honoring Deployed Service Members Day: Wear Red for Remembering Everyone Deployed

Wednesday April 20: ‘Purple Up! For Military Kids’: Wear purple to show support and to thank military children for their strength and sacrifices. (Purple combines each branch’s colors into one: the Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard all use shades of blue, the Army uses green, and the Marines use red.)

Thursday April 21: Red, White and Blue Day

Friday April 22: Seahawks Support Our Troops day! Wear favorite Seahawks Shirt.

HHIHS supports the military families of Beaufort County. Thank you to all active and retired service members for their service.

Community Career Day Returns To HHIHS

By: Brody Doyle

On Tuesday April 5th students at HHIHS participated in Community Career Day. It was an hour long event where the school had close to 70 volunteers from the community from multiple local occupations and industries. Students got to choose two 30 minute sessions to listen to. The speakers talked about their careers and how they became professionals. Some notable speakers included, Mrs. Fielding (a cardiovascular perfusionist), Mr. Perrine (co-owner of Reno Pro), and even a former FBI agent.

The main goal of Community Career Day sessions was to introduce students to a future career path. One of the most popular volunteers, Mrs. Fielding said, "I hope that the talk was engaging enough to impact the students’ decision about pursuing a profession in medicine. The purpose of Career Day is to introduce students to professions that they would not normally be exposed to."

Most students were very excited to receive valuable information that was to be given to them by the volunteers. One 12th grade student, Harrison Grand, said, "it was very informative and I learned a lot from the two careers that I observed that day.”

This tradition returned to HHIHS after being gone for two years due to COVID-19. Many of the same volunteers come back every year. Mrs. Fielding said, "Yes! I would definitely come back to present again. This is my 4th time speaking at Career Day.”

HHIHS wants to give a special Seahawk Shoutout to the following speakers and businesses for participating in Community Career Day.

Ryan Greco—Videographer, Moonlight Production

Beav Brodie—Entrepreneur, Tactile Baby Gear

Dan Clare—Retired CFO of Gulf Stream

Kristin Powers—Esthetician

Amanda Spencer—Wedding/Event Planner, Spencer Special Events

Andy Twisdale—Realtor

Kevin Sweeney—Welder/Marine Mechanic, The Boathouse Marina

Dr. Kelemen—Cardiac Surgeon, Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Assoc.

Jen Fielding—Cardiovascular Perfusionist, Low Country Perfusion LLC.

Chris Blankenship—Deputy Chief of Operations (Fire Fighting)

Colin Fannin—Battalion Chief (Fire & EMS)

Joheida Fister—Deputy Chief of Admin (911 Communications and Dispatch)

Riley Miller—News Anchor, WJCL

Shelby Sharp—Peak Performance

Paul Rottweil—Turf and Golf Course Management, Heritage Golf

Dr. Andrea Guess—Dentist, New River Dental Center

Mike Kelly—Plumber, Kelly Sons and Plumbing Inc.

Randy May—Electrician, May Electric

Harriet Pollitzer—Eco Tourism Guide, Outside Hilton Head

Katelyn Simons—Tech Technician, Animal Care Clinic

Sasha Sweeny—Publisher, Hilton Head Monthly & Low Country Monthly

Susie Troux—Dietician/Exercise Physiologist

Frank Holland-BCSD/Army Reserves

Randy Rye—FBI Agent

Sophia Sanchez—journalist, The Island Packet

Chris Stone—Boat Sales Manger, The Boathouse

Officer Nicki Shea—BCSO officer/SRO

Mary Burke—School social worker, BCSD

Lauri Savidge—Director of Operations, Marriott Hotels

Holy Davis—Talent Acquisition Sourcing Manger, Marriott Hotels

Annette Lee—Teaching and Coaching, BCSD

Sgt. Major Wyatt—Marines

Cindy Creamer—Dunes Realty, President of SC. Realtors Assoc.

Angela Rosenberg—Marine Science & Marine Biology, ANAGARI Foundation

Victor Wnek—Retired Military and Massage Therapist

Anna Kendrick—Hairstylist and Owner of The Parlour

Todd Rhine—Planning, Todd Rhine Planning

Garrett Talarcyzk—Teaching and Coaching, BCSD

John Lippitt—Physical Therapist, Cora PT

Stacey Saritelli—Personal Trainer

Shelby Basciano—Occupational Therapist and Personal Trainer

Julie Feldman—Talent Acquisition for Startups, JSF and Assoc.

Mira Scott—Art Gallery Owner

Jerry Griffin—Production Manager, Kodak

Ingrid Boatright—Computer Specialist, Volunteers in Medicine

Sgt. Doug Seifert—BCSO Detective

Caroline Summa—Nurse Educator, University of South Carolina Beaufort

Chris Boyden—Pharmacist, Burke Pharmacy

Bree Kennedy & Pam Blackshire—Attorney, Kennedy + Blackshire LLC.

Sarah Hickman—Water Quality Manger, Hilton Head PSD.

Brian Fedorick—Wastewater Treatment/Collection Superintendent, Hilton Head PSD.

Tim Sterns— CEO, Salty Dog

Stephanie Tebrake—Photo Gallery and Retail Store Owner

Kristen Keller—Marketing Representative, Palmetto Electric

Amanda Russ—Chef and Owner of Pomodori

Mike Quigley—Wealth, Mortgage, Loan Officer, TD Bank

Anne Caywood—Low Income Legal Clinic

Chad Perrine—Contractor and Owner of Reno Pro