Staff Writer

Buffalo Elementary School is one of 12 finalists for the Palmetto's Finest award.

Sponsored by the South Carolina Association of School Administrators and Carolina First Bank, Palmetto's Finest honors schools that demonstrate effective and innovative teaching concepts.

Buffalo Elementary is the first school in Union County to be a finalist for the award. The school serves approximately 550 students in grades 4K-4.

Principal Melissa Inman said she was surprised and delighted that the school made the finals on its first attempt. She said the school applied to improve the learning experience of its students and obtain recognition for its faculty.

“The main reason we applied was to make our school the best it can be,” she said. “This process helps you to reflect on everything you do in school and improve. This has been a great learning experience. We look at everything with another set of eyes and try to improve on our existing procedures and also make sure that everything we do instructionally is best for the students.”

“I was surprised to be one of the finalists the first time that we applied,” she said. “We would never have applied if I thought we were not ready for this level award. All the faculty and staff here always go above and beyond and I thought they needed to be recognized for their efforts.”

The school applied for the award in October. On Nov. 30, the school was visited by two evaluators.

“They spent the day with us (and) they visited all the classrooms,” Mrs. Inman said. “They talked with parents. They talked with a group of students. Then they returned to Columbia where the entire Palmetto's Finest Committee meets to decide on the finalists.”

In deciding to apply for the award, Mrs. Inman said “we looked at the application and the criteria and we felt that we exceeded the criteria. The biggest thing that we do is we serve children based on their individual needs. All children are taught on their individual reading level.”

Mrs. Inman said the evaluators confirmed this when they said “they had to see that everything in our application was validated and they said it was.”

If Buffalo wins the award it will receive a “Promethean Board,” an interactive board that can be connected to a computer and used by the teacher to pull up information from the Internet. Mrs. Inman said the school already has one interactive board in the media center. She said schools built today have the boards already in the classroom, replacing the old chalkboard. Buffalo's faculty is looking forward to getting another interactive board, but Mrs. Inman said its location has not been decided.

The school will get a second visit in February from another pair of evaluators who will also spend the day. The Palmetto's Finest Committee will then meet on Feb. 25 to decide on the winners. The finalists will meet March 6 at the Kroger Center in Columbia where the winners will be announced. Two elementary schools, one middle school and one high school will be named Palmetto's Finest.

Superintendent Dr. David Eubanks welcomed the news of Buffalo's achievement and said it should serve an inspiration to the rest of the district.

“This is an honor that the district is real proud of and pleased with,” he said. “We sincerely hope that the visit will place Buffalo at the top of the list to be named one of Palmetto's Finest. Regardless of the outcome, this is quite an honor and one that we're extremely pleased with. It sets a standard for all of our schools. It's an honor toward which all of us should aspire.”