Kershaw schools recognize Special Olympics athletes, name regional athletic director of the year and report rising digital engagement

District leaders recognized student and staff achievements and reviewed the 2024–25 communications summary, saying the district’s web and social platforms continue to draw broad engagement and that a new AI chatbot on the district website is already fielding user questions.

Dr. Goodwin and communications staff introduced recognitions for three student athletes selected to compete at the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games in Minneapolis and named Daniel Sisk, North Central High School activities director and head football coach, as the Region 4–2A Athletic Director of the Year. The board invited the community to “rally behind these athletes,” and Dr. Goodwin congratulated the honorees.

Becky (communications staff) and other communications presenters reviewed digital metrics and tools. The district reported more than 10,000,000 page hits across district web pages over the past year, said staff; school websites and the district website remain the central hub where news items originate. Staff told trustees that Blackboard Connect remains the district’s mass-notification system while Canvas shows high daily logins for students; the district uses Parent Portal primarily for report cards and final grades. Communications staff said Facebook remains the district’s largest social platform and that interactions have increased even as post volume dipped, while Instagram use is growing, especially among the district’s high schools and the Willard Technology Center.

The communications office said it approved 974 electronic flyers through Peachjar last school year, which district staff said allows schools and community organizations to distribute digital flyers directly to parents’ email addresses rather than paper handouts. The district also recognized several schools and staff who won statewide communications awards from SC Inspira, including a golden achievement award for a school STEAM night program and multiple other school- and district-level honors.

Communications staff described a district-hosted AI chatbot on the district website and said the tool, which searches only district pages, has already handled more than 850 questions since the start of the school year; the most common queries, staff said, involve registration, employment and PowerSchool codes. Staff said they will monitor the chatbot’s performance and work with schools to ensure local pages are up to date before expanding the tool to individual school websites.

Trustees praised the communications team and local media partners and asked no substantive questions about operations; the presentation closed with thanks to the district’s communications staff and community partners.