Nation Ford High School is helping all students develop World Class Skills of the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate by partnering with our supportive parents as we provide a school culture of academic achievement, student engagement, and community involvement. Nation Ford is committed to focusing on the four C's - critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. It is through this lens that we are honored to have the opportunity to share our 2018-2019 school year's accomplishments.
Collaboration: Throughout our school, we have posted "#ONENATION"; as a school family our teachers, school counselors, School Improvement Council, students, and community work as a team to foster student success. Our fine school awarded diplomas to 484 students this year. Of this graduating class, 78% are Palmetto Fellows or LIFE Scholarship recipients. Seven students were selected as National Merit Finalists. The Nation Ford Class of 2019 earned at present $13,083,818 in scholarships. We could not be more proud. These students represent the legacy of academic, athletic, and artistic achievement that is Nation Ford High School.
Communication: Nation Ford strives to connect and display the accomplishments of our students and school family. Our Advanced Placement program continues to grow with over 40% of our students sitting for 834 AP exam. This year we reached an 87% passage rate school-wide; the highest percentage of students earning a "3" or higher on AP Exams in the history of our fine school. Our CATE courses placed students in a wide variety of high-level apprenticeship and internship programs as some of the most coveted engineering, manufacturing, and health service facilities in the area. Our student-athletes excelled throughout the year. Multiple Nation Ford athletic programs competed for state titles. Nation Ford won 5 Region Championship Titles, while 15 of our programs competed in state playoff competitions. To date, 31 student-athletes signed college scholarships. Our volleyball team won the 5A State Championship, and our Nation Ford Track and Field team set two state records and captured first or second place in six state championship events.
Critical Thinking: Nation Ford is committed to developing 21st Century Learning; this requires providing opportunities for student leadership, real-life applicable challenges, and competition. Twenty students participated in either Palmetto Girl's or Boy's State. Our Theatre Dept. won two Blumey Awards. NF MCJROTC saw another banner year: one of our Senior Cadets was selected for the prestigious Medal of Valor which thus earning a $250,000 college scholarship; the drill team won the annual 6-state regional drill competition; the rifle team won our 24th, 25th, 26th, and 27th Nation Championship title this year. Our MIT/Lemelson InvenTeam was selected from only fifteen schools in the nation to compete in Eureka Fest at MIT this summer. The Academic Challenge Team went undefeated during the regular season and were National Runners-Up the Nation Quiz Bowl Championship. Nation Ford High School journalism program won top awards in 2019 Southern Interscholastic Press Assoc. Convention, with 13 students taking top place in their category. Our tremendous Nation Ford Band won was runner-up in SC AAAA State Championship. Our FBLA had 24 students qualify for Nation Leadership Competition, with three students winning National Championship Honors in their category. Our computer science programs saw 227 students earn Microsoft certifications. Our FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America) won state awards and was a national qualifier.
Creativity: It is important for our students to develop new ways to help those local and abroad. Community involvement and service is an important part of Nation Ford's school culture. Our student body collectively logged over 33,000 service hours in our local community. This year the incredible compassion and dedication of our faculty and students saw incredible giving and kindness. Nation Ford FBLA visited the Shriner children hospital in our annual Build-A-Bear campaign. In our annual Christmas fundraiser, we adopted and provided Christmas for 22 local families. Our annual school-wide Student Council canned food drive collected 13,000 cans and raised over $5,000 for our local food bank. In addition, our students also conducted fundraisers for the March of Dimes, American Red Cross, and multiple local, national, and international non-profit aid groups.
Finally, Nation Ford was selected at a Palmetto's Finest Finalist for the 2018-2019 school year.
The 2018-2019 school year was another incredible year as our tremendous students and staff demonstrated excellence in academics, arts, athletics, and community service.
Jason B. Johns, Principal
Kate Edwards, S.I.C. Chair