Schools ring one last bell
The halls of Columbia County's public schools are bare after teachers and officials said goodbye to the system's more than 20,000 pupils Friday.
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Christa Higgins (left) gives a hug to her friend Milinda Brown as they leave Greenbrier Middle School on the last day of school.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
For some pupils it was a time to trade in their books for plane tickets.
Lewiston Elementary School pupil Tyler Mitchum, 8, said he'll be heading out to Texas to visit his father and watch Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith over and over again.
Tyler's classmate Katelin Williams, 8, said she'll be spending most of her summer traveling to such places as Babyland General Hospital, the birthplace of all Cabbage Patch Kids, in Cleveland, Ga., and the beaches of Hilton Head Island, S.C.
"I'll be doing a lot of things and traveling. It will be really fun," Katelin said.
Pre-kindergartners Madison Lowe and Chloe Young, both 5, avoided the rain Friday while waiting for their bus after their final class at Lewiston Elementary.
Both were excited about heading back next year as kindergartners. In the meantime, they have big summer plans, too.
Chloe said she'll be heading to the beach.
"I'm going to take my water bike in the ocean and ride up a big wave," she said.
Evans High School freshman Paul Thompson gives Paige Boyd a hug as school dismisses for the day.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Madison had more domestic summer plans in mind.
"I'm going to play on a slip-and-slide," she said.
Columbia Middle School pupil Candice Barr said she is ready to move up to Evans High School as a freshman next year, but leaving all her friends and teachers at Columbia Middle School on Friday was depressing.
"It's sad, but you have to grow up sometime," Candice said.
Clayton Jones, 14, is excited about going to high school next year for a different reason.
"There's more stuff to do," Clayton said.
Lisa Powell (left) and Kelli Middleton, both of whom are teachers at Greenbrier Middle School, wave as the school buses leave on the last day of school.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Lakeside High School rising sophomore Kyle Henry, 15, had little to do before leaving his school for the last time as a freshman.
"I could have left at (noon), but I wanted to stay and spend some time with my girlfriend," he said. "We don't get to spend that much time together."
Anna Jackson, 13, gives fellow up-and-coming Columbia Middle School eighth-grader Angel Jenkins, 13, a hug goodbye on the last day of school.
Photo by Valerie Rowell
Lewiston Elementary School pre-kindergartners Madison Lowe, 5, (left) and Chloe Young, 5, avoid the rain on the last day of school by waiting for their bus under the school's covered walk.
Photo by Valerie Rowell