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Schools battle flu and concern
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Friday marked the end of the first nine week grading period for Bryan County Schools, so Oct. 12 was scheduled as a student holiday all along.

But given the H1N1 virus and the concern it caused this week, the three day weekend probably couldn’t have come at better time.

"It’s not untimely," said interim Superintendent John Oliver.

He said the day also will be a chance for teachers to take a break since the second of the school system’s three furlough days -- a cost saving measure -- is also slated for Monday.

"My hope is when we all come back Tuesday some of our students will have had the chance to be healed up a little bit," Oliver said. "But we are doing better than we were earlier in the week."

Oliver said only 90 of the more than 1,200 students at Richmond Hill Middle School called in sick Friday, which is approximately 8 percent of the student body. Of those, 38 had either "flu, or flu like symptoms, or strep or respiratory ailments," he said. The total number was down from earlier in the week when approximately 13 percent of the students at RHMS were absent for one reason or another.

That was well over the 10 percent benchmark used by state health workers in trying to track the flu virus. School districts to report whenever a school has more than 10 percent of its student body absent on a given day., no matter the reason.

Richmond Hill Middle School and Carver Elementary School have both met or exceeded 10 percent, and some parents have asked why schools haven’t been closed.

"To be honest, it would be when we don’t have the staff or children to be able to effectively conduct school business," Oliver said.

-Read more in the Bryan County News.

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Groups hand out scholarships
RH theater scholarship
Richmond Hill High School senior Jacey Shanholtzer shows her Dawn Harrington Berry Spotlight Award, which was awarded by the Richmond Hill Community Theatre and includes a $500 scholarship. With her are Tom Harris, Ashlee Farris, Brett Berry and Kim Diebold. The award was created in memory of Dawn Harrington Berry, a long time RHCT member and president who died in 2016. - photo by Photo provided.

Three reports recently presented scholarships

Richmond Hill High School senior Jacey Shanholtzer received the Dawn Harrington Berry Spotlight Award, which was awarded by the Richmond Hill Community Theatre and includes a $500 scholarship. The award was created in memory of Dawn Harrington Berry, a long time RHCT member and president who died in 2016.

Garden Club

The Richmond Hill Garden Club recently awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Katherine Wood and a $500 scholarship to Carly Vargas, both seniors graduating from Richmond Hill High School.

The awards were presented May 8 during Honors Night at RHHS.

Wood plans to attend Green Mountain College in Vermont and major in environmental studies.

Vargas plans to attend Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee, to pursue a degree in either environmental studies or biology.

The garden club awards a $1,000 scholarship annually to a local high school senior who plans to major in a field related to environmental concerns, plants and/or gardening.

This year, due to having two exceptional candidates, the garden club awarded an additional $500 scholarship.

Exchange Club

The Exchange Club of Richmond Hill recently named Caroline Odom as its student of the year.

The club each month during the school year names a student of the month, and the student of the year is chosen from among those winners.

Awards are based on academic performance, community involvement and leadership.

Monthly winners receive $100, with the annual winner getting a $1,000 scholarship.

The Exchange Club has been recognizing students for more than 30 years.

Odom will go on to compete in the Georgia District Exchange Club against students from across the state.

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