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A potential new middle and high school in Awendaw has a chance to be a partial magnet school, and students from multiple parts of the district can be pulled to

AWENDAW, S.C. (WCSC) - A potential new middle and high school in Awendaw has a chance to be a partial magnet school, and students from multiple parts of the district can be pulled to take part in a specialized curriculum.

Charleston County School District Board Members and the people of Mount Pleasant got to hear new details about the potential schools on Wednesday. District officials told people at the meeting, held at Laing Middle School, that a lot of the plans right now are just ideas with no specific timeline.

This new middle and high school would be located on 107 acres at Highway 17 and Jenkins Hill Road. As part of this plan, district staff presented concept maps with multiple options for rezoning.

Jeff Borowy, the Chief Operating Officer for the district, says this plan will be a challenge.

“Most of the times we build a school, we just build a specific zone of attendance for that school, but in this case, we want to have a number of students to offer the right programs for those students,” Borowy said. “So, we have to look out of the box and look for something different beyond the zone.”

District staff says one of the main challenges is making sure that each school holds a maximum of 500 students. This would pull in kids from D1, the Awendaw-McClellanville area, and some from D2 in the northern Mount Pleasant area.

Staff also say they are continuing to research desirable education options for a partial magnet school to reach that target enrollment.

“It’s going to be very important to let’s build the school from up, but at the same time, let’s figure out what we’re going to be doing inside,” Thomas Colleton, D1 Constituent Board Chair, said. “The curriculum needs a lot.”

There is currently no timeline on construction for the schools because the district does not know if this magnet option will be included. The district says it is possible that the earliest we can start to see construction would be in four years.

Jonathan Mars, a parent of two children at Carolina Park Elementary, says this could be an option for his family when his kids get older.

“But it does sound like they’re going to have very specific programs at the school,” Mars said. “So, for example, if there’s a great art program and my daughter’s really into art that seems like a great option to have.”

As of now, this project is not fully funded and the district says they do not have a price estimate.

They say the next step is to charter a blue-ribbon committee in mid-October that will look at enrollment numbers and look at the best options to make this project successful.

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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — It’s the largest event of its kind in the Southeast celebrating the great outdoors.

The Southeastern Wildlife Exposition (SEWE) officially kicks off Thursday night in Charleston, with events all weekend.

Read More: SEWE to kick off Thursday celebrating wildlife and great outdoors

The Birds of Prey flight demonstration is one of the most educational and entertaining shows you’ll see during SEWE. It's a fan favorite for all ages that takes place in Marion Square.

“It's a big weekend for us,” said Stephen Schabel, the director for The Center for Birds of Prey. “We kind of bring our education programs from Awendaw here to Marion Square and it’s always great to get the birds out here in the park to give them an opportunity to see it again. Most of the birds that we bring with us have been here before but it’s still nice to remind them of what the environment is like.”

It was busy as crews were setting up for the three-day event, which brings tens of thousands to downtown Charleston every year. Most of the birds are ready for the spotlight and these demos bring attention to the organization behind them.

“We are a non-profit organization,” said Schabel. “We have our Avian Medical Clinic where we treat injured birds. We have our educational component, The Center for the Birds of Prey.”

There will be plenty of birds participating, including a black vulture and several kinds of owls- some a bit more enthusiastic than others.

The Harris’s Hawks, a crowd favorite, were practicing their flight from the roof of the Dewberry Wednesday afternoon. It’s a flight sure to get people’s attention, but Schabel hopes it goes further than that.

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“If they leave just understanding that we are a resource here in the community to help with injured birds, if they leave with a little better appreciation for birds they see every day, if they are a little more excited about birds then they were before they got here – that would be great as well,” said Schabel.

You can check out the Birds of Prey flight demos Friday, Saturday or Sunday at 11 a.m. or 3 p.m. You don’t need a ticket to watch these demos- they're free in Marion Square, just expect large crowds.

Full schedule:

MARION SQUARE, 329 Meeting St. in downtown Charleston

Visit the SEWE website for a list of all events.

AWENDAW, S.C. (WCIV) — One Awendaw woman is launching a new company with the goal of bringing new services to her community.

Awendaw is a small quiet rural city next to Mount Pleasant, but for people like Stacia McNeil Dawson it's better known as "home."

“Being out in the country, born and raised, which I love and I see that everybody else is starting to love it as well,” McNeil Dawson said.

Awendaw woman starts trash service, looks to bring more resources to rural communities. (WCIV)

But the beauty of a small rural town comes at a cost.

“Growing [up], born and raised in Awendaw, I’ve noticed that we always lack,” McNeil Dawson said.

Cities like Awendaw don’t have county-sponsored resources when it comes to maintenance or sanitation like many other areas do. So for many basic necessities, residents are pushed towards private services which, according to residents, may be unreliable or have such a large service area that these rural cities may get over looked.

“We are the last to have anything available or otherwise any type of services funding or even programs,” McNeil Dawson said.

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One of those resources McNeil Dawson says the lack: trash services.

“Just to see when you go out and visit other relatives, and they have all these type of services come into their community, and you come back home and you see that we don't have it, it makes you feel like why don't we have it? It makes us feel like, well, maybe we're not worthy to have it or maybe they just don't want to cater to us," McNeil Dawson said.

Instead of accepting her fate, McNeil Dawson decided to get up and do something about it.

“In order to make a difference in the world, we must start [at] home first. Community is number one, " she said.

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McNeil Dawson decided to create her own sanitation service company specifically for Awendaw and the surrounding rural areas in the North Mount Pleasant area. It's called Awendaw Sanitation Services.

What started out as a vision five years ago turned into a full blow operation set to open next week. McNeil Dawson took the an unconventional route to get there.

“Typically, every day in both of my vehicles is full with anything on sanitation," she said.

She's a true self starter who built this business using her own money- raising almost a quarter of a million dollars in total- her own time and her own resources to put together trucks and commercial vehicles.

From rolling trash cans down the street to now just being days away from the rollout of her business– it’s been a long journey.

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But for McNeil Dawson, her purpose is much larger than just trash clean-up.

“I believe Awendaw Sanitation Services will be the door to start opening up new opportunities, to bring out more resources and just to give more to the rural areas," she said.

She hopes the road she took to get to this point will inspire others to do the same.

“It's going to take us if we see the need, it's going to take us to make that change," she said.

Awendaw sanitation company will provide household trash cleanup services to Awendaw, McClellanville, Huger, North Santee, Buck Hall and North Mount Pleasant starting on August 2.

McNeil Dawson said they are currently running a promotion for signups before their start date next week and are also looking for more employees– specifically for anyone with a CDL license.

Good news, folks. After a two-year hiatus, the 25th Annual Awendaw Blue Crab Festival is returning this month.

What to expect

Hosted by the Town of Awendaw on Sat., Aug. 27, this annual, family-friendly celebration is expected to bring in 3,000+ guests at its 300-acre event venue at the Town of Awendaw Municipal Park at 7997 Doar Rd.

Though some might assume the event will only offer blue crab, the festival is set to feature local food trucks, more than 75 art + retail vendors, beer and wine, live music by The Secrets — aka one of Charleston’s longest-running funk shows — pontoon boat and hayrides, and a kids’ area.

And of course, there will be bushels of Lowcountry Blue Crabs served by the bucket in three flavors: Traditional, garlic, and cajun. Heads up: Crab buckets, beer and wine, hayrides, and boat rides will all require tickets.

General admission tickets are available for $10 if purchased in advance, or $15 at the door. If you’re looking to go all out this year, grab a VIP ticket for $125. A portion of the admission proceeds is set to be donated to “Build the Park” and other Awendaw charities.

But some (or all) of this may not be new information to you — seeing as how the annual celebration dates back to around 1994. So what’s the story?

How it began

In 1994, a group of Awendaw residents gathered to enjoy a few bushels of crab under an oak tree at Town Hall when the idea of a blue crab festival dawned on them.

What began as a small get-together became the annual Awendaw Blue Crab Festival that we know and love. It’s as simple as that.

Blue crabs in the Lowcountry

Though sometimes regarded as aggressive in nature, the blue crab is admired in the Lowcountry and said to support commercial fishery. The crustacean actually requires both inshore brackish and high salinity ocean waters to fulfill its life cycle — so it sounds like we’ve got the perfect environment.

Though there are other small swimming crabs in the family, this is the only crab with recreational and commercial importance in the state. The meat is used for various quintessential Lowcountry dishes — peep this story by Charleston Magazine featuring eight recipes from local restaurants.

We hope you head to this year’s Awendaw Blue Crab Festival with a new appreciation for the festival + the blue crab’s significance in the Lowcountry. Let’s get to crab crackin’, Charleston. *

AWENDAW, S.C. (WCIV) — Social media forums are buzzing in the Awendaw-McClellanville area.

Mosquitos have people swatting from the second they step outside.

Large populations of mosquitos buzz up problems in Charleston County (WCIV)

It’s a problem that has crept into the freshly painted walls of Howard AME Church off of Rutledge Road.

“Every day it’s getting worse and worse and worse right now,” said Vince Green, who has been remodeling the church for more than two months.

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Renovations are nearing completion, but an unwanted pest is now itching to cause trouble.

“I’ve used up two cans of spray, Cutter, already,” Green said Monday afternoon. “So, it’s really, really bad.”

Green said the situation is bad on the outside, but worse on the inside. Mosquitos have planted themselves along windows and walls of the church. Green, like many others in the area, have noticed this problem grow substantially over the last week.

“We kind of figured it was coming,” said Brian Hayes, manager of Charleston County Mosquito Control.

Between Hurricane Ian and the Lowcountry’s recent temperatures, Hayes said it’s a timeline that makes sense.

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“The cooler weather kind of prolongs how long the mosquitos are in the lava stage,” Hayes said. “But now that we’ve passed that 14-day period, all these mosquitos have hatched off.”

Despite the county’s varied attack from the air and ground, Hayes admitted there are certain challenges McClellanville presents.

“There are certain places that we’re restricted from spraying,” he said. “We’re restricted to only spraying on one product, which we’ve been using a long time. So, you know, we use the same product for a while, it’s not as effective.”

Despite limitations, Hayes insists the county is doing all it can, as quickly as possible.

“[We’ve received] well over 200 to 300 requests probably since Friday, so we’re well aware of the situation out there,” he said. “[We] completely understand things are really, really bad, and we’re doing all we can to assist the people up there.”

There is some good news, according to Hayes. Charleston County said it is unlikely this species of mosquito carries any diseases, and is hoping this week’s cooler temperatures will kill off large populations.