WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — In West Columbia on Wednesday, School District Two put a film crew veteran, a chorus director nicknamed Mama Maddox and an art teacher who once called her pupils Little Flowers into its Fine Arts Hall of Fame.
Leaders marked the occasion at 5 o’clock at the Performing Arts Center on Platt Springs Road. A stakeholder panel picks inductees who stand out in art, music, theater, dance or writing, including Airport or Brookland-Cayce alumni, district educators and community backers of the arts.
Sarah Elizabeth Jones grew up nearby, attended Northside Middle and Brookland-Cayce High, then worked as a camera assistant in the film industry. She was killed at 27 on the first day of Midnight Rider when a director put the crew on a live railroad trestle. Relatives later helped start Safety for Sarah to press studios on set safety.
Frances Steadman Maddox taught chorus and theory at Airport High, led the district Fine Arts Department and was named District Teacher of the Year in 1982 after earlier honors at the school. She studied music education at Furman and later finished a master’s at the University of South Carolina, retiring in 2006.
Barbara Jean Ward started teaching art at Fulmer Middle in 1966, moved through several Lex Two campuses and helped draft the district’s elementary and middle art courses before retiring in 1996. The trio joins earlier honorees such as William E. Ackerman, Eva Pilgrim and Keith Williams.
Section: More Irmo SC education news
