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Thornwell Youth Receive Award for Gold Sponsorship of the 2010 Relay for Life

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:58:16 +0000

On August 24, Harlan Thomson of Relay for Life, Laurens County presented Thornwell Christian Educator Finley Sutton with a plaque in appreciation for a Gold Sponsorship of the 2010 Relay for Life given by Thornwell youth.

Each spring, thanks to an endowment established for Thornwell youth called The Farrell Philanthropic Fund, the youth of Thornwell have a chance to research, review and award thousands of dollars to non-profit organizations near and far. They are also challenged to raise funds of their own to match gifts established in the endowment.

In addition to the $1000 gift to Relay for Life, Thornwell youth awarded The United Way of Laurens County $1500; Mission Possible: LaHatte School in Haiti, $2000; and the American Red Cross, $500, bringing the total raised and awarded in 2010 to $5000.

Way to go Thornwell youth!

It’s back to school time at Thornwell!

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:49:04 +0000

Last week our children’s summer came to a close as the official “first week of school” began. This week Thornwell’s youth are becoming accustomed to getting up before dawn, packing lunches and backpacks, and making sure forms are signed before catching the school bus.

This year, we have 13 children attending Clinton Elementary School, 25 children at Bell Street Middle School and 18 youth at Clinton High School. In addition, two of our elementary students are attending Eastside Elementary School’s gifted and talented program.

Many of Thornwell’s children are involved in extra-curricular activities such as playing football or cheerleading at Bell Street Middle School. Several students are playing volleyball and participating in band. At Clinton High School, one Thornwell youth is playing varsity football and one youth is playing varsity volleyball. We also have a student who is the head athletic trainer for Clinton High.

When asked, “What is the worst thing about the first week of school?” Most students said, “Filling out all those forms!”

When asked, “What is the best thing about the first week of school?” The majority of students said, “Seeing friends!”

Best wishes for a successful school year, Thornwell students!

Grace Youth Walk In the Footsteps of Dr. Jacobs

admin — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:22:50 +0000

Youth volunteers and their leaders from Grace Community Church, Boca Raton, Florida spent the week of July 26 on the Thornwell campus and in the local area offering their talents in service and learning about Thornwell’s beloved founder, Dr. William Plumer Jacobs. Equipped with a copy of Dr. Jacobs’ diary, edited by his son, Thornwell Jacobs, the youth discovered what it was like to be a young preacher in the post-Civil War South, and the sacrifices this brave and faithful man made to respond to God’s call.

The group visited the sites of Bethany Presbyterian Church and Shady Grove Presbyterian Church where Dr. Jacobs preached following his ordination in 1863, in addition to his forty-seven year ministry at First Presbyterian Church, Clinton, SC.

On the Thornwell campus, the youth stopped in to visit the Home of Peace and imagine what it might have been like that October 1875 when Dr. Jacobs, his wife Mary, their four children and the first 10 orphans moved into the house. The group saw Dr. Jacobs’ desk from which he wrote his diary entry on that first day in Thornwell’s first cottage, “Here I am in the Orphanage. My little household has grown considerably. The Orphanage is opened. My study is beautifully arranged. Mary’s sewing room is near by. Ten little orphans are here. Several more have applied…”

The group also had an opportunity to learn about Thornwell Jacobs who is considered the “father of the modern time capsule.” They heard about his peculiar Crypt of Civilization at Oglethorpe University where in 1940 he stocked the time capsule (actually an old swimming pool!) with the items he thought would show the accumulated knowledge of mankind up until his time. Thornwell Jacobs’ time capsule is to be opened May 28, 8113.

The Grace Church group got to “boldly go” where few visitors to the Thornwell campus get to venture– the historic Nellie Scott Museum. Though not open to the general public, the building holds many unusual artifacts. Among the treasures are fossils, minerals, preserved birds and animals donated by the Smithsonian Institution. A library room filled with thousands of Dr. Jacobs’ books felt like a doorway to another time and place. Rumors of ghost stories quickly began to circulate during this tour!

The youth put their hands and feet to work around the Thornwell campus, mulching and landscaping to beautify the area around the Hartness-Thornwell Memorial Presbyterian Church and around the front of the Home of Peace. All was not work, however, as the cooling Thornwell swimming pool offered the group members much needed respite from the summer heat, and from all of those history lessons!

Many thanks to the young people and their faithful adult leaders from Grace Community Church for learning and serving with us at Thornwell.