A house RESOLUTION

to recognize and honor Amanda Bumgardner "Mandy" Burgess, a third-grade teacher at Sandhills Elementary School in Lexington School District Four, and to congratulate her for being named the school's Teacher of the year.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to learn that Amanda Bumgardner "Mandy" Burgess has been named the Teacher of the Year at Sandhills Elementary School in Lexington School District Four; and

Whereas, intended to showcase outstanding professional educators who exemplify the ideals of the educational profession and whose efforts and example have inspired others, the Teacher of the Year Program facilitated by the Human Resources Department of Lexington School District Four recognizes  teachers who demonstrate exemplary leadership and excellence in teaching; and

Whereas, a native of Rock Hill, Ms. Burgess graduated from Rock Hill High School and earned a bachelor's degree in English language arts in 2006 and a master's degree in elementary education in 2007, both from the University of South Carolina (USC).  She currently has a master's plus thirty and is working to complete the second portion of the LETRS training program.  She received Montessori Certification Lower and Upper Elementary in 2015; and

Whereas, in her seventeenth year of teaching, all of them at Sandhills Elementary School, she has taught fourth grade one year, third and fourth grade Montessori Methods ten years, and third grade five years.  She has served as a curriculum team leader and as a member of School Leadership Team 7 Habits Team; and

Whereas, Ms. Burgess served at the Summer Reading Camp at Sandhills Elementary in the summers of 2019, 2020, and 2021, where she monitored and collected students' weekly progress and data.  She has worked with and mentored students from the USC in their first internship; and

Whereas, in the summer of 2007, she served as the assistant director of the Richland County Recreation Commission's day camp, organizing weekly groups and planning weekly programs; and

Whereas, Ms. Burgess instituted a partnership with Girls on the Run Columbia to begin the program at Sandhills Elementary and has served as a coach for Girls on the Run and as the site liaison for Sandhills  every spring since the program began in 2011; and

Whereas, together with her beloved husband, Justin Seth Burgess, she is rearing two outstanding children, Henry Garvin Burgess in the fifth grade and Oliver Finn Burgess in the first grade.  They are faithful members of Northside Baptist Church in Lexington; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives value the work of dedicated educators in the Palmetto State, who devote themselves to our youth by helping them to prepare to become productive citizens, and especially teachers like Mandy Burgess, whose outstanding service has been honored by her fellow teachers.  Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor Amanda Bumgardner "Mandy" Burgess, a third-grade teacher at Sandhills Elementary School in Lexington School District Four, and congratulate her for being named the school's Teacher of the Year.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Amanda Bumgardner "Mandy" Burgess.

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