The faculty here at Chapman announced this week that we will be receiving a visit from Palmetto’s Finest. Between Monday, Oct. 23 and Friday, Nov. 3, two Palmetto’s Finest representatives will be touring our school looking for the proof that we are worthy of a second visit and to truly be palmetto’s finest school.

Assistant Principal Andrew McMillan says that they will be looking for a number of things while touring.

“They have our schedule and room numbers they will walk around look at classes, teachers and students and try to get an image of what a typical day at Chapman High School consists of,” McMillan said.

However, the most important thing is the education that is going on here.

“They’re wanting to see teachers teaching, students learning and getting the vibe of the constant learning that goes on here every day,” McMillan said.

Last year Chapman made it to this point and sadly, didn’t receive a second visit.

“Last year we received a visit. We applied and got a site visit but, unfortunately, didn’t receive a second visit,” McMillan said. “Our hope for this year is to get a second visit and with that, you’re automatically noticed as a finalist and get a plaque.”

Once Chapman is named as a finalist, there will be a second visit earlier on in 2018.

“The next visit they’ll look much closer and rate us like the first group did,” McMillan said. “There’s usually only 2-3 finalist in each category so receiving a second visit is a high honor.”

However, Chapman doesn’t want to end at a second visit; we have all the things Palmetto’s Finest is looking for.

“Palmetto’s Finest’s model is they’re looking for schools that other schools can build themselves on,” McMillan said, “I think that here at Chapman with our leadership, teachers and programs we have, we’re not doing anything that other schools can’t do.”

McMillan says Chapman deserves this award and has the ability to earn this title.

“It’s a good process for others to see how much teachers care about their kids, how involved the community is,” McMillan said. “I think at the end of the day, if every school in South Carolina was like ours, you would see a huge change in education across the state, and ultimately, you’d see South Carolina become a huge model for the country and have students that really go out and make a difference.”