Photo: ACE Awards  
Paul Hyde, phyde@greenvillenews.comPublished 10:00 a.m. ET May 6, 2018 | Updated 9:49 a.m. ET May 8, 2018

​Cameron Pate-Addie, 18, experienced some tough times growing up. His father died when he was very young. His mother passed away when Pate-Addie was a freshman in high school.

When he came to Woodmont High School, Pate-Addie was living with his brother and struggling academically.

"But you would never have known that he was going through difficulties," said his school counselor Ashley Emmons. "He has always been so polite and upbeat, one of the nicest people you'll ever meet." With the help of loved ones and the Woodmont teaching staff, Pate-Addie has persevered and is now a graduating senior, bound for Lander University and a future teaching career.

Pate-Addie is one of 70 students being honored this year with an ACE Award, which recognizes young, unsung heroes in Greenville County.

Pate-Addie, who maintains a part-time job along with his studies, participated in Woodmont's Teacher Cadet program, which provides internships at elementary and middle schools for high school students interested in teaching. The experience confirmed Pate-Addie's aspirations to become a teacher. "He's very passionate about social studies and history, so he wants to be a social studies teacher," Emmons said. His school counselors expect great things from Pate-Addie.

"We're excited to see what he does in the future," said Alli Brown, another Woodmont counselor. "I think he's going to be very beneficial to some kids out there." The ACE (Advocates for Character and Education) Awards, recognizing eighth- and 12th-graders who've overcome tremendous odds, are sponsored by Coaches 4 Character. "It's all about honoring unsung heroes in Greenville County,"  said Greg Blatt, executive director of Coaches 4 Character. "These are students who've gotten lost in the shuffle," he said. "Their lives have been about tackling adversity, meeting challenges, and overcoming tough times through determination and perseverance. They've done amazing things in their lives but they've been overlooked."

One boy and one girl from each of the county’s 35 middle and high schools will be presented an ACE Award.
This year's speaker will be Will Muschamp, head football coach at the University of South Carolina. The ACE Awards are a partnership of The Greenville News, WYFF 4, Greenville County Schools, iHeartMEDIA and the Greenville Health System. Winners will receive a medallion, commemorative program/photo and a gift package. Two students also will be able to donate $500 each from Coaches 4 Character to the students’ favorite charity.

Several 12th-grade students also will receive college scholarships.

Courtesy of WSPA News Channel 7
​http://www.wspa.com/news/upstate-program-teaches-future-educators/1102628643
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GREENVILLE Co., S.C. (WSPA) -- Greenville County Schools has a program that could bring more teachers to the Upstate. Through the Teacher Cadet program, the district recruits its best and brightest students to work in the classroom with teachers. In 15 high schools within the district, 200 teacher cadets are learning how to teach. Cadets get the opportunity to work one-on-one with students and teachers. They also develop lesson plans and teach students in different subjects. Students are recruited for the program based on their GPA and interest in working in the school system. The district hopes these teacher cadets will graduate college with a degree that will allow them to return to Greenville County to work in the schools.

BY TODD SCHOLL

Sixty-nine students were inducted into the Teacher Cadet National Honor Society (TCNHS) in a ceremony held on Saturday, March 10 at Columbia College. 

In its second year, the TCNHS was created to honor scholarship, develop character, promote leadership, and stimulate a desire to serve.

In order to be considered for membership in the Teacher Cadet National Honor Society, a student must be a junior or senior with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5 (unweighted) on the state grading scale. A teacher leadership committee selects from all qualifying applicants those who excel in scholarship, character, leadership, and service.

BY: KAREN PACK
karen@cerra.org

Dr. Carolyn Gaillard's Cadets have expressed an interest in working with students in their futures! During a recent visit, we discussed scholarship and grant funding opportunities for becoming a teacher in South Carolina. 

BY: KAREN PACK
karen@cerra.org

The Teacher Cadets at Barnwell High School, led by Lisa Wyndham, completed their Big Books. Kennedy Cave stated this experience, "forced me to be creative, making me think like a children's author." Idasha O'Berry added, "you had to brainstorm how to write a story a child would understand-not too complicated or complex." Destiny Priester shared, "they had to use real-life situations and predict possible outcomes." Maggie Surprenant concluded, "the process allowed her to express herself in the form of a book."

BY KAREN PACK
karen@cerra.org

One of Nancy Cowart's Teacher Cadets at Fox Creek High School is already making her way in the world. Alexis Williams is a published author and plans to major in journalism.  She currently has two additional books in the making.

During her field experience, Alexis is helping her students become strong writers and they will publish a booklet for their school.  Alexis is the editor of the school website blog/newspaper, Predator Press.  She is an honor student, nominee for Girls State, active in several clubs, her church, and competition cheerleading,  

BY . KAREN PACK
karen@cerra.org

In preparation for the field experience, Amie Barton's Cadets prepared and taught lessons to their peers. Alaisha Guinyard taught a mini-lesson on Author's Purpose, helping her students understand how an author can entertain, inform, or persuade his audience.  Shamya Smith's integrated math and science lesson on Odd and Even Numbers/Plants began with a "nature walk," without leaving the classroom! Shamya distributed leaves to her students and asked them to count and record the number of veins on the leaf. Sterlyn Evans used IXL to present his lesson on the Basic Functions of Government. Local, state, and national government roles were reviewed by students in a game-like fashion.  Not pictured is Qamariah White, who taught a lesson on Context Clues. Her students used clue words (like, called, such as, known as, meaning, or, include) to determine the meaning of an unknown word. 

BY KELLY BROWDER