Jefferson County Public Schools

Jefferson County Public Schools, courtesy of the state legislature's decision to phase out CATS testing. State testing in arts and humanities, as well as vocational studies and practical living, has been eliminated. Students will still compile writing portfolios, but the state won't hold schools accountable for the results. And schools likely won't receive an academic index score that would measure whether they are making progress toward academic proficiency.

Bell said Jefferson County will continue tracking how well schools are doing in key subjects such as math and reading. One thousand high school students from the United States and Brazil will descend on Clemson University's Littlejohn Coliseum March 26-28 as part of the sixth annual FIRST Robotics Competition Palmetto Regional. It is a highly competitive and action-packed contest, described as a rock concert and sporting event for the mind rolled into one.

Forty-three teams and robots will take the field to compete in a game called “Lunacy” that aims to launch as many moon rocks as possible into opposing robots within a specified amount of time. High-speed collisions are predicted to be common. The teams received the same kit of parts and had six weeks to design and assemble their robots, which can be no heavier than 120 pounds.