Our vision:
To promote and support civic engagement for quality public education in South Carolina.
The 2025 Riley Award Application is LIVE online now!
Do you feel as though your SIC has excelled in achievement and civic engagement on behalf of your school? If so, you’re in the right place.
The Dick and Tunky Riley Award for SIC Excellence was created by the Board of Trustees in honor of former SC Governor and US Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, and his wife, Tunky in 2002. The annual award recognizes School Improvement Councils for excellence in their commitment to school improvement efforts.
Riley Award Applications Due
December 11
(L-R) SC-SIC Board of Trustees Chair Stewart Cooner; SC-SIC Executive Director Tom F. Hudson; Harold C. Johnson Elementary SIC Chair Julie Shillinglaw, Principal Crystal Sandifer, and SIC Secretary Clarissa Fowler; York School District 1 Superintendent Kelly Coxe; Ted Riley, award presenter, son of Dick and Tunky Riley; and York 1 School Board Chair Scott Childers.
2024 Riley Award Honorable Mentions
Lake Forest Elementary SIC (Greenville County Schools)
Lemira Elementary SIC (Sumter School District)
Sterling School SIC (Greenville County Schools)
Stratford High SIC (Berkeley County School District)
Harold C. Johnson Elementary SIC Receives 2024 Dick & Tunky Riley Award for School Improvement Council Excellence
The School Improvement Council (SIC) of Harold C. Johnson Elementary School in York School District 1 has been named the recipient of the 2024 Dick and Tunky Riley Award for School Improvement Council Excellence.
The award was presented Saturday afternoon during a SC School Improvement Council (SC-SIC) awards program and luncheon at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia.
The annual Riley Award for SIC Excellence was created in 2002 to highlight the significant contributions made to public education by the 12,000 School Improvement Council members who volunteer in every public school in the state. The award is named in honor of the former SC Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education and his late wife, recognizing the couple’s longstanding commitment to quality public education.
Among the Harold C. Johnson Elementary SIC’s efforts for 2022-23 was its work to increase parent involvement; responding to parent input to strengthen communication with families, to include sharing school news with them over multiple formats; serving as a parent advisory group during the district’s calendar creation process, including successfully advocating for a half-day dismissal for teachers to conduct parent conferences; and having SIC members participate in strategic change training to help focus future efforts.
“The Harold C. Johnson School Improvement Council has done some very important work this past year and is very deserving of this statewide recognition,” said SC-SIC Board of Trustees Chair Stewart Cooner. “The direct impact that local SICs can have makes lasting and positive change for our schools, students, families, and communities. This SIC is a splendid example of what civic engagement at work for public education can achieve.”
