Partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during the afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds light and variable..
Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: August 26, 2022 @ 12:51 am
A ribbon cutting was held at Mead Hall for the Aiken campus gym which recently underwent some renovations. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
A ribbon cutting was held for the newly redone tennis court at the Mead Hall Aiken campus. Because of rainy weather, the ribbon cutting was held in front of the gym doors with the tennis court in the background. Pictured are members of the Kisner Foundation Board of Directors Jason Rabun, Brittany Kisner, Frank Townsend and Leanna Wanta, the executive director for the foundation. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
The gym at Mead Hall was recently had improvements done to it. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
A crowd of people came out to the rededication of the gym and tennis courts at Mead Hall on Wednesday. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
Dr. Frank Sawyer, the head of school at Mead Hall, spoke to the crowd at the gym and tennis court rededication on Wednesday. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
Brittany Kisner spoke at the gym and tennis court rededication at Mead Hall on Wednesday. The Kisner Foundation gave a grant to help pay for work done to the tennis court. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
The tennis court at the Mead Hall Aiken campus were recently redone. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
A ribbon cutting was held at Mead Hall for the Aiken campus gym which recently underwent some renovations. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
A ribbon cutting was held for the newly redone tennis court at the Mead Hall Aiken campus. Because of rainy weather, the ribbon cutting was held in front of the gym doors with the tennis court in the background. Pictured are members of the Kisner Foundation Board of Directors Jason Rabun, Brittany Kisner, Frank Townsend and Leanna Wanta, the executive director for the foundation. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
The gym at Mead Hall was recently had improvements done to it. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
A crowd of people came out to the rededication of the gym and tennis courts at Mead Hall on Wednesday. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
Dr. Frank Sawyer, the head of school at Mead Hall, spoke to the crowd at the gym and tennis court rededication on Wednesday. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
Brittany Kisner spoke at the gym and tennis court rededication at Mead Hall on Wednesday. The Kisner Foundation gave a grant to help pay for work done to the tennis court. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
The tennis court at the Mead Hall Aiken campus were recently redone. (Stephanie Hill/staff)
The rainy weather couldn’t dampen the spirits at the Mead Hall Episcopal School Aiken Campus on Wednesday as students, staff and community members gathered for a rededication of the newly remodeled gym and tennis court.
Dr. Frank Sawyer, the head of school, thanked everyone for coming out to celebrate the renovations of the two areas. The gym, he said, is about 100 years old and the school wanted to preserve as much if it as they could because of its historical significance.
“There have been changes to it over the years, but fairly minor,” Sawyer said. “…it’s too small for basketball to be played, but it’s used for athletics, its used for practice, it’s used for PE classes, and it gets a lot of use. These floors were beaten down after that 100 year period and it really needed to be repaired.”
Students at Mead Hall Episcopal School were welcomed back Thursday with the first opening ceremonies since 2019.
Those beaten down floors are the original ones, Sawyer said. He added that this was the last time the floors can be sanded down, so they will do what they can to take care of them.
“The restoration of this gym was made possible by the fundraising efforts of the Panther Club golf tournaments over the past two years… combined (they) have raised around $40,000-plus which has gone into the foundation work and the sanding and fixing of several places of this floor,” Sawyer said.
The work on the tennis court was made possible through a grant from the Kevin and Brittany Kisner Foundation. The work done included resurfacing the court and adding a bench to the area.
Mead Hall Episcopal School has announced two new leadership appointments.
“With that generous grant for youth sports, the court was resurfaced… and they did such a great job, the thing was a real mess in later years,” Sawyer said. “They put on the traditional green grass and clay colors, so it’s not the style you see at the U.S. Open, but it’s fitting in the tradition of Aiken Prep and the historic tennis court.”
Brittany Kisner with the Kisner Foundation spoke about the grant that was given to Mead Hall, saying the board of directors was happy to give the grant.
“Our mission is to create positive environments for children to live successful lives and we do that for our three pillars of health, education and access to sports and they certain do that well,” Kisner said. “So this grant certainly fit that bill. We are honored and as the parent of two Mead Hall students I was especially pleased that our board voted collectively to give this grant and I look forward to my children who are on the lower campus reaping the benefits of this as well one day.”
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Stephanie Hill is the education reporter for the Aiken Standard. Follow her on Twitter @stephanie_hill2 and Instagram @stephaniehillnews.