Local educators received a massive “thank you” from the Charleston County School District.

On August 26, the district held its first-ever  Back to School Bash for all staff members and their families at the Credit One Stadium on Daniel Island. 

The performers included the Bands of Wando and other bands from the district, with headliner and local Grammy-award winner Darius Rucker. 

Multiple Wando staff members attended the concert. One of them was Bradley Ross, a social studies teacher and track and field coach. 

“I think it’s awesome that Charleston County School District wanted to do something like this… [it] really… shows their appreciation for the teachers,” Ross said.

The event was the first of its kind by the district.

“Some kind of appreciation could become a thing every year…some kind of appreciative gesture or something from the district… could be nice,” Ross said.

What made the night even better for a lot of concert attendees was the high school bands, Ross said. 

“It was really cool seeing the different schools in the district and the community and what they offer and giving those schools a chance to showcase the talented students they have,” Ross said.

One of the students who performed at the concert with the Bands of Wando was junior Mia Fletcher.

“It was pretty fun… the crowd was… singing along to the fight song and everything and even the other school’s teachers and stuff, they were singing along,” Fletcher said. “It’s not even the moments that we’re playing; it’s just the moments that are just insignificant to some people.”

Even though the band was unable to stay to see Darius Rucker take the stage due to time constraints, they still managed to have a fun time.

“I thought it was really cool; I thought it was a great opportunity,” Fletcher said.

Another Wando staff member who attended the celebration was parent educator Susan Antonelli.

“I was pleasantly surprised by it… other high schools were chopping with us and I thought it was really nice. Everyone seemed to be in great spirits,” Antonelli said.

Nearing the end of the band concert, all of the high school bands came together for one last song.

“Each band did their own fight song, but at the end, all the bands played [“Celebration” by Kool and the Gang] together and it was… very unifying,” Antonelli said.

Seeing all the bands come together and perform at the bash was a great way for staffers to get to know each other away from school and the rivalries, Antonelli said.

“Sometimes we get into these little competitions with each other, like, ‘Oh we’ve gotta beat Beckham’ and ‘We’ve gotta beat West Ashley’ and there’s some healthy fun in that… but at the end of the day, we’re all trying to do the same thing, so having these unifying events are good reminders that ‘Hey guys, we’re not enemies, we’re all on the same team’,” Antonelli said.