Florence County School District Three celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Ronald E. McNair Tuesday with a program and living museum at Dr. Ronald E. McNair School of Digital Communication and Leadership.
The annual program remembers the life of Dr. McNair who was killed while aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger when it exploded 73 seconds of liftoff on January 28, 1986.
The guest speaker for the program was Gilleon Frieson, Lake City Municipal Court Judge. Mr. Frieson encouraged the students to embrace their differences that make them who they are. “Every one of us was created to be different,” he said. “Do not rob this world and eternity of its opportunity to fully experience you by hiding your uniqueness behind a fake identification.”
Mr. Frieson recounted the life and career of Dr. McNair and recalled watching the shuttle launch and explosion as a third-grader. He explained the need for the space shuttle to have a pair of solid rocket boosters to carry it into space. He said much like the tremendous amount of force needed to lift the space shuttle into space, achieving success takes a tremendous amount of effort and compared a person’s education and attitude as the rocket boosters needed to reach that success.
The program also included performances by the Main Street Elementary School Dance Team the J.C. Lynch Elementary School chorus and the Dr. Ronald E. McNair School of Digital Communication and Leadership chorus and show choir. Student Katelyn Porter also read Success, a poem written by Bessie Anderson Stanley.
Following the assembly, students from across the school district participated in a living museum that recreated various parts of Dr. McNair’s life and career.