Every year, EnlightenSC invites 4th and 5th grade students across South Carolina to participate in the annual Children’s Book Challenge, a competition that encourages children to learn about their electric cooperative. The competition challenges students to merge energy education with state learning objectives in art, science, technology, ELA and social studies. Participants use StoryJumper, a web-based platform, to craft a story that answers one central question: How is electricity delivered to our communities?
EnlightenSC requires contestants to connect with their electric cooperatives, which select local winners to be considered for the statewide prize. For Easton Hall, a local 4th grader, contacting his local co-op was as simple as talking to his father, Ben Hall. As an employee at York Electric, Ben used his knowledge about power delivery to help his son write his book, titled The Old Farmhouse.
Hall’s story, dedicated to his father, follows a young boy’s discovery of electricity’s impact on his community. The character, named Isacc, learns how York Electric first brought power to the home his ancestor built. Hall’s love for his family’s historic farmhouse inspired this creative story, which won the individual statewide award in this year’s Children’s Book Challenge.
His home has housed generations of Halls. In the 1880s, Hall’s great-great-great grandfather constructed the home from timber he harvested on the property. Over the last 150 years, the Hall family has witnessed the area’s transformation. The farmhouse originally stood next to a horse and cart path, which is now a bustling state highway. However, the family’s cherishment for their home and community remains a constant.
While living in the farmhouse, Hall’s grandfather, Bob Hall, converted his family’s 1930s peach packing shed to an open-air market. Since 1980, their family farm, the Bush-n-Vine, has provided fresh, local produce to the community. Today, just a few miles from the Bush-n-Vine, a new generation of Hall children continue to enjoy the farmhouse’s 20-acre property, continuing a 150-year-old family tradition.
For winning the statewide challenge, Hall received a $500 grand prize, and copies of The Old Farmhouse will be distributed to elementary schools across the state. In April, the South Carolina General Assembly recognized Hall’s accomplishment, with parents, three brothers, cousins, and grandparents in attendance.
Generations of the Hall family have called the 150-year-old farmhouse home.
Hall, here with his parents and three brothers, was recognized by the South Carolina General Assembly for his accomplishment.
Easton Hall’s book, The Old Farmhouse, won the individual statewide award in the Children’s Book Challenge.