Local 4th grader wins state book challenge

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.

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