Roofing company in Red Hill, SC

In a historic achievement, Redhill School proudly announces the remarkable successes of the Class of 2023, marking a milestone as the school attains its best-ever Matric results. This success is particularly noteworthy as Redhill is currently the only school in the country to offer students the choice between two qualifications: the Independent Examination Board (IEB) and the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme.

What sets this accomplishment apart is that some of the top-performing students opted for the demanding International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme, enhancing the significance of the IEB results. These results showcase a 100% university entrance (Bachelor’s Degree Pass) and an impressive average of 4 distinctions per student, totalling 292 distinctions overall.

Exceptional achievements are seen across various grade categories, with 7 students achieving a 90% average or above, 39 students with an 80% average or above, 62 students with a 70% average or above, and 71 students with a 60% average or above. Distinctions are equally impressive, with 21% achieving a full house (7 or more distinctions), 53% attaining an A average, and 86% receiving a B average or above. Notably, 93% of students received one or more distinctions.

Reflecting on this extraordinary accomplishment, Executive Head, Joseph Gerassi, stated that, "The dedication and commitment of our students, coupled with the unwavering support of our educators and parents, have truly paid off. These outstanding results are a testament to the innovative and holistic education that Redhill School provides, nurturing not only academic excellence but also the development of well-rounded individuals who are ready to make a global impact.”

The title of Redhill DUX Scholar for 2023 was awarded to Samuel Hertz, who achieved a remarkable 96% average with an astonishing 11 distinctions, including 10 distinctions at 90% or above.

Samuel also placed in the Top 1% of candidates in 7 of his subjects, including Accounting, Dramatic Arts, English, Physical Sciences and Further Studies English. Samuel's exceptional academic prowess, coupled with the fact that he was also the school’s Student Vice-President, exemplifies the school’s commitment to helping students become the best possible versions of themselves.

In addition to the IEB success, the International Baccalaureate (IB) results exceeded global standards, showcasing the global competitiveness of Redhill students. The world average for the IB Diploma Programme is 29.06 (out of a potential 45 points), while Redhill’s average is an outstanding 36.2, surpassing the world average by a remarkable 7.14 points. Four students achieved outstanding scores of either 42 or 41 points (out of a potential 45 points), including Joshua Brooking and Serena Girard-Nguetsop (42 points each).

Joseph Gerassi expressed his pride in the students, stating, "The International Baccalaureate results reflect not only the academic prowess of our students but also their adaptability and resilience. Redhill School continues to prepare students for success in an ever-evolving global landscape."

It is important to emphasise that achieving scores in the 40-42 range in the IB Diploma Programme is a remarkable accomplishment, often opening doors to some of the world's most prestigious universities and scholarship opportunities.

“Redhill School's commitment to providing a challenging and rigorous education is evident in these exceptional results,” concludes Gerassi. “Our world-class teachers work tirelessly not only to prepare students to excel academically but also to foster their to creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills so they can become global leaders in a rapidly changing world. We could not be prouder of this exceptional cohort of students who have done themselves, their families, and their school proud.”

For more information, visit www.redhill.co.za

This post and content is sponsored, written and produced by Redhill School.

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ROCK HILL, S.C. – Severe thunderstorms brought a massive hailstorm to the Carolinas on Saturday, blasting out windows, tearing down fences and leaving yards covered in enough ice to create the appearance of a fresh blanket of snow.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was in effect for Rock Hill, Fort Mill and Tega Cay in South Carolina on Saturday at 4:45 p.m. ET. The warning included the potential for winds of up to 70 mph and huge hail.

Warnings were also in effect for central North Carolina through Saturday night into early Sunday morning. During the severe thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday, the National Weather Service in Wilmington, North Carolina, received hail reports ranging from quarter to golf ball size.

Teams with the National Weather Service office in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, conducted surveys on Monday in Rock Hill and York to assess the damage from Saturday’s severe thunderstorms.

While some residents believed a tornado caused downed trees and pulled down powerlines, the NWS survey team did not find tornado damage but extensive damage due to the combination of winds between 70 and 90 mph and baseball-size hail.

“The combination of high winds and very large hail resulted in wind-driven hail that further exacerbated damage to structures, vehicles and trees,” according to the survey summary.

The survey team also said a few minor injuries were reported from the storm.

Hailstorm creates rivers of ice, covers ground with hailstones

Damage reports from York County, South Carolina, quickly began pouring into the NWS on Saturday as the storm blasted through the region.

Parts of Rock Hill received hail up to 4 inches in diameter – about the size of a softball. It was the largest hail reported in South Carolina in 13 years. The hailstorm left yards and properties covered in hailstones, making it look like snow.

Video recorded in Rock Hill by Chris Mazza showed the deluge of hail knocking down their backyard fence and winds causing their door to blow open. Mazza said his family was getting ready to celebrate his mom’s birthday when the storm blew in.

In front of the home, the rain and hail created a river of ice water running down the street, where vehicles could be seen with damaged windshields and covered in dents.

‘All hail broke loose’

Rock Hill resident Austin Jefferson told FOX Weather he was preparing to cater food for a wedding when the wild weather event began unfolding.

“What I thought would be a quick thunderstorm quickly turned into a hailstorm,” Jefferson said. “All hail broke loose, literally.”

The hail started out as penny-size before increasing in size to golf ball-size, according to Jefferson.

Jefferson was in his garage packing up supplies and had to force the door closed when the hailstorm started. His truck was seriously damaged, including a cracked windshield and dents on the body.

He got help shoveling the ice from his driveway to be able to make it to the wedding and cater the event.

Drone video recorded over the Roddey Park neighborhood in Rock Hill showed the extent of property damage from downed fences to cars and roofs with blue tarps.

Multiple sources reported widespread tree and wind damage throughout Rock Hill. During the storm, a gas station’s awning collapsed, and photos showed another business with its windows blown in.

Students in Rock Hill are attending school by eLearning on Monday because of the storm damage throughout the community, according to the school district.

(WPDE) — Horry County was under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 8 p.m. Tuesday.

At 6:42 p.m., a line of storms was located extending from 9 miles southwest of Clinton to near the Springmaid Pier, moving east at 45mph. The radar indicated the storm could produce 70mph wind gusts.

Locations impacted included Wilmington, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Leland, Oak Island, Carolina Beach, Whiteville, Burgaw, Surfside Beach, Shallotte, Elizabethtown, Sunset Beach, Wrightsville Beach, Kure Beach, Surf City, Holden Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Caswell Beach, Bald Head Island, and Snows Cut.

A Tornado Watch remained in effect for southeastern North Carolina until 9 p.m.

A Tornado Watch remained in effect for the Coastal Water out 20 nautical miles from Surf City to Little River.

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Horry, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Marion, Williamsburg, Robeson and Columbus County were all under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 6:45.

Radar indicated storm shows 60 mph wind gusts.

Locations impacted include Myrtle Beach, Lumberton, Conway, North Myrtle Beach, Georgetown, Whiteville, DeBordieu Colony, Mullins, Surfside Beach, Elizabethtown, Red Springs, Pawleys Island, Murrells Inlet, Springmaid Pier, Garden City, North Myrtle Beach Airport, Myrtle Beach Airport, Yawkey South Island, Winyah Bay Entrance, and Socastee.

Tornado Watch remained in effect until 6 p.m. for South Carolina, 9 p.m. for North Carolina.

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The NWS-Wilmington issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Central Horry County at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The warning was in effect until 6 p.m.

The NWS said the storm, over Forestbrook and the Myrtle Beach Airport at 5:30, was moving northeast at 90mph.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for Myrtle Beach, Socastee and Red Hill until 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (Credit: National Weather Service)

Impacted locations included Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Whiteville, Surfside Beach, Myrtle Beach Airport, Socastee, Red Hill, Springmaid Pier, North Myrtle Beach Airport, Tabor City, Loris, Chadbourn, Bethel, Lake Waccamaw, Hickory Grove, Hallsboro, Nixonville, Barefoot Landing Area Of North Myrtle Beach, Southeastern Community College, and Wampee.

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The NWS issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Robeson, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Marion, Marlboro, and Williamsburg Counties.

At 4:57 p.m., severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from 8 miles southeast of Hamelt to near Gourdin, moving east at 55mph.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for Robeson NC, Darlington SC, Dillon SC, Florence SC, Georgetown SC, Marion SC, Marlboro SC and Williamsburg SC until 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (Credit: National Weather Service)

Locations impacted include Florence, Bennettsville, Hartsville, Marion, Dillon, Lake City, Darlington, Mullins, Red Springs, Kingstree, Pembroke, Andrews, Maxton, Timmonsville, Mccoll, Johnsonville, Latta, Pamplico, Rowland, and Lamar.

A Tornado Watch remained in effect until 6 p.m. for northeastern South Carolina and 9 p.m. for southeastern North Carolina.

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The National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Darling, Dillon, Florence, Marlboro and Williamsburg Counties at 3:59 p.m.

The National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Florence, Dillon, Darlington, Marlboro, and Williamsburg Counties, in effect until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (Credit: NWS Wilmington)

The warning wass in effect until 5 p.m.

Three-quarter inch hail was possible in the system, along with wind gusts up to 60mph.

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A Tornado Warning for Robeson County has expired.

A Tornado Warning has been issued for Robeson County until 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (Credit: National Weather Service)

The National Weather Service issued the alert at 3:59 p.m. after radar indicated rotation in a severe thunderstorm near Robeson Community College, 7 miles north of Lumberton, moving 60 mph.

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The NWS has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Dillon and Robeson Counties.

The warning was issued at 3:41 p.m. and is in effect until 4:30 for Central Robeson and Central Dillon Counties.

Radar indicated a severe storm near South of the Border, 8 miles northeast of Dillon, NE at 60mph.

Impacted locations included Lumberton, Dillon, Red Springs, Pembroke, Fairmont, St. Pauls, Rowland, Rex, Hamer, South Of The Border, Shannon, Buie, Robeson Community College, Barker Ten Mile, Purvis, Prospect, Elrod, Parkton, Rennert, and Mcdonald.

The Severe Thunderstorm Warning expired at 4:22 p.m.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for Lumberton NC, Dillon SC and Red Springs NC until 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (Credit: National Weather Service)

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The Tornado Warning for North Myrtle Beach expired. A Tornado Watch was in effect through 6 p.m. in South Carolina and 9 p.m. in North Carolina.

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The National Weather Service issued a Tornado Warning for North Myrtle Beach in Horry County, Southwestern Brunswick County, and South Central Columbus County.

The Warning was issued at 2:58 p.m. when a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located 10 miles east of the Springmaid Pier, moving northeast at 60 mph. Radar indicated rotation.

A Tornado Warning has been issued for North Myrtle Beach SC, Little River SC and Shallotte NC until 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 9 2024. (Credit: National Weather Service)

Expected arrival times were as follows:

Other locations impacted by this tornadic thunderstorm include Briarcliffe Acres, Atlantic Beach, Brunswick Novant Medical Center, and Sea Coast Medical Center.

The warning expired at 3:20 in North Myrtle Beach.

If you find yourself in an area with a Tornado Warning, take shelter immediately.

READ MORE: How to shelter during severe storm, tornado

A Tornado Warning issued for Horry and Georgetown Counties at 2:19 has expired.

The National Weather Service issued the warning at 2:19, saying a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Garden City, moving north at 75 mph. Radar indicated rotation in the storm.

Tornado Warning for Northeastern Georgetown County and South central Horry County until 2:45 PM EST, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2023. At 2:19 PM EST, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Garden City, moving north at 75 mph. The Tornado Warning expired at 2:40 p.m. (Credit: NWS)

The Tornado Warning was expired by the NWS at 2:40 p.m. A Tornado Watch remains in effect for our entire viewing area through 6 p.m.

If life-threatening weather conditions are active in our area, we will have live coverage on WPDE, WPDE.com/Watch, our Facebook page and our YouTube page. You can also watch live coverage in the video player at the top of this story.

Marine Warnings were in effect for the coastal waters out to 40 nautical miles off Cape Fear down to the South Santee River.

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If you are able to safely capture weather-related photos and videos, share them with us! We may use them on TV or online.

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The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the Grand Strand and Pee Dee on Tuesday at 11:41 a.m.

READ MORE: Weather Aware Day: Read the latest thinking on today's weather from the Weather Authority Team

The tornado watch is in effect until 6 p.m.

NWS Wilmington has since extended North Carolina and Virginia.

A tornado watch has been issued for parts of North Carolina and Virginia until 9 p.m. (Credit: NWS Wilmington)

This watch was in effect until 9 p.m.

Around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, the NWS issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Myrtle Beach, Socastee and Conway.

The warning was in effect until 2:45 p.m.

NWS also issued a marine warning including the coastal waters from Little River Inlet to Murrells Inlet out 20 nm, Waters from Murrells Inlet NC to South Santee River SC from 20 to 40 nm and Coastal waters from Murrells Inlet to South Santee River SC out 20 nm. The warning is in effect until 3 p.m.

THOMASVILLE — Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) Land, Forest, Wildlife Management (LFW) student Keilee Phillippi of Coolidge recently became the inaugural recipient of the Red Hills Quail Forever Scholarship.

Red Hills Quail Forever Chapter 3173 serves the North Florida and South Georgia area. The chapter is a member of the national Quail Forever organization, which, combined with its sister organization Pheasants Forever, incudes 800 chapters nationwide.

Quail Forever’s mission is to conserve quail, pheasants, and other wildlife through habitat improvements, public access, education, and conservation advocacy. The chapter hosts hunts, snake aversion training, and educational events for new hunters, habitat management workshops, and fundraisers. As a part of their outreach program, the Red Hills Quail Forever chapter offered $500 scholarships for LFW students during the fall and spring semesters at SRTC.

In her scholarship essay, Phillippi said in part, “I’ve always had a deep desire for being active in the outside world and improving the surroundings in which animals live. I knew that a Land, Forest, Wildlife Management degree would be the perfect fit for me as soon as I learned about it. Having completed more than half of my LFW degree, this is now a way of life. I LOVE what I have been studying and cannot wait to see what each upcoming semester holds. In the past year that I have been at Southern Regional, I have learned a tremendous amount. It has significantly improved my quality of life, and I am eager to put all that I have learned to use.”

“Quail conservation has been important to the faculty and students of this program for quite some time,” said LFW Program Chair Dr. Jeremy Green. “Here on our own campuses, our students have worked hard to cultivate and maintain a habitat that is welcoming to quail and other wildlife native to the Red Hills area. This new partnership with Red Hills Quail Forever is meaningful because it will provide students with the financial support needed to continue along their path of becoming great stewards of land, forest, and wildlife management.”

The Foundation’s first priority is to provide support that enhances student learning. While the SRTC Foundation will manage the scholarship, Red Hills Quail Forever Chapter 3173 representatives will be instrumental in the scholarship recipient selection process.

SRTC’s Director of Institutional Advancement Christina Reneau said, “We are truly grateful to Red Hills Quail Forever for their donation to student scholarships at Southern Regional Technical College. Their support shows an appreciation for the great work of the Land, Forest, Wildlife Management program. With this contribution, the members of Red Hills Quail Forever are helping to support the future of conservation in South Georgia and North Florida.”

A first FEI win is always a memorable one, but especially so for Meaghan Marinovich-Burdick who topped the leaderboard of the CCI3-S at Red Hills International Horse Trials this weekend with 14-year old Brazilian Sport Horse mare, Riviera Lu.

Through no fault of the event or location itself, Meaghan has a bit of a sad history with Red Hills. Last year she returned to the event for the first time since 2008, when her coach Darren Chiacchia suffered a rotational fall that left him seriously injured and in a coma for forty two days. At that same event, her friend Missy Miller also lost her horse as a result of a fall.

“I have a lot of previous demons here that I’ve had to get over, so I think it’s pretty neat to have my first FEI win here – it adds a very good memory,” she says.

Hoofprints Around the Country and Across the Pond

Meaghan was bitten by the horse bug at an early age and was naturally drawn to eventing. She rode at two barns when she started out taking riding lessons – a hunter barn and an eventing barn – in order to be able to take more than one lesson a week. Soon enough, it became apparent which discipline she favored.

“I used to sleep over at my friend’s house who lived near both barns and I would purposely skip my hunter lessons on Saturday morning so I could go to the eventing barn to clean stalls,” she said.

“The hunter trainer called my mom and said, ‘This is the second week where she hasn’t shown up, I don’t think she is interested in horses.’ So my mom calls my friend’s mom and the mom said, ‘No, I dropped them off hours ago. They are cleaning stalls.’”

Meaghan’s mom sat her down that evening to ask what was going on and why she was playing hooky from the hunter barn.

“I said I would rather take care of the eventing horses and be with them than take the hunter lessons. The rest is kind of history.”

Meaghan’s eventing education and career have left hoof prints across the country – and across the pond – from her home state of Minnesota, where her first event horse took her through Training level, to her first working student position with Tracey Amaral on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, who would set her down the Young Riders path.

In Ocala, Meaghan spent time riding with Olympian Darren Chiacchia and purchased the Trakehner stallion Ahlerich, who he rode through the then three-star level, from him. Ahlerich would take Meaghan on to win team gold for Area IV in the now two-star at the 2006 Young Rider Championships.

When Meaghan went off to college, she headed overseas to Hartpury College to study equine sports science and further her dream of riding professionally. Ahlerich joined Meaghan across the pond where they rode with the elite squad at the Hartpury Equine Academy and took Meaghan to her first Advanced horse trials. While training in England, they contested the likes of Aston le Walls, Barbury Castle, Houghton Hall.

After earning a graduate degree from Hartpury in sports management, Meaghan made the choice to return to the US in 2014 to continue her career there while being closer to family. To this day, her business Marinovich Eventing, can be found operating out of Aiken in the winter and out of her parents’ Powder River Ranch in summer — a 400 acre working farm just outside of Des Moines, Iowa that produces soybeans, corn, and alfalfa hay and also hosts an annual polo charity event – in the summer.

Linking Ireland to Brazil

The name Rock Phantom might ring a bell to you. The Irish Sport Horse Gelding has been competing with Nilson Moreira da Silva at the Advanced and four-star levels since 2019, earning a top 10 finish in the CCI4-L at the Tryon International 3-Day Event last fall. At the end of last year, he was purchased by Edy Hunter Rameika and now joins Sara Kozumplik’s string. But what does “Rock” have to do with Meaghan and Riviera? In a way, he helped them find each other.

Meaghan sourced Rock Phantom (Sprit House xx – Ballycroy Rose, by Clonakilty Hero) from Carol Gee of Fernhill Sport Horses in 2015, importing him as a 4-year-old having only seen him from a video. Flash forward a few years into Rock’s eventing career with Meaghan and “I was having the most difficult time with him,” she says. That same year, 2018, she began riding with Nilson, who offered to help her with the gelding. Ultimately, they ended up trading horses – Rock became Nilson’s and Meaghan took on a different chestnut called, Red Lion.

Meaghan sadly had to part with Red Lion too soon – he had to be put down in August 2019 – but next month another special chestnut would come into her life. Nilson had been helping Meaghan look for an additional horse to add to her string and helped connect her with Luciano Miranda Drubi, who he used to work for. Luciano represented Brazil at the 1995 Pan American Games 1996 Olympics with Riviera’s grand dam Xilena, where Nilson groomed for them at both events. He later on bred Xilena, stamping horses from his program with the ‘Lu’ suffix.

Meaghan took another chance on a horse after seeing her only via video, and Riviera Lu (Rembrandt Jmen x Ravena 3J, by Diapason des Gaves) arrived stateside in September 2019.

Riviera Goes to the Red Hills

Meaghan and Riviera did their first event as a new partnership in November 2019, stepped up to Intermediate just prior to the pandemic hitting in 2020, and were able to finish out the year with a strong fall 2020 season ending with a CCI3-L completion at the Hagyard Midsouth Three-day Event. The pair went on to move up to the Advanced level early last year and successfully completed the very tricky inaugural CCI4-S at the Kentucky Three-Day Event, followed by Jersey Fresh International CCI4-L in May.

“It’s been a very fun ride,” Meaghan says of her and the chestnut mare’s journey together so far.

Now in their third year together, the partnership is still relatively early days and Meaghan is continuing to figure out how to get the most out of her fiery chestnut mare.

“I’ve been switching her bit up lately and I ran her cross country [at Red Hills] in a rubber pelham with rubber around the chain,” Meaghan said. “I didn’t end up really having much control so I think that’s where the time penalties came from, but she’s so honest and I can put her in front of anything and she’ll jump it.”

Even so, the pair was the second fastest round over a course which ten others in the division were unable to complete. They added only 5.2 time penalties to their dressage score, which was a personal best of 31.8 despite some spooks in the sandbox and Meaghan feeling like she might have left some points on the table in their test.

While River is a bold jumper, Meaghan cites the show jumping as their weakest phase. “Show jumping has always been her nemesis – that’s how I was able to purchase her,” she says.

But they had the help of a friend of Meaghan’s from overseas and of another of Meaghan’s coaches, Cathy Jones-Forsberg, to support them over the weekend. With just the one horse to care for throughout the competition and some good company to help her, Meaghan seemed able to relax and let the chips fall where they may.

“I was just jumping and having fun with my Queen.”

Having fun led to jumping a double clear round and earning the top spot, rising through the ranks from sitting in 16th after dressage – a spectacular new memory added to the legacy of Red Hills and she helped a young fan and volunteer, Anna Holman, make a memory that she’ll never forget as well. Meaghan noticed that Anna, who was volunteering with her dad Eric, had taken a particular liking to Riviera throughout the competition and gifted her with her blue ribbon after the victory gallop.

“I love inspiring the next generation of riders and that ribbon will mean more to her than it ever could to me sitting in the tackroom at home. Maybe one day she will end up being my working student. You never know where kindness and generosity will take your life. It melts my heart seeing her so happy – this is why we do this sport.”

We’ll see Meaghan and Riviera Lu out and about next at the Stable View Spring CCI in the CCI4-S, followed by the four-star at the Kentucky Three-Day Event. They’re looking to cap their spring season by contesting the CCI4-L at the Tryon International May 3-Day Event. We can’t wait to see what’s next for this dynamic pair and cheer them on in their continued partnership.