Singleton and Related Genealogy Pages
A history of many families.
| Name | Girard Joshua “Rod” MYERS [2, 3, 4, 5] | |
| Suffix | III | |
| Gender | Male | |
| HIST | of Sumter, South Carolina of Hopkins, South Carolina Class recognized for business savvy Posted: Friday, May 28, 2010 6:00 am | Updated: 11:21 am, Fri May 28, 2010. By JADE ANDERSON janderson@theitem.com It's not often a whole class gets recognized. Jody Ortmann's Junior Achievement class at Sumter High School is one of 24 finalists for the Junior Achievement North American Student Company of the Year. Three students from the class will travel to Minneapolis for the July 18-21 final competition. This is also the first time a Junior Achievement class' company from South Carolina has made it this far in the competition. The company's business is discount cards. "We brainstormed and thought about businesses we usually go to," said T'Shyra Pressly, a Sumter High senior and the group's secretary/treasurer. Vice President J.T. Rider, another senior, said this included grocery stores, hardware stores and mechanics — things people use. Both of them will travel to Minnesota to continue in the competition. Ortmann said the students asked local businesses to sign contracts. Rod Myers, the sponsor for the Junior Achievement class, said the students asked businesses to honor the discount on the card, and in exchange, the businesses get free advertising via the cards. "I use my card," Ortmann said. "I save my family money. It helps my school and it helps me." Principal Rutledge Dingle also uses his discount card. "I save 5 percent at the grocery store," he said. "This group had a great idea with the discount cards. It's a win for the merchants; it's a win for people who buy the card; and it's a win for the Junior Achievement class. It's a great experience for everyone involved." Sumter High partnered with Alice Drive Middle and Willow Drive Elementary schools to sell even more of the $10 discount cards. Ortmann said the class customized each card for the schools and was able to fit 27 businesses on this year instead of the usual 16. Rider said that the profits are split 50-50 with both the middle and elementary school. Ortmann said the Junior Achievement class also offered the schools an incentive. Near the end of the school year, the student who has sold the most wins $100. The second top seller wins $75, and the third-place seller wins $50. Students' names are also entered in a drawing for $100. The homeroom teacher of the class that sells the most wins $50 and money for a pizza party. "It's a humbling experience to see the face of a third-grader light up when you give them $50," Ortmann said. The cards are made locally at a reduced cost, and Rider said they are designed by the students. One of the best parts is all the profits are donated to community charities, and Myers and Ortmann both said students also pick what charities to donate to and how much to give each. In the past, Ortmann said students have chosen to help United Ministries, Greenhouse Youth Home, Crosswell Home for Children, Sumter Museum, Sumter High's Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Sumter High Booster Club, Junior Achievement, Sumter High scholarships, Habitat for Humanity and the Derthick Foundation. Myers added that if it wasn't for the Sumter High Junior Achievement's project, the school wouldn't have had Special Olympics this year. "When you give back, when you give away money, it's an inner feeling that is hard to describe," Ortmann said. "You have touched hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. This is something you can put on your résumé. It says something about your character." The Sumter High group used to have a philanthropist provide $10 for every $1 the class raised, but for the past two years, Ortmann said, the students have been doing it on their own. Last year, the students raised $7,000. This year, with the help of Alice Drive Middle and Willow Drive Elementary, the group raised $11,000. "Every little bit counts," said Stephanie Stuckey, president of Junior Achievement of Central South Carolina. "You don't have to be a millionaire or a billionaire to make a difference." She said the Sumter High class went up against 40 student companies to make it to the finals. Students will present their proposal to a panel, be interviewed and be able to see a trade fair of all the other companies, Stuckey said. She said she hopes to track the Sumter High competitors' progress at the competition via Twitter and Facebook, and Junior Achievement is looking for $2,000 to offset travel cost. Ortmann said he started working on the 10-page application after spring break. Rider and Pressly also worked on the application. "I talked about my experience with Junior Achievement, about the knowledge I'd gained through my experience being in a business," Rider said. "It will stay with me the rest of my life. It was worth all the trials and tribulations. It paid off." Pressly said she had a hard job, and Rider agreed. "I had hundreds of dollars to count and keep track of," she said. "It was a big responsibility." Dingle said it is working out. "I commend Mr. Ortmann and Mr. Myers in this (project)," the principal said. "They work to keep the organization moving in the right direction. It's good to see them up at the top. We at Sumter High School always strive to be at the top." Ortmann said he and Allison Shields, a math teacher at Furman Middle School, came up with the idea for the discount cards when he was teaching S.C. history at the middle school. Stuckey said the purpose of Junior Achievement is to encourage entrepreneurship, financial literacy and work readiness. Myers said academically it it can be taken in lieu of economics, and Stuckey said the class correlates to state standards. All Junior Achievement classes get business sponsors to help guide them into making good business decisions and advise them through the procedure, Myers explained. He is the owner of Rod's Innovative Designs Co. Reach Jade Anderson at (803) 774-1250. Posted in News, Local news on Friday, May 28, 2010 [3, 5, 6] | |
| Occupation | he is the owner of Rod’s Innovative Designs Company and is a teacher at Sumter High School, Sumter, South Carolina [5] | |
| _UID | 4FC978CEE62740909A5F70E12575F77B918C | |
| Person ID | I67859 | Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified | 19 Sep 2020 | |
| Father | Girard Joshua MYERS, Jr., b. 27 Jul 1911, Sumter County, South Carolina  d. 19 Sep 1981, at his home, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina (Age 70 years) | |
| Mother | Annie Ruth LUPO, b. 19 Sep 1917, Fork, South Carolina d. 12 Jul 1973, Tuomey Hospital, Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina (Age 55 years) | |
| _UID | E4F3933B7B8543D99C2F090314C151723055 | |
| _UID | E4F3933B7B8543D99C2F090314C151723055 | |
| Family ID | F10670 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 1 | Linda Ann “Ann” FREE, b. 1944, Pomaira d. 6 Sep 2020, at her residence, (Sumter, Sumter County, South Carolina) (Age 76 years) | |||||
| _UID | 04E34C66E35A4199AFF85370D225725ADDA7 | |||||
| _UID | 04E34C66E35A4199AFF85370D225725ADDA7 | |||||
| Children |
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| Family ID | F47392 | Group Sheet | Family Chart | ||||
| Last Modified | 23 Mar 2026 | |||||
| Family 2 | Patty LEOPARD | |
| _UID | 81E914CDCF8843D0B776F56405CA7957DA11 | |
| _UID | 81E914CDCF8843D0B776F56405CA7957DA11 | |
| Family ID | F47394 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified | 23 Mar 2026 | |
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