Singleton and Related Genealogy Pages
A history of many families.
| Name | Winston Haley “Haley” JEWELL [1, 2, 3, 4] | |
| Suffix | III | |
| Gender | Male | |
| Education | he graduated in 2009 from Lakewood High School, Sumter County, South Carolina [2] | |
| Education | he graduated in 2009 from Lakewood High School, Sumter County, South Carolina [2] | |
| HIST | A man of 2nd chances SHARYN LUCAS-PARKER / SPECIAL TO THE ITEM A man of 2nd chances Alexa Blair, center, and her mother, Cassandra Blair, visit with Baker. Posted: Friday, July 1, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 11:25 pm, Thu Jun 30, 2011. BY SHARYN LUCAS-PARKER Special to The Item Three years ago, a high school diploma seemed out of reach for Winston Jewell III. His juvenile delinquency had already led to him being kicked out of Sumter School District 17 and eventually out of his own home. His mother told him he was a bad example for his siblings. "She said it was way too emotional for my baby brother," he recalled. On some nights, he slept in a car; on others, under a Sumter bridge. "It all depended on what night it was," he recalled. Nineteen and homeless, Jewell found help and compassion from someone those unfamiliar with his legacy might have considered an unlikely source: outgoing Sumter School District 2 Superintendent Dr. Frank Baker. Baker coordinated resources that allowed Jewell, who earned high marks when he was in school, to temporarily get food stamps and health coverage. He gave him a part-time job on his farm in the Pisgah Cross Roads community and offered him a place to stay. More importantly, Jewell said, Baker personally monitored his academic performance and attendance. "You meet people who will help you change a tire because you broke down in the country, but it's not every day that you meet someone who will help to the extent that he has," said Jewell, who graduated in 2009 from Lakewood High School with his diploma after Baker allowed him to begin his studies at the district's alternative school before transitioning to Lakewood. "I had to prove myself," said Jewell, 22. "I knew I needed a diploma to support myself and a family," he said. "I could see myself with a diploma; I knew I was smart, but I couldn't have done it without someone backing me and believing in me." Most school superintendents are known for their policies and style of leadership. But those close to Baker say he will be remembered for his hands-on efforts to reach the student others have given up on, as well as the financial and emotional investments he sowed into the lives of students, parents and employees. They tell of a savvy yet gentle leader who has daily left food outside his office door for a cat, fox and opossum that took turns feeding. When it came to students, he could not only call them by name but recall their parents whom he had either taught or encountered during his extensive career in education. But for Jewell and others like him, he is credited with taking a personal interest in making sure all opportunities for them to earn a diploma had been exhausted. "Dr. Baker is a man of a second, and a second, and a second chance," said Lakewood counselor Brenda Richardson. "He believed in making a difference in the lives of students. He will take the student at the bottom and bring that student to the top. His ultimate goal was to make sure every student earned a high school diploma. He wanted to make sure every student got every opportunity to do that. His words are, 'Whatever it takes.'" That often meant using his own money to buy students' clothes, eyeglasses, toiletries, graduation robes, diploma covers and even uniforms so expelled students could attend Brewington Academy, the alternative school. Baker also is known for paying off debts incurred by students over the years so they could participate in commencement exercises at the end of their senior year. Employees struggling to pay a utility bill or facing other financial hardships also have benefited from Baker's generosity. Students who needed transportation to school sometimes found a guidance counselor or school principal parked in their driveway, ready to take them per Baker. Sometimes during inclement weather that left students waiting in freezing temperatures because of stalled buses, Baker himself would show up in his truck to transport students. "People would not believe all of the things that Dr. Baker has done," Richardson said. "He didn't do any of it for public recognition or self-glorification. Many times the parents or students didn't know where the help was even coming from. They just knew it was an anonymous donation." But it is not only money that has made the difference in the lives of students. Struggling students who found themselves under the wing of Baker were known throughout the district as "Dr. Baker's babies." Once Baker intervened because of home conditions, academic or attendance issues or at the behest of a parent, counselors and administrators were instructed to provide Baker with regular updates about the student's progress and to create additional or alternative instructional strategies and plans if necessary. In addition, Baker - known for giving his cellphone number to students and parents - would schedule frequent face-to-face meetings at the students' schools to not only encourage the students, but to reinforce his expectations. "He wanted to make sure they were doing their part," Richardson said. Seventeen-year-old recent high school graduate Alexa Blair has been accepted to Benedict College in Columbia and will start classes during the fall semester. Her mother, Cassandra, says Baker is partly responsible for her daughter's success. "He took a personal interest in her education, and she wanted to do her best for Dr. Baker because she knew he would be watching. He took her under his wing and it made her feel special," Cassandra Blair said. Blair, 55, said she and her husband were frustrated with public education when she went to the district office to request a meeting with Baker. At the time, Alexa was in fourth grade and struggling in math. The stress had caused her to break out in hives. A quiet and well-behaved student who usually made A's and B's, her mother feared she would be left behind or worse. "She was trying but she just wasn't catching on as fast as the other students," Blair said. "My child could learn, but she had a different way of learning," she added. "Dr. Baker felt like she was just as important as the other children, and he let her know that by being part of her education." Blair said she was surprised when Baker personally looked into her concerns. She said he maintained an active role in her daughter's education throughout the years. "He wouldn't send someone else to the school or listen to somebody else's report. He wouldn't tell you something to pacify your mind," she said. "He would sit in with us on the meetings at the school, and he was never too busy to see me when I went to the district office. I wasn't pushed aside and I didn't take a number. I told him I would never approach him with foolishness and he would never have to worry about Alexa misbehaving or not doing her part. I just needed him to look into things so my child could get a fair education in District 2 and he did that. He listened to me." Those close to him say they often wonder how Baker has managed to make time to juggle his administrative duties and maintain personal contact with parents and students. Belinda Jewell, his longtime administrative assistant who is not related to Winston Jewell, said Baker's day typically started at 4 a.m., and would not end until he had returned every phone message left on his desk. "You could find him in the office at nine o'clock at night," she said. Someone believed in me The youngest of four children, Baker was 8 when his father, Roy, died of lung cancer despite never smoking a day of his life. His 46-year-old widow, Eady Mae, didn't have the money to continue running their farm on her own, so she teamed up with a single black mother who lived up the road, and they sharecropped. "We were dirt poor," Baker said. It is his own personal experience with poverty that has influenced many of his decisions. "I've been fortunate to have a good job and a good salary. I'm grateful, and I believe in giving back," he said. Baker, 62, was 12 when he got his first paying job at a country grocery store. His father had instilled in his children strong work ethics, and their mother had taught them good manners are always appropriate and necessary. He would go on to work at the former Red and White grocery store on Broad Street. He was 18 when he got a job cleaning rooms and auditing the books at the Sharolyn Motel. That job, which he held for 17 years, would help him pay his way through college and supplement his income even after he began his classroom teaching career. It was his church pastor who told his mother that he was smart and should go to college. "He said I should do more than plow mules," Baker said. "Someone believed in me." His mother gave him $3 - all she had - to enroll in what was then Clemson University at Sumter. Between his job at the motel and a scholarship from the defunct Williams Furniture Co., Baker got the credentials he needed to begin his career in education that has spanned decades. Baker said the reward has been to see students who once struggled graduate, get a job and move on. Out of all of the second chances that he has given, he says, he was rarely disappointed. "They're kids, and kids don't make the best decisions many times, and some adults don't either," he said. "If you give them a second chance, 98 percent of them turn out fine. If you had not given them that second or third second chance, they wouldn't have made it." And the failures? "For those who don't take advantage of that second chance, they have to realize this is how life will be," Baker said. "That's called tough love." Posted in Local news, News on Friday, July 1, 2011 [2] | |
| HIST | A man of 2nd chances SHARYN LUCAS-PARKER / SPECIAL TO THE ITEM A man of 2nd chances Alexa Blair, center, and her mother, Cassandra Blair, visit with Baker. Posted: Friday, July 1, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 11:25 pm, Thu Jun 30, 2011. BY SHARYN LUCAS-PARKER Special to The Item Three years ago, a high school diploma seemed out of reach for Winston Jewell III. His juvenile delinquency had already led to him being kicked out of Sumter School District 17 and eventually out of his own home. His mother told him he was a bad example for his siblings. "She said it was way too emotional for my baby brother," he recalled. On some nights, he slept in a car; on others, under a Sumter bridge. "It all depended on what night it was," he recalled. Nineteen and homeless, Jewell found help and compassion from someone those unfamiliar with his legacy might have considered an unlikely source: outgoing Sumter School District 2 Superintendent Dr. Frank Baker. Baker coordinated resources that allowed Jewell, who earned high marks when he was in school, to temporarily get food stamps and health coverage. He gave him a part-time job on his farm in the Pisgah Cross Roads community and offered him a place to stay. More importantly, Jewell said, Baker personally monitored his academic performance and attendance. "You meet people who will help you change a tire because you broke down in the country, but it's not every day that you meet someone who will help to the extent that he has," said Jewell, who graduated in 2009 from Lakewood High School with his diploma after Baker allowed him to begin his studies at the district's alternative school before transitioning to Lakewood. "I had to prove myself," said Jewell, 22. "I knew I needed a diploma to support myself and a family," he said. "I could see myself with a diploma; I knew I was smart, but I couldn't have done it without someone backing me and believing in me." Most school superintendents are known for their policies and style of leadership. But those close to Baker say he will be remembered for his hands-on efforts to reach the student others have given up on, as well as the financial and emotional investments he sowed into the lives of students, parents and employees. They tell of a savvy yet gentle leader who has daily left food outside his office door for a cat, fox and opossum that took turns feeding. When it came to students, he could not only call them by name but recall their parents whom he had either taught or encountered during his extensive career in education. But for Jewell and others like him, he is credited with taking a personal interest in making sure all opportunities for them to earn a diploma had been exhausted. "Dr. Baker is a man of a second, and a second, and a second chance," said Lakewood counselor Brenda Richardson. "He believed in making a difference in the lives of students. He will take the student at the bottom and bring that student to the top. His ultimate goal was to make sure every student earned a high school diploma. He wanted to make sure every student got every opportunity to do that. His words are, 'Whatever it takes.'" That often meant using his own money to buy students' clothes, eyeglasses, toiletries, graduation robes, diploma covers and even uniforms so expelled students could attend Brewington Academy, the alternative school. Baker also is known for paying off debts incurred by students over the years so they could participate in commencement exercises at the end of their senior year. Employees struggling to pay a utility bill or facing other financial hardships also have benefited from Baker's generosity. Students who needed transportation to school sometimes found a guidance counselor or school principal parked in their driveway, ready to take them per Baker. Sometimes during inclement weather that left students waiting in freezing temperatures because of stalled buses, Baker himself would show up in his truck to transport students. "People would not believe all of the things that Dr. Baker has done," Richardson said. "He didn't do any of it for public recognition or self-glorification. Many times the parents or students didn't know where the help was even coming from. They just knew it was an anonymous donation." But it is not only money that has made the difference in the lives of students. Struggling students who found themselves under the wing of Baker were known throughout the district as "Dr. Baker's babies." Once Baker intervened because of home conditions, academic or attendance issues or at the behest of a parent, counselors and administrators were instructed to provide Baker with regular updates about the student's progress and to create additional or alternative instructional strategies and plans if necessary. In addition, Baker - known for giving his cellphone number to students and parents - would schedule frequent face-to-face meetings at the students' schools to not only encourage the students, but to reinforce his expectations. "He wanted to make sure they were doing their part," Richardson said. Seventeen-year-old recent high school graduate Alexa Blair has been accepted to Benedict College in Columbia and will start classes during the fall semester. Her mother, Cassandra, says Baker is partly responsible for her daughter's success. "He took a personal interest in her education, and she wanted to do her best for Dr. Baker because she knew he would be watching. He took her under his wing and it made her feel special," Cassandra Blair said. Blair, 55, said she and her husband were frustrated with public education when she went to the district office to request a meeting with Baker. At the time, Alexa was in fourth grade and struggling in math. The stress had caused her to break out in hives. A quiet and well-behaved student who usually made A's and B's, her mother feared she would be left behind or worse. "She was trying but she just wasn't catching on as fast as the other students," Blair said. "My child could learn, but she had a different way of learning," she added. "Dr. Baker felt like she was just as important as the other children, and he let her know that by being part of her education." Blair said she was surprised when Baker personally looked into her concerns. She said he maintained an active role in her daughter's education throughout the years. "He wouldn't send someone else to the school or listen to somebody else's report. He wouldn't tell you something to pacify your mind," she said. "He would sit in with us on the meetings at the school, and he was never too busy to see me when I went to the district office. I wasn't pushed aside and I didn't take a number. I told him I would never approach him with foolishness and he would never have to worry about Alexa misbehaving or not doing her part. I just needed him to look into things so my child could get a fair education in District 2 and he did that. He listened to me." Those close to him say they often wonder how Baker has managed to make time to juggle his administrative duties and maintain personal contact with parents and students. Belinda Jewell, his longtime administrative assistant who is not related to Winston Jewell, said Baker's day typically started at 4 a.m., and would not end until he had returned every phone message left on his desk. "You could find him in the office at nine o'clock at night," she said. Someone believed in me The youngest of four children, Baker was 8 when his father, Roy, died of lung cancer despite never smoking a day of his life. His 46-year-old widow, Eady Mae, didn't have the money to continue running their farm on her own, so she teamed up with a single black mother who lived up the road, and they sharecropped. "We were dirt poor," Baker said. It is his own personal experience with poverty that has influenced many of his decisions. "I've been fortunate to have a good job and a good salary. I'm grateful, and I believe in giving back," he said. Baker, 62, was 12 when he got his first paying job at a country grocery store. His father had instilled in his children strong work ethics, and their mother had taught them good manners are always appropriate and necessary. He would go on to work at the former Red and White grocery store on Broad Street. He was 18 when he got a job cleaning rooms and auditing the books at the Sharolyn Motel. That job, which he held for 17 years, would help him pay his way through college and supplement his income even after he began his classroom teaching career. It was his church pastor who told his mother that he was smart and should go to college. "He said I should do more than plow mules," Baker said. "Someone believed in me." His mother gave him $3 - all she had - to enroll in what was then Clemson University at Sumter. Between his job at the motel and a scholarship from the defunct Williams Furniture Co., Baker got the credentials he needed to begin his career in education that has spanned decades. Baker said the reward has been to see students who once struggled graduate, get a job and move on. Out of all of the second chances that he has given, he says, he was rarely disappointed. "They're kids, and kids don't make the best decisions many times, and some adults don't either," he said. "If you give them a second chance, 98 percent of them turn out fine. If you had not given them that second or third second chance, they wouldn't have made it." And the failures? "For those who don't take advantage of that second chance, they have to realize this is how life will be," Baker said. "That's called tough love." Posted in Local news, News on Friday, July 1, 2011 | |
| _UID | 90FABB9AF7DA401793FF9002241F4B16CF87 | |
| _UID | 90FABB9AF7DA401793FF9002241F4B16CF87 | |
| Person ID | I256280 | Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified | 23 May 2013 | |
| Father | Winston Haley JEWELL, Jr. | |
| Mother | Donna ARDIS | |
| _UID | CF4A2DA80E1A45B0B46FD12EC413BE5D1F83 | |
| _UID | CF4A2DA80E1A45B0B46FD12EC413BE5D1F83 | |
| Family ID | F5567 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family | Ashley JOHNSON | |||||
| _UID | 6429C851EA24428DBE15EF70547E0C8C1F7C | |||||
| _UID | 6429C851EA24428DBE15EF70547E0C8C1F7C | |||||
| Children |
|
|||||
| Family ID | F172818 | Group Sheet | Family Chart | ||||
| Last Modified | 23 Mar 2026 | |||||
| Sources |
