Airport High School (South Carolina)


Airport High School in West Columbia, South Carolina, United States, is a public high school offering education for grades 9 – 12, serving the communities of West Columbia, Cayce, South Congaree, Pine Ridge, and parts of Gaston. A part of Lexington County School District 2, it derives its name from its location next to Columbia Metropolitan Airport. Sports teams are known as the Eagles. The main athletic rival is the Brookland-Cayce High School Bearcats.

Structure

Airport HS has a student body of around 1,400. Airport HS has a student:teacher ratio of 31:1 in core subjects. The current principal is David Damm, alongside assistant principals ChristiePumphrey and Le'Shaun Mathis.
Class breakdown is as follows:

Feeder schools

Elementary and middle schools that feed into Airport High School are Congaree Elementary School, Springdale Elementary School, Herbert A. Wood Elementary School, R.H. Fulmer Middle School, and Pine Ridge Middle School.

Notable alumni

Airport's Golden Talon Drill Team is a highly decorated drill team that consistently finishes as the top drill team in South Carolina, and in the top 10 drill teams in the nation. Each year they travel to Daytona Beach, Florida to compete in the JROTC National Drill Meet, usually referred to as "The Nationals". The Golden Talon Drill Team is coached by retired Command Sergeant Major Harry Ferguson.

Fine Arts

Every year, Airport holds a week long charity drive in which the entire school partakes in activities designed to raise money so that kids can go to Camp Kemo, a summer camp for kids with cancer.
Activities include, but are not limited to:
Jail Lock-Up - For $10, a student and teacher can pay to have a student locked up in a mobile prison unit that is placed in the school's courtyard for an entire block. In order for the student to leave before the block is over, they must donate $30 to Camp Kemo.
Send a Pig/Goat - Usually only limited to a goat, in 2015 it was changed to Send A Pig, in which a student or teacher can pay a small sum of money to have a pig sent to a student or teacher during class. To get rid of the animal, the student or teacher has to donate a set amount to Camp Kemo.
Singing Telegrams - The Airport Chorus department takes requests for small ensembles to be sent to different classes and perform for a student. The cost for this is usually $5.
Snack Carts - Students in Student Government walk around the school selling different foods which are usually snacks and sweets, or Chick-Fil-A sandwiches.
Food Fest - Usually regarded as the biggest event of the week, Food Fest generally happens on the Friday of Charity Week. Lunchtime is extended to an hour, and the clubs at Airport along with a few solo entries set up shop in the School Courtyard and sell homecooked meals such as Nachos from Tri-M, Sangria from the Spanish Honor Society, Barbeque from the Drill Team, and many more. This event annually raises the single most money out of any other event held during the week.
Each year, the student body has an amount of money set as a goal, and the student body strives to make said goal. Last year, the goal was $55,000 and the students raised over $60,000 for Kamp Kemo. This event has recently been featured on the WIS news every year due to its large impact on children with cancer.