Allison Batten Jacques matriculated to the University of South Carolina at the age of 16. She and her parents reached the agreement that she could stay on campus if she was dressed and ready to be picked up for church on Sunday mornings at 8:00 a.m. She earned her Bachelor’s in Art Education in 1994 and went on to earn a Master’s in Education Administration, an Educational Specialist degree and a Doctorate in Education Administration in 2002. She earned all four degrees from the university prior to reaching the age of 30.

Allison has served in the public school system, within the State Department of Education and in higher education, providing her with a unique lens through which to examine the facets of education in our state.

She began her career in education as an art teacher at Pine Ridge Middle School before becoming an assistant principal at Irmo Middle School, CrossRoads Middle School and Brookland-Cayce High School. She followed in the footsteps of her father, Clark Batten. He served as the youngest high school principal in South Carolina in the 1960s, and she became the youngest high school principal in South Carolina during her tenure.

While leading Brookland-Cayce High School, she was named Principal of the Year by the SC Athletic Administrators Association and served as President of the South Carolina High School League, AAA Classification. In 2005, she was named National Association of Secondary School Principals/Met Life Secondary Principal of the Year.

In 2005, Allison married her high school sweetheart, Shaun Jacques, and they began a family that would include four children. At that time, she began her tenure with the department of education as director of both the Office of Educator Preparation, Support and Assessment and the Office of Certification. She was responsible for educator certification as well as the accreditation and oversight of educator preparation programs at colleges and universities. She served within the administrations of three state superintendents.

In 2012, Dr. Jacques was named Assistant Dean for Partnerships and Accreditation at USC’s College of Education and served as Co-Director of the Center for Educational Partnerships. In 2015, she was named Chief Human Resources Officer for School District Five of Lexington and Richland counties. As a firm believer in God’s perfect timing, Allison was blessed to be able to retire in 2020 and focus on the calling of motherhood to Jacqueline, Jordan, Alexandria and Shaun. She has maintained her commitment to her parents to be dressed and ready for church each Sunday, where she and her husband volunteer in the youth ministry.

She remains deeply committed to mentoring and building the next generation of teachers and school leaders. Dr. Jacques works as an education consultant and supports aspiring teachers seeking employment as classroom teachers. She is committed to CarolinaCAP, the College of Education’s alternative certification pathway. She continues to serve as an adjunct professor and enjoys teaching policy courses to students in the Ed.S. and Ed.D. programs within the College of Education at the University of South Carolina.

Stephanie Michelle Johnson is a native of Sumter, SC. She is currently a public school system teacher serving as a Reading Interventionist in Columbia, S.C. in Richland County School District One.

Johnson is a National Board Certified teacher with 18 years of experience in the classroom. Johnson holds a Bachelor’s in English and Master’s in Teaching degree from the University of South Carolina. She also earned a second Master’s in Executive Leadership from Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C.

Johnson is an active member of The South Carolina Education Association (The SCEA), where she served on the Executive Board of Directors for eight years. Her South Carolina state level leadership also consisted of serving as a participant in a work group from the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force in 2023.

On the national level, Johnson chaired the National Education Association (NEA) Women’s Issues Committee. Johnson has also served on various additional NEA Committees to include the Conference on Racial and Social Justice Planning Committee; Committee on Ethics and Ethnic Harmony, Minority Leadership Training; Women’s Leadership Training Planning Committee; Racial and Social Justice in Education Internal Language Stakeholders Group; and NEA Every Student Succeeds Act Implementation Team. Johnson also serves on the MIRA Education Board of Directors.

Stephanie is the recipient of numerous grants, awards and fellowships to include the University of South Carolina Distinguished Alumni in 2017 and a Lowell Milken Educator For Unsung Heroes Fellow in 2018. Stephanie was one of five educators across the country to be recognized as a Horace Mann Awards for Teaching Excellence recipient in 2017 and NEA Foundation Awards for Teaching Excellence recipient. Johnson recently received the Fulbright for Global Classrooms Award, traveling to Uruguay, South America in June 2023.

Stephanie enjoys coaching, reading, consulting, public speaking and being a community and education activist.

Adam Rafferty was born in Owensboro, Kentucky and began playing cello at four years old under Dr. Joan Mack, graduate of Eastman School of Music and a teacher of the Suzuki method. While in her studio, he successfully auditioned and performed in the Kentucky All-State Orchestra from 2000-2003 and the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts in 2002.

Rafferty graduated from the University of Kentucky with degrees in Cello Performance and Public Relations in 2007.

He then relocated to Nashville, Tennessee where he worked as a freelance cellist, a performing musician and as a recording studio musician. He also played in a string quartet which worked closely with Mark Wood, founder of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. These experiences allowed him to learn alternative styles of music including bluegrass, blues, rock and jazz, which he enjoys sharing with his students.

In 2019, Rafferty received a degree in Music Education from the University of South Carolina. He currently is the Director of Orchestras at Dreher High School and teaches cello lessons and group classes at the Suzuki Academy of Columbia.

Rafferty currently plays in several local orchestras including Long Bay, Rock Hill and Union Symphony and has toured and performed with a variety of music groups and artists including the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Woodstock legend, Arlo Guthrie. It is with great joy that he teaches children to love, understand and perform music.

Lyssa Harvey, Ed.S. is a teacher, therapist, author and artist. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Art Therapist and Play Therapist. She is known for creating a special niche in using art and play in counseling individuals and developing programs with special populations. For 50 years, Harvey created Art and Play Therapy programs in schools, hospitals, agencies and in her private practice, The Art and Play Therapy Center of SC.

Harvey graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor’s in Art Education and a Master’s in Art Therapy from The Hertsfordshire University in England. She received her Ed.S. in Counseling at the University of South Carolina. Harvey is a S.C. Department of Labor and Licensing provider for Licensed Professional Counselors and has supervised and credentialed many South Carolina therapists over the last 30 years.

Harvey’s interest in helping children and individuals with special needs led her to develop programs that began in the 1970’s at the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs (SCDDSN), where she brought the Kennedy Center’s Very Special Arts program to the state, increasing awareness of the creative capability of individuals with disabilities. She developed Art and Play Therapy programs for school districts and local hospitals, including a permanent Art Therapy exhibit Children of Hope. She was appointed by Governor Hodges to serve as the Second District Commissioner for the SCDDSN from 2001-2006.

Involvement in her Columbia community has been an integral part of Harvey’s life. Recognized for her leadership in many community and state boards, a service highlight was creating and co-chairing the Columbia Holocaust Education Commission for 20 years. More than 10,000 school children have toured the Holocaust Remembered exhibit. She received the Distinguished Service Award in 2017 for her community contributions.

Harvey’s work as a therapist and educator has paralleled her work as an artist. Her award-winning South Carolina waterscapes bring awareness to wetlands and coastal conservation efforts. She is a Signature Member of the South Carolina Watermedia Society. Harvey is represented by Low Country Artists Gallery of Charleston. Harvey co-authored a collection of stories and recipes of the Jewish southern table, Kugels and Collards, published by the USC Press. Garden and Gun recognized the book as one of the top Southern Books of 2023.

Harvey’s university legacy is multigenerational. Her father Melton Kligman, husband, Jonathan Harvey, and daughter, Eden Hendrick, graduated from the USC School of Law. Following her mother’s footsteps, her daughter, Jordane Lotts, graduated from the College of Education.

Harvey is married to Jonathan Harvey. They have three children and five grandchildren. They are very proud that their children have chosen helping professions. Eden Hendrick is the Director of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. Jordane Lotts is a Guidance Counselor at Haute Gap Middle School in Charleston. Their son, Kyle Harvey, Lt. Commander United States Navy, is a flight surgeon.

Brian T. Chatman is the current Director of Student Support Services and Lead Hearing Officer in Lexington County School District Two. He is a 25-year veteran in the public school system of South Carolina.

Chatman is from Denmark, SC and is a graduate of Denmark-Olar High School. Chatman received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Benedict College in Columbia, S.C. in 1999 and a Master of Arts degree in Human Resources Development from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri in 2001.

As a lifelong educator, nothing means more than helping students in South Carolina grow and build leadership capacity in the community for everyone. Chatman is a 2003 and a 2009 graduate of the University of South Carolina. He holds a Master of Education and an Education Specialist degree both in Education Administration.

Throughout his career in education, Chatman has worked in numerous capacities in school districts from teacher, administrator, director and to chief officer. With service and mentorship being one of his core beliefs, he has actively participated and taken roles in the South Carolina Association of School Administrators, the Benedict College Alumni Association and the University of South Carolina-College of Education Columbia Alumni Hub.

Chatman is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., The 100 Black Men of Greater Columbia and Brookland Baptist Church. Chatman has two sons (Justen and Grayson) and lives in Lexington, S.C. with his wife Rhoda S. Chatman.

Making a positive societal impact in the communities where we live and work is central to who Colonial Life is as a company. We help build strong and sustainable communities by partnering with organizations that give individuals and families what they need to thrive.

Colonial Life’s long-standing support of the University of South Carolina’s College of Education aligns with our Equitable Pathways portfolio of giving, where we’re committed to providing equitable opportunities to students by funding programs that:

• Encourage social-emotional health
• Provide career and post-secondary preparation
• Remove barriers to post-secondary success

Throughout our partnership, Colonial Life has provided nearly $1 million to the University of South Carolina’s College of Education, and our most recent grant supports the Apple Core Initiative (ACI), which was created to help close the racial gap in the teaching profession. The ACI’s Colonial Life Fellows will receive support throughout their four years at the University of South Carolina with a yearly scholarship in addition to personal and professional development support and opportunities that will prepare them for teaching upon graduation.

Mention Sallie Ortmann’s name to anyone who knew her, and they will talk about how she filled the room with laughter and light. You will hear words like passion, faith, dedication, enthusiasm, organization, acceptance, excellence and innovation.

Ortmann’s second home was her classroom. And given the deep roots of teaching in her family, that is no surprise. Ortmann, her parents, and two sisters hold 11 degrees from USC: four teachers and an attorney. The three Ortmann girls took part in ProTeam and the Teacher Cadet program, and all three were awarded Teaching Fellows scholarships. Ortmann’s mom was her ProTeam teacher, and her dad was her softball coach. Their inspiration shaped Ortmann’s incredible impact as a teacher and coach in her 13 years at Lexington High School.

Among her students and colleagues, Ortmann was so much more than an outstanding teacher of anatomy and physiology. Fellow teachers and students were drawn to her magnetic personality. She rarely ate lunch by herself at school because students she did not even teach would show up in her classroom just to hang out and talk  and she always listened.

Among her many other teaching and service leadership pursuits, Ortmann was heavily involved in Palmetto Girls State and Alpha Delta Pi  always a mentor. Her deepest passion of all was for her family. She loved the traditions of her family gatherings and the planning and organizing in keeping those traditions. She referred to herself as the glue of the family and enjoyed no title more than the one she held as “Aunt Sassy” to her two nephews and niece.

It is most fitting that Ortmann’s middle name is Singleton. She is indeed one of a kind. Anyone will tell you that the word “no” was not in Sallie’s vocabulary. For her, “no” just meant “find a better way,” and she always did. So, while she did love tradition, she was equally drawn to finding a new way, pushing the envelope, and being innovative in and out of the classroom.