Annual Awards Banquet

Conway High School Educational Foundation

A Commitment to Excellence

Hall of Fame Class of 2024

Outstanding Educator: Jimmy Floyd

Outstanding Alumnus: Reverend Dr. Olin McBride

Jimmy Cornelius Floyd was born in 1948 in Conway, S.C., the sixth child of Eugene and Getha Lee Floyd. When he was five, he relocated to New York where he attended PS10 and PS88 – Wadleigh Junior High School. By the time he was ready to begin high school, he returned to Conway to fulfill his longtime dream of attending the infamous Whitt

Back home at Whittemore, he played the trumpet, sousaphone and excelled in basketball. He was selected for All Conference, named Most Valuable Player and lead 3A/4A, scoring 34 points and averaging 22 rebounds per game. It could be said that he introduced the "Dunk" to Horry County. When featured in an article in the local newspaper, the Field and Herald, the reporter stated that "Dunking is the fruit of his work."

Floyd went on to graduate in the top 10 of his class and enrolled at Morris College where he continued his success in academics and sports. He was named most valuable player; first team all Southeastern Atlantic Conference, and first team all-tournament for all four years of his attendance. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Science and was immediately drafted into the US army where he performed a two-year tour of duty.

Floyd also earned a Master of Education degree and an Education Specialist degree from the University of South Carolina.

Upon his return to Conway in 1972, he gained employment with Horry County Schools (HCS). His tenure began at North Myrtle Beach High School where he served as a Social Studies teacher and Assistant Basketball Coach. Four years later, he was named Head Football Coach. From there, he joined the faculty at Conway High School (CHS) where he taught Social Studies. Next, he moved to the HCS district office where he served as a Social Worker before going to Finklea Career Center to assume the position of Director of Career Guidance. He finished his HCS career at CHS where he served as Assistant Principal and Assistant Basketball Coach and remained in that capacity until his retirement in 2005. He credits his philosophy of student, family and community-centered learning and teaching as a major force behind his success during his 38-year tenure at HCS.

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Outstanding Alumnus: Reverend Dr. Olin McBride

Reverend Dr. Olin W. McBride graduated from Conway High School (CHS) in 1976 and from the University of South Carolina in 1981. He received his Master of Divinity degree in 1987 from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. He received the James T. and Celeste M. Boyd Fund Award to help build his theological library. He received his

McBride has served numerous Presbyterian churches in the southeast.

A significant ministry emerged during his tenure in Aiken, S.C. following the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. After numerous mission trips to the Quimistan Valley of Honduras to assist in rebuilding projects, a foundation was formed (Honduras Agape Foundation) to better organize and address the needs of this third world country in the aftermath of destruction. During this same time, McBride worked with the Medical Benevolent Foundation in rebuilding a medical clinic in Mombin-Crochu, Haiti. Mombin-Crochu is one of the most remote and impoverished areas in the Western Hemisphere.

In 2009, McBride served as a scholar with the Jerusalem Institute of Biblical Exploration during a tour of Israel and Jordan. While in Bethlehem, he met with Palestinian Christians seeking to understand their life situation and dreams for a brighter future.

In 2010, McBride was the recipient of a $50,000 Lilly Endowment Clergy Sabbatical Grant. This grant allowed him to study in Germany and Austria, examining the monastic movement and the Protestant Reformation.

McBride is currently writing a book entitled: Jesus was not Hawaiian: Thoughts from a Retired and Tired Minister.

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Outstanding Alumnus: Tracey Todd

Outstanding Alumnus: Reverend Dr. Olin McBride

Outstanding Alumnus: S. Ballou Skinner, Ph.D.

Tracey Todd is a graduate of Conway High School from the class of 1987. After graduation, Tracey studied southern history at the College of Charleston and The Citadel where he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees, respectively. As an undergraduate, Todd began working for the Middleton Place Foundation, the non-profit organization that owns and operates Middleton Place National Historic Landmark. He didn’t realize it, but this was a life-changing moment. As a part-time tour guide, he developed a passion for museum education, and as his leadership skills matured, his responsibilities increased. Over the course of the next three decades, he had many varied and diverse roles, and his accomplishments led ultimately to becoming President and CEO of the Foundation.

When Todd retired in 2023, after a 33-year tenure, the Middleton Place Foundation welcomed over 110,000 annual visitors and had over 250 employees, 300 volunteers, and operations including museums, historic gardens, and public livestock stables, along with a restaurant, event catering, retail venues, and a 55-room hotel.

Along the way, Todd has led successful efforts to tell complex stories of our shared history. He led community advocacy efforts to preserve historic structures and landscapes, wrote scores of successful grants, produced a PBS documentary film, and coauthored the book Beyond the Fields: Slavery at Middleton Place. However, he is most proud of his descendent engagement activities that resulted in family reunions bringing together white and black Middletons from around the country. Todd is now back from retirement embarking on a second opportunity advocating for the importance of history in our lives, serving as Museums Director for Historic Charleston Foundation. Beyond his passion for history, Todd is devoted to Paulette, his wife of 29 years, his son Jackson, and their Labrador Retriever – Hamilton.

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Outstanding Alumnus: S. Ballou Skinner, Ph.D.

Outstanding Alumnus: Reverend Dr. Olin McBride

Outstanding Alumnus: S. Ballou Skinner, Ph.D.

S. Ballou Skinner, Ph.D. attended elementary school in Russellville, S.C., middle school in St. Stephen, S.C., and high school at Conway High School (CHS), graduating in the class of 1954. These schools established his love for education.

Skinner especially enjoyed his time at CHS. He received a great education at CHS from excellent, devot

Skinner especially enjoyed his time at CHS. He received a great education at CHS from excellent, devoted, and caring teachers. In his junior year, he was selected as a member of The National Honor Society, and during his senior year, he was recognized with the senior superlative “Most Studious.” Skinner lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. His love of sports, competition, and fitness have remained prevalent throughout his life. For two summers during the 1960s, he played semi-pro baseball, and for two summers in the 1970s, he coached the Horry Post 111 American Legion baseball team. Skinner also played tennis avidly, winning thirteen medals in several different South Carolina Senior Olympics events.

After his time at CHS, Skinner continued his education, graduating Clemson University in 1958 where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Industrial Management and a minoring in engineering. He received his MAT degree (Physics Teaching) in 1963. From 1964 to 1968, he completed additional graduate studies in nuclear and radiation physics through academic fellowships at the University of Michigan, the University of Kansas, and Oregon State University. Skinner earned a Ph.D. (College Physics Teaching) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1970.

Skinner started his teaching career as a science and math teacher, and also served as a football and baseball coach at both Franklin, Tennessee (1959), and at Irmo, S.C. (1960-1962). He taught physics and coached baseball at St. Andrews Presbyterian College (1964-1967) and taught physics at Columbia College (1970-1972), University of South Carolina (USC)- Coastal Carolina College (CCC) (1973-1993), and Coastal Carolina University (CCU) (1994-1998), where he retired as “Distinguished Professor Emeritus” with 26 years of service. Skinner taught physics, and his areas of research included nuclear/radiation physics, space science, and critical thinking development.

During his tenure at USC- CCC and CCU, Skinner served as the Director of Academic Affairs (1972-1974) and later received eleven research fellowships from NASA, the Department of Energy, and the U.S. Air Force. Research topics included finding a target for testing the Nuclear Particle Beam Accelerator in a simulated space chamber in the Strategic Defense Initiative Program, i.e., “Star Wars” (1985); identifying and solving bonding problems associated with the Space Shuttle's tile (1986); and a study of the first design of the Space Station Freedom (1992).

He produced 28 publications, reports, and presentations.

In 1977, Skinner was appointed by the late Governor Jim Edwards to serve for four years on the South Carolina Nuclear Advisory Council. In 1980, the late Governor Richard Riley appointed him to the South Carolina Joint Legislative Committee on Energy, where he served until 1985.

Among his educational assignments overseas, Skinner served in President Eisenhower's USA Citizen Ambassador Program – People To People – where he worked alongside other physics education delegates in Vietnam to improve relations between scientist from the U.S. and Vietnam. This delegation was one of the first U.S. groups allowed in Vietnam after the Vietnam War. From 1993 to 1995, he served as Coordinator of Physics and conducted energy research in the ITM-Indiana University Cooperative Program in Malaysia. From 1998 to 2000, he developed a science program and taught physics at the American University of Sharjah, located near Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. In 2001, he taught twelve weeks of physics and math to US military troops at Camp Doha in Kuwait.

Skinner has always been community service-minded and has served as a member (and president on several) of the following: the Conway Lions Club, the Horry County American Cancer Society, the American Cancer Society's State Board of Directors, the Horry Literacy Council, the the Horry County Mental Health Association board of directors, the Horry County Assessment Appeals Board, and the Horry County United Way.

His biography appears in the publications Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, Who's Who in the South and Southwest, The Dictionary of International Biography, and the British publication Men of Achievement.

Most of all, Skinner enjoyed traveling with his late wife, Beverly Jones Skinner. They traveled together to every state of the U.S., to over 100 foreign countries, and to all seven continents. He is extremely proud that his late wife and all three of his children – Teresa, Curt, and Angela – were also graduates of CHS. He has been blessed with four grandchildren – Hayden, Corinne, Matilda, and Ballou – and one great-grandchild – Jebb.

Skinner has a deep trust and faith in Jesus Christ. He has been a member of Kingston Presbyterian Church for 54 years, where he has served as a teacher, deacon, elder, and trustee.

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