Jim Fair
Ashley Sell of Woodland Elementary School is announced as winner of naming a crane at the Greer inland port. Michael Hoffman, Terminal Manager, South Carolina Inland Port, joined Ashley on the Morning Show.
Jim Fair
Ashley's parents, Michelle and Mike Sell, watched the announcement on the Morning Show to help make the announcement a surprise.
Minutes after 8 a.m. the entire school did. Michael Hoffman, Terminal Manager, South Carolina Inland Port, presented Ashley with a plaque commemorating her naming one of three cranes “Atlas”.
Ashley said she decided on “Atlas because it’s a mighty name. (Atlas) holds up the world and the port ships around the world,” she said.
“I think you have a good choice,” Hoffman told Ashley during the televised announcement. An Atlas was used as a prop to illustrate Ashley’s selection of the worldly name.
The South Carolina Port Authority invites elementary school children to name cranes at its ports in Charleston and Greer. “It’s fun to get local students involved,” Hoffman said. One crane remains unnamed.
Ashley, 10, is in Mrs. Waynick’s fourth grade class.
Ashley’s parents are Michelle and Mike Sell. She has a twin sister, Amber, and a brother, Alex, 9. To help keep the announcement a surprise, Ashley's parents watched the Morning Show before joining their daughter in the library to face the media for interviews and photos.
Her father, Mike, was asked how it felt to know Ashley submitted the winning name for Greer’s newest economic engine. “It’s pretty cool,” he said.
Woodland Elementary won $500 with Ashley’s winning entry.
The three rubber tiered gantry cranes at the Inland Port are identified as numbers 15, 16 and 17. Students in grades 3 through 5 attending Buena Vista, Chandler Creek, Crestview, Skyland and Woodland elementary schools were eligible to enter the contest.
Levi Turner, Chandler Elementary, named one crane Grrrr. A name for the third crane and two empty haulers remain to be announced.