Joshua "Josh" S. Black has been named the new principal at Strom Thurmond High School.
The Edgefield County School District announced Black's selection at an end-of-the-year luncheon for faculty this week.
"I am extremely honored and excited to be chosen as the next principal of Strom Thurmond High School," Black said. "I look forward to both continuing and building upon the excellence of this school and community. It is my goal to make Strom Thurmond High School one of the elite high schools in the state of South Carolina. I will continue to work as hard as I can to improve the quality of education for the students of Edgefield County."
A native of Saluda, Black has been active at Strom Thurmond High for the past eight years. He has been an algebra teacher, mentor teacher, FCA director, assistant principal, testing coordinator, leader of the newly formed Freshman Academy and administrative leader of the TAP program.
Also, Black has been the head junior varsity baseball coach, head varsity baseball coach and assistant football coach.
An educator for 12 years, Black graduated from Mars Hill College in 2003 and earned a Master's degree in education from Lamar University in 2014.
Edgefield County School Superintendent Greg Anderson said Black will bring leadership skills to the school.
"We consider Strom Thurmond High School to be one of the premier high schools in the state," Anderson said. "It has great students, a great faculty and administrators and outstanding programs. Mr. Black has the ideal leadership abilities needed to maintain this range of excellence and to even take the school to the next level."
Edgefield County School Board Chairman Brad Covar agreed.
"We have been impressed with Mr. Black's leadership skills since he first arrived eight years ago," Covar said. "He has gained the reputation of being hard working and a motivated educator and communicates well with the faculty, students and parents."