TO HONOR DR. ALVIN T. HEATLEY OF DARLINGTON COUNTY FOR HIS OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION AND FOR HIS DEDICATED SERVICE TO BUTLER HERITAGE FOUNDATION AS ITS CHAIRMAN AND TO THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

Whereas, the former Butler High School served the black community of Hartsville at the same location from 1921 until 1982, being initially known as the Darlington County Training School but renamed in 1936 after the Reverend Henry H. Butler; and

Whereas, the former Butler High School produced many administrators, doctors, lawyers, educators, and other productive citizens of society, Dr. Alvin T. Heatley being one such distinguished alumnus; and

Whereas, a native of Darlington County, Alvin Heatley was born in 1938 to the late Annie and Benjamin Heatley and graduated from Butler High School in 1956. He earned a bachelor of science degree from South Carolina State College in 1961 and completed a master's degree in education at Winthrop University in 1985 and a doctorate in education at the University of Akron in Ohio in 1997; and

Whereas, he served with distinction in the United States Army and received an honorable discharge; and

Whereas, Dr. Heatley began his prominent career in education as a basketball and football coach at Butler and Hartsville High Schools. During his thirty-seven-year career, he served as principal of Rosenwald Elementary School, director of elementary principals for the Darlington County School District, and assistant superintendent in the Akron City School District in Ohio; and

Whereas, he served as the Darlington County director of Head Start, a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children from birth to age five from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development; and

Whereas, until his retirement from the agency in 2004, Dr. Heatley served as executive director of the Darlington County Community Action Agency, which provides emergency assistance, job training, and a computer training center to income eligible individuals and families in order to provide a nurturing environment for them to become less dependent upon government assistance; and

Whereas, he has served his community on the board of Byerly Hospital and the board of commissioners of Florence-Darlington Technical College, as chairman of the board of First Steps, and as an active member of the Darlington County Independent Housing Board and the National Association of Black School Educators. He remains a devoted fan of the South Carolina State Bulldogs; and

Whereas, a member of Mount Calvary African Methodist Episcopal Church in Hartsville, Dr. Heatley serves as chairman of the trustee board, as president of the Sons of Allen, as the church's social action representative, and as a member of the senior choir; and

Whereas, together with his beloved wife, Dorothy Thompson Heatley, a retired educator of forty years, he reared two fine children, Mrs. Adrienne H. Thomas of Columbia and Reverend Taft Quincey Heatley of Ellenwood, Georgia; and

Whereas, while Dr. Heatley has served in various educational capacities, he has not forgotten his early heritage in Hartsville, diligently aiding the Butler Heritage Foundation as its chairman, which is now finding new life as a community center; and

Whereas, the South Carolina Senate is pleased to recognize Dr. Alvin Heatley, a man committed to excellence not only in educating, but also in serving through the Darlington County Community Action Agency and through volunteering his time as chairman of the Butler Heritage Foundation. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate:

That the members of the Senate of the State of South Carolina, by this resolution, honor Dr. Alvin T. Heatley of Darlington County for his outstanding accomplishments in the field of education and for his dedicated service to Butler Heritage Foundation as its chairman and to the State of South Carolina.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to Dr. Alvin T. Heatley.