Anderson School District Five

The Honorable Mayor Roberts was a member of the Westside Class of 1978 and during his time at Westside he was a 3 sport athlete, playing football, basketball and baseball. He was recognized as an All-star basketball player and even received a Division 1 basketball scholarship. In addition to his athletic ability while at Westside, Mayor Roberts was the student body Treasurer, Vice President and President. After graduation, Mr. Roberts went to college at Winthrop University and graduated with a degree in Marketing. He then started and still runs a successful insurance business in Anderson.

Mayor Roberts is an Anderson Native who has been in the forefront of the business and public service for more than 30 years. He has served on boards and commissions across the spectrum from caring for displaced children to chairing the Chamber of Commerce Board. Mayor Roberts has also served many other organization such as the Salvation Army, President of the SC Municipal Association, United Way, Anderson University Board of Visitors, and the AnMEd Board of Trustees. This is not an exhaustive list of the many organizations that have utilized his talents.

Mayor Roberts explains his reason for community involvement using a passage from a book by Vernon Jordan that says, “If you are not at the table then you are not represented." Mayor Roberts has represented well.

Mr. Roberts was first elected Anderson Mayor in 2006 and has diligently served the community through his 4 terms. He is actively making sure Anderson is a healthier place to live, work and play through his efforts to build a walkable, bikeable and more mobile community. The Mayor reflects that being Mayor is exciting, challenging, frustrating and rewarding all at the same time. Mayor Roberts also recently received an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Anderson University. Mayor Roberts attributes his strong work ethic and morals to his parents and he is often heard mentioning one of his mom’s favorite quotes from Abraham Lincoln “It’s surprising what you can get accomplished if you don’t care who gets credit”.

Congratulations to Mayor Terrence Roberts, Anderson Five's first Westside High School Distinguished Alumni recipient. He is pictured here with son Jay, also an A5 Alumnus.

A member of the 1995 graduating class, actor, director, and playwright Chadwick Boseman was the winner of the first Distinguished Alumni award given to a T.L. Hanna High School graduate. It was awarded posthumously, following his death in August 2020 from colon cancer, and presented to his parents,  Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Boseman of Anderson, at the ceremony.

Mr. Boseman was a talented student-athlete while at Hanna, playing on the basketball team and participating on the speech and debate team. He was recruited to play college basketball, but chose instead to pursue his passion for the arts. He went on to Howard University in Washington, D.C., earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Directing in 2000. He then attended and graduated New York City's Digital Film Academy. As a writer, director, and actor on New York's stages, he won a Drama League Directing Fellowship, an AUDELCO award, and was nominated for a Jeff Award as playwright for Deep Azure. He moved to Los Angeles where he starred in several films while continuing to direct.

He portrayed baseball legend Jackin Robinson in the movie 42; James Brown in Get on Up; Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in Marshall; and, perhaps most famously for Anderson children, superhero T'Challa, in Marvel Comics' The Black Panther movies in 2016 and 2018. Black Panther was the first superhero film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. He was voted one of Time Magazine's 100 of the World's Most Influential People. His final film released posthumously, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama. Boseman also received four nominations for a Screen Actors Guild award for his work in Da 5 Bloods and  Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the most for a performer at a single ceremony, winning Best Male Actor in a leading role for Ma Rainey.

While Mr. Boseman had many talents in the motion picture realm, some of his greatest accomplishments were his humanitarian work, which he continued working on despite his colon cancer diagnosis in 2016. He supported cancer charities including St. Jude's Hospital, children's charities, and the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem. He once said, "You never go wrong when you invest in kids' futures." He leaves behind a legacy as an example of someone who used their fame to do good for others.