Montgomery Student Spotlights (Nov 21)

Montgomery Christian School kindergartners created their own alphabet coconut tree after hearing the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. This book is a favorite allowing readers to follow the upper and lower case letters in a fun journey to the top of the coconut tree. MCS students also enjoyed a snack and made a headband around this theme. Learning is fun at MCS!

Since 1969, The Montgomery Academy has honored academic excellence by awarding membership in Cum Laude Society to its highest-achieving students. The Montgomery Academy Chapter of the Cum Laude Society was chartered in 1969 and remains as one of only three chapters in the state of Alabama. The Cum Laude Society recognizes academic achievement in secondary schools for the purpose of promoting excellence (arete´), justice (dike´) and honor (time´). The major objective is to recognize the highest levels of academic excellence based on grade-point average and level of academic courses taken.
The number of students chosen for membership in Cum Laude cannot exceed the top 10% of the senior class based on work completed through the junior year, and the top 20% based on work completed in the senior year. In addition to a student’s average for the five core classes and all AP classes, the Cum Laude Faculty Committee also considers the rigor of the student’s academic load and his or her scholarship and intellectual curiosity. Students inducted were: Mary Weldon Armstrong, Will Ashworth, Armaan Daryanani, Pierson Hartley, Cate Peeples and Will Ray.

Five Trinity Wildcat Pride Marching Band students performed with more than 600 middle and high school students at the 2021 Troy Band Day. Trinity students were graciously led by Trinity alum and Sound of the South mellophone player Lee Ann Palmer.

The Eastwood Christian School kindergarten class enjoyed a fun-filled day looking, listening, smelling, tasting and touching at special sensory centers in their classroom. Included were activities such as a seek and find safari, a taste station, and a hearing-guessing game. This special day was the culmination of their unit study on the five senses.

On the weekend of October 8-9, Saint James School hosted the 32nd Annual Raymond B. Furlong Speech and Debate Tournament. This year almost 150 students representing 20 schools from five states competed in 12 different speech and debate events. This tournament has the hallmark of providing the winners of some of the speech and debate events a bid to attend the Tournament of Champions hosted by the University of Kentucky. Normally, the students at Saint James work the tournament to provide registration, concessions, tabulation support, room monitoring and other logistical concerns. Due to concerns with the COVID virus, this year’s online format gave the opportunity for Saint James students to compete.
Hamilton Cunningham placed first in Impromptu Speaking and third in Informative Speaking. Jack Catchings placed sixth in Impromptu Speaking and fourth in Original Oratory. Jaden Rossell placed seventh in Original Oratory, and Bowen Harper placed ninth in Original Oratory. Due to its timing, this tournament and the results it yielded promise to propel the team upwards.
From left are Saint James School Speech and Debate team members Jack Catchings, Jaden Rossell, Hamilton Cunningham and Bowen Harper.

The Montgomery Academy Lower School Chorus took the stage at the Alabama National Fair and sang three selections from their repertoire: “America, the Beautiful/Let Freedom Ring,” “Bright!” (soloists: Kathleen Johnston, Thomas Barker, Zoey Carnes and Lucy Hubbard), and “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman (soloists: Elizabeth Campbell and Lizzy Lynn Taylor). Thank you to Lower School music teacher Beverly Fain for leading these voices in song!

Connie Dacus, Success Unlimited Academy’s kindergarten teacher, encouraged learning through a recent hands-on experience in her classroom. Preparation for the experiment included gathering supplies of recycled plastic bottles, food coloring and white stemmed flowers. The seven-day science project connected color recognition and science, along with understanding the role time played in their experiment. Even at this early learning stage, students began to understand the importance of observation of the change and charted the progress in photos. The kindergarten students are already curious about the next lab experiment.

Montgomery Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Ann Roy Moore joined Alabama State University leaders to announce a grant that will directly benefit MPS students.
The U.S. Department of Education awarded ASU with a $24.7 million grant for a program aimed at significantly increasing the number of low-income students prepared to enter postsecondary education. The program is known as Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP.
The seven-year project will begin by providing academic preparation services to a cohort of nearly 4,500 sixth- and seventh-grade students in MPS. By its seventh year, it will be providing services to nearly 26,000 students, according to ASU officials.
Dr. Moore joined ASU President Quentin Ross and others in announcing the grant at a news conference.
The program is expected to increase the graduation rate and the overall academic achievement of students in MPS along with exposing more students to the opportunities available to them beyond high school.

Trinity Elementary School students in grades one through five celebrated achieving the top Accelerated Reader points for their grade.

Recently, the students from Evangel Christian Academy joined together at the school’s flagpole to pray for their school, county, state and country. The annual “See You at the Pole” event was celebrated by students all across the U.S. Several students, teachers and parents gathered together to pray. Members of Evangel Church were also present, including Chris White, the church’s youth pastor. Kysha McNeely, a student from ECA, delivered a short sermon and prayed. Micah Brown, an alumnus from ECA, and current students Hailey Bradley, Sarah Paterson and Hannah Allen, led praise and worship.

Booker T. Washington Magnet High students in the Law Magnet welcomed a special visitor as they worked to obtain their Accredited Legal Professional certification. Kristi Skipper, the immediate past president of the Alabama Association of Legal Professionals, spoke to the students about careers in law. The BTW Law Magnet also has been collaborating with the Montgomery Association of Legal Professionals on a service project to increase awareness of and interest in the organization.
Shown from left are Law Magnet students Rodnesia Wheatt, Cailyn Cook, Kaden Frazier, Aneisa Hill, Max Barwick and Ms. Skipper.
The students included their ceiling tile artwork in the photo. The students created the tiles in conjunction with class presentations on the Association of Legal Professionals and the ALP exam.

Trinity Presbyterian School hosted the first-ever faculty-student volleyball game recently! The faculty won in two sets, 25-18, 25-20. The game was a huge success, but the real winners are the people of Nepal, who will benefit from the proceeds.

Three talented art students from Success Unlimited Academy won awards for their photography work during the 2021 SACS Student Photography Competition and Exhibition. Works by Charity Jenkins, Elijah Tyre and Ivanka Laughlin were featured in the exhibition SACS gallery. Jenkins had two works, “Covid Contemplations” and “Cherry Blossoms,” in the exhibition, along with “My Street” by Tyre and “A Fun Guy” by Laughlin.
Jenkins and Tyre are shown at the opening reception.

Montgomery Christian School’s Iowa Test of Basic Skills test scores from Spring 2021 have soared past average grade levels. Reading scores rose to 144% above grade level for students in grades 2-5, writing surged to 147% above grade level for grades 3-5 and math increased to 155% above grade level for grades 2-5. While cultivating a successful educational environment, our teachers, families and students worked hard to continue an excellent learning experience despite the hardships of Covid.
MCS is always looking for community volunteers/financial partners to help shape the future leaders of tomorrow. Visit us at www.montgomerychristianschool.org or email development@montgomerychristianschool.org to book a time to come by today!

Montgomery Christian School students are on the move this year in P.E. Students are learning about how movement makes their brains and bodies feel better. It has been said that incorporating exercise and move-ment into the school day makes students feel less fidgety and more focused on learning. As part of this MOVE (Movement Optimizes & Validates Education) theme, the students will be running on Thursdays during P.E. They received Dri-Fit T-shirts from a donor to help encourage them.

For Saint James seniors, their last Community Day event came as freshmen. During their sophomore year, the event was scheduled for the spring of 2020 and was not held due to Covid -related government mandates. The same was the case during the 2020-2021 school year. Therefore, the return of the Saint James tradition on September 24 felt extra special.
Community Day is a high school event organized by the Saint James Student Government Association, along with advisor Kiki Hughes. Students in grades 9-12 are assigned to local non-profits for a morning of community service. SGA President Kendall Hardaway and Vice President Haley Brightwell worked hard to provide meaningful experiences for the students.
“The purpose of Community Day is to get our students actively involved so that we can create an outreach and connection between our Saint James family and the city,” said Hardaway. “Students enjoyed the day off campus and being able to make a positive impact and be of service. Our schools year’s theme is ‘Let’s Put Good Into Action Today,’ and we Trojans take pride in that. Everyone has a role in our community, and you never know how much putting good into action can help and inspire others.”
This year, with some non-profits still not allowing volunteers, the 9th- and 10th-grade students worked in two teams on the Saint James campus. One team worked on beautification of the campus itself, while the other team packed bags of food and notes of inspiration for families of the Montgomery Public School System who are in need.
The 11th- and 12th-grade students went all over the county to help non-profits such as the Montgomery Zoo, Reality & Truth Ministries, Eat South, Children’s Center, Alabama Wildlife Federation, YMCA Goodtimes Center, MANE and Lanark. Students and their teachers performed all sorts of needed tasks at these and other local non-profits.
Shown, Saint James students helped organize donations as well as cleaning up the grounds at Reality and Truth Ministries.

Montgomery Academy students enrolled in Geometry, Algebra II Honors, Pre-calculus Honors, AP Calculus AB, and AP Calculus BC participated in the 40th Annual Alabama Statewide Mathematics Contest in April. The Montgomery Academy was the Division Two, District Six winner in both the Comprehensive and the Algebra II and Trigonometry written exams.
Individual certificates were presented to Ellie Kim (‘21, not pictured), first place Comprehensive exam, Charles Norris (‘23), second place Comprehensive exam, and Armaan Daryanani (‘22), third place Comprehensive exam. Norris was awarded thirty-sixth place overall in Division Two. Certificates were awarded to Ted Lee (‘23), first place Algebra II and Trigonometry exam, Anna Powell (‘24), second place Algebra II and Trigonometry exam, and Sarah Kate Ingram (‘24), second place Algebra II and Trigonometry exam. Certificates were awarded to Anna Brown (‘25), first place Geometry exam, John Ju (‘25, not pictured), second place Geometry exam, and Caroline McDaniel (‘25), third place Geometry exam. The Montgomery Academy came in fifth place overall in the Comprehensive Competition in Division Two.

On October 4, Saint James School was honored to have Mark and Kym Hilinski on campus to share the story of their son Tyler with student athletes and parents. The mission of The Hilinski’s Hope Foundation is centered on breaking down stigma and offering quality resources to provide mental health support for student athletes.
The Saint James middle school and high school students and parents in attendance learned about Tyler Hilinski, a Division 1 athlete. His parents, the founders of Hilinski’s Hope, spoke about their son’s battle with crippling depression under the pressures of collegiate athletics. Tyler never shared his feelings or outwardly indicated that he was suffering. Their message is one of hope that students will talk about what they are feeling and reach out to resources available.
This event was sponsored by The Hughston Clinic. Saint James School uses events such as this one to shine a light on the importance of mental health and mental health resources.
Shown, Mark Hilinski speaks to Saint James student athletes and their parents about his son, Tyler.

Two Montgomery Academy Mock Trial teams participated in the regional Capital City Youth in Government Mock Trial competition October 16 and advanced to the state Youth Judicial Competition in November. Twenty-five MA students participated in this competition or the one the weekend before in Birmingham, where MA had judges in the Magic City competition. Mock trial teams of six try one case over and over again during the course of the competition in order to see who can come out on top. This year’s case involves a bank robbery and teams are tasked with learning both sides of the case. They find out whether they’re prosecuting or defending only minutes before trying the case.
Chandler Brazil’s team won fifth place in the competition and Ellie Stevens, Jeb Tucker, Killian White, Isabella Johnson, Sarah Kate Ingram and Andrew Hosein will advance to the state competition. Jeb Tucker won the Best Witness award with a perfect ranking score of fifteen. Charlie Hill’s team won first place in the competition and Tristan Dumas, Laura Stanton Strickler, Holden Habermacher, Katie Brown, Norah Desautels, and John Alford will advance to the state competition, too. Hill won Best Attorney with a perfect ranking score of fifteen. Sophomores Molly Selman and Sarah Elizabeth Casey worked with college staffers and served as competition coordinators. Claire Gary, Claire Moore and Kareena Singh are judges in the Youth Judicial program this year. Allie Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth Ray, Parker Roth and Brett Westhauser are serving as bailiffs.

Macon East Academy’s Senior Buddy program unites the senior class with the smallest Knights in preschool. “The Senior Buddy tradition is one of my favorite things to organize every year!” said Caitlin Bruce, Senior Buddy coordinator. “Our preschool students look up to the ‘big kids.’ We meet throughout the year and do crafts, exchange goodies, and even play together. Believe it or not, the seniors enjoy it just as much as the little buddies!”
The Senior Buddy program personifies the family atmosphere found at Macon East Academy. The preschool buddies enjoy cheering for their senior buddies at Macon East sporting events, high-fiving them on the sidewalks, and bonding with the older students.
The seniors look forward to participating and mentoring the younger students.
“I love meeting new friends, especially kids younger than me,” said Tyler Daniels. “I can be a role model/inspiration to them.”
“I will love hanging out with my buddy because I can be a mentor to Easton,” said Khamani Driver.
“I really enjoy meeting new friends! Juneau seems like a cool person,” said Bryant Rascoll. “This opportunity is a fantastic way to strengthen the alliance between the Class of 2022 and the Class of 2035.”

Eastwood Christian School students engaged in healthy competition while playing in the SGA-hosted, 4th annual “Kickball Under the Lights” event. The games were played at Fain Park and provided an evening of great fun and fellowship for the whole school.
The 5th- and 6th-grade classes began the evening with a preliminary game won by the 5th grade. The main event pitted the two house teams, the Caerulei and Candidi, against each other. The Candidi continued its kickball dominance for the fourth year in a row with a 16-15 victory. The winning team is awarded the Kickball Tiki, which will reside in their trophy case for another year.
Throughout their time in the Upper School, Eastwood students are divided into two teams, the Caerulei (blue) and Candidi (white). The Eastwood Student Government Association organizes and hosts seven major events to promote morale through encouragement and team building. These events span the areas of arts, athletics, and academics and reflect the school’s classical Christian curriculum.
Pictured are the winning team members displaying the Kickball Tiki.

Montgomery Christian School kindergartners created their own alphabet coconut tree after hearing the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. This book is a favorite allowing readers to follow the upper and lower case letters in a fun journey to the top of the coconut tree. MCS students also enjoyed a snack and made a headband around this theme. Learning is fun at MCS!

Students in Pam Watson’s class at Success Unlimited Academy visited the Governor’s mansion recently as enhancement to their study of Alabama history. This was the first class field trip of the 2021-2022 school year. It was also one of the first for students to the mansion since the COVID-19 pandemic. A Governor’s mansion docent met and greeted students upon arrival. The first floor rooms open for the public were featured on the tour, as well as the Alabama shaped pool. A highlight of their visit was seeing Governor Ivey leaving the mansion for her busy day of State business.

Trinity Presbyterian School runners recently participated in the Jesse Owens Invitational, the largest meet in Alabama which included 192 Teams and nearly 5,000 runners from five states.
Trinity took second place in 1-3A (first among Alabama teams), with a pretty incredible :21 split from 1-5. The girls ran great as well, finishing just outside the Top Ten.

Mrs. Lawrence’s kindergarten class at Macon East Academy celebrated Johnny Appleseed’s birthday. Students tasted various kinds of apples and picked their favorite. Then they recorded their choices on a graph. Granny Smith apples were the favorite!

Second-graders at Trinity School had a Place Value Party to celebrate all they have learned about place value the last few weeks! The students were surprised to be greeted with balloons and a banner in the morning. They made Noble Number crowns, place value “cakes,” popped balloons with place value challenges, and used clues to solve a fun riddle! The fun continued through Friday with the balloon challenges, a fun game of pin the bowtie on the clown and cake. All the games required the students to use their knowledge of place value!

Blue Bell Creameries brought a sweet treat to students and staff at MacMillan International Academy to celebrate MacMillan being named a 2021 National Blue Ribbon School. MacMillan is one of only five schools in Alabama and the only one in the region to receive this recognition. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recognized 325 schools nationwide for being among the highest-achieving in the state or among the best at closing achievement gaps.

Saint James School was proud to host the Southern District Youth Judicial competition held October 16. Last year the event was virtual, and Saint James School’s two teams did a great job competing but did not advance to the state competition. This year the competition was held in person.
A total of 17 teams competed, with 10 teams moving on to the next level. Saint James School’s team advanced to the state competition which will be held in November. Members of the team are Foster Rasmussen, Emmett Rasmussen, Austin Oh, Elaine Vo, Ava Donaldson, Will Gulsby, Will Alexander, Jordan Rossell and Jaden Rossell.
Saint James also had four judges at the competition: Jake Yohn, Taylor Schofield, Anna Dickey and Brooke Bender. Taylor Potts, Caroline Gregory and Hamilton Cunningham served as bailiffs. All of the students did a fantastic job.
Above, Saint James Youth Judicial Team Participants include, front row from left: Jaden Rossell, Elaine Vo, Ava Donaldson, Jaden Rossell. Back row: Will Alexander, Emmett Rasmussen, Foster Rasmussen, Will Gulsby and Austin Oh.
Below, Saint James juniors Brooke Bender (judge), Caroline Gregory (bailiff) and Anna Dickey (judge).

Native Americans and pioneers, British Redcoats and Colonial Minutemen, explorers and pirates set aside their differences to enjoy the America Discovered Festival at Academy Days Co-op in Montgomery recently. Shown are the male and female costume contest winners from each history class.
As a culmination of study on the exploration and formation of the United States, the festival featured period re-enactors demonstrating Native American traditions, students’ history projects on display, and Native American and pioneer arts and crafts for elementary students to try.
The Academy Days Co-op, held weekly during the school year at Eastmont Baptist Church, is designed for preschool through high school students to take classes in subjects such as art, creative writing, foreign languages, history, P.E. and science labs. Visit www.AcademyDays.com for more information.

Brewbaker Technology Magnet High had three robotics teams at the VEX Robotics Bots at the Fair Competition, including the winner of the highest award.
The Brew Tech team of Travis Karvwnaris, Robert Parker, Ashley Tiblier and Braden Chambless won the Tournament Excellence Award, the highest award given in VEX Robotics tournaments. This award is presented to a team that exemplifies overall excellence in building a high-quality robotics program.
Brew Tech competed against 17 other robotics teams from around the state of Alabama.
The tournament, held at Garrett Coliseum during the Alabama National Fair, was the first in-person VEX Robotics competition held in Alabama in almost two years.

Cathy Pearson, currently retired after a 35-year career at Saint James School, has been inducted into the Alabama Independent School Association’s Hall of Fame. Pearson began her career at Saint James as a math teacher in 1985 after several teaching positions in other areas of the state and the city. She served as Middle School counselor for 19 years beginning in 1988, then in 2007 became Middle School principal. She served in this role until 2013. Her final years at Saint James were as dean of admissions and she retired in 2020.
Pearson and Joel, her husband of 40 years, are both members of the STJ class of 1976. During her 35 years of service, Pearson touched thousands of students’ lives and has been one of the most influential faculty members in the history of the school. She is still generously serving as a member of the Board of Trustees.
From left are Michael McLendon of AISA, Cathy Pearson and Frankie Mitchum of AISA.

Eastwood Christian School’s second-grade students recently shared class presentations on invertebrates as a part of their unit of study in science. Each student’s project consisted of a written report, a verbal presentation and a visual aid. Through their investigation and study of invertebrates, the students were introduced to many examples of how everything God made has a purpose and is uniquely and wonderfully made to fulfill that purpose.

The Montgomery Academy Upper School HEART club held its annual Dodgeball Tournament and crowned a new Dodgeball King for the 2021-2022 year! This year’s court was comprised of Judson Lindsey, Lukas Yi, Bray Renfroe, Thomas Woodward, Will Hardin, Holt Speir, Joe Drumwright and John Alford. Each member of the court, in their efforts to attain the title of Dodgeball King, raised money for Adullam House. Everyone knocked it out of the park, raising more than $35,000 in total. In the end, this year’s crown was handed over to freshman John Alford.
Each year, the MA student body and faculty choose an organization on which to focus our service efforts. This year, we are supporting Adullam House, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing both a safe, loving home and an educational environment for children of incarcerated parents.

Students at Prattville Primary learned about the voting process including registering to vote. They had the opportunity to cast their votes in class for the candidate of their choice.

Jessica Fuller, a Prattville Intermediate School teacher, was awarded the title of Alexander Shunnarah’s “Teacher of the Month” for October, a program which highlights superstar teachers in Alabama making a difference in their students’ lives. She was nominated by fellow teachers, students and parents for the incredible attention she has shown her students throughout this school year.
Since the initiative began in September 2019, the firm has received more than 500 nominations of deserving teachers who are making a difference. This year, Shunnarah has expanded and increased the initiative to reach and celebrate more deserving teachers in Alabama. Every month, the firm will recognize two teachers in Alabama, give them a $250 American Express gift card and display their photo on an Alexander Shunnarah digital billboard for a day.

The second-grade class at Eastwood Christian School recently concluded reading Stuart Little by E. B White. The students were very surprised when Stuart Little dropped by their classroom to say hello!

Recently, two lower school students at Trinity School were hospitalized. The varsity football and baseball teams knew just what to do to lift their spirits. Each boy was presented with an autographed football and baseball as well as an official Trinity baseball hat.

The Montgomery Academy Department of History recently initiated the newest members of the Sapere Aude History Honor Society. The Society recognizes seniors who achieved a cumulative 95 average across their three core courses in the department. The name is inspired by Immanuel Kant’s motto of enlightenment “Dare to Know.” We thank these students for their contributions to the study of history.
Pictured are Mary Weldon Armstrong, Will Ashworth, Ruston Bassett, Armaan Daryanani, Tristan Dumas, Phipps Fiore, Gaines Freeman, Mattie Freeman, Cate Peeples, Will Ray and Ellie Stevens. Not pictured are John Marcus Arnett and Chandler Brazil.

During the first weekend of October, the Saint James School Marching Trojans competed in the 2021 Lake Martin Invitational. The marchers earned a 1 (the highest score possible) and other accolades at the competition. Superior Ratings were given to the group in the areas of Band, Drum Major and Percussion. The group also earned Best in Class for Percussion in their division.
A total of 25 bands competed from all over the area. With 15 members, led by band director Andy Martin, the STJ Marching Trojans continue to show that hard work and dedication can bring great results. The Saint James Marching Trojans are shown with their band director and Drum Major Rose Statam.

Macon East Academy senior Hendley Culpepper recently won the Bullock County Distinguished Young Women competition and a $1,000 scholarship. Distinguished Young Women of Alabama is part of a national scholarship program that promotes and rewards scholarship, leadership and talent in young women. Culpepper was also awarded additional scholarships for winning the fitness, self-expression, talent, scholastics and interview categories.

Hispanic Heritage Month is observed from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 each year and provides a chance to explore and celebrate the contributions of Hispanic Americans. Floyd Middle Magnet celebrated in a number of ways, including allowing students to celebrate Hispanic culture by coming to school dressed in Spanish attire. In addition, Spanish teacher Señora Jacqueline Henley’s class provided daily announcements on the achievements of famous Hispanics and Latinos who made great contributions to our society.
Sra. Henley’s Spanish 1 students had the opportunity to try some authentic chicken quesadillas and sopaipilla, thanks to the generous donation of San Marcos Restaurant. The students had fun learning about the different aspects of their own Spanish heritage as well as that of their peers.