Second-grade students at Trinity Presbyterian School were surprised to enter their classroom and see it transformed into Trinity’s emergency room! Students scrubbed in for surgery and used their knowledge of nouns and place value to complete surgical tasks. They also used their writing skills to write about becoming a doctor. It was a fantastic day in the ER!

Seniors at The School at Sylvan recently visited the Veterans Affairs Clinic in Chantilly to honor our veterans and thank them for their service. The senior class of 2022 reminded our veterans that they have not been forgotten and that we are grateful to them for defending and protecting our freedoms.

The Eastwood Christian School Warriors enjoyed beautiful fall weather this year as students met on the field for a morning of lively competition in the annual Olympic Field Day games. The sixth-graders served as team captains and led their younger classmates in making signs, composing original cheers, and competing on the field. Each team had an Olympic name. The twelve teams represented this year were Assyrians, Athenians, Babylonians, Cretans, Greeks, Medes, Persians, Phoenicians, Romans, Spartans, Titans and Trojans.

The Warriors enjoyed challenging one another as they cheered and battled through relay games such as the tug of war, a balloon toss, shooting hoops and other relays that demonstrated courage, character and blazing fast speed. In addition to winning the games, points were awarded for good sportsmanship, having a Christ-like attitude during the games, encouraging each other, and cheering for other teams. There was a two-way tie for the winner of the coveted Most Christ-like trophy, with congratulations going to the Babylonians and the Medes!

Local homeschoolers took to the stage to perform Peter Pan for friends and family at Academy Days Co-op in Montgomery recently. The performance culminated weeks of rehearsing lines, blocking on stage, and creating sets and costumes.

In the spotlight on stage are Elisha Vest as Peter and Garrison Campbell as Captain Hook with (standing) Annelise Brown, Emily Moore and Maria Richardson as pirates holding captive the Lost Boys (front row) played by Joshua Maddox, Berthalizbeth Cano-Gomez, Jessica Dannelley, Grace DuPre, and the two Darling children, John and Wendy (back row) played by Adolfo Cano-Luna and Kailey Franklin.

Held weekly during the school year at Eastmont Baptist Church, Academy Days Co-op offers classes in subjects difficult to teach at home or best taught in group settings, such as drama, science labs, STEM, foreign languages, creative writing and P.E. Visit AcademyDays.com for more info.

Saint James 2021 graduates Paige Hemmer and Zach Ohliger were both offered and have accepted National Merit Corporation scholarships. Approximately 7,500 students nationwide were notified that they have been awarded scholarships specifically designated for National Merit Finalists.

Both Hemmer and Ohliger were named National Merit Scholarship Program Finalists back in February. They were reviewed and evaluated based on their academic record, information about Saint James School’s curricula and grading system, national test scores, school recommendations, information about their activities and leadership, and an essay each wrote. Upon completion of these requirements, 15,000 students nationwide were notified that they had been named a National Merit Finalist.

Hemmer received the National Merit Furman University Scholarship, and Ohliger received the National Merit Auburn University Scholarship. Both students graduated from Saint James School as a part of the Class of 2021.

After battling it out against Catholic, Trinity came out with the WIN! Emma Moody led Trinity with 13 kills, two digs, three blocks and an ace, followed by Emma Kate Smith with 13 kills, Addison Cherry with four kills, 42 assists, nine digs and two aces, Ella Grace Lowe with six digs, Isabel Hill with nine digs, Reese Patterson with nine kills and three digs and Charlee Cone with four kills and six digs.

After studying the letter R, the kindergarten students at Eastwood Christian School celebrated with a Rodeo. Dressed as cowgirls and cowboys, the students had a rip-roaring time playing games which included a stick-horse race, a hula hoop roping game, and a rattlesnake boot toss and dash.

Construction is complete on Alabama Christian Academy’s new NEST School playground and we have enjoyed watching our youngest NEST School students play on it. This addition to our campus was made possible by the generous support of parents and friends through last year’s Feed the Need campaign. A playground dedication occurred November 2. Many NEST school parents, faculty and staff attended as well as the NEST school students. We thank God for our playground and the ways that our NEST School is growing.

Saint James School has launched its new website just in time for the 2022-2023 admissions season! The new website will showcase more interactive features, along with streamlining the admissions process for interested families. The new web address is www.stjmontgomery.org. For the time being, all searches for the old address, www.stjweb.org, will be sent directly to the new website.

November 1 marked the official beginning of the admissions season for the upcoming school year. The new website will allow for registration for Welcome Wednesday held Dec. 8. The website will also allow for registration of Lunch Tours and shadowing opportunities.

“Our new website wonderfully compliments this rolling ad-missions process with interactive features that allow families to request tours, apply, and even enroll online,” said Saint James Director of Admissions and Enrollment Elizabeth Hawke.

The new website was designed by High Level Marketing, formerly Bell Media of Montgomery. STJ alumnus Nathan Yates is chief operating officer.

Montgomery Catholic High School teacher and librarian Mindy Walski wears multiple hats, but her biggest role is as mom to her two children, Heather and Peter. At school, she teaches AP computer science and honors statistics, is the High School librarian, media specialist, Powerschool administrator, leader of the Cyber Patriots team, and coach of the new eSports team. While her days are filled with activities on campus, her evenings and weekends are even more eventful as she supports her children on their club soccer teams. She and her husband, Bill, were recently surprised to learn they had been selected as the 2021 US Youth Publix Parent Volunteer of the Year for the Alabama Soccer Association.

For the last seven years, the Walskis have served as volunteer managers for the Capital City Streaks /Alabama FC South 2007 Girls Team (2014-2021), as volunteer manager of the Capital City Streaks 2007 Boys Team (2018), and as volunteer registrars for the entire Capital City Streaks Organization for two years. They have also been instrumental in providing assistance to military families who are interested in the club’s soccer system, organized the annual Big House event for the team/families to help form long-term bonds, and have coached several soccer teams for off-season opportunities.

“Mindy and Bill have excellent values including but not limited to inclusivity trying to ensure diversity in our team and they build strong relationships within and outside of the team and our club, encouraging a close team, showing incredible respect for the refereeing staff and everyone,” says fellow parent, Shawn Cole.

Montgomery Christian School students concluded Spirit Week with a canned food drive for Mercy House, a local nonprofit that serves the Washington Park community as a food pantry, clothes closet and much more. The students at MCS collected 688 cans. Each year the fifth-grade class delivers and helps to sort the canned food. Fifth-grade teacher Allison Jackson led the students in giving back to the community. Montgomery Christian School holistically teaches the students not just about others who serve, but brings the importance of service to the students through opportunities such as giving cans to those in need.

Back in May of 2021, Dream Court found that it had a need. Mr. Terry Talley donated a container to Dream Court to use as storage for its equipment. The storage unit at O’Connor Tennis Center needed a paint job. Director Jessica Weyreuter started asking several parents and students who their favorite art teacher was, and Evelyn Shoults’s name was recommended by many. Shoults is an art teacher and head of the art department at Saint James School. She quickly agreed to lead this project and gathered a number of her students who were willing and able to participate.

More than 23 Saint James students committed more than 20 hours of time to create a masterpiece on the storage container. “I am honored that Dream Court asked the Saint James Art Department to design and paint a mural for them,” Shoults said. “This opportunity allowed our students to use their talents outside of the classroom while giving back and adding beauty to our local community. Being able to give back and put good into action is the Saint James way.”

Dream Court’s mission is to provide an adaptive tennis program to individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities, striving for inclusion and acceptance. Dream Court focuses on having fun while learning and promoting an active lifestyle, modeling social behaviors, and developing self-esteem. Most importantly, the program encourages inclusion and acceptance in sports and in day-to-day life.The organization’s motto is “Serving Hope, Changing Lives.” Through the program, the goal is to enhance not only the life of the special needs athlete, but to strengthen the family as a whole.

From left are Selina Sun, Aroa Jung, Elaine Vo, Rana Jung, Emerson Hagen, Evelyn Shoults, Kelsey Shaffer, Cole Williams, Wendy Stombaugh and Ava Donaldson.

On October 22, Alabama Christian Academy celebrated Tonya Prempramot, recognizing her in her fight against breast cancer. She was recognized on the field with ACA Head of School Greg Glenn. She was also named honorary coach for that game. Prempramot is a true bright spot on campus with unparalleled strength and we support her every step of the way!

MacMillan International Academy was one of only five schools in Alabama chosen for the prestigious National Blue Ribbon award this year. Mrs. Goshay and librarian Mrs. Moseley traveled to Washington, D.C.,  to receive MacMillan’s award on behalf of the hard work of the students, teachers and staff.

Joycelan Bailey from Misty Trussell’s third-grade QUEST class at Dalraida Elementary School was a winner in the Montgomery Humane Society’s Howl-iday Card contest. She drew a beautiful picture showing her adopting a new puppy that finds its forever home with her family. Mary Hughes from the Montgomery Humane Society presented her with a certificate and medal.

From left are Trussell, Bailey and Hughes.

As Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc. (MBUSI) moves closer to start of production of its electric vehicles in 2022, the Vance, Ala., plant is also taking steps to accelerate the number of students who want to pursue a career in the automotive industry. MBUSI is donating 15 sport utility vehicles with a combined value of more than $700,000 to 13 high schools and two community colleges in Alabama for instructors to use as valuable classroom tools.

The majority of the GLE SUVs were previously used to test and ensure Mercedes-Benz quality standards. Once quality tests have been completed, these vehicles cannot be sold for customer use or driven on public roads, but they can be used for training in a classroom.

Currently, MBUSI has donated more than 40 vehicles to area high schools that serve as feeder schools to the two-year colleges. MBUSI is also seeing cross-collaboration as some schools and colleges have instructors visiting one another’s workshops to see how they are set up and inspiring some to duplicate or borrow one another’s ideas.

MBUSI Human Resource Specialist Steve Colburn has worked to develop relationships with both secondary and postsecondary educational systems to identify recipients of the vehicles.  Colburn works to encourage students to pursue careers in technical education and promote opportunities within the automotive industry, especially within Mercedes-Benz U.S. International.

“We are committed to getting vehicles out in the community when they become available – especially for those schools with automotive tech programs in place,” said Colburn.  “We want these vehicles to be used and for the students to really learn the technical aspects of our SUVS.”

Shown, Nancy Prine, Career & Technical Education, Alabama State Department of Education

Evangel Christian Academy art teacher LaDonna LeMaster wrote and illustrated a Christmas book for children. The idea for Phineas Jingle came from a tradition LeMaster started with her grandchildren years ago. Each year, they receive Christmas pajamas from a special elf.  Her children and grandchildren enjoyed the back story of this elf so much that they encouraged her to publish a book about him. The book has just been released in time for the holidays by Amazon. The students at ECA are very excited about the book, and LeMaster donated a copy to the school’s library.

Phineas Jingle is an elf that was excited to be assigned to work with Santa at the North Pole. However, he is not very successful with the normal “elf jobs.” Finally, Phineas finds his true talent and becomes a blessing to others.

LeMaster wrote the book in hopes that other families would enjoy the Christmas pajama tradition and that children would realize that everyone has his own unique gifts and talents that can be used to bless others. Phineas Jingle is available on Amazon and is destined to become a Christmas favorite.

Eastwood Christian School’s K4 students learned about travel by air, land and water. They enthusiastically constructed play-size models of the modes of transportation, then enjoyed them on the playground!

Eastwood Christian School’s kindergarten students delighted an audience of family, faculty and friends with the Three Piggy Opera. These enthusiastic young performers dressed in costumes complete with face paint! They delivered lines, sang songs, and recited verses to communicate the principle of working hard as unto the Lord, as taught in Colossians 3:23.

Students in first grade at Trinity Presbyterian School celebrated 100 days of school Fifties style! Students came dressed in their fifties attire and had a full day of themed activities. They ended the fun day with Coke floats!

On an outdoor stage, beneath a beautiful November sky, Eastwood Christian School students performed two abbreviated plays.  The Candidi (12th, 10th and 8th grades) and Caeruli (11th, 9th and 7th grades) teams presented a comedy and a tragedy to family and faculty.

The Candidi (the white team) performed As You Like It, themed as pirates, complete with rousing music and a lion! The Caeruli (the blue team) presented Julius Caesar, with costumes drawn from the Star Wars universe. While this year’s was one of the closest competitions to date, the Caeruli clenched the victory and took possession of the “Gilded Bard” trophy.

After the plays, trivia challenge and coloring competition were over, the directors of the spring musical announced that the Eastwood Players will be performing Les Miserables in March of 2022!

Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School’s yearbook program has achieved the Jostens 2021 National Yearbook Program of Excellence award at the Bronze Level. The National Yearbook Program of Excellence recognizes engaging yearbooks that reflect a broad representation of the student body while helping students develop 21st century skills such as communication, collaboration, and information and communication technologies (ICT) literacy.

The Montgomery Catholic award-winning yearbook program is led by Editors in Chief Allie Berg and Matthew Barranco, under the direction of Sinead Turner, Montgomery Catholic’s high school yearbook adviser.

“This was my first year guiding this program, and I couldn’t be more proud of the efforts of my staff­—especially Allie and Matthew—and of the product that we put together,” Turner said.

Jostens’ National Yearbook Program of Excellence Awards are presented twice a year, in spring and in fall based on the yearbook’s arrival date at the school. The award was presented to Montgomery Catholic’s high school yearbook program for achieving defined criteria in between one and three of the following categories: creating an inclusive yearbook, generating school engagement, and successfully managing the yearbook creation process.

Montgomery Christian School’s third grade experiences learning coming to life. Mrs. Williams and her students have been growing vegetables in their tower garden. The students had the opportunity to eat a salad with the lettuce, carrots, onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. Lynn Henry donated the tower garden and has helped Williams bring farming to life for the third-graders.

Montgomery Christian School honored veterans and active military with a Breakfast for Heroes on November 11.  Fourteen families were represented. They enjoyed a time of eating, visiting and a small presentation. Each veteran was given a “Thank You Packet” created by MCS students. Each introduced him or herself, told his/her branch and number of years of service. This was a fantastic way for MCS students to honor the veterans in their families. MCS is proud of these servicemen and women in our community and is grateful for the many years of service represented at the breakfast.

Alabama Christian Academy had a book character dress-up day that ended with a parade of costumes. The students always love this day! It offers a chance not only for them to dress up, but also a chance for them to read a book and do a report on it to share with their class.

Macon East Academy’s Lady Knights, veterans in the AISA state tournament, fought hard but lost to defending state champions, Glenwood Academy, in three sets. The Gators defeated the Lady Knights 25-12, 25-15, and 25-21 at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex. Maddie Ross and Sara Cochran were selected as members of the state all-tournament team, and Ross represented Macon East in the AISA East All-Star team at the Montgomery Multiplex. Coach Codi Berry also represented Macon East by coaching the All-Star team.

During the weekend of November 6-7, the Saint James School Youth Judicial Team competed at the state level in downtown Montgomery. After a year spent competing only over Zoom, this experience for in-person, live competition was extra special. Through the process of this year’s competitions, the team gained valuable experience, especially those students who were not in high school yet the last time in-person competitions were allowed. Students were required to argue both sides of the case, not just one.

The Saint James Team members are Will Alexander, Brooke Bender, Anna Dickey, Ava Donaldson, Caroline Gregory, Will Gulsby, Georgeann Killough, Austin Oh, Foster Rasmussen, Emmett Rasmussen, Jaden Rossell, Jordan Rossell, Taylor Schofield, Elaine Vo and Jake Yohn. Yohn served as chief justice and presided over the final trial. Schofield, Dickey and Bender also served as judges. Killough and Gregory served as bailiffs.

The Saint James team, comprised of mostly 10th-grade students, is excited to compete again next year in hopes of landing in the top ten!

The Saint James Youth Judicial team includes, front row from left, Caroline Gregory, Taylor Schofield, Anna Dickey, Brooke Bender, Elaine Vo, Ava Donaldson, Jordan Rossell and Jaden Rossell; back row: Austin Oh, Will Alexander, Emmett Rasmussen andJake Yohn. Not pictured: Foster Rasmussen, Will Gulsby and Georgeann Killough.

Seven Saint James School choir members have shown excellence in choral performance and have been invited to be a part of the All-State Choir and Choral Festival. The All-State Choral Festival features the best choral students in the state. Saint James will be represented by Hamilton Cunningham, Anna Dickey, Emily Headley, Nicole Jung, Austin Oh, Abigail Roark, and TJ Vance. These amazing students are taught by Dr. Sallye York as a part of the Saint James high school and middle school choirs.

Auditions were held on November 8 in Enterprise, Ala. The students and Dr. York traveled there to audition for the Alabama Vocal Association All State Choirs. The board members of the Ala-bama Vocal Association spent the entire week traveling around the state to audition hundreds of choral students from Alabama.

The 2022 All-State Choral Festival will be held at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center March 10-12.

Front row from left are Nicole Jung, Bree Bennett, Abigail Roark and Park Hobbs; back row: Tyler Pettway, TJ Vance, Anna Dickey, Austin Oh, Emily Headley, Hamilton Cunningham and Dr. York.

On November 3, Saint James School administration and high school came together to celebrate the incredible achievements of several high school students. The students honored in the Fall Recognition Assembly achieved extraordinary excellence on national tests and exams in the past year between November 2020 and the end of October 2021. From National Merit recognition to perfect scores on Advanced Placement exams and sections of the ACT tests, these students demonstrate what talent, effort and perseverance can accomplish.

In September 2021, Saint James senior Haley Brightwell was named a National Merit Commended Student. This designation places her in the top 3% of the 1.7 million students nationally who took the qualifying exam last fall, the PSAT/NMSQT.

Scoring a perfect score of 36 on a section of the ACT test (ie: English, reading, math or science) were seniors Barr Armistead, Michael Doyle, Emily Headley and Jake Yohn. Armistead scored a 36 on the February 2021 and March 2021 reading tests; Doyle also scored a 36 on the reading section. Headley scored a 36 in the English section; and Yohn scored a 36 on the reading section.

Saint James juniors AJ Kavlick, Matthew Ohliger, Selina Sun, Davis Taylor and Justin Kang scored a perfect score on one or more sections of the ACT. Kavlick scored a 36 in the English section; Ohliger scored a 36 on the reading section. Sun scored a 36 in both the reading and English sections of the ACT. Taylor scored a 36 on the reading test. Impressively, Kang scored a 36 in math, reading, English and STEM, with a resulting 36 overall composite score.

Eleven students scored a perfect 5 on an Advanced Placement exam. These scholars included Will Alexander and Will Gulsby for AP World History; Caden Hayes, AJ Kavlick, Kelsey Shaffer, Selina Sun, Davis Taylor and Kendal Wright for AP European History; Paul Kreischer for AP Computer Science Principles; and Aroa Jung for AP Drawing. Haley Brightwell scored a perfect score of 5 for AP U.S. History, AP Language and Composition, and AP Chemistry.

Three current seniors were honored by the College Board as AP Scholars – which means they earned an average grade of three or higher on three or more Advanced Placement exams. The AP Scholar designation was awarded to these three students who are still in high school: Barr Armistead, Hamilton Cunningham and Sydney Eng. Saint James senior Haley Brightwell was named an AP Scholar with Honors. In order to be designated an AP Scholar with Honors, a student must have an average score of 3.25 on all of his/her AP exams and a score of 3 or higher on 4 or more exams. Also, after taking the AP exams in May 2021, sixteen 2021 Saint James alumni were also designated AP Scholars. In total, 20 Saint James students were named AP Scholars for 2021.

Annually, Saint James hosts an Awards Day assembly in the spring to recognize a multitude of student achievements ranging from individual college scholarship announcements to the Yale Book Award to the highest average in a subject. Each fall, school administration honors each student individually who has achieved national recognition for extraordinary academic excellence.

Honorees at the Saint James School Fall Recognition Assembly include, front row from left: Emily Headley, Caden Hayes, Will Gulsby, Sydney Eng, Kendal Wright, Aroa Jung, Haley Brightwell, Kelsey Shaffer and Selina Sun; back row: Jake Yohn, Davis Taylor, Matthew Ohliger, Will Alexander, Paul Kreischer, Barr Armistead, AJ Kavlick, Justin Kang, Hamilton Cunningham and Michael Doyle.

Saint James High School art students submitted pieces for the 43rd Annual School Art Show for the Alabama National Fair. The following won ribbons in their category.

In Opaque Painting, Wendy Stombaugh was awarded 3rd place. Natalie Magee was awarded 3rd place, and Luke Beasley was awarded Honorable Mention in Watercolor Painting. In Color Drawing, Magee placed 3rd for grades 10-12, while Alice Chen placed 3rd for grades 7-9. Stombaugh placed 2nd and Phu Lam placed 3rd in Black and White Drawing. Beasley placed 2nd in Printmaking.

For the Photography competition, Saint James art students fared just as well. Cole Williams was chosen Best of Show, along with 2nd place in Floral and 1st place in Insect and Scenic categories. In the Animals category, 1st place went to Natalie Barna, and 3rd place went to Matthew Ohliger. Kyle Domingo won 1st place, and Jack Catchings placed 3rd in the Floral category for a Saint James sweep. For the People category, 2nd place went to Bandgi Patel and 3rd place to Chaeyoon Chung. Saint James also won all three ribbons for the Insect category, with 2nd place going to Ohliger and 3rd place to Domingo.  For the category entitled “Items Not Listed,” Barr Armistead won 1st place, and Chaeyoon Chung won 3rd place.

These pieces will be displayed on campus in Saint James’s Furlong Hall. These artists are a part of the classes of Art 1, Art 2, Art 3, AP Drawing and Photography taught by Evelyn Shoults.

Front row from left: Alice Chen, Kyle Domingo, Jack Catchings, Natalie Barna, Chaeyoon Chung and Luke Beasley; back row from left: Phu Lam, Bandgi Patel, Natalie Magee, Barr Armistead, Wendy Stombaugh, Cole Williams and Matthew Ohliger.

Ella Grace Dicks, Miss Teen South Montgomery, is a freshman at Alabama Christian Academy and a member of Landmark Church of Christ. She will compete in January in the High School America Alabama and Miss Teen USA Alabama Scholarship Pageants. Dicks has been competing in pageants for approximately two years and a few of the current titles she holds are: Teen Miss Elmore County, Teen Miss East Alabama and Teen Miss Gulf Coast.

In addition to the scholarship programs and opportunities to improve her interview and communication skills, Dicks uses pageants as as a way to volunteer throughout her community and to promote the platform  BRAVE (Building Respect and Values for Everyone.) She has faced the challenges of middle school and has experienced bullying and speaks to things we can do to combat bullying. “It is important to understand the unique challenges everyone faces and how important it is to treat everyone with love, patience, tolerance and care,” Dicks says.

Saint James School has a rich history of leaders and families who serve in numerous branches of the United States military. This connection to our military families makes Veterans Day an extra-special holiday at Saint James. Saint James holds this celebration each year with special performances by the Saint James Marching Trojans, Saint James School Combined Choirs, and remarks from head of school, Dr. Larry McLemore. This year’s keynote speaker was Col. Sherry Stearns-Boles,USAF Retired. The Saint James Marching Trojans and Combined Choirs performed numerous pieces, including God Bless the USA arr. Johnnie Vinson.

Saint James School has been led by numerous military leaders throughout its history. For instance, former head of school, Lt. General Raymond B. Furlong, for whom Furlong Hall is named, was commander of Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, before becoming Head of School at Saint James. Further, Colonel Don Brewer, who taught at Saint James School for almost 20 years, was an outstanding member of our faculty who encouraged students to further their education. Saint James gives a mathematics award each year in his memory. Many of his students became engineers and several also served in the military.

The celebration began with a Veterans Day Assembly November 5. Military family members in the various armed forces were honored at the celebration. Keynote speaker Col. Stearns-Boles spoke to the Saint James student body and others in attendance about the importance of Veterans Day by focusing on the who, what, when, where and why we celebrate. She then focused on ways the students can honor veterans and their service in their daily lives by putting good into action every day.

During the first week of November, students throughout the high school, middle school and elementary school created “thank you” cards to our service men and women. These were taken to the local VA Hospital and distributed among the patients by students whose parents are veterans. The cards were handed out on November 9 by seniors Foster Rasmussen and Sierra Boles, and juniors Eli Griggs, Preston Phillips and Matthew Ohliger.

As a final tribute of the week, a special dessert was served at the dining hall on Friday, November 12. Food service staff members who are veterans and who have military service men and women in their families were honored. Saint James School is proud to honor our military community and the ways they enrich Saint James School, Montgomery, and the surrounding area. Saint James School offers a tuition discount to full-time active U.S. service members.

From left, Preston Phillips, Eli Griggs, Foster Rasmussen, Sierra Boles and Matthew Ohliger visited the local VA Hospital to distribute “thank you” cards to patients and staff.

Trinity School had six students recognized by the Montgomery Humane Society for their entries in their citywide holiday card contest. Maggie Stephens won first place, Emory Harris took second, and Kayleigh Creel, Marley Sharpless, Rissie Price and Coleman Parker received honorable mention honors.

Macon East Academy second-grade and kindergarten students recently spent the day visiting SweetCreek Farm Market in Pike Road. The students enjoyed spending time together away from school, climbing on the hay bales, playing on a fun playground, pumpkins and a hayride!

WeServe at Alabama Christian Academy, led by Don Gilliam, has already kicked off the year with service projects helping local veterans clean up their homes, volunteering to give manicures to a group of elderly women at the Elizabeth Wright Assisted Living Apartments, providing a student team for clean-up work at Hope Inspired Ministries, and sending our band to serve lunch for a whole week to Hope Inspired Ministries’ workforce training classes. ACA was privileged to have the opportunity to help the victims of Hurricane Ida in Houma, La., by sending water, tarps and 5W30 motor oil. We partnered with Penske trucking to transport all of the donations down there.

The elementary students at Evangel Christian Academy recently enjoyed a special Pumpkin Patch Day. The event was held on campus and the students enjoyed carnival-style games and a hayride. The hayride took the students to a pumpkin patch where they handpicked their own pumpkins. The students had a great time and look forward to next year’s pumpkin patch.

K4 students from Trinity Presbyterian School enjoyed a beautiful day at Cornfield County Farms in Wetumpka.

Below, Alabama Christian Academy’s varsity cheer team was invited to participate in the UCA Spirit Day at the Auburn University vs. Ole Miss game October 30. The girls had the opportunity to practice in Auburn’s indoor practice field that morning and then perform a dance routine with other local cheerleaders during halftime of the Auburn game.

Two students from Floyd Middle Magnet school got the chance of a lifetime when they were chosen to appear on The Wonder Years television show. Katelyn Glass and Anyria Hatchett were selected to appear as background actors. They, along with other middle schoolers from around the area, got their first taste of the Hollywood experience. These students got paid as background actors and got a chance to meet and interact with the cast of The Wonder Years reboot. The television show comes on ABC each Wednesday and is based around a family in the 1960s living in Montgomery, Ala.

Evangel Christian Academy recently named its homecoming court. The ninth grade attendant was Taylor Rivers, tenth grade  was Madesti Powell, and eleventh grade was Hannah Allen. Cameron Bennett and Destiny Betton were the twelfth grade attendants. Kysha McNeely was named ECA’s homecoming queen. The court was presented during ECA’s homecoming football game.

Alabama Christian Academy recognizes Bailie Johnson for the outstanding achievement of National Merit Scholar Semifinalist.  Johnson was chosen for this based on his Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants.  An announcement will be made in February of those moving on to the Finalist level. Johnson was also chosen to perform in the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra.

Eastwood Christian School recognized four sixth-grade students as nominees to represent the school at the Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. this summer. The Junior National Young Leaders Conference offers high-achieving middle school students the opportunity to learn about leadership in a challenging and interactive program designed for the nation’s most promising middle school students. Eastwood’s 2021/2022 nominees are Mariam Jacobsen, Sophia MacLeod, Brice Webb and Charlie Williams.