Montgomery Student Spotlights – February ’23

Montgomery Christian School has added some excitement to its MCS basketball games with a cheer team. Mrs. Allison Jackson, MCS 5th grade teacher, is the first ever MCS cheer sponsor. The cheer squad has 17 girls from 4th and 5th grade. They’ve had several afternoons of practice and a cheer camp over Christmas break. The team cheered on the 5th grade MCS Hoops team on January 8th and January 21st.

CONGRATULATIONS to our Macon East Knights on their collection of 2022 post-season honors!

Montgomery Catholic celebrated the end of the Christmas season by hosting its 2nd Annual Epiphany party for the Holy Spirit and St. Bede Elementary Campuses on January 6. Our faith teaches us of the Christmas season and that Christmas doesn’t end on December 25th. During the 12 days of Christmas the Magi followed the star to find our God as a baby in a manger.

This year’s event began with a series of social media posts following the travels of our “Wise Men” across the city of Montgomery and even on a trip to Rome, Italy. Their travels ended on the Feast of the Epiphany with them arriving at the Nativity to host a fun event for the elementary students. Our three kings, played by school President, Justin Castanza, Holy Spirit Parochial Vicar, Fr. Patrick Gilbreath, and St. Bede Parochial Vicar, Fr. Connor Plessala, hosted two blow out Epiphany Parties at Montgomery Catholic’s two elementary campuses – St. Bede and Holy Spirit. The children got to meet camels and pet some of the other friends that were “lowing” in the nativity while also making crowns at our craft station, smelling the aromatic gifts of the magi, tasting foods from Jesus time, and ending the day with a sweet treat.

Our Dalraida Elementary School 3rd-5th grade QUEST students were selected to receive a Classroom Mini-Grant from Alabama Ag in the Classroom. The funds will be used to Beautify their Outdoor Classroom Space.

Macon East Academy’s SGA strives to make a difference and help those in need. During the months of November and December, the school participated in Dixie Electric’s Food Drive during the 12s Day of Giving and collected over 1,200 items for the Montgomery Area Food Bank. Macon East lower school through 8th grade also joined together for their Christmas service project to collect Christmas gifts for Heart to Heart, a local foster care ministry. The Montgomery Humane Society benefited from the 9th and 10th grade classes donating much needed supplies. 11th and 12th grades focused on Mid-Alabama Coalition for the Homeless donating cold weather jackets and gloves. Community involvement is very important for all students at Macon East.

The LAMP High E-Sports program was ahead of the game at the state E-Sports Championship, bringing home two of the four state titles.
Two teams represented LAMP and competed in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and League of Legends. LAMP Ultimate Gold, consisting of Ian Shin, Cristian Carbajal, and Michael Daniels defeated the Smash Prodigies from W.P. Davidson High School.
LAMP Legends Gold, consisting of Chengwei Wu, Yunchan Kwon, Donghwan Kwon, Colin Jung, and Louis Yu, defeated BJHS Bao, representing Bob Jones High School.

Montgomery Christian had the opportunity of being a part of Governor Kay Ivey’s Inauguration Parade on Monday, January 16th. Several of our students rode on the Scholarships for Kids float. Scholarships for Kids is a scholarship granting organization that helps students attend private schools. Scholarships for Kids is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that serves as a state-approved Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO) under the Alabama Accountability Act of 2013. They work directly with qualified, nonpublic schools to offer scholarships and access to better education for children seeking to expand their educational opportunities.

Avery Stewart officially signed with the University of Kentucky. Stewart is excited about the opportunity to further his academic and athletic career with the coaches and staff. Stewart signed with over 60 family, friends, ACA teachers, coaches and UK Staff supporting him. We are so excited for this opportunity for Avery and all that he will add to the program there.

On Tuesday, January 17, the Saint James students who are part of the high school Tri-M Club hosted their annual “Instrument petting zoo.” At the event, Saint James 5th grade students experience a variety of different instruments in the school’s Performing Arts Building. They also get to hear and visit with the high school choir.
High School students who play the various instruments from horns, strings, and percussion demonstrate the instruments and explain how the instruments work. This experience helps the rising middle school students see and hear the variety of instruments used by the Saint James Marching Trojans and band classes, as well as hear the talents of the choir.
Saint James School offers band classes for middle and high school students taught by band director Andy Martin, and choral classes offered by Dr. Sallye York.

Forest Avenue Academic Magnet student Erin Shin was the school’s top speller for the second consecutive year after a competitive school spelling bee.
The bee consisted of the winners from fourth- and fifth-grade homerooms. So many words were spelled correctly that the school was just one word away from having to obtain another word list.
The final word was “fado.” Erin will go on to represent Forest Avenue in the Montgomery County Spelling Bee.

Macon East Academy third grader, Hayden Herring, was selected as the 2022 Alabama State Winner of the Bonnie Plant Farm Cabbage Program. Hayden’s cabbage grew to an impressive 6 pounds! As the winner, she will be recognized throughout Alabama, and she also won a scholarship!

The Macon East 3rd grade class has participated in the Bonnie Plants Cabbage program for the last several years. The program started in 1996 out of the Union Springs headquarters. The mission of the program is to “inspire a love of vegetable gardening in young people, teaching students where their food comes from, and grow our next generation of gardeners.” Cabbages were chosen for this program because Bonnie uses an O.S. Cross Variety which is known for growing oversized heads. This seems to make the growing process more thrilling for the students. Way to go third graders, Mrs. Gilmore and special congrats to Hayden!

Learning to communicate effectively is more than just knowing how to deliver a message, but understanding how to listen and respond to people on different levels, to include at school. Refining effective communication skills can help with being more approachable, and easier to communicate with; as well lead to being more open to new ideas that can in turn lead to innovative thinking and creative problem-solving.

Talent Education & Art Christian Academy, Inc., conducted a workshop which was the lead-in for their Effective Communication class for this quarter. The workshop was led by Dr. Aaron Motley, the former Station Manager for Trinity Broadcasting Network, which is the largest Christian Network in the world. Motley was a Class Act! As he held the students attention, he entertained them, and he allowed them to get involved by asking questions and displaying examples.

Dr. Aaron Motley is the founder and pastor of Miracle Deliverance Temple of Christ, and the owner of AM Media Productions Motley applied data-driven strategies and real-world applications to help students gain an understanding in specific areas of communication. By the end of this school quarter, students will gain a better understanding of how to balance the science and art of communication that can help them gain an edge in this world of constant change and competitiveness. TEA Academy, Inc. is blessed to have partnered with Dr. Aaron Motley, and we are so excited!

Members of the Montgomery Academy Lower School Eagle Assembly delivered 354 toys donated by their classmates to Common Ground Montgomery for their Christmas Store. After unloading and delivery, these student leaders toured the Common Ground campus and learned about the program’s history.

For over a decade, Montgomery Academy Middle and Upper School students, faculty, and staff have had the joy of providing Christmas presents for residents of Brantwood Children’s Home. This annual service project is led by our Upper School H.E.A.R.T. (Helping Eagles Are Right There) organization.

Montgomery Academy 7th and 8th-grade student leaders organized an essential items drive to support the work of our focus agency, Friendship Mission. Middle School students happily collected two truckloads of items for donation!

A long-standing tradition in the state of Alabama, the 25th Julian McPhillips Invitational Wrestling Tournament was held on January 6 and 7 at Saint James School. The highly competitive tournament is by invitation only and hosted 19 teams this year, 1A-7A.
Always held the first weekend in January, the Invitational Tournament is named in honor of a vital supporter of the wrestling program at Saint James, Mr. Julian McPhillips of Montgomery. In 1997, McPhillips was instrumental in expanding the school’s field house and adding a wrestling room. The school had not had a wrestling team before, but with his support, Saint James launched their first wrestling season and in 1998, the first tournament was held bearing McPhillips’s name.
In this year’s tournament, the Trojans finished 2nd overall with many of its team members placing in their individual weight classes. Logan Hartson placed 1st in his weight class. Jake Streeton, AJ Alozie, and Braylen Corley placed 2nd in their weight classes. Jake Huff and Pruitt Conner each placed 3rd in his weight class. Placing 4th in their divisions were Emmett Rasmussen and Miles Zukowski.
This tournament is a local favorite and continues to be an important one as teams prepare for sectionals. Participants this year included Beauregard, Prattville Christian, Tallassee, Stanhope Elmore, Elmore County, Montgomery Catholic, T.R. Miller, W.S. Neal, Holtville, Houston Academy, Reeltown, Dothan High School, Jeff Davis, Robert E. Lee, Indian Springs, Brewbaker Tech, and Charles Henderson high school.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2022 Eastwood Christian School Spelling Bee. Rivers Dehuff won second place and will advance to the Montgomery County Spelling Bee where students compete to advance to the state competition. Lottie Smith won second place, and Mariam Jacobsen won third place.

Community Day is an annual event sponsored by the Saint James high school SGA. On Friday, January 20, students from grades 10 – 12 dedicated time to non-profit agencies and city services around Montgomery. The 9th grade students participated in on campus clean-up and other activities which help the school community.
This year the Saint James students worked at a number of local non-profits and city organizations. The organizations served this year were The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and Shakespeare Park, Montgomery Area Food Bank, Reality and Truth Ministries, The Montgomery Zoo, E.A.T South, and Friendship Mission. Students participated in all sorts of helpful activities, including trash clean-up, packaging boxes of food, sorting seeds, and organizing clothing donations for the homeless.
The annual Community Day event is a long-time tradition which allows students to see how important it is to serve others in our communities. It ties in with the school’s commitment to serving the local community. The SGA sponsor Mrs. Kiki Hughes, along with the SGA members, organizes this event each year.

Five Montgomery Academy mathletes participated in the AISA District V High School Math Competition at Hooper Academy, winning second place overall. The competition consisted of a 50-question written test, followed by a ciphering round.

Claire Gary, Katie Brown, Carson Springer, Katherine Sinco, and Charles Norris participated in the competition with Katie Brown tied for the highest score in the competition and will advance to the state competition on February 1st in Troy, AL.

As part of Montgomery Academy’s Upper School Assembly program, Judge Lloria James gave a presentation to students on Internet Safety and Social Media Awareness. Judge James drew from her experiences working in the District Attorney’s Office as well as cases that have come before her. She enlightened students on the hazards of internet scams and the unfortunate consequences that occur by the misrepresentation of oneself or others on the internet. She informed students of laws that are in place that should encourage them to make wise decisions when posting on social media. Students found her lecture intriguing and continued discussions in class with teachers later in the day. Thank you to Judge James for visiting with us!

Montgomery Academy students in Ms. Thompson’s Ceramics 1 class, explored using coils to build their first large-scale project. Students hand-rolled coils and pieced them together to create these imaginative pots, each over 10 inches tall! After their piece was dried and fired in the kiln once, students used different glazes to add color and finish their pieces. Each artist created a successful piece showing off their own personality in clay!

A group of high school students and teachers from Trinity School just returned home from Europe after a two week trip of a lifetime! The group visited Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow, and Warsaw! Some of the most memorable parts of the trip were a night time cruise in Budapest on the Danube River, swimming in the thermal baths in Budapest, visiting Auschwitz, a tour of the Imperial Palace in Vienna, making dumplings in Warsaw, shopping in the outdoor markets and dining on delicious food! Lots of memories were made as they traveled across these cities exploring the culture and history of Europe!

Saint James School students in both high school and middle school competed in the AISA District V Math Competitions on January 10, 2023. Both teams qualified for the State Competition to be held in February. Both the middle school team and high school team came in first place in their divisions.
The middle school team, led by Mrs. Debbie Moncrief, consists of Jayden Cho, Yuha Shin, Aidan Saldanha, Emily Trock, and Emily Darby. Jayden Cho was also recognized for being the highest scorer in the middle school competition.

The high school math team also placed first in the district. The team is led by Mrs. Priscilla Hadden. Team members are Selina Sun, Woochan Kim, Junseo Oh, HaeSoo (Jason) Jeong, and Woohyun (Justin) Kang. HaeSoo (Jason) Jeong was highest scorer in the high school portion of the competition.
These teachers and their students look forward to the State competition which will be held at Troy University (Montgomery Campus) on February 1.

Carter Reed, former Director of the Montgomery Chorale, donated a mahogany baby grand piano to ACA’s Choral Program. Mr. Reed is moving to Birmingham and wanted the beautiful piano to be used with chorus students. Mr. Holladay has had this relationship with Mr. Reed for a long time and this donation was such a blessing to the students here at ACA.

Our sophomore class visited Washington, DC, this past month. They enjoyed visiting the Museum of Natural History, The White House, Mt. Vernon, the grave of JFK and the eternal flame, and many more historical places! They all had a great time while learning about our nation’s history at the same time.

Alumni students from Trinity School are part of Auburn University’s Marching Band.

Evangel Christian Academy’s elementary students recently enjoyed a Conduct Honor Roll Party for the first semester. Students who had an E (Excellent) in Conduct for the first two nine weeks were invited to the candy themed celebration. The students enjoyed a special snack and had their pictures made at a photo booth adorned in candy decor. To culminate the celebration, the students were treated to a special candy table with various sweet treats and prizes.

Evangel Christian Academy’s football team, under the leadership of Coach Darius Dixon, set a school record this year by winning the school’s first football state championship. Prior to this year, the school had only had three winning seasons. However, building on the previous year’s success, with 5 starters returning, the Lions’ football team entered the 2022 season as the favorite to win the inaugural of AISA first Eight Man football league. After having a slow start to the season, the Lions were determined to give it their all and they made history along the way. After winning 5 games in a row, the team earned their way into the playoffs. The team played Springwood at Cramton Bowl for the AISA Eight Man Football State Title. The Lions won by a score of 38 to 28 and became the first team in the school’s history to win a football championship. Two defensive players, Nii Addy and Tobiyas McLemore, finished the season as all conference players. Addy led the conference in sacks and tackles for a loss. McLemore led the conference in interceptions with a total of eight interceptions.

Trinity School second graders had such a great time at Camp Read-A-Lot! The students created a woodland forest in the common room and named it “Trinity National Forest.” Then, the students transformed their desks into their very own tents! The students had fun reading and working in the tents using flashlights around their “campfire!” At the end of the day, Valerie Castanza with the Raptor Ridge Wildlife Education brought three special guests to the “Trinity National Forest” for a visit. She brought a screech owl, a barred owl, and a red-tailed hawk. Not only did our students get to observe these animals up close, but Ms. Castanza also taught them about the raptors’ habitats and how we can help care for the animals by caring for their habitats. This visit greatly enhanced the students’ study of animals and their habitats.

Saint James School art teacher Evelyn Shoults was overjoyed when she was contacted by the EastChase Chick-Fil-A staff about painting the windows of the restaurant with holiday art. The Saint James art students donated their free time to create the paintings which decorated the windows.
This is the 4th year painting windows for Chick-fil-a, and the 3rd year at the Eastchase location. The first year painting windows was at the Midtown Ann street location during the 2017-18 school year. According to Mrs. Shoults, “It is always an honor to be able to give back to the community in an artistic way.”
The students enjoyed seeing their art decorate the windows for the employees and their patrons.

Montgomery Academy junior Camille Snead’s watercolor of the Garzon Library cupola was chosen as part of the Southern Teachers Agency 2022-23 academic calendar art contest! Camille’s work was one of twelve finalists out of around 500 submissions.

K4 students at Trinity School making snow in the Steam Studio. They have been busy doing all kinds of winter activities and making snow has been a hit!

Trinity School Fourth graders started the second semester by celebrating Pioneer Week! They stepped back in time learning and playing just like students of the 1800s. And judging by the smiles and laughs, they had a marvelous time! Pioneer Week is just one of the many long standing traditions at Trinity!