The 2018-2019 school theme, “ALL IN,” took center stage for two days as students in middle and high school participated in the annual Spiritual Emphasis Retreat on Thursday and Friday, September 27 and 28. From chapel sessions to class competitions, grades six through twelve engaged heart, soul, mind, and strength for an event full of spiritual impact and memorable fun.
Guest speaker Mike Bult shared powerful leadership principles from God’s Word, challenging students to embrace who God has made them to be and make a difference in the lives of others. Bult, a member of the John Maxwell Leadership Group and Administrator at Mainland Baptist Church, told students, “Leadership is influence. You can all be leaders – for good or bad – because you all can have influence on others.” Combining biblical teaching from Mark 2 with video testimony from Life Without Limbs founder Nick Vujicic, Bult presented five choices students must make to become positive leaders: “Have an attitude of Gratitude. Live a life of purpose. Be positive. Love yourself. Dream big, set a goal, and do it!”
Chapel sessions also included “compass group” breakout times during which students discussed what they were learning with one another and teacher-coaches. Musical worship was led by Matt Glancey from Coastal Christian Church who was joined at various times by ACS faculty members Zach Monroe and Jaron Beadle as well as his sister Naomi Glancey, a 2018 ACS grad, and Coastal’s worship director Pete Magazzu.
On Thursday, high school students traveled to Cape May for a two-hour dolphin watch cruise under beautiful blue skies. Middle school students stayed on campus, some participating in Knockerball while others enjoyed a paint party led by ACS art teacher Sherry Mirakian. Class competitions included banner making, a class cheer, and the annual favorite lip-sync battle featuring famous songs from movies like “We Go Together” from Grease and “Everything Is Awesome” from the Lego Movie. Students also ran “The Amazing Race,” completing challenges such as creating a tin foil Statue of Liberty and plugging holes in a water basket with bubble gum. When the final tallies were in, this year’s winning teams were seventh grade and eleventh grade.
