Over 150 parents, faculty, and staff gathered on Monday, May 17 for the Annual Meeting of the Atlantic Christian School Association, listening to state of the school reports highlighting this year’s academic and financial progress, electing six members to the Board of Directors, and honoring several individuals and one church with the Servant’s Heart Award.
Board Chair Les Tomlinson opened the meeting with a devotion and then those in attendance broke into small groups for a time of prayer, many giving thanks to God for guiding, protecting, and blessing the school during this past school year.
Board Secretary Kris Jacoby then announced and introduced the recipients of the school’s annual Servant’s Heart Award. In recognition of the school’s 50th anniversary, Jacoby first announced two special “Servant’s Heart Jubilee Awards.” The first Jubilee Award was presented to St. John’s by the Sea Reformed Episcopal Church in Ventnor, NJ, where Atlantic Christian held its first classes in 1971. Pastor Mike Blitz, current pastor of St. John’s by the Sea, accepted the award. The second Jubilee Award was presented in memory of the school’s founders, the late Reverend Howard Bach, pastor of St. John’s by the Sea, and Elizabeth Bach, the school’s first principal. Pastor Ron Bretherick, retired from St. John’s, who knew and worked with the Bachs, accepted the award on behalf of the Bach family.
Jacoby then announced the other recipients of the 2021 Servant’s Heart Award — Al Fry, who has worked for several years as a volunteer groundskeeper; Doug Pearson, former Chair of the ACS Board of Directors, who served for 9 years; Carrie Jorgenson, ACS parent and school nurse who met every challenge over this past school year addressing COVID-19 concerns from parents and staff; and Greg Louderback, an ACS grandparent, retired teacher, and IT specialist, who donates his knowledge and expertise each week to help our teachers integrate technology into their classrooms.
Chief School Administrator Karen Oblen touched on highlights from the past school year, referencing a 2020-2021 Annual Report Powerpoint that was displayed on a screen to the attendees. Other administrators also spoke on various developments in their particular areas, including Early Education Director and Elementary Principal Gail Alford, Athletic Director Pam Hitchner, and Upper School Principal Meg McHale. Business Administrator Kelly Flynn and Board Treasurer Chris Loeb spoke on the financial state of the school.
Oblen said work is underway to renovate and open six new classrooms in the Annex Buildings across from the main school building to enable more students to attend ACS in the fall. She also praised God for the way He provided for ACS this past year and a half to be able to deal with the challenges of COVID-19, allowing the school to remain open throughout the school year and providing the funding to purchase the health and safety items needed for our students, staff, and classrooms, including barriers on desks and lunchroom tables, temperature checkpoints, sanitation stations, and technology to enable remote learning, such as webcams, laptops, and Chromebooks.
DJ Schrag, chair of the Board’s Nominating Committee, announced the names of the six candidates running for the Board, and each nominee came forward to give heart-felt remarks before Association members participated in the election. The newly-elected members to the Board of Directors, who will oversee the governance and policies of the school, are: Robert Barberio, Jim Gibbs, Eric Hoover, George Quinn, Deron Smith, and Charles (Chaz) Wyckoff. With their election, the full complement of 12 members will begin their official term of service on July 1.
Notably, the election of ACS parent Deron Smith marks the third time in the school’s 50-year history that an ACS alumnus or former student will serve on the Board. He attended ACS from 1982-1989 when ACS leased space from Ocean City Baptist Church. Also noteworthy is the election of George Quinn, a former ACS teacher from 1980 to 1989, who is a Pastor at Friendship Bible Church in Egg Harbor Township. School parents Jason Lewis, Doug Pearson, and Paul Vogel were also elected to serve on the Board’s Nominating Committee representing the Association.
A Q&A session at the end of the meeting gave the Association members an opportunity to pose questions about a variety of topics.
