ACS will show its appreciation to our veterans at an all-school chapel next Friday, November 3 starting at 10 a.m. in the gymnasium. ACS family members and friends who have served or currently serve in the military are welcome to attend. There will be reserved seating for our honored guests.

Parents and guardians are invited to come out to ACS on Monday, November 13 for a new, monthly evening prayer meeting. This new opportunity for the ACS family to meet for prayer has been organized by the Parents in Prayer Group that meets Tuesday mornings each week in Room 200. The evening meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Annex Trailer #5, which faces the school parking lot and was the former location of the Cougar Closet Thrift Shop. For more info: contact Sharon Griffith (609) 214-2136 or Lina Lomangino (609) 517-1818.

Check out the “Nurse’s Nook,” a blog site under the Parents’ tab on the ACS website, for information and instructions regarding the health and safety of your child in the 2017-2018 school year. School nurses Lauren Gayeski and Carrie Jorgensen will update the blog monthly with current news and tips on how to lead a healthy lifestyle. This month’s blog shares three useful tips about how to stay healthy in this fall season.  School nurse Gayeski also reminds all Early Education parents to please be sure your child gets the flu shot by December 31. We look forward to working alongside you to ensure the health and safety of your child during this school year.

The students in Mrs. Gibbs’ and Mrs. Hoover’s 4th grade classes spent part of October digging deep into the characters of Captain Ahab and Ishmael from Moby Dick, Princess Lucy from the Chronicles of Narnia, and even Charlotte the spider and Wilbur the pig from Charlotte’s Web as they completed a language arts unit reading a variety of classic novels. The students created large paper cut-outs of the main characters they chose to study from their books, which are on display on hallway bulletin boards outside their classrooms.  The students also gave oral presentations before their classmates about their main characters and shared lessons that they learned from the stories.

An enthusiastic group of alumni, parents, students, staff, and friends turned out on Saturday, October 14 for Homecoming Day festivities. There was time to play outdoor volleyball, grab a grilled hot dog or hamburger for lunch, and cheer on the girls’ and boys’ varsity soccer teams as they played Our Lady of Mercy Academy and King’s Christian School. The fans were thankful that the rain held off all day, including for the time of the Homecoming Court presentation. Congratulations to seniors Hunter Smith and Kaitlyn Kelley, our Homecoming King and Queen, and their court — Mariyah Black, Steven Chirinos, Abigail Vogel, and Vernon Yang.

Pursuing purity and holiness in a society and culture that says “do whatever you want whenever you want” is a challenge facing every teenager today. The culture’s distorted messages about love and sex stand in stark contrast to God’s design for authentic love. ACS middle school and high school students are facing this critical topic head on during chapel once a month using a Bible study called “Authentic Love: Christ, Culture, and the Pursuit of Purity.”

The first chapel session began in September and will continue over the course of the school year, according to Upper School Principal Susan Smith, who selected the Bible study. The students are watching videos on various topics, such as forgiveness, humility, and self-sacrifice. In small break-out groups, boys and girls meet separately with ACS teachers for deeper discussion. “We want our students to be comfortable to ask the questions that can lead to a more personal application of God’s Word in their lives,” Smith said. “This Bible study is about helping students find their identity in Christ which will then impact their concept of love and equip them to fight sexual sin and temptation.”

Looking to expand your knowledge of the Chinese language and culture? The Atlantic Huaxia Chinese School offers classes on Saturdays at Atlantic Christian School in Chinese language and culture for children and adults. Classes are held from 1:00-4:00 p.m. For more information, contact school director Peter Liu at 609-226-0888 or peterliu@comcast.net or CLICK HERE to visit their website.

Jack and the Beanstalk, Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, the Three Blind Mice, and Little Red Riding Hood came to life for Mother Goose Day on Thursday, October 19 as our kindergarten students dressed up as nursery rhyme or fairy-tale characters. The students showed off their costumes in a parade through the school’s elementary classroom hallways, ending in the Multi-Purpose Room where they celebrated with a Mother Goose Day party. The party menu featured healthy versions of food pulled right from the nursery rhymes, including Humpty Dumpty hard boiled eggs, Jack and the Beanstalk green beans, Peter Rabbit carrots, Peter Pumpkin Eater pumpkin dip, and Jack and Jill water to drink. Thank you to all the parents who helped provide the creative and nutritious treats. CLICK HERE to see more photos from Mother Goose Day posted on the ACS Facebook page.

Sixth grade students have been studying the Civil War in history class. Last Friday, the students presented their group projects before their classmates, demonstrating a deeper understanding of how the war was fought and the hardships that were faced. Their projects specifically focused on the uniforms worn by the soldiers, the various battle flags, or weapons used in the Civil War. The students used PowerPoint, posters, and other objects to add an interesting visual impact to their presentations.

ACS is going pink on Monday, October 30 to support breast cancer research. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and ACS is doing its part to raise awareness of the disease. Students and faculty/staff can donate $2.00 to wear jeans and something pink. Breast cancer is the second most common kind of cancer in women and current trends indicate that about 1 in 8 women born today in the United States will get breast cancer at some point. Proceeds from the ACS event will go to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

In conjunction with the Race for Education, students in PreK3 to 5th grade will enjoy a variety of activities for our annual Harvest Festival and can order a special Hot Dog Lunch. There will be worship, games, songs, crafts, scarecrows, and much more. We are asking parents to help us make the day a success by contributing $1 per student and donating either a bag of snack crackers (if your student is in Early Ed) or candy (if your student is in elementary).

The Parent-Teacher Fellowship is offering its popular “Hot Diggity Dog Lunch” for $3. The meal includes a hot dog, chips, and a drink. Additional hot dogs can be purchased for $1.50 each. Information about the Harvest Festival and the order form for the Hot Diggity Dog Lunch will be sent home next week. Anyone interested in volunteering to help with the Race for Education or the Harvest Festival activities, please contact Event Coordinator Jessica Martin at 609-653-1199, ext. 314 or jmartin@acseht.org.

The ACS gym was a sea of green and white Friday afternoon as students from kindergarten to the 12th grade gathered for a Pep Rally to promote school spirit before Saturday’s Homecoming soccer games. Students waved posters and banners that they had created, with many sporting green hair and green paint and glitter on their clothes and faces. Mrs. Gibbs’ 4th grade class took first place as the class with the most school spirit and had the honor of forming a tunnel through which the soccer players ran as they were introduced to the crowd at the start of the Pep Rally. Members of the middle school and high school boys’ and girls’ soccer teams competed in a variety of entertaining games, including tricycle relay races, a pie-eating contest, and a soccer ball juggling contest. 10th grader Ben Noble, a member of the Varsity Boys’ Soccer Team, won the soccer ball juggling contest with 100 touches in a minute, barely edging out 11th grader Lindsey Ash, a member of the Varsity Girls’ Soccer Team, who had 97 touches. Come out on Saturday and cheer on our Cougars to victory at the Homecoming Games!

Homecoming is one day away — this Saturday, October 14. We hope to see our students, parents, family, friends, and alumni at Homecoming. It’s a full day of events, starting with an Alumni Open Volleyball game outdoors from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The Girls’ Varsity soccer game against Our Lady of Mercy will begin at 12:30 p.m., followed by the Boys’ Varsity playing Kings Christian School at 2:00 p.m. The Homecoming Court will be presented at half-time during the Boys’ Varsity game.

The Homecoming Dance will be held from 6:00-9:00 p.m. in the gym and is open to ACS high school students and their guests and alumni 20 years old and under. All students must have a permission slip to attend. Tickets to the Homecoming Dance will be $10 at the door.

Students in the high school Art Workshop class completed a 4′ x 8′ first floor hallway bulletin board project this week that promotes this year’s spiritual development theme from James 1:22 — “Actions Speak Louder.” The students used markers, colored pencils, and crayons to fill in each of the 18 caligraphy-style letters in the theme words with a variety of design elements. Art teacher Sherry Mirakian said the students decided to make each letter an acronym to reflect a different spiritual message. For example, junior Caroline Winkel decorated the letter “A” in the word “Speak” with glitter and snowflakes to represent the message that we are all made pure like snow in Christ. Constantine Jiang decorated the letter “E” in the word “Speak” with a woven pattern, reflecting the message that God weaves everything together for our greatest good. Senior Mariyah Black turned the word “P” in “Speak” into a daisy flower to represent the message that the phases we go through help us grow our faith. The bulletin board display will remain throughout October and then will reappear as a highlight in the May 2018 ACS Art Show.

International illusionist and comedian Tom Coverly challenged ACS students to choose to follow God rather than the world and to spend time daily reading God’s Word in his remarks as the featured speaker at the Middle School/High School Spiritual Emphasis Retreat on September 28 and 29.  From entertaining movie stars to speaking at school assemblies, Coverly is one of the most sought after motivational speakers in the country. With skill, humor, and passion, Coverly kept the students engaged and entertained during several chapel presentations, opening the retreat with his signature illusion act in the ACS gym. A number of students were part of various illusions, including one in which he made a coin pass through a can of soda and another where he made two students “disappear” from the stage.

In a later chapel session, Coverly shattered a clay pot and used the shards to remind students of their need to have broken and contrite hearts. “Satan wants to tell us that we’re worthless because of our sin and failure,” Coverly said. “God says we have value in our brokenness and is in the business of restoring us.” He then invited the students to make their way to the front of the stage, where they gathered in small groups to pray.  Incorporated in each chapel session was a time of worship led by local Christian band “Thriving Seas.”  The two-day retreat was an opportunity for students in grades 6-12 to focus on their relationship with God and their relationships with the people God has placed in their lives, according to Upper School Principal Susan Smith.

A variety of retreat activities were organized that encouraged relationship-building, teamwork, and friendly competition. There were Amazing Race challenges, a canoe race at Sleepy Hollow Campground’s lake, a lip sync battle, a scavenger hunt on the Ocean City Boardwalk, and much more. The top class winners of the various contests were announced at chapel on October 6. The 12th grade class, wearing T-shirts they designed with their team name, “The Senors and Senoritas,” took first place overall in the high school division. They are pictured below left with the canoe they built with cardboard and duct tape. The 6th grade class, with team name “The Lumber Jacks,” took first place overall in the middle school division, posing below right after their lip sync performance of “Hakuna Matata” from the “Lion King.”  CLICK HERE for a photo gallery of additional Retreat photos.

American Ninja Warrior finalist Jamie Rahn, aka Captain NBC, led a parkour training workshop at the ACS soccer field for Middle School students on September 29 as part of the annual Middle School/High School Spiritual Emphasis Retreat. Over 50 students participated in the action-packed session, which included practicing balancing on planks and rails, vaulting, somersaulting, and learning how to safely land off an obstacle.  Several students successfully made it through every challenge and were eager to try the most difficult — somersaulting on a single bench.

In another retreat workshop, led by Glazed Over Studios in Ocean City, Middle School students created and painted a design of their own choosing on a ceramic plate. The finished glazed plates were delivered to students this week. “Both retreat workshops gave students an opportunity to explore and develop their unique God-given gifts,” said Upper School Principal Susan Smith, who along with Event Coordinator Jessica Martin organized the retreat activities.

Ninja Warrior Rahn said his favorite part of working with students is teaching them to encourage each other to achieve more than they thought they could and to never give up. In addition to competing on American Ninja Warrior, Rahn is one of the owners and instructors at Pinnacle Parkour Academy, which has gyms in Washington Township, Cherry Hill, and Princeton.

Our 2017 Race for Education is three weeks away — on Friday, October 27 — and we are pleased to announce the winner of our Sponsor Label Prize — 3rd grader Mia Morales. Mia took first place for submitting the most sponsor address labels — 37. During Elementary Chapel on Friday, Mia was congratulated and presented with her prize — four tickets to Six Flags Great Adventure and Safari. Additional Race prizes will be announced in the coming weeks.  Thank you to the hundreds of families who sent in sponsor address labels to help make this important fund-raiser a success. Letters from our students to prospective sponsors went out in the mail this week.

Upper School students welcomed back alumnus Bobby Boggs (’15) representing YWAM (Youth with a Mission) who shared about his ministry experiences since graduating from ACS. After spending time in dark and dangerous Poipet, Cambodia, Boggs returned home to take a staff position with YWAM Ocean City. “We’re trying to help our local communities connect to provide help for places like Atlantic City,” Boggs said. He then introduced fellow YWAM missionaries Nathi and Pholile Maneli from South Africa. Nathi, a pastor in the large South African city of Port Elizabeth, and his wife, Pholile, a professional filmmaker, have a ministry of “redeeming media” in an effort to combat human trafficking. Sharing from Psalm 23 and the story of King David’s early life, the Manelis encouraged students that, “God is after our hearts, not our looks.”

Preschool and kindergarten students learned all about the “attitude gyro” and the “direction indicator” — two important navigation instruments in an airplane cockpit — from today’s chapel speaker and 28-year veteran American Airlines pilot Carl Erlandson, pictured below.  Erlandson used the example of the cockpit instruments  as the basis of his spiritual lesson, which encouraged the students to respect and obey their parents, teachers, and the Bible. “I need to pay attention to the instruments in my cockpit to fly my plane in the right direction, just like you need to pay attention to your parents, your teachers, and the Bible to guide you to do what is right,” said Erlandson, whose wife, Karan, teaches said the PreK3A class.

Box Tops for Education — Keep clipping those Box Tops. In two weeks, the Parent-Teacher Fellowship will be collecting all Box Tops from classroom teachers and the school office. Collection deadline: Wednesday, October 18. The funds raised from this simple and easy fundraiser will be used to purchase school equipment. Be sure to  place your Box Top labels in a ziploc bag and write your child’s name and grade on the bag.

Mondays are Philly Soft Pretzel Days –Delicious, freshly baked Philly Soft Pretzels are on sale every Monday during lunch for $1 each. The sale will be ongoing to the end of the school year. Please note that the pretzels are not part of the regular lunch menu and cannot be purchased online through Renweb.

Shoparoo Classroom Contest — Parents, family members, and friends can support ACS by using “Shoparoo.” Shoparoo is a cell phone app that can help you earn reward points for your child’s classroom when you shop at the grocery, fill up at the gas station, or make purchases at Target and other retailers.  It doesn’t cost anything to participate. Just go to www.shoparoo.com, download the app on your cell phone, and start scanning your receipts of things that you would normally buy. Shoparoo will total up the sales from all the scanned receipts and the class with the highest percentage of sales per student by the end of the contest (August 2018) will earn the top prize. The PTF will present the winning classroom teacher with a check representing 10% of the school’s total Shoparoo sales.

Preschool students wore pajamas to school on Wednesday and brought in their own teddy bear or other favorite stuffed animal, setting the stage for a number of fun activities that helped make learning interesting and interactive. Class activities included sorting bears by color and size, counting bears, and reading stories about bears. Students in Mrs. Erlandson’s PreK3 class went on a bear hunt, exploring the school hallways to look for paper cut-out bears hidden in different locations. They also enjoyed a bear-themed picnic outside and snacked on tasty cinnamon bear toast. Mrs. Kelley’s PreK4 class went on a bear hunt walk outside, looking for a bear along the nature trail on our campus.  They didn’t find any bears on their walk, but when they returned to their classroom they enjoyed a snack of pudding topped with chocolate graham-cracker bears. In Mrs. Bird’s PreK4 class, the students read the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and then made and tasted porridge. Just like the storybook bears, the children decided if the porridge was too hot, too cold, or just right.

Senior Hunter Smith, on guitar, and junior Trey Landwehr, on drums, led morning worship at Mission Point Church in Somers Point on Sunday, October 1. They opened the church service, alongside ACS alumnus and Mission Point worship leader Dakota Mason (’09), with “How Great Thou Art” and two other worship songs. We appreciate Mission Point Church giving our students an opportunity to share the love of Christ through song. The church also highlighted the ministry of Atlantic Christian during presentations throughout the month of September and led a time of prayer for ACS. Mission Point is one of several area churches that support ACS throughout the year with financial gifts as part of their missions budgets.

Homecoming is just one week away — on Saturday, October 14 — and we will have our first Green-and-White Day and Pep Rally the day before, on Friday, to show our support for our teams. Students may wear green and white clothing with jeans to school that day. Go Cougars!

We hope to see our students, parents, family, friends, and alumni at Homecoming. It’s a full day of events, starting with an Alumni Open Volleyball game outdoors from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The Girls’ Varsity soccer game against Our Lady of Mercy will begin at 12:30 p.m., followed by the Boys’ Varsity playing Kings Christian School at 2:00 p.m. The Homecoming Court will be presented at half-time during the Boys’ Varsity game.

The Homecoming Dance will be held from 6:00-9:00 p.m. in the gym and is open to ACS high school students and their guests and alumni 20 years old and under. All students must have a permission slip to attend.  CLICK HERE  to download and print out a student or guest permission slip for the Homecoming Dance. They are also available in the school office and from Mr. Genter. Tickets to the Homecoming Dance are $7 in advance and $10 at the door. Please contact Mr. Genter to purchase tickets at dgenter@acseht.org.

ACS will be administering the PSAT Test on Wednesday, October 11 for high school students in grades 10 and 11. Pre-registration is required as there are a limited number of tests. CLICK HERE  for the registration form which must be submitted to Upper School Principal Susan Smith by no later than Tuesday, October 10. Taking the PSAT gives students an opportunity to gain valuable feedback on their academic skills, helps them prepare for the SAT Test, and enables them to be entered into college scholarship competitions.

ACS students, teachers, staff, parents, and grandparents gathered to pray and worship God in song outdoors before the start of school on September 27 as part of the national “See You at the Pole” event. Due to rain, the special time of prayer was relocated from the flagpole area to the front entrance of the school building. Staff members Kelly Flynn, Lee Martin, and Bill Smallwood opened the event at 7:45 a.m. with several worship songs. Over the next half hour, the group grew in size to over 80 people.  Students and adults took turns at the microphone to pray, many asking for God to bless and guide our school, our community, and our country’s leaders.