Throughout February, ACS students participated in a variety of special activities for Black History Month. Chapel speakers, classroom assignments, bulletin board displays, and a quiz contest helped spotlight the history, culture, and accomplishments of African-Americans.
On February 2, Rev. Vena Noel-Jackson, a pastor with Yeshua’s Living Word Ministries, was the featured speaker in Middle School Chapel, where she highlighted the accomplishments of two African-American athletes — Ida Keeling and James “Jesse” Owens — and emphasized the importance of celebrating our uniqueness by the power and love of Jesus. Using examples from her own accomplishments as a runner, Rev. Jackson reminded the students that despite our differences – age, race, ability, etc. – we can all run for the same prize in following Jesus. An accomplished seamstress, Rev. Jackson also gave away to the students several hand towels with scripture inscribed on them.
On February 9, Upper School students welcomed chapel speaker and ACS parent Christian Ragland, who spoke on the school’s spiritual emphasis theme — God breathed — based on 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
“I believe the enemy is working overtime with your generation to sow seeds of anger and discontent and to make wrong look right,” Ragland said. “Don’t try to figure out how to solve your problems, but instead allow God to take over, to breathe His Word and His Spirit into your life.” Ragland is the operations pastor at Lighthouse Community Church in Pleasantville and is Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at AtlantiCare.
The Black History Month quiz contest ran for two weeks, from February 13-24, and nine African-Americans were highlighted. During morning announcements each day, students were given a question to answer about an influential African-American. The first student in each homeroom to tell their teacher the correct answer was entered into a contest to win a dress-down pass. The correct answer and a short biography of that person were read over the intercom into every classroom at the end of each day.
Some of the quiz questions and answers were:
Question: Who were the first two African-American quarterbacks to play in the same Super Bowl? Answer: Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes
Question: Who was the first African-American to win a Nobel Prize? Answer: Ralph Johnson Bunche
Question: Who was the first African-American woman to win an Academy Award for best actress? Answer: Halle Berry
The students who correctly answered the quiz questions and received dress down passes were: in Elementary — Layla Aspenberg, Abigail Brunda, Milo Cirigliano Jeremiah Diaz, Allison Eachus, Alexia Gay, Sofia Huezo, Olivia Kuchmek, Erik Macpherson, Selah Melody, Myla Montemurro, Robert O’Donoghue, Addison Rawlings, Michael Saad, Ceci Tormey, Jordan Vielma, Hunter Wolcott, and John Wolcott; in Middle School — Josiah Christmon, Malani Christmon, Kiara Loo, Finn Maxwell, Layla McCarthy, Malena Meyer, Luca Sullivan, and Nathaneal Thompson; and in High School — Cruz Lewis, Zachary Fosbenner, Isaac Kelley, Evangelina Kim, Reyna Lewis, Michael Markert, Seth Phillips, and Jeriko Thomas.
Throughout the month, classroom lessons and projects highlighted the historical contributions of various of African-Americans and some of these projects were displayed in the first floor hallways. In the 2nd grade classes, students learned about the life and contributions of George Washington Carver. Mrs. Hockenberry’s class created a mosaic of his portrait and Mrs. Brossman’s and Ms. Leach’s classes completed a biography sheet on Carver.
Mrs. McCarthy’s 3rd grade class completed a project inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s memorable “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. A hallway wall display, entitled “Martin’s Dream was Big and So is Mine,” featured student essays about Dr. King and their own dreams for the future. Students in Mrs. Huff’s 3rd grader studied the life of civil rights activist Ruby Bridges and their hallway display highlighted a quote from Mrs. Bridges describing the lesson that she said Dr. King tried to teach us all — “Never judge people by the color of their skin. God makes each of us unique in ways that go much deeper.”
The students in Mrs. Reilly’s kindergarten have been learning about the late civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his contributions to America. The class recently completed a project inspired by his memorable “I Have a Dream” speech to a crowd of some 250,000 people at the 1963 March on Washington.
The ACS production of the Seussical, JR. musical drew over a thousand people to our school’s stage for three shows on November 18 and 19. A cast of 45 students from the 3rd-12th grades put on a spectacular performance — singing, dancing, and bringing to life the Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, JoJo and the townspeople of Whoville, Mayzie LaBird, Gertrude McFuzz, and other wacky and whimsical Dr. Seuss characters.
Opening night of our exciting production of the Seussical, JR. musical is just two weeks away — on Friday, November 18. The deadline to place an ad or booster in the show’s playbill has been extended to this coming Monday, November 7. Tickets are also on sale for all three performances. Don’t miss this opportunity to support a show that is sure to be a big hit and will put a smile on your face.
New Art Classroom Tables: Six new art solid maple tables were installed in Mrs. Mirakian’s art classroom, made possible by gifting of $4,800 from an anonymous donor. Over the summer, the art classroom was relocated to a larger room in a modular building to the right of the main school building. The new tables, which are 60-inches long and 42-inches wide, are more moveable than the prior tables that were very heavy and had surfaces well-worn from use. Mrs. Mirakian said she is thrilled with the new tables and with her larger space that allow her to configure the classroom in different ways. During the week of September 12, 4th grade students were among the first to begin using the tables as Mrs. Mirakian guided them in creating their art portfolio packets to store the artwork they create in the coming weeks.
New Stage Lighting and Control System: Just in time for our fall production of Seussical, JR., ACS has purchased and installed new stage lights and portable lights, along with a wireless control system, that replace a 12-year-old incandescent lighting system. The new $13,000 system was paid for by an anonymous donor in response to a Special Projects Appeal mailing sent to ACS families and supporters in August. Lee Martin, ACS parent and Director of Worship and Communication at the Ocean City Tabernacle, oversaw the installation, with assistance from ACS alumni parent and electrician, Mike Darragh, owner of Wire Wiz Electrician Services. The project involved installing 18 new LED stage lights, replacing 16 existing lights, and adding 8 portable LED lighting bars to be used for back lighting on stage. “These new lights and control system will be more reliable, use less electricity, allow us to add colored lighting, and has other features like zoom and strobe,” Martin said. The new lights will be used not only for the Seussical, JR. musical, but will be used for chapel worship time and school concerts and special events.
Upgrades to 10 Commandments Memorial Garden: New landscaping, concrete, and a brick pathway were part of a needed upgrade to the 10 Commandments Memorial Garden to the left of the main school building’s entrance. The facelift and new additions to the garden were carried out by ACS parent David O’Donnell, owner of O’Donnell’s Landscaping, and his team. The garden was first established in 2006 and its main feature has been a black granite sculpture depicting the 10 Commandments, donated by ACS grandparent Kathy Breunig. The project involved removing overgrown shrubbery, adding bluestone and river rock around the sculpture, installing bricks in a former gravel pathway, and pouring concrete over areas where grass was no longer growing or viable. Chief School Administrator Karen Oblen said the garden area is a busy place in the afternoons during student pick-up and the improvements were needed to better accommodate the large number of students who stand waiting in front of the school. Some $5,000 has been donated to this project and ACS welcomes additional donations toward the $9,000 remaining in project costs.
The students in Mrs. Meza’s 2nd grade classes have been learning about the late civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his contributions to America. The class recently completed a reflective art and writing project inspired by his memorable “I Have a Dream” speech to a crowd of some 250,000 people at the 1963 March on Washington.
