We invite you to reach out to the veterans in your lives—friends and family—and invite them to attend our Veterans Appreciation Chapel on Thursday, November 14. This special service is a time to honor and thank our veterans for their sacrifices and dedication. Let’s come together as a community to show our gratitude and support for those who have bravely served our country. Your invitation will make this event even more meaningful!
Save the Date and invite your family and friend’s to our Veteran’s Day Appreciation Breakfast and Chapel on Thursday, November 2, 2023. To RSVP, please email Event Coordinator Christian Delacruz at cdelacruz@acseht.org or call (609) 653-1199 ext. 302
ACS will show its appreciation to our veterans at a breakfast and chapel on Thursday, November 3 in the gymnasium. ACS family members and friends who have served or currently serve in the military are welcome to attend. A flyer with information about how a veteran can RSVP to attend this special event was sent home with preschool to 8th grade students this week.
A continental breakfast for the veterans, joined by members of our Student Council, will begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by chapel at 9:15 a.m.
School families are welcome to invite a family member who is a veteran or currently serving in the military to attend. We are asking veterans to please RSVP by Monday, November 1 to: cdelacruz@acseht.org or by calling 609-653-1199, ext. 302.
ACS celebrated Veterans Day 2021 by treating some 40 area veterans to a special breakfast on Friday, November 15, followed by a chapel program that honored and thanked them for their service and sacrifice. Student Council officers welcomed and joined the veterans for breakfast, spending time in conversation learning about their experiences serving in the military. Special hand-made thank-you cards made by the Servant’s Heart Committee and 7th grade students were also presented to the veterans during the breakfast.
After breakfast, several hundred students from the 6th-12th grades filled the gym for the Veterans Appreciation Chapel, which was also livestreamed to the kindergarten to 5th grade classrooms. Upper School Principal Meg McHale opened the chapel with prayer. Members of the ACS Boy Scout Troop and Cub Pack 389 then presented the colors and led the salutes to the American flag and the Christian flag.
7th grader Josiah Christmon was invited to the podium to share his essay that thanked veterans for the important sacrifices that they make to defend our freedoms. His essay was chosen out of dozens that were written by Middle School students as a class assignment at the beginning of November. Following Christmon, the Middle School Band, directed by faculty member Tim Rosie, presented a medley of patriotic songs entitled “The Freedom Finale” and the 2nd grade students, dressed in red, white, and blue, sang “God Bless America,” directed by faculty member Julie Zimmer.
A favorite part of the program featured the playing of an “Armed Forces Medley” video. The students cheered and clapped as each service anthem was played and the veterans from each branch stood for their anthem.
U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Tim Richvalsky, who is also an ACS 2003 alumnus, was the keynote speaker. He has served for 18 years in the U.S. Air Force and is stationed with the 177th Air National Guard Base in Egg Harbor Township. Richvalsky enlisted in the Air Force just two years after the 9-11 attack. “From an early age I felt called to protect and defend those around me,” Richvalsky said. “That terrorist act on 9-11 galvanized my desire to join the military; I wanted to make a difference and help ensure that it would never happen again.”
The chapel program concluded with the 5th Grade Worship Team bringing everyone to their feet to join in singing the lively worship songs “Faithful” and “This Little Light.” After chapel, students from elementary to high school placed American flags outdoors along the sidewalk on Zion Road in honor of our veterans.
The preschoolers in Mrs. Kelley’s PreK4 class got surprise thank-you gifts this week from the veterans with VFW Post 6650 in Ocean City — tubs of caramel corn from Johnson’s Popcorn in Ocean City.
Each student and the teachers received a tub of caramel corn as a thank-you from the veterans. The students in November had created special posters of appreciation for the veterans that were mailed to them ahead of Veterans Day.
Elementary Principal and Early Education Director Gail Alford said that due to the coronavirus pandemic, ACS could not hold its traditional Veterans Appreciation Chapel and invite area veterans to be honored at the chapel. “Instead of thanking them for their service in person, our preschool and elementary students wrote letters, created posters, and other craft projects that were sent to VFW and American Legion posts in the area,” Mrs. Alford said.
In a hand-written note, Post Commander Michael Morrisey wrote to the class: “Thank you for all of your support.”
Mrs. Kelley said she talked to her students about how showing kindness to others can often be returned back to you, like the saying — one good turn deserves another. “This was such a wonderful surprise and we are all excited to open our tubs and start enjoying some delicious caramel corn,” Mrs. Kelley said.
Atlantic Christian School showed its appreciation to our veterans at an All-School Chapel in the gymnasium on November 11. Our keynote speaker was Egg Harbor Township Mayor Paul Hodson, a U.S. Army veteran. ACS students from the ACS Boy Scout Troop and Pack 389 formed a color guard that opened the chapel program. The program included presentations by ACS students from elementary to high school, including the Middle School Band, the Middle School Choir, and the 5th grade worship team. After the chapel, a boy and girl from each class from kindergarten to the 12th grade went outside to place American flags around the school sign and along Zion Road in front of the school. ACS students also created special hand-made gifts for veterans that were mailed to various local American Legion and VFW posts.
Due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, ACS was not able to invite local veterans to attend the chapel as in past years, but the chapel was streamed live on YouTube and is available to view at http://bit.ly/ACSVeteransDay.
Atlantic Christian School will show its appreciation to our veterans at an All-School Chapel on Wednesday, November 11 at 8:50 a.m. in the gymnasium. Due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, we are unable to host local veterans or school family members as our guests at the chapel, but the chapel can be viewed live on the ACS YouTube Channel or watched later since the event will be recorded.
Our keynote speaker this year will be Egg Harbor Township Mayor Paul Hodson, a U.S. Army veteran. The chapel will feature presentations by ACS students from elementary to high school. ACS students have also created special hand-made gifts for veterans that are being mailed to various local American Legion and VFW posts.
The YouTube link to watch the Veterans Appreciation Chapel is: http://bit.ly/ACSVeteransDay