 | | Honor Code Chapel | | "On my honor as a St. Andrew's student, I pledge that I will neither lie, nor cheat, nor steal."
With these words, our Middle and Upper School students and faculty pledged to uphold our Honor Code in chapel on Friday, September 2. During the Middle School service, a variety of speakers representing administrators, faculty, and students spoke about what the Honor Code means to them. Lily Katz, President of the Middle School Student Council, reminded her peers that living with honor is about far more than not cheating on a test or stealing out of someone's locker - it is about embracing honesty and respect for others in all places and at all times. Dr. Robert Pearigen, President of Millsaps College, spoke at the Upper School Honor Code service. He, too, urged choosing honor as a way of life, especially as we seek to love our neighbors as ourselves.
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| | Saints Science Embraces Wolbachia | |  On Saturday, August 27 the St. Andrew’s Science Department hosted a teacher enhancement workshop in biotechnology applications led by Kathy McKone, AP Biology teacher at Enterprise Attendance Center in Brookhaven. Kathy leads workshops as part of her designation as a Princeton Satellite Instructor, the only one in Mississippi. On August 20, the first of this series of two workshops was held on the campus of Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson. The purpose of these workshops was to increase area teachers’ skills and knowledge of current techniques for separating, amplifying, and identifying DNA from Wolbachia, an intracellular, parasitic bacterium that infects at least 20% of all insects in the world as well as certain nematode parasites of public health importance. Teachers are being trained in these techniques so they can teach them to their students as part of a worldwide, innovative lab series, “Discover the Microbes Within! The Wolbachia Project,” which gives students an opportunity to make original scientific discoveries and add to the knowledge base being assimilated by the Wolbachia scientific community. Because the world’s arthropod and nematode populations are so large, students are potentially one of the best assets in helping scientists study the biology and distribution of Wolbachia.
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| | Saints and Service | | "Will you open your hearts and hands and minds, so that your helping others will also help you grow and learn?"
Students and faculty answered "yes" to this question at our Service Learning Chapel services on Thursday, September 9. According to the mission statement of St. Andrew's Episcopal School, all that we learn here is part of "preparing for a life of service to the community and the world." At this chapel service, we were commissioned to engage in service not just so that those whom we serve are blessed, but so that we might be blessed with an ever deeper understanding of what it means to be good neighbors. Karnessia Georgetown, winner of last year's Middle School Service Award, spoke at Middle School Chapel. Jesse Bowen, Prefect of the Upper School Student Council Service Learning Committee, spoke at Upper School Chapel.
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| | SA Travel Programs Showcased | |  Over the past week, students, faculty, and parents have had several opportunities to learn more about the expanding array of international travel and hosting options available at St. Andrew’s. With exchange programs with partner schools in seven countries and twice as many trips now available, the Global Studies Program at St. Andrew’s is setting a new standard for international education and “glocal” engagement.
During last week’s Travel Thursday presentation, students heard first-hand about the transformative potential of such international experiences from participants in last year’s three-tier exchange with our partner school in Carnoustie, Scotland. Each year, students and faculty from the two schools have three distinct but connected opportunities to live, learn, and serve together in three different communities – first in Jackson, then in Scotland, and then in Rwanda. The St. Andrew’s group from last year (which was led by Ms. Foster and Dr. Cranford) shared some of their experiences hosting and serving in Mississippi, being hosted and serving in Scotland, and traveling together to Rwanda, where the combined group worked with orphans and widows from the 1994 genocide. This program is open to sophomores and juniors, with applications for this year’s program due by this Thursday, September 15. In addition to this Travel Thursday presentation, the full array of international options was showcased at the fourth annual Saints Travel Night. Held last Thursday evening in the new lecture hall in the McRae Science Center, this session provided an overview of the Global Studies Program, including all of the different trips offered in 2011-12 and the new Guillot Global Fellows Program, which provides student travel grants for international service in the developing world. Beyond all the exchange partnerships and standing programs the School offers (e.g., China, Italy, Ghana, Spain, Honduras, Japan, etc.), new trips were introduced to France, Germany, Israel, and India, with even more on the horizon in 2012, including new trips for alumni and parents to the Galapagos, South Africa, Costa Rica, Alaska, and the South Pacific. A separate evening event introducing these new alumni and parent options will be held on Thursday, October 13. For more information about these international programs, including opportunities to both travel and host, please contact Dr. Chris Harth, Director of Global Studies and World Languages. | | | |
| | Hands-On Algebra | | Lacey Ballard and Anna Hudson gathered data for their honors algebra II class. Using a graphing calculator or computer, they generated a best-fit line through the data and used the equation to make predictions. But best of all, the students began to understand the mathematics of fitting a median-median line to data, so they can be sure their technology is working correctly.
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| | | Beauty and the Beast Jr. | | Mark your calendars for the upcoming Seventh and Eighth Grade production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jr. September 16 at 7:00pm and September 17 at 2:00pm! The classic Disney version of this story will be sure to bring back memories and have everyone singing along to their favorite songs, including “Be Our Guest” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Look forward to hearing some new songs too! Please come support these hardworking, talented students as they recreate Disney magic for the stage.
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| | College Fair | | More than 60 four-year colleges and universities will attend St. Andrew's Episcopal School's College Fair on the morning of Thursday, September 15. All area students are invited to attend, and many visitors from various area schools will join in the educational opportunity. Beginning at 8:30, students will attend two seminars on pertinent college or career-related topics. General browsing among the college displays follows the seminars. Finally, from 11:00 to 11:30 and from 11:30 to 12:00, students have the opportunity to hear in-depth presentations about two colleges.
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| | In the World of Saints Sports | | The Saints varsity football team came up short against St. Joe, suffering a 38-7 loss. Photos from the game are here. The Saints travel to Enterprise-Lincoln this Friday for a non-district game. Kickoff is at 7:30. The Saints varsity swim team scored another 1st place victory at the St. Aloysius Invitational on September 10. The girls team took home the gold, defeating some much bigger schools in the process. The boys team, which consists of just 6 swimmers, took home the bronze behind St. Al and St. Joe. If you are interested in the results of each race and want to check out individual performances, click here (PDF). | | | |
| | Saints Welcome Chinese Visitors | | On September 7, eleven university educators from Nantong University in China visited the North Campus. St. Andrew’s Mandarin 5 students gave the Chinese educators a tour of the campus. All of the other Mandarin classes on the North Campus held parties for the visitors in each class session. Students performed Chinese songs and dances, and practiced their conversational skills with the native speakers, who were very touched by how much Chinese culture and language had taken hold at St. Andrew’s. The Chinese teachers played ping pong with students, and also performed Tai Chi, martial arts, and origami.
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| | Mark Fanning Honored with Hands of Providence Award | | St. Andrew’s head baseball coach and fitness instructor Mark Fanning is the recipient of a 2011 Hands of Providence Award from Southern Christian Services for Children and Youth. Hands of Providence Awards are presented to those members of the community who have made a significant positive impact on the lives of youth through a faith commitment. Southern Christian Services for Children and Youth, Inc. is a faith-based organization that assists children and youth who have been abused, neglected, and abandoned. Services include independent living preparation, group home care, adoption and foster care, and training. Mark will receive his award at the annual Bottom Line For Kids dinner and benefit Thursday evening at the Jackson Country Club.
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| | 8th Grade Scientists Practice Geo-Caching | | As part of their “Where Are We?” unit in eighth grade science, the students enjoyed a beautiful Friday looking for the flags of countries from around the world in an engaging geo-caching activity. The students also have explored our planet using Google Earth and have learned about our place in our solar system, our galaxy, and the universe.
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| | 4th Graders Learn about the Constitution Thanks to the Story Pirates | | Members of a nationally acclaimed group of professional actors known as the Story Pirates put on an incredible performance of the play Theodore Boone and the Thrill of Rights for St. Andrew’s fourth graders. The Story Pirates’ play, inspired by John Grisham’s bestselling young adult thrillers about a kid lawyer named Theodore Boone, was the perfect platform to teach fourth graders about our justice system. The actors’ dynamic performances had students and teachers roaring with laughter. Several students participated in the play including the one and only Gabe Bradley who played the defendant's co-counsel and stole the show when he threw his legal pad on the stage and bellowed “objection!” on a number of occasions. It is the hope of Lower School librarian Caroline White that the Story Pirates’ incredible performance inspires the students to pick up a new book, and the teachers to continue to come up with dynamic ways to make learning awesome!
The show was brought to St. Andrew’s by Lemuria Bookstore in collaboration with Penguin Books, which is sponsoring the Theodore Boone Bus Tour as the Story Pirates take the play to schools all over the country. | | | |
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