 | | May Day | | 
Last Friday the Lower School celebrated May Day. The festivities of May Day and the wrapping of the Maypole are far-reaching. This beautiful festival is an ancient celebration stretching through centuries of time. It has truly become embedded in St. Andrew’s history and is always a greatly anticipated event. This year was no exception as the 4th graders once again wrapped the Maypoles to the music of “Waltz of the Flowers.” This year’s May Day celebrated the Spirit, Energy, Music and Magic of Mississippi, beginning with a salute to our musicians whose music is known throughout the world; and then from the Stennis Space Center to the Mighty Mississippi, with stops along the way to honor our sports legends, and blossoming film industry.
This year’s May Day also introduced a new tradition to the celebration. Mr. Andrew McLarty kicked off the festivities by carrying an authentic antique French May Pole across the field. This May Pole was a gift of Mary and Chico Taylor, parents of Elizabeth Barton and Patrick Taylor, grandparents of 1st grader Fairlie Barton and 3rd grader Stafford Barton. In the coming years the “St. Andrew’s Maypole” will lead the fourth graders onto the field.
Photos from May Day 2012 can be found here. | | | |
| | Middle School Recognition Service and Mosaic Dedication | | 
St. Andrew’s Middle School recently held their 2012 recognition service which includes the presentation of the high honor awards for grades 5 to 7 (8th grade awards are presented at 8th grade graduation).
The Citizenship Award is presented to a student whose life best demonstrates the qualities of leadership, courage, service, and honor.
5th Grade - Grant Morgan
6th Grade - Sam Cupples
7th Grade - Athena Tiwari
The Journey Award is given to the student who the faculty feels has travelled the furthest to reach his or her goals.
5th Grade - Muhammad Nafis
6th Grade - Se’Lah Norwood
7th Grade - Swayze Williams
The Spirit of St. Andrew’s Award is given to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding school spirit, participated in extracurricular activities, and been supportive of St. Andrew’s and the ideals of the school.
5th Grade - Katlyn Garner
6th Grade - Sam Roffwarg
7th Grade - Emily Watson
The Head of School Award is selected by the faculty and presented to the student in each grade of the Middle School whose life and learning best exemplify high standards of scholarship, citizenship, and service to the school community.
5th Grade - Holland Townes
6th Grade - Christian Wade
7th Grade - Peter Martin
After the recognition service the 8th grade mosaic hanging outside of Mrs. Harth’s room was blessed and dedicated. Photos from the recognition service and mosaic dedication are here. | | | |
| | Lower School Pen Writing Awards | | 
The St. Andrew’s Lower School Golden & Silver Pen Award for Writing Excellence was established by former Lower School teacher Diane Robinson to encourage, recognize, and honor children’s creative and original writing. 3rd and 4th grade student entries are judged by an independent panel of educators.
The topic for this year’s compositions was “Patriotism.”
For the 3rd grade Silver Pen Award there are two Honorable Mention students, Grace Ellen Crongeyer and Thomas Arnold, and this year’s winner of the Silver Pen is Leo and Oscar, written by Forrest Hutchison.
For the 4th grade Golden Pen Award there are also two Honorable Mention students, Lleyton Carr and Lizzie Lee, and this year’s winner is What Patriotism Means to Me, written by Meredith Boles.
Congratulations!
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| | The Passing of the Light Chapel | | 
The Upper Schoolers celebrated the Passing of the Light, the annual rite of passage for the junior class. From their senior peers the juniors receive the light, emblematic of the increased responsibilities the juniors will shoulder as the future leaders of the school. Photos from the service are here.
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| | Spring Band Concert | | 
The St. Andrew’s Bands presented their annual Spring concert on Tuesday evening, May 1, in the CPA. All four performing groups were featured: Beginning, Jazz, Intermediate, and Upper School. The Beginning Band played Majestica, American Folk Trilogy, and Legend (a piece Dr. Cranford composed). The Jazz Band concert included Night Train and TMI, and with solos by Jordan Gasc, Amelia Andersson, David Dulske, Michael Germany, Jane Ashley Watson, and Julia Kirk. The Intermediate Band played Newcastle March, Aztec Fire, and All that Jazz. The Upper School Band played Kenneth Alford’s march, Holyrood, accompanied by a special slide presentation of pictures of Holyrood Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. They also played the uptempo Skydance, and Strawflower, a piece featuring all-state saxophonist David Dulske. Their finale was Calvin Custer’s arrangement of Just a Closer Walk with Thee. Awards were presented to members of each group. Photos from the concert are here.
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| | 5th Grade Architectural Tour | | 
Friday May 4, was an eventful day for the 5th grade class. Their first stop downtown was the Russell C. Davis Planetarium, where they watched the show Mummies – Secrets of the Pharaohs and experienced the magnificence of Egypt and her mysterious mummies, and discovered how new genetic research may reveal ancient secrets of the Pharaohs. Following the planetarium show, they had a picnic lunch in the beautiful gardens of the Mississippi Museum of Art, before proceeding on a walking tour of the downtown area, viewing the Cathedral of St. Peter, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, the Mississippi Governor’s Mansion, Galloway Church, and the Mississippi State Capitol. Students had a packet of information with pictures of various portions of the buildings and participated in a scavenger hunt to match the picture with the correct building. They also were encouraged to sketch the various architectural features of these buildings and to identify the Greek columns as Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian, as well as to recognize Medieval Gothic architectural styles. Following the walking tour, they met back in Smith Park for refreshments provided by 5th grade moms before heading back to school. A very special thanks to Angelia Pryor for coordinating refreshments!
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| | | It's a Win-Win! | | Your gift to the Annual Fund is a WIN for the school and can help your child’s class WIN too! Gifts of all sizes count. The grade with the highest percentage of parent participation in the Annual Fund receives a special treat! THE PARENT PARTICIPATION COMPETITION ENDS TOMORROW (Tuesday, May 8) AT 11:00 P.M.!
Don’t delay, do it now! Simply CLICK HERE to participate! | | | |
| | Used Book and Uniform Sales | | The Used Book Sale for rising fifth through twelfth graders will take place on Saturday, June 9, in the North Campus Commons. The Used Uniform Sale for Middle Schoolers will also take place at this time.
Thursday June 7 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. - Drop off Books
Friday June 8 10:00 – 2:00 p.m. - Drop Off Books 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. - Early Sale for Volunteers and Faculty
Saturday June 9 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. - Book Sale | | | |
| | Saints Sports Round-Up | | 
The Saints varsity baseball swept Forest last weekend to advance to the South State finals. William Rowell picked up the win Friday night with the Saints 4-2 victory (photos are here). The Saints completed the sweep Saturday with an 8-2 win over the Bearcats. Daniel Briner got the pitching victory. The saints will play the winner of the Sumrall / Southeast Lauderdale series for a trip to the state championship. Game times and locations will be announced later in the week.
On Saturday May 5, St. Andrew’s hosted the 1A and 3A South State track meet where 39 teams came to compete including 22 3A teams. The girls team placed 1st and the boys team placed 4th. Both teams will move onto the State Meet at Pearl High School which will be held on Friday, May 11. Special congratulations go to Dallas Prater who broke two school records this weekend. He broke his own record in the long jump by over a foot, and he had previously tied the school record in the high jump.
The following athletes qualified for the State Meet:
Girls
Mia Martinson (10) – 2nd in the 3200m run
Elisabeth Gaillet (11) – 3rd in the 3200m run
Claudia Brunson (11) – 3rd in the 100m dash (current school record holder)
Zaria Williams (9), Savannah Thomas (10), Claudia Brunson (11), Caron Byrd (12) – 4th in the 4x200 relay
Mia Martinson (10) – 2nd in the 1600m run
Elisabeth Gaillet (11) – 4th in the 1600m run
Grace Watts (11), Savannah Thomas (10), Claudia Brunson (11), Caron Byrd (12) – 4th in the 4x100 relay
Caron Byrd (12) – 3rd in the 400m dash
Grace Watts (11) – 4th in the 300m hurdles
Mia Martinson (10) – 2nd in the 800m run
Elisabeth Gaillet (11) – 3rd in the 800m run
Grace Watts (11) – 3rd in the long jump
Yesenia Davis (9) – 4th in high jump
Claudia Brunson (11) – 2nd in the triple jump
Caroline Gaillet (8) – 2nd in the pole vault (current school record holder)
Boys
Hayden Guynes (11) – 1st in the 3200m run
Mike Steere (12) – 3rd in the 3200m run
Jack Daly (10) – 1st in the 1600m run
Hayden Guynes (11) – 3rd in the 1600m run
Adam Travis (11) – 4th in the 300m hurdles
Dallas Prater (11) – 3rd in long jump (new school record of 22’ 2”)
Dallas Prater (11) – 2nd in high jump (new school record of 6’ 4”)
The St. Andrew’s tennis team will be fighting for their tenth consecutive State Championship on Wednesday after narrowly defeating St. Patrick 4-3 this past Thursday and claiming the South State title. Additionally, all twelve varsity players are competing in the Individual State Championships being held this Monday and Tuesday at Bridges Tennis Center. Varsity team members include Phillip Qu, Patrick McKee, Jessica Lee, Natalie Payne, Pontus Andersson, Davis Flowers, Katie Lai, Peryn Reeves-Darby, Helena Qu, Margie Funches, Carter Boyle, Mikhail Love, and Anthony Santangelo.
The Saints girls golf team will be competing in the state tournament later this week, and John Chase Bryan is playing in the boys tournament as a regional medalist.
Go Saints!
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| | Saints Share in “Travel Thursday” Presentations | | 
Capping a year’s worth of amazing presentations and collaborative learning opportunities in the McRae Science Center, a dozen Upper School students who traveled internationally over spring break shared some of their experiences and perspectives last week in the two final presentations in this year’s “Travel Thursday” program.
On Tuesday, the presentation focused on the Chinese exchange program and the recent trip to the Yunnan Province, which involved a group of seven students and two faculty members (Grace Pei and Leanna Owens). The participating students, all of whom are studying Mandarin at St. Andrew’s, recounted details about their travels to Shanghai and Dali, about their time studying at our partner school (Kunming Foreign Language School), about home stays with families from the school, about visiting elementary schools in the area, and about experiencing first-hand the dynamism of modern China, which clearly left a lasting impression.
On Thursday, a second group of students shared their experiences from the school’s recent trip to Central Europe – including to Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Orchestrated by Przemek Tokarski, this trip provided an extraordinary view of the richness of the cultural and historical legacies of this region. Beyond seeing palaces, churches, castles, and numerous historic sites, the group also visited both Nuremburg and Dachau, which helped them better understand modern German and European history.
The “Travel Thursday” program is scheduled to resume again in the fall, along with a second year of the Science Literacy Lecture Series, which involves students and faculty from different schools in the area collaboratively learning about science, health, and medicine. For more information about these programs, please contact Dr. Chris Harth, Director of Global Studies, or Ms. Sandra Hindsman, Science Department Chair. | | | |
| | Mr. E is Teacher of the Week | | 
Middle School Dean of Students and 6th grade history teacher Matthew Ellefson was nominated and recognized as WAPT’s “HomeTown Teacher” of the week last week. Mr. E was surprised with $100 after receiving a many, many nominations from his students. Check out the spot here. | | | |
| | Almost Alumni Party | | 
Last Friday during lunch, the Office of Alumni hosted the Almost Alumniparty for the Class of 2012 at Sombra Mexican Kitchen. Among the seniors, there were several Alumni Board Members in attendance. One board member, Oliver Galicki ’08, spoke to the seniors about the rights and responsibilities of being an alumnus/a of the school. Congratulations Senior Class, and we can hardly wait to welcome you into the St. Andrew’s Alumni Association! | | | |
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