BY THE MIDDLE SCHOOL STAFF What a year! It felt like a brand new school year began in April. We all stretched ourselves in many ways! Thinking of an entirely new way of doing school, connecting with our students virtually, and discovering that we are more flexible and gracious than we ever thought we could [...]
BY JULIE CARRUTHERS, ACS PARENT SQUOOSH. I felt the soft, slippery substance squish under the tread of my boot. A quick flip of the foot revealed an ooey, beigey substance ingrained into the bottom of my new hiking boots. The new hiking boots that, if COVID-19 had never happened, would be digging into the sandy [...]
As these crazy and interesting times move from weeks to months (Lord willing, it doesn’t turn into years), I think it’s safe to say that we all have our own ways of dealing with the changes and new challenges that this pandemic has forced upon us. We all have some sense of angst during these [...]
BY NAOMI STEWART, SECONDARY FRENCH TEACHER Remember way back…seven weeks ago…when we moved into Connected Learning? I think I cried at least once a day during the week after spring break. It was full of rapid preparation and baptism by fire. Instructions and expectations changed minute to minute. Admin worked hard to stay up to [...]
We hear it so often now—everything has changed; everything is different now. Even my Saturdays are different than before. I used to wake up a little later than on a weekday, go for my run, then go ahead with all the errands moved to the “Saturday-To-Do-List.” Typically, this involved a trip for groceries or to [...]
"So, what are you doing next year?" I have had that question come at me about once a week since I announced that this would be my last year as principal at the elementary campus. Up until about three weeks ago, the only answer I could give was, “We are still figuring that out.” What’s [...]
Wow, what a time this is! Nothing like a worldwide pandemic to bring us together as a global community. The disease has affected almost every person on the planet in some way, shape, or form and everybody has their own unique way and style of dealing/coping/working through it. In my context, as both a husband [...]
BY MELISSA DRIESSEN, ACS PARENT Our mornings start out like a beautiful masterpiece. No, really, it’s true. We start by singing and dancing to God’s praises and then dive right into His word with a hint of art. It is fun, calm, collected; everyone gets along and it is the perfect way to start our [...]
BY SANDRA FERGUSON, ACS PARENT Today was hard…I think up until this point I’ve been fairly good at staying positive and keeping an even keeled vibe…but today I cried. There is nothing natural about pulling up to your kids’ school in April where all the teachers are wearing rubber gloves, standing six feet apart. There [...]
We are in full renovation mode. The middle school administration wing has been dismantled, we are relocated into our new temporary office space, and the walls of the new middle school wing are tilted up and in place. I am also in renovation mode at home. We have gutted our entire living space except for [...]
