Congratulations to the following students whose essays have been accepted for publication by Creative Communication:  Sam Anthony for “Paranoid Perhaps?,” Samuel Chang for “At Korea,” Molly Harnish for “Fun at the Farm,” Nathania Hofstetter for “Sensations of the Sea,” Jacqui Hofstetter for “My First Invention,” Noelle Ludlum for “My Nantucket,” Samantha Ludlum for “Left Behind,” Nathan Master for “Crazy Cousins,” David Matej for “Trip to Slovakia,” Rachel Meell for “Amazing Arizona,” Stephanie Meell for “Cast Down,” David Null for “Moms vs. Grandmoms,” Sarah Null for “Down and Out in Irish Jigs,” Harry Robinson for “Parking Problems,” Ace Robinson for “The Amazing Tricks of Twenty-Six,” Josiah Wells for “Journey to Germany,” Molly Wells for “Deutschland,” and David Yang for “iStall.”

Congratulations to students Lena Harnish (”Shell the Corn, Grind the Wheat”) and Laura Null (”History Class”) for receiving special certificates for their essays.  Apparently they were too young for the essay contest, but the judges “found Lena and Laura’s essays to be well-written and would have accepted them if they had fallen within contest rules.”

Finally, TAA received Creative Communication’s Writing Achievement Award, given to those schools whose students’ entries to the essay contest were of exceptionally high merit.  This award is the result of much hard work in revising copies and getting them ready to submit for publication.  Though challenging, this process helps the student develop professional writing skills that will be invaluable for college and career.

On Monday, December 7, Mrs. Mary Hanko’s K-1 class had a wonderful day in the city of Philadelphia.  First they attended the “Sound All Around” program at the Academy of Music, where Mr. Loren Lind of the Philadelphia Orchestra introduced them to the flute and piccolo.  They enjoyed his music, joined in sing-alongs, and listed to a story accompanied by the flute and piano.  After that they walked to Macy’s where they watched the Christmas lights show.

TAA is collecting food for Operation Brotherhood, a ministry of Skilton House Ministries that distributes Thanksgiving food to the needy.  In 2008, nearly 2000 families received a Thanksgiving bag in the name of Jesus, along with a copy of the gospel of John.  This year, for those who wish to donate through TAA, Wednesday November 18th is the last day for collecting these goods:  l lb. can of peas, 1 lb. can of corn, l lb. can of green beans, l lb. can of cranberry sauce or fruit, 1 box of stuffing, or 1 lb. can of yams.   Special thanks to TAA senior Noelle Ludlum for coordinating our participation.  Visit the Operation Brotherhood web site for more information.

Students in grades 5 through 8 are now working on the Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest, which requires research and a bibliography.  The topic is the building of the Transcontinental Railroad; students are asked to “[d]escribe how you felt on May 10, 1869 when the golden spike was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah, to celebrate the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad.  Pretend you are either a settler planning to use the train to travel to your new home in the West, an Irish or Chinese worker who helped build the line or a Native American whose way of life was greatly affected by the railroad.”  Go TAA scholars!

Monday afternoon 11/16 from 4-5 PM our students in grades 7+ will have a special FPRI opportunity that was just added to the FPRI schedule.  The subject is “Munich 1938: New Revelations from the Czech Archives,” relative to the famous Munich Agreement which permitted Hitler’s takeover of the Sudetenland portion of Czechoslovakia prior to WW II.

The speaker, Milan Hauner, is an associate scholar of FPRI who grew up in Prague and has earned two PhDs at prestigious European universities and who taught at other important institutions.  Hauner has written and co-edited ten books and many scholarly articles and has most recently edited several unpublished manuscripts of the former Czechoslovak president Edvard Benes, as well as reconstructing 3 volumes of this leader’s wartime memoirs.

The lecture will be held at the FPRI library/offices at 1528 Walnut, a smaller venue around the corner from the Union League.  TAA students who are interested in attending should notify Mrs. Anthony; we will need to make reservations.

On Tuesday, May 7, several of TAA’s elementary students traveled to Beaumont retirement community in Bryn Mawr, PA, to perform Scottish dances for the residents. Our dancers performed the Fling, the Sword, and the Lilt. Mrs. Susan Null has been teaching these girls the art of this particular dance genre in a Scottish Dancing Club after school on Tuesdays all school year.  The club grows more every year, and Mrs. Null is always eager to teach anyone new. All students participated in making Mother’s Day cards to take to Beaumont and give to the ladies that were watching the show.

Before the performance, the dancers performed the Fling, Sword, and Lilt for members and staff of Antioch Presbyterian Church, who so graciously host our school. After the Scottish dancers came off the stage, other students gave Mother’s Day cards to the audience.

Special thanks to Mrs. Null for all her hard work, and for her dedication to the Scottish Dance Club!

The Bulletin, a Philadelphia newspaper, published an op-ed piece by Mrs. Lee K. Anthony in today’s edition.  She asks:

Can our children be expected to serve two masters, i.e. pervasive indoctrination in postmodern relativism in the secular schools and a Judeo-Christian heritage necessary to continue our unique American heritage of liberty and representative republican democracy?  Lincoln, quoting the Bible, said that a “house divided cannot stand.”  There are serious consequences to our neglect of K-12 education, and I hope I have convinced you that we cannot leave that task to the state or to “values-neutral” secular schools.

Mrs. Anthony is the Founder and Head of Academy at TAA.

As announced on WFIL 560 Christian radio, The American Academy will be holding an open house for interested parents and their children on April 18th at 10AM in Villanova, PA (not at the school location in Conshohocken).  This is a great time to meet the faculty, staff, students, and board of the school in an informal setting.

Please contact us at 610-864-6288 for more information and directions.

We’re proud of our students’ artwork submissions to the Philadelphia Classical Society contest, pictured below.

Congratulations to the following TAA students who won “Top Ten” honors from Creative Communication’s Essay Contest:

• Laura Null “Winning and Losing,”
• Sarah Null “Growing in Spirit,”
• Ace Robinson “Happy Changes,” and
• Elena Sutton “Visiting and Traveling East and West.”