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.

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.

• Mr. Pat Devine, former TAA Board member, now an army chaplain, deployed on December 4.  Prayers are welcome! Our school has adopted an additional military man, Lt JG Garrett Moore, who is a Navy SEAL in California. Our other military adoptees are: Lt JG Matthew Anthony, deployed in early December to the Arabian Gulf, LCpl Jonathan Guelzo, Marines, and Cpl James Chun, Marines, and member of Antioch Presbyterian Church.
• Older students started a unit on Greek pottery in ceramics in early December at the Whitemarsh Community Art Center. We will study Greek pottery and produce our own, which shall be entered in the Philadelphia Classical Society Art competition in February.
• Special thanks to Mr. Tom Anderson for an enlightening discussion on John Milton’s Paradise Lost.  We celebrated Milton’s 400th birthday with a special birthday cake and a pencil with the Milton quote, “What is dark in me, illumine.” (We trust that students know that Milton also wrote Paradise Regained.)
• The final installment in the fall FPRI lecture series on the Middle East was Thursday, December 11, at the Union League.  The lecture was “U.S. Policy Toward the Middle East,” by one of our favorite speakers, Dr. Harvey Sicherman, President, Foreign Policy Research Institute. Mrs. Chagan prepared her world affairs student over the last several weeks on this important and timely subject.

On Friday November 14th, students from the American Academy were the guests of a kind benefactor at a Kimmel Center concert in Philadelphia.  Before the performance, Mr. Tom Anderson prepared the children for the performance of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Grosse Fugue, and Missa Solemnis.  After the performance, our students were invited backstage to meet the conductor and performers.  Praise God for this wonderful opportunity, and thanks also to Mr. Anderson and to our very thoughtful benefactor!

Congratulations to our students whose works were selected for publication in this year’s Creative Communication Celebrating What Is Important to Me essay contest: Sam Anthony; Lukas, Danny, and Josh Carroll; Maggie and Molly Harnish; Jacqui and Nathania Hofstetter; Samantha and Noelle Ludlum; Tad and Baret Lyon; Nathan Master; David Matej; Rachel Meell and Stephanie Meell; Eleanor and Samuel Miller; Laura, Sarah, and David Null; Ace Robinson; and Elena Sutton.  Well done!

In addition:

• Students in grades K-12 are busy working on their poetry for the upcoming Creative Communications poetry contest.
• Grades 5-8 are writing for the Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest, on the topic “The Ideals of the Gettysburg Address.”
• Noelle Ludlum will represent TAA in the 27th annual essay contest, sponsored by Penn State University.

Thanks to Dr. Traver, Mrs. Null, and Mrs. Chagan for all of their hard work helping our students find their muse!

The American Academy will hold an open house on Saturday, November 22nd, starting at 6PM.

Anyone interested in attending should contact the school (see our contacts page for the phone number).

It’s Summer School at The American Academy!

• We have had a great science camp in June in Potter County, where the students built rockets and successfully launched them; they built electric engines out of ordinary household items; they hiked, star-gazed, and went fishing.
• June17 was our all day summer book discussion at Dr. Traver’s house. The students read George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion together, watched My Fair Lady and had a fun pizza dinner. Thank you to the Travers!
• High school students attended a three day trip to Washington DC. Courtesy of Senator Arlen Specter’s office, they had special tours of the Russell building, saw the 19 C senatorial marble baths (now underneath heating equipment!), rode the underground tram to the Capitol Building, toured all aspects of that building and ended with tickets to observe the Senate debating several items – that was just one afternoon. Senator Specter’s office also arranged a special early morning tour of the Library of Congress, where 20,000 items are received and stored each day – and not all of them are books! The students also saw Hillwood, home of Marjorie M. Post, the National Cathedral, The Museum of Natural History, the Holocaust Museum, the special archaeology exhibit from Afghanistan (National Gallery, East wing) and enjoyed a wonderful evening tour of the lit monuments of the city. Thank you to Mrs. Chagan for organizing this memorable trip.
• On July 1, students attended the annual Intercollegiate Studies Institute BBQ in Wilmington, DE. Charles Murray spoke about education. He cited the lack of education for bright students as a “national security crisis.” Tom Anderson wrote a review of the lecture for The Bulletin which appeared last week.