The national 2010 Salvatori Prize winner for Excellence in Teaching is Mrs. PJ Chagan, history teacher at The American Academy (Conshohocken, PA).  The Prize recognizes outstanding examples of teaching the ideals of western civilization and US constitutional liberty, and will be formally awarded Oct 3 at Hillsdale Academy, Hillsdale, MI.  The award includes a $25,000 grant to The American Academy.

As described on the Hillsdale College website, institutions which receive the Salvatori Prize are recognized as “…address(ing) constructively the perilous state of American education…it is intended that educators and citizens alike will come to regard the Salvatori Prize as a measure of teaching excellence and its recipients as inspiring examples.”

The full press release is available here.

Congratulations Mrs. Chagan!  We are so very proud of you!

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Congratulations to all our TAA Scottish dancers who competed in the Essex County Scottish Dancing competition on 6 March 2010: in the 8 & under beginner category, Hannah Master, Laura Null, and Lena Harnish; in the 9 and over beginner category, Jacqui and Nathania Hofstetter; and in the Premier level, Sarah Null.  Ages 8 and under: in the Lilt , Hannah won 1st place, Laura 2nd place, and Lena 3rd place; in the Fling, Laura won 5th, Hannah 6th; in the Sword, Laura won 2nd; and in the Seann Triubhas, Laura won 2nd, Hannah 3rd.  Ages 9 and over: in the Lilt, Jacqui won 4th; in the Fling Jacqui won 2nd; in the Sword Nathania won 5th; in the Seann Triubhas Jacqui won 4th and Nathania won 6th. In the premier level, Sarah won 1st in the Fling and 4th in the Sword. She will go on to the regional level. Thanks to Mrs. Null for teaching and preparing the girls for this competition.  Lena, Jacqui, Laura, and Hannah each got a stamp for being in the top three in at least one dance.  When a dancer acquires six stamps they move up a level, excepting the Intermediate level, in which you only stay for one year.

Six of our students won awards in the Gladwyne Library League’s 38th Junior Author Contest on March 5. Congratulations to Samuel Chang (3rd grade) “Castles and Kings and Knights, Oh My!”, who won 2nd place for 3rd grade poetry, Seth Dewitt (1st grade) “Animal Cinquains”, who won 3rd place for 1st grade poetry, Jacqui Hofstetter (3rd grade) “Soccer Dog”, who won 3rd place for 3rd grade poetry, Lena Harnish (3rd grade) “Disneyland, Not!”, who won Honorable Mention for 3rd grade poetry, Sarah Null (5th grade) “Mystery Box”, who won 1st place for 5th grade poetry, and Molly Wells (5th grade) “Three Wonders of Nature”, who won 3rd place for 5th grade poetry.  There were 732 entries from 12 different area schools.   Thanks to Dr. Traver for helping the students with their poems.

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.

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 recommends the following events in the greater Philadelphia area:

• From the Wynnewood Institute: Tuesday, 11/7, at Wyndham Hall, Bryn Mawr College, Dr. David Legates, Climatologist, will speak on “The Scientific Perspective on Global Warming.” Dr. Legates is Joint Associate Professor in Physical Ocean Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware College of Marine and Earth Studies.
• Pastor, and prolific author Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, ID will debate Christopher Hitchens, outspoken atheist and NY Times bestselling author of God is Not Great.  The topic will be Apologetics in Action: Aesthetics and the Existence of God - Atheism vs. Christianity.  We advise that you arrive early for this lecture, which starts at 6:30 PM on Thursday October 30th at Westminster Theological Seminary. For more information, please see Westminster’s web site.
• Also on Thursday October 30th, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute will present a lecture by Dr. Charles Taylor entitled “A Secular Age.”  This event will begin at 5:30pm at the Greenville Country Club in Wilmington, DE.  Dr. Taylor is the author of a book of the same title, named best book of 2007 by Publishers’ Weekly.  Click here for more details.

Congratulations to David Matej, who won first place in the second grade category for his poem “Spring Baseball and Winter Basketball,” and to his sister Barbara Matejova, who won second place in the twelfth grade category for her poem “Not Yet Right: A Villanelle,” in the Delaware County Young Poets competition, sponsored by the Delaware County Library System.  They have been invited to read their poetry aloud at the awards ceremony.

Congratulations to Stephanie Meell (”My Sledding Hill”) and David Null (”The Slingshot Sled”), whose poems have been published on Cricket Magazine’s web site at http://www.cricketmag.com/activity_display.asp?id=2019

Congratulations to Sam Anthony, whose short story “The Accidental Invalid” won first place in the writing competition sponsored by the Delaware Valley College English department.  Sam’s story will be published in Delaware Valley’s literary magazine The Gleaner.

Congratulations to the following students, whose poems received “Top Ten” recognition from Creative Communication:

• Grades K-3:  Maggie Harnish (“A Horse Named Pete”) and Sarah Null (“Sewing with my Mom”)  
• Grades 6-12:  Patrick Devine (“Right Down Santa Claus Lane”) and Ace Robinson (“Dad Travel”)

Each of these students will receive a savings bond and a complimentary copy of the book.

We think that this is a Creative Communication record, that is to have four of the “Top Ten” poems authored by students from the same school, and they were competing with students throughout the nation.  Hearty congratulations to the students for all their hard work and to Dr. Traver for getting them to do it!  This is a huge honor for our school and wonderful national recognition for our language arts/writing program.