Congratulations to the following students who won “Gold Key” in the prestigious Scholastic Art and Writing Awards:  Sam Anthony (Humor “The Accidental Invalid”), Josh Carroll (Humor “Star Heck”), Patrick Devine (Humor, 3 poems, “Right Down Santa Claus Lane,” “How the Brinch Stole Easter,” and “The Night of the Living Dad”), Noelle Ludlum (Personal Essay “Many Roads Diverge in a Yellow Wood”), and Samuel Miller (Humor “A Day in the Life of Oliver Kendal Colmes”).  Patrick and Sam Miller were also offered scholarships for a summer writing program through the Young Scholars Program, and all TAA entries have been sent on to the national level.  Bravo!  Out of more than 100,000 works submitted to the 76 regional programs throughout the country, 30,000 received recognition, and 10,000 have been submitted to the national level.   From this number, 400 will win either a Gold or Silver Medal in the National Awards, across all writing categories (including those above, plus “Short short story,” “Poetry,” “Drama,” etc.  This is a huge honor for Dr. Traver and our school.

Congratulations to Barbara Matejova, whose story “The Hike” was chosen by the ETS ( Educational Testing service) to be considered for use as an SAT passage.  “The Hike” was written when Barbara was in 9th grade and won top honors in the nationwide writing contest, “Take it from the Top,” sponsored by Weekly Reader’s Writing Magazine.  We can now say that we not only do well on the SAT tests, but we are now helping to write the tests! 

TAA fifth grader David Null’s Downingtown East Middle School hockey team won the championship for the middle school league.  They won 4 to 2 against Avon Grove for the championship game on March 12.  It was a tie game 2-2 and David scored a goal to make it 3 to 2.  He scored the goal late in the third period so the Downingtown team was able to keep Avon Grove from scoring again.  Avon Grove even pulled their goalie to see if they could score with another player on the ice, only to have Downingtown score on their empty net.  Congratulations, David!

We are thrilled that Albert Manginelli participated in the American Accordion Musicological Society Festival in March at The Inn at Valley Forge.  He entered the young people’s competition for children up through 16 yrs and he won first place.  He received a $50 cash award and a large trophy.  It was quite exciting since this was a first-time experience.  Albert will play the accordion at TAA for our April 18 spring music performance, which is always fun for our students and families. He’s looking forward to playing his Sigmund Romberg (jazz composer) piece at that time, too.  Way to go, Albert!

Congratulations to David Null (Grade 5) and Stephanie Meell (Grade 6) who won the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) essay contest, competing with four DAR chapters. Their essays have been submitted to the state level. All participating students received a certificate from Mrs. Graf of the DAR.

Congratulations to the following Gladwyne Library’s 36th Junior Author Contest winners:  Patrick Devine (poem “Right Down Santa Clause Lane,” Honorable Mention), Maggie Harnish (poem “A Horse Named Pete,” first place), Stephanie Meell (poem “My Sledding Hill,” second place), Ace Robinson (poem “Dad Travel,” first place), and Mikhail Shevchenko (poem “Whipping Wind Weather,” Honorable Mention).   There were a total of 851 entries from 17 different area schools!

Both Ace Robinson’s and Maggie Harnish’s poems will be published in Main Line Life in the upcoming months.

Julia Soper, TAA ‘06, Swarthmore ‘11 and Kate Anthony, TAA ‘05 and University of Pennsylvania ‘10, have  been admitted to the prestigious Middlebury Language program this summer in Middlebury, VT. Julia will participate in the Russian language program, and Kate will participate in the Arabic program.  Congratulations, Kate and Julia!

In the Spring 2008 issue of The Intercollegiate Review: A Journal of Scholarship & Opinion, an article by Peter J. Leithart, entitled “The New Classical Schooling,” refers specifically to The American Academy (p. 7). In the milieu of classical schooling, Leithart quotes the status quo: “At the Veritas School in Lancaster, students take Latin for six years before switching to Greek for two years, but Headmaster Ty Fischer admits that his students do not yet learn the languages as well as they should. Veritas initially taught Latin with the real aim of achieving ‘English mastery,’ but Fischer says they are now ‘moving in the direction of mastering Latin.’ … From his vantage point at CiRCE, Andrew Kern points to some language success stories, including [T]he American Academy in Philadelphia and St. Peter’s in Dallas. Yet he laments that many classical schools have ‘concluded that “classical” means three stages and a lot of books.’ Few schools ‘see mastery as the goal.’ Instead classical schools [often] teach Latin to help with English grammar, to raise SAT scores, or to increase vocabulary….”

Leithart adds that “What draws people to classical Christian schools is the children [and the teachers] they see who are different—more articulate, more respectful, and more intelligent.”

The entire article is available online at the Intercollegiate Study Institute’s web journal, “First Principles“

Congratulations to Stephanie Meell, whose poem “My Sledding Machine,” and to David Null,  whose poem “The Slingshot Sled” won “Honorable Mention” for Cricket Magazine’s poetry contest on a “beautiful moment you experience during the winter holiday season,” to be published in March 2008.

Congratulations to former student Julie Soper, TAA ’05, Swarthmore College ’11, who has received an invitation to be a “key speaker” at the International Convention of Rotary International,” Los Angeles, CA, June 12-14.  Winning a year scholarship to Siberia last year, Julie has been asked to speak about her experiences throughout the region.  Her presentation at the winter Rotary Eastern States Student Exchange was described as “excellently delivered, well organized, very insightful, and quite entertaining,” thus earning her the trip to Los Angeles.  Julie will speak immediately after the Rotary International President addresses the convention.  What an honor for Julie—and for TAA.  BRAVA!