The Adventure Ark Playschool made special arrangements with the North Pole again this year for Santa to make an early December stop in Hoover!  Over 200 kids came to the breakfast fundraiser in Deasy Hall.  Guests brought an unwrapped baby gifts that were donated to needy new and expectant mothers.

Our tenth grade confirmation candidates spent a fun fall day at the  Alabama 4H Center in Columbiana as part of their formation program.  The 78 kids boarded buses early on a Sunday morning and drove an hour to experience team building activities focusing  on communication, trust, and teamwork skills at the 264-acre conference facility. 

School Field Trips to Camp Cosby and Dauphin Island

Camp Cosby - Fifth graders spent an unforgettable three days and two nights at YMCA's Camp Cosby's "outdoor classroom" this fall.  The students experienced what they have been learning in the classroom and took advantage of many other learning opportunities on this twelfth annual field trip that has become a much anticipated event of fifth grade.

They learned safe and proper canoe techniques on Lake Logan Martin and survival skills on land including building a fire, shelter and rescue signals.  In the Life Learning Lab, the fifth graders touched a six foot long ball python and discovered how animals adapt to survive in their environments.  Another fun part of the trip was the "Ways of Old Days" simulation that took the students back in time to the pioneer days by writing with a quill and ink and making their own toys.  Plant physiology, geology, water cycles were also part of the curriculum.

The students were accompanied by their teachers Donna Hecklinski and Laurie Jones, Principal Connie Angstadt, Father Tom Ackerman, Guidance Counselor Debbie Calvert as well as parent chaperones. Mrs. Angstadt said, "I always treasure this learning opportunity with our fifth grade students. Every student is blessed with special gifts and so many of these gifts rise to the surface at camp.   We create lifetime memories."