Montgomery County Schools

Saint James Students Participate in Community Day

Community Day is an annual event sponsored by the Saint James high school SGA. On Friday, January 20, students from grades 10 – 12 dedicated time to nonprofit agencies and city services around Montgomery. The 9th grade students participated in on campus clean-up and other activities which help the school community. This year the Saint James students worked at a number of local non-profits and city organizations. The organizations served this year were The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and Shakespeare Park, Montgomery Area Food Bank, Reality and Truth Ministries, The Montgomery Zoo, E.A.T South, and Friendship Mission. Students participated in all sorts of helpful activities, including trash clean-up, packaging boxes of food, sorting seeds, and organizing clothing donations for the homeless.

The annual Community Day event is a long-time tradition which allows students to see how important it is to serve others in our communities. It ties in with the school’s commitment to serving the local community. The SGA sponsor Mrs. Kiki Hughes, along with the SGA members, organizes this event each year.

ECA Wins First Football Championship

Evangel Christian Academy’s football team, under the leadership of Coach Darius Dixon, set a school record this year by winning the school’s first football state championship. Prior to this year, the school had only had three winning seasons. However, building on the previous year’s success, with 5 starters returning, the Lions’ football team entered the 2022 season as the favorite to win the inaugural of AISA first Eight Man football league. After having a slow start to the season, the Lions were determined to give it their all and they made history along the way. After winning 5 games in a row, the team earned their way into the playoffs. The team played Springwood at Cramton Bowl for the AISA Eight Man Football State Title. The Lions won by a score of 38 to 28 and became the first team in the school’s history to win a football championship. Two defensive players, Nii Addy and Tobiyas McLemore, finished the season as all conference players. Addy led the conference in sacks and tackles for a loss. McLemore led the conference in interceptions with a total of eight interceptions.

Community Service Projects at Macon East

Macon East Academy’s SGA strives to make a difference and help those in need. During the months of November and December, the school participated in Dixie Electric’s Food Drive during the 12s Day of Giving and collected over 1,200 items for the Montgomery Area Food Bank. Macon East lower school through 8th grade also joined together for their Christmas service project to collect Christmas gifts for Heart to Heart, a local foster care ministry. The Montgomery Humane Society benefited from the 9th and 10th grade classes donating much needed supplies. 11th and 12th grades focused on Mid-Alabama Coalition for the Homeless donating cold weather jackets and gloves.

ACA Sophomores Head to Washington, DC

Our sophomore class visited Washington, DC, this past month. They enjoyed visiting the Museum of Natural History, The White House, Mt. Vernon, the grave of JFK and the eternal flame, and many more historical places! They all had a great time while learning about our nation’s history at the same time.

Montgomery Academy Students Give Back

Members of the Montgomery Academy Lower School Eagle Assembly delivered 354 toys do nated by their classmates to Com mon Ground Montgomery for their Christmas Store. After unloading and delivery, these student lead ers toured the Common Ground campus and learned about the program’s history. For over a decade, Montgom ery Academy Middle and Upper School students, faculty, and staff have had the joy of providing Christmas presents for residents of Brantwood Children’s Home. This annual service project is led by our Upper School H.E.A.R.T. (Helping Eagles Are Right There) organization. Montgomery Academy 7th and 8th-grade student leaders organized an essential items drive to support the work of our focus agency, Friendship Mission. Middle School students happily collected two

Forest Avenue Student Wins School Spelling Bee for Second Straight Year

Forest Avenue Academic Magnet student

Erin Shin was the school’s top speller for the second con-

Montgomery County Schools

Montgomery Catholic Epiphany Celebration

Montgomery Catholic celebrated the end of the Christmas season by hosting its 2nd Annual Epiphany party for the Holy Spirit and St. Bede Elementary Campuses on January 6. Our faith teaches us of the Christmas season and that Christmas doesn’t end on December 25th. During the 12 days of Christmas the Magi followed the star to find our God as a baby in a manger.

This year’s event began with a series of social media posts following the travels of our “Wise Men” across the city of Montgomery and even on a trip to Rome, Italy. Their travels ended on the Feast of the Epiphany with them arriving at the Nativity to host a fun event for the elementary students. Our three kings, played by school President, Justin Castanza, Holy Spirit Parochial Vicar, Fr. Patrick Gilbreath, and St. Bede Parochial Vicar, Fr.

LAMP High E-Sports Wins Two State Championships

The LAMP High E-Sports program was ahead of the game at the state ESports Championship, bringing home two of the four state titles. Two teams represented LAMP and competed in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and League of Legends. LAMP Ian Shin,Donghwan Kwon, Colin Jung, and

High School.

Dalraida Elementary QUEST Classroom Receives Mini-Grant

Our Dalraida Elementary School 3rd-5th grade QUEST students were selected to receive a Classroom Mini-Grant from Alabama Ag in the Classroom. The funds will be used to Beautify their Outdoor Classroom Space.

Saint James School Math Teams Shine at AISA Math Competition

Saint James School students in both high school and middle school competed in the AISA District V Math Competitions on January 10, 2023. Both teams qualified for the State Competition to be held in February. Both the middle school team and high school team came in first place in their divisions. The middle school team, led by Mrs. DebJayden Cho, Yuha Shin, Aidan Saldanha, Emily Trock, and was also recogery Campus) on February 1.

students compete to advance to the state competition. Lottie Smith won second place, and Mariam Jacobsen won third place.

Montgomery County Schools

Trinity Students Enjoy Camp Read-A-Lot

Trinity School second graders had such a great time at Camp Read-A-Lot! The students created a woodland forest in the common room and named it “Trinity National Forest.” Then, the students transformed their desks into their very own tents! The students had fun reading and working in the tents using flashlights around their “campfire!” At the end of the day, Valerie Castanza with the Raptor Ridge Wildlife Education brought three special guests to the “Trinity National Forest” for a visit. She brought a screech owl, a barred owl, and a red-tailed hawk. Not only did our students get to observe these animals up close, but Ms. Castanza also taught them about the raptors’

Saint James School Hosts 25th Julian McPhillips Wrestling Tournament

A long-standing tradition in the state of Alabama, the 25th Julian McPhillips Invitational Wrestling Tournament was held on January 6 and 7 at Saint James School. The highly competitive tournament is by invitation only and hosted 19 teams this year, 1A-7A. Always held the first weekend in January, the Invitational Tournament is named in honor of a vital supporter of the wrestling program at Saint James, Mr. Julian McPhillips of Montgomery. In 1997, McPhillips was instrumental in expanding the school’s field house and adding a wrestling room. The school had not had a wrestling team before, but with his support, Saint James launched their first wrestling season and in 1998, the first tournament was held bearing McPhillips’s name.

In this year’s tournament, the Trojans finished 2nd overall with many of its team members placing in their individual weight classes. Logan Hartson placed 1st in his weight class. Jake Streeton, AJ

Alozie, and Braylen Corley placed 2nd in their weight classes. Jake Huff and Pruitt Conner each placed 3rd in his weight class.

Placing 4th in their divisions were Emmett Rasmussen and Miles Zukowski. This tournament is a local favorite and continues to be an important one as teams prepare for sectionals. Participants this year included Beauregard, Prattville Christian, Tallassee, Stanhope Elmore, Elmore County, Montgomery Catholic, T.R. Miller, W.S. Neal, Holtville, Houston Academy, Reeltown, Dothan High School, Jeff Davis, Robert E. Lee, Indian Springs, Brewbaker Tech, and Charles Henderson high school.

Montgomery County Schools

MA Mathletes Win 2nd Place in Competition

Five Montgomery Academy mathletes participated in the AISA District V High School Math Competition at Hooper Academy, winning second place overall. The competition consisted of a 50-question written test, followed by a ciphering round.

Claire Gary, Katie Brown, Carson Springer, Katherine Sinco, and Charles Norris participated in the competition with Katie Brown tied for the highest score in the competition and will advance to the state competition on February 1st in Troy, AL.

Saint James School Art Students Spread Christmas Joy

Saint James School art teacher Evelyn Shoults was overjoyed when she was contacted by the EastChase Chick-Fil-A staff about painting the windows of the restaurant with holiday art. The Saint James art students donated their free time to create the paintings which decorated the windows. This is the 4th year painting windows for Chick-fil-a, and the 3rd year at the Eastchase location. The first year painting windows was at the Midtown Ann street location during the 2017-18 school year. According to Mrs. Shoults, “It is always an honor to be able to give back to the community in an artistic way.”

The students enjoyed seeing their art decorate the windows for the employees and their patrons.

Trinity Alumni in AU Marching Band

Alumni students from Trinity School are part of Auburn University’s Marching Band.

Macon East Post Season Honors

Congratulations to our Macon East Knights on their collection of 2022 post-season honors!

ACA Receives a Piano for the Chorus Program

Carter Reed, former Director of the Montgomery Chorale, donated a mahogany baby grand piano to ACA’s Choral Program. Mr. Reed is moving to Birmingham and wanted the beautiful piano to be used with chorus students. Mr. Holladay has had this relationship with Mr. Reed for a long time and this donation was such a blessing to the students here at ACA.