News

Physical Education In The New SLC!

Going to the Student Life Center for PE is unlike anything our lower school students have experienced. 4th graders Caroline Bennett, Brie Williams, and Amelia Hoffman raved about the new gym in the SLC. They went on and on describing how big everything is and how PCA is stamped over everything. "There's like a million basketball hoops!" Caroline's excitement is evident through her overestimation.

Now that our PE department has access to a full gym, they are no longer having classes next door to the noisy lunchroom. We have the ability to have two PE classes going on at the same time, with the installation of a large curtain that comes down in the middle of the new gym. Even with the curtain down there is still a large enough space for two volleyball nets to be up or two basketball games to go on at the same time.

Coach Shelly Kaiser remarked, "The space is amazing. With the new gym we have more options and we are less likely to have injuries. It's opening up the possibilities of more units and growth in the PE department." Some of the future possibilities of PE include units on tennis, badminton, pickleball, and the hope of having a future archery team for PCA. All of our lower school teachers, coaches, and students are thankful to the Lord for the positive impact that the new gym in the SLC has had on their PE classes.

Science Comes To Life During In House Field Trip

The world of ecosystems came alive to inquisitive students in Mrs. Shogren’s 5th grade science class! The students welcomed Mrs. Liberty Cosseti from High Touch High Tech, who led the classes through The Chain Gang©, a program where students were able to “Connect to the web... the food web."

Cosseti came in with a cart filled with what looked like random materials but as the students would soon find out, the items would become the foundation of an ecosystem adventure. 

Like any good scientific activity, the class started off with a discussion, where students impressed Cosseti with their knowledge on the difference between biotic and abiotic factors as well as the animals one might encounter in different ecosystems. 

After that foundation was laid, the fun could really begin! Students set to work creating their own ecosystem with gummies and pretzels (nothing like being able to eat an ecosystem) before breaking off into centers that would allow them to dive deeper into the scientific world.

Students were able to explore three different stations; making their own ecosystem in a ziplock bag using potting soil, some water, and a little bit of their own breath; dissecting owl pellets, where students sifted through the matter to find the bones of the owl’s prey; and finally looking through a microscope at various slides.

The laughs, “wow’s”, and enthusiastic chatter from the students made it clear that learning about ecosystems was a hit!