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Promoting Literacy With Read Across America Week

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Lower School students recently participated in the nationwide “Read Across America Week”. This annual event is celebrated the week surrounding March 2nd, the birthday of Dr. Seuss, and was created by the National Education Association in hopes of encouraging elementary students and teenagers to read!

This year Lower School participated in its very own spirit week, with each day focusing on the joy of reading while dressing in costume. Students came to school in Crazy Socks, 30th Anniversary shirts, matching outfits on Twin Day, crazy and fun hats for Hat Day, and they rounded off the week by dressing up as their favorite book character.

The activities in the classrooms were just as colorful and exciting as the outfitsl Several Kindergarten and 1st grade classes had older students come read with them, while Mrs. Shockley's kindergarten class read the Cat in the Hat and did a story map/retell before creating their own Dr. Seuss hats!

Mrs. Snook had guest readers come to her classroom every day including ECBC Pastor Buster Brown, Seacoast Pastor Greg Surratt, and PCA Art Teacher and author Nicole Seitz.

At the end of the week, the kindergarten classes hosted a Literacy on the Lawn, an event that was special for all involved. “Each child brought in a book or two that they could read to their parents,” explained kindergarten teacher Alex Alford. “What the students didn’t know was that their parents were bringing a surprise book wrapped for the students that they could read together over lunch!”

The goal of the week was to celebrate and encourage a life of literacy. Through the mentorship of our older students, the commitment of parents to emphasize reading, and the thoughtful, creative lessons of our faculty, PCA's desire to foster a love of learning was evident each day of the week.

in Lower School, Upper School

The PCA Community: Joining Together For Day Of Prayer

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ACSI’s National Day of Prayer was a morning to be remembered. On February 28, students in grades K-12, along with faculty and parents, gathered in the Student Life Center for worship and prayer. Lower School, Middle School, and High School Student Government Association officers helped bring the crowd to their feet as the songs, “Never Be Shaken”, “Light of the World”, “Thank You Lord”, and the Lower School unofficial anthem, “My Jesus”, rang out through the building's speakers.

"It was a great, and humbling experience,” said 10th grader and Upper School SGA member Will Perkins. “It was really driving home that it's never about just you, or even your group, but it's about the church body and about glorifying Christ; not worrying about what people might think." 

“Prayer is such a simple yet profound part of our relationship with the Lord,” said Lower School Principal Tracy Cox. “What a privilege it is knowing that we can talk with God about anything at any time. I loved that we had a special day to focus on prayer as a PCA family. Worshiping together with all of our students and teachers was an incredible way to start the day. I also think it's so special that students were able to spend time throughout the day praying as a class or in their small groups.”

After worship, the lower school was dismissed back to their classrooms where they continued the day with prayer immersed in their Read Across America activities.

Meanwhile, PCA’s own art teacher and author, Nicole Seitz, took the stage and gave a message to the Upper School students about what it means and looks like to pray. “Prayer is personal and powerful,” explained Seitz. “Yet many of us are not quite sure how to pray effectively. In a Christian school when prayer begins each class, we run the risk of becoming immune to the power of prayer. The words can become routine. I wanted to address the unique nature of our school and the challenges we each face in our prayer lives in an effort to begin a frank discussion about how to talk to and listen to God through prayer.”

We are so fortunate to be in a school community where we can worship the Lord daily.

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