News

Middle School Choirs Receive Superior Ratings!

Carowinds’ Festival of Music is one of the most anticipated and celebrated student performance events in the Carolinas. Middle and high school concert bands, jazz ensembles, orchestras, and choral ensembles are invited to showcase their skills. 

This year, PCA's sixth, seventh, and eighth grade choirs traveled to Charlotte to participate in the festival. We are thrilled to share that each choir received a Superior rating.. the highest rating possible! Students were celebrating with high fives on the buses!

In addition to the awards, an added bonus happened after the sixth and seventh graders finished their on stage performance. The last piece they sang was arranged by one of the judges, Emily Holt Crocker, about a Spanish dancer. She stopped the competition and went on stage and talked to the students about the piece. What a surprise and proud moment for everyone to hear how much she enjoyed the performance. 

All of the students enjoyed the fellowship of riding rides at Carowinds Amusement Park and as they said all day, "witnessing for my Lord".

Congratulations to Dr. Jo Hethcox and all of the middle school choir members for wonderful performances and for representing PCA so well.

A Memorable 30th Anniversary Celebration: Chili Cook-off & Concert!

What a way to wrap up the last of our big events celebrating PCA's 30th anniversary year! On Thursday evening, PCA hosted a family focused Chili Cook-off and Concert Event that brought together our community for fellowship and fun.  

The front lawns were filled with families enjoying toe-tapping music (provided by PCA Board Member Greg Horton's band) and delighting in the jump castles, hot dogs, popcorn, and sweet treats from an ice cream truck. Inside the Welcome Center, nine chili cook-off teams set up and decorated their tables in unique themes that represented each team's flavor of chili. From “Spice Girls In The Garden” to “The Danger Zone” there was a type of chili for everyone!  

Official judges sampled the chili and cast their votes in several categories while parents and students cast their votes for the People's Choice Award. Here's a look at the winning teams: 

Best Overall Chili - Pork and Beans  

People’s Choice- Pork and Beans

Best School Spirit/Tailgating Theme - The Golden Girls

Best Creative Recipe - Pascutti’s Last Hurrah

Best Traditional Recipe - The Red Hot Chili Ladies

Screams of delight filled the air as the winners were announced and came up to receive their gift baskets filled with goodies. Of course, this event would not have been possible without the help of the PCA village and community.

A special thank you to the Chili Cook-off judges.. Bill Macchio, Editor of Mount Pleasant Magazine, Buster Brown, ECBC Senior Pastor, and Jennifer Horton, Owner of ZAGS and PCA mom.

We also want to give a huge thank you to Tifany O’Neal and Margaret O’Hanley for all of their time and enthusiasm in making this event shine! And last but not least, a big thank you to all of the teams who participated and the families that came out to make this such a fun evening.

Happy 30th Anniversary PCA!!!