MILL SPRINGS ACADEMY Matters WINTER 2013 IN THIS ISSUE Winter Learning 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . 1–6 Canned Food Drive . . . 6 ARISS Coming to MSA?.............. 6 PreUpper Squishy Physics ............. 7 Diversity Conference . . . 7 College Acceptances .... 8 PreUpper Student Wins Essay Contest ........ 8 National Geography Bee 9 Junior Theater Festival . 9 Native American Festival ........... 10 Winter Band Concert . 10 Future City Contest. . . 11 Honor Roll (Fall 2012) 11 Sports ............. 12 Upper Students Earn SCAD Awards ...... 13 All-Select Middle Chorus ...... 13 MSA STAR Student & Teacher . . . 13 Annual Fund 2012–2013 . . . . . 14–15 Upper School Goes to Spain A group of 14 students along with chaperones, Assistant Principal Cynthia Traylor and Spanish Teacher Jaime Gutierrez, visited one of the most exotic locales to date for Mill Springs Academy: SPAIN! Tour guides were employed to direct the MSA group while they explored many cities including Madrid, Salamanca and Barcelona. While in Salamanca students were able to walk into the past by visiting the city’s majestic New Cathedral—constructed between the 16th and 18th centuries as well as the Old Cathedral which was constructed between the 12th and 14th centuries. The tour of Salamanca also included a visit to the old buildings of the Universidad de Salamanca which was founded in 1134. Other highlights included visits to the very famous Museo Nacional Del Prado in Madrid, as well as the Museu Picasso in Barcelona. Many of the students agreed that some of the most fascinating sites and architecture were found in the city of Barcelona, including Antoni Gaudi’s “Casa Battlo” and “La Sagrada Familia.” Everyone also enjoyed soaking up the local cuisine which was comprised of fresh seafood, cured meats, and traditional desserts which were all enjoyed guilt-free after the many, many miles walked! Success in School… Success in Life Upper students stand in front of Spain’s Royal Palace in Madrid. The group visited about 20 of the 2,800 rooms in the Palace which is used now for diplomatic meetings and celebrations. It is one of the best maintained palaces in the world. Winter Learning 2013 MILL SPRINGS’ WINTER LEARNING PROGRAM always makes for great fun, but most of all great learning. The Winter Learning Program (WLP) is a hands-on, experiential learning program where PreUpper, Communication Arts and Upper School students take a variety of interest- generated courses. The program lasts for two weeks in January and allows students to attend workshops, internships, and week-long seminars in order to participate in “mobile classrooms” on various topics. Here are just a few highlights featuring the diversity of the program.
Transcript
MILL SPRINGS ACADEMY
MattersWINtER 2013
IN thIS ISSuEWinter Learning 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . .1–6
A group of 14 students along with chaperones, Assistant Principal Cynthia Traylor and Spanish Teacher Jaime Gutierrez, visited one of the most exotic locales to date for Mill Springs Academy: SPAIN! Tour guides were employed to direct the MSA group while they explored many cities
including Madrid, Salamanca and Barcelona. While in Salamanca students were able to walk into the past by visiting the city’s majestic New Cathedral—constructed between the 16th and 18th centuries as well as the Old Cathedral which was constructed between the 12th and 14th centuries. The tour of Salamanca also included a visit to the old buildings of the Universidad de Salamanca which was founded in 1134. Other highlights included visits to the very famous Museo Nacional Del Prado in Madrid, as well as the Museu Picasso in Barcelona. Many of the students agreed that some of the most fascinating sites and architecture were found in the city of Barcelona, including Antoni Gaudi’s “Casa Battlo” and “La Sagrada Familia.” Everyone also enjoyed soaking up the local cuisine which was comprised of fresh seafood, cured meats, and traditional desserts which were all enjoyed guilt-free after the many, many miles walked!
Success inSchool…Success inLife
Upper students stand in front of Spain’s Royal Palace in Madrid. The group visited about 20 of the 2,800 rooms in the Palace which is used now for diplomatic meetings and celebrations. It is one of the best maintained palaces in the world.
Winter Learning 2013
Mill SpringS’ Winter learning program always makes for great fun, but most of all great
learning. the Winter learning program (Wlp) is a hands-on, experiential learning program
where preUpper, Communication arts and Upper School students take a variety of interest-
generated courses. the program lasts for two weeks in January and allows students to attend
workshops, internships, and week-long seminars in order to participate in “mobile classrooms”
on various topics. Here are just a few highlights featuring the diversity of the program.
SCuBA
Five PreUpper students: Jake Martin, Taylor Bunker, Matthew
Dalluge, Trevor Murr and Mia Hummel-Levy accompanied by chaperones Michael Adams and Kris Hawksworth headed to Crystal River, Florida in early January to earn their Jr. Open Water SCUBA Diving certification. While there each student kept a dive log to track their dive history which will be used in the future if they choose to work toward more advanced certifications. Everyone was successful in completing the course.
The group did four dives—one in Crystal River, two in Rainbow River, and one at Devils Den. “All of these dives were amazing and the guides were excellent!”, said PreUpper teach-er, Michael Adams. “Next year, I am hoping to organize another SCUBA trip for the certified students…maybe in the ocean at some ship wrecks or coral reefs. We may also be going to Marine Lab in the Florida Keys and may have a chance to dive there.”
Rock Band
the first week of Winter Learning featured a stellar cast of mu-sicians in MSA’s Rock Band seminar! The program showcased three bands with members from the PreUpper, Communica-
tion Arts, and Upper Schools. The groups named themselves, put together a set list, and then spent the week rehearsing and recording in preparation for the big show which was held on Friday, January 11, 2013. The Rising Sun (Drew Maichle, Daniel O’Keefe, Sam Paul, Sydney Pipes, and Skyler Swislow) opened the show with Taylor Swift’s Tell Me Why. They then performed an exciting rendi-tion of Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger, and then closed out their set with Any Way You Want It by Journey. The next band up was Greg Bodeep (Paul Bain, Jon Mark Brasher, Alex Gonzales, Kylie Reyn-olds, Matt Sedacca, and Chase Watson) which performed the laid back Just a Dream by Nelly, Jason Mraz’s quirky I’m Yours, country song Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show, and closed out their set with the always moving Drops of Jupiter by Train. Then the band Midnight (Tim Hebert, Sam North, Dylan Porper, Arielle Rogoff, Trevor Tencza, and James York) closed the show by per-forming 2 intense Linkin Park songs, New Divide and What I’ve Done, along with two powerful Bon Jovi songs, Wanted Dead or Alive and It’s My Life.
The bands produced a compilation CD, whose cover was designed by Upper student Chase Watson. The CD’s as well as DVD’s of the performances are on sale for $10 and $20 respectively (please contact Elizabeth Plastiak in the Fine Arts Dept. for details [email protected]).
2 Mill Springs Academy Matters Winter 2013
PreUpper Student, Trevor Murr searches for gold doubloon at the bottom of Rainbow River.
Drew Maichle, Sam Paul, Daniel O’Keefe and Sydney Pipes rock out to Survivor.
Winter Learning 2013
Mill Springs Academy Matters 3Winter 2013
Financial Planning
During the first week of Winter Learning, several Upper School students participated in a workshop on financial planning. Students studied current events such as the recent
“Fiscal Cliff ” debate, as well as relevant topics such as the stock market, ways to save money, taxes—including the different forms and what they fund, how to make good use of coupons, how to budget, and the different types of scholarships available for college education and how to look into various financial aid programs. To round out their learning the group then took a trip to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta where they learned about monetary policy, bank supervision and regulation, inflation and deflation, and the operation of a nationwide payment system. Students were also vis-ited by a representative from Suntrust Bank who instructed students on the FDIC, cyber hacking, and the differences between checking, savings and 401K accounts.
Episodes from NUMB3RS, the forensic investigation series that uses math to solve crimes, was used to give students a taste of applied forensics in the real world.
Biking
this year’s winter biking group trekked the entire Silver Comet Trail, which is 61 miles from Alabama to Smyrna. They also rode the contiguous Big Creek Greenway in one day
including some mountain biking. The last day the group rode at Arabia Mountain.
Ryan Sarver, Porter Foltz, Francis Abernethy and Tyler Buice standing under the starting point at the Silver Comet Trail.
Mystery Numb3rs theatre
In this drama/forensics workshop students were given the opportunity to hone their performance skills while solving the age-old mystery of what really happened to characters from
plays such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth. During morning sessions led by the Atlanta Shakespeare Theater, students learned how to fence, participate in sword fights, and perform scenes from various Shakespearean Plays. Then in the afternoon, students became forensic scientists by solving various “who-done-it” scenarios.
Wordcraft
During the second week of Winter Learning, a small group of budding writers along with PreUpper teacher Michael Griffeth, developed a creative writing website aimed at showcasing written, creative expression that was constructed in a non-traditional manner. Wordcraft was also designed to be a lesson in safely constructing and publishing an online, creative writing blog that can
function as an annual repository for student’s written works. Each day found the group working on non-traditional writing activities for the first portion of the day and updating the website in the afternoon. “It was a refreshing way to approach written expression and electronic publishing and it also was a great deal of fun,” said Griffeth. Feel free to visit the new site and enjoy the posts by visiting http://wordcraftmsa.com/.
Winter Learning 2013
4 Mill Springs Academy Matters
ham Radio
how old must a person be before he is eligible to get an amateur radio operator license? Trick question!...there is no age requirement. All that is required to get a license from
the FCC is to pass an exam. For the first week of Winter Learning, three seventh graders and three eighth graders in the PreUpper School worked with teacher, Martha Muir, to prepare to take and pass that exam.
Each day, students went over the fundamentals of electron-ics, electricity, the electromagnetic spectrum, and laws related to properly operating an amateur radio station. Every day there were quizzes featuring questions similar to ones that might appear on the exam. By the end of Thursday, nearly 400 questions were in rota-tion. On Friday, Dr. John Kludt, president of NFARL, the North Fulton Amateur Radio League, and his colleagues, Mr. Chuck Cat-ledge, Mr. Mike Cohen, Mr. Jeff Otterson, and Mr. Dave Brackett visited MSA for a day-long Ham Exam Cram with the students. They reviewed each section of concepts and then lead the students through a series of Jeopardy type games that used questions based on the content they covered. Students with the highest scores won prizes such as a multi-meter or three way flashlights.
Later that week on Saturday, five MSA students went to the Alpharetta Adult Activities Center to take the exam. Three out of five passed the exam! MSA’s new Hams’ include Sam Wolff, now owner of the call sign KK4NVJ, Joseph Murphy—call sign KK4NVI, and Alasdair Boney—call sign KK4NVH. Those who did not pass said they plan to study and take the test again. Having this license will allow Sam, Joseph, and Alasdair to operate the amateur radio station that will soon be established in PreUppert teacher Martha Muir’s classroom. The equipment for the radio station was awarded to Mill Springs Academy by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the headquarters of HAM radio in the US. A special thanks to Dr. John Kludt who was very helpful in MSA getting this grant.
Winter 2013
Set Building
Artists in grades 7–12 spent Winter Learning in the art studio and Stallings Theater preparing for the upcoming Spring Musical, Beauty and the Beast. Students worked with
Technical Theater Director Patrick Rose and Communication Arts Science teacher Jay Hudson to construct and paint the sets and scenery. Art Teacher Brian Buxton, Theater Director Jamie Fambrough and Art Teacher/Fine Arts Director Janet Ford worked with artists to create props and publicity pieces for the upcoming spring musical. MSA’s Fine Arts Department works hard to involve everyone in the spring musical—not just the actors on the stage. The Musical (in conjunction with the Art Exhibit) will be April 19th, 20th and 21st at MSA. Artists/Actors Olivia Dolan (Belle), Linsday Lopp (Lefou), Emily Pearman (Mrs. Potts), Morgan Graves (Silly Girl), Cartwright Ayers (Ensemble) and Kasey Bonanno (Ensemble) created work for their performance!
Sam Wolff has the answer ready on his white board in the Ham Exam Cram’s Jeopardy game.
Morgan Graves and Carolyn Edge show off their Cogsworth creation.
Spencer Murphy (bottom right) interned in the art studio for Winter Learning. Spencer helped fellow students Brent Roepe and Thomas Moore create this sculpture of the Beast.
Winter Learning 2013
Winter 2013 Mill Springs Academy Matters 5
Career Exploration
During this year’s Career Explorations Winter Learning Pro-gram, students were given the opportunity to learn about themselves and possible careers that would match with their
personality types. On the first day of the program students took a personality assessment and researched careers of interest. Through-out the rest of the week students then visited and learned about the various businesses and organizations that matched their fields of interest such as Crabapple Animal Hospital, MOC Photogra-phy, Southern Polytechnic State University, Children’s Hospital of Atlanta at Egleston, and Applewood Farm. Students also received visits from a former elementary school teacher, court attorney and various MSA teachers who stopped by to share their professional experiences.
Field and Stream
For the first week of Winter Learning, PreUpper teachers Michael Adams and Michael Griffith put together an environmentally-themed seminar with a focus on agriculture,
Dancing with the MSA Stars
travelling to former MSA drama teacher, Lynn Stalling’s Stu-dio of the Arts, students experienced a week with Professional Dance Instructor, Casey Noblett, learning Hip-Hop, Ballet,
Jazz, Modern, and the Salsa. Each session began with students participating in warm-up exercises for 30 minutes before learning new dance steps each day. Students practiced and then performed the dance steps at the end of the session in smaller groups. In the PM session, students viewed movies that highlighted professional dancers performing the types of dances they had learned in the AM session as a reinforcement of their dancing skills. “At the end of the week, students commented on how much fun they had,” said teacher Taniah Jones. “We all wished we had another week of dancing!”
Students take stop for a quick break to pet horses in the barn at Apple-wood Farm, a full-time dressage training facility.
Upper and CommArts students movin’ and groovin’ during this year’s Winter Learning Program. Front Row: Jessica Lublin, Nicole Thomas, Gwyneth Hummel-Levy, and Erin McCallum. Middle row: Maritza Gracia. Back row: Austin Coleman, Casey Noblett-Instructor, Dera Anueyiagu, Andrea Carlos, Shayna Lopp, Rhen Avritt, Shivani Patel, Alec Davis, and Taniah Jones.
Winter Learning 2013
Students pose for a quick group shot before heading off to the Brigadoon Lodge on the Soque River, a trophy trout stream in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains.
botany, river and stream ecology, and environmental awareness. The group alternated between on-campus work in MSA’s community garden and preparing the garden for Spring planting and travelling to various parks along the Chattahoochee river to fly fish and learn first-hand, about Georgia’s local watersheds and the importance of its river and stream ecosystems. It was a week filled with productivity and adventure.
Winter Learning 2013
6 Mill Springs Academy Matters Winter 2013
Communication Arts Visits the Wonders of the West
It’s not easy to get twenty-four teenagers to go completely silent, but the vision of California condors soaring on the air currents above the multi-hued granite walls of Grand Canyon South
accomplished just that. “I’ve never seen a place so huge. . . I feel tiny!” said 7th grader David Flamini.
During Winter Learning Communication Arts students traveled to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam, had a snowball fight in 6” of snow and tried their hand at horseback riding. Some of the highlights of this year’s trip included a visit to Oatman, a historic mining town on Route 66; a tour of the Heard Museum which is dedicated to Native American culture; viewing petroglyphs left by the Hohokam people on a hike in the mountains outside Phoenix; and a visit to a living pioneer village from the late 1800’s where students and faculty had the chance to go back in time and meet blacksmiths, miners, weavers, gunfighters and sheriffs, farmers, cattlemen, teachers, and bankers.
Canned Food Drive
A great big thanks to everyone who participated in the annual Canned Food Drive. MSA’s efforts collected 11,090 pounds of canned food for the Atlanta Community Food Bank
which distributes the food to needy families. Headmaster, Robert Moore is right… “Small schools can do big things.”
CommArts students gather for a group shot outside Hopi House, a market for Native American crafts located at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. From left to right: Erin Horst, Jacob Budwitz, Abby Hayman, Jacob Smith, Meghan Kern, Andrew Smith, Morgan Taylor, Devin Orkin, Joey O’Connor, Austin Nam, Zack Harmon, Andrew Border, Garrett McCarthy; Neil Jensen, John Chisholm, Sean Brinkley, Michael Martin, Miles Lucas, Peyton Lockwood, Thomas Chiu, Matthew Petty, Jay Coleman, Corinne Davenport, and Emily Chastain.
The Mill Springs Community collected the equivalent of 9,242 meals through their efforts in this year’s Canned Food Drive!
Is ARISS Coming to Mill Springs?
Each year NASA opens a window for schools to apply for the opportunity to make contact with the astronauts who are living and working aboard the
International Space Station (ISS) through amateur radio stations. Once notified that the PreUpper School won a grant from the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) to get the basic equipment for setting up an amateur radio station at Mill Springs, PreUpper science teacher Martha Muir submitted an 8-page application proposing MSA as radio contact site with the ISS. Proposals from various schools and organizations will be considered in the spring of 2013. If the MSA proposal is accepted, plans are to hold the communication/contact with the ISS in MSA’s gym, using large screens to project live video of the students operating the equipment and talking with the astronauts. Martha should be notified in the spring of 2013 if MSA’s application has been accepted.
Mill Springs Academy Matters 7Winter 2013
upper Students and Faculty Attend Diversity Conference
this past December, fourteen Upper School students along with teachers Karen Bradley, Taniah Jones, Jaime Gutierrez and Asst. Principal Cynthia traveled to Houston, TX to
participate in the NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) People of Color Conference (PoCC) and the Student Diversity Leadership Conference. The mission of the NAIS People of Color Conference is to provide a safe space for networking and a professional development opportunity for people, who, by virtue of their race or ethnicity, comprise a form of diversity termed “people of color” in independent schools. The student track titled: Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) is a multiracial, multicultural gathering of upper school student leaders (grades nine–12) from across the U.S. SDLC focuses on self-reflecting, forming allies, and building community. This year’s trip was made possible in large part due to travel scholarships awarded to the students through the Mill Springs PVA.
“I have always been very grateful with the opportunity to attend the PoCC conferences,” said Jaime. “It is a time for personal and professional growth. This year; however, it was different. Having the chance to take other teachers and students with us, made the whole experience much more meaningful.” The student’s from Jaime’s diversity class who attended the conference stated they came back with a new perspective on life and learned ways to address difficult issues associated with race, religion, gender, and learning differences. The students also stated the conference helped them with their self-esteem and taught them better ways to communicate. “There was an array of interesting activities regarding race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and gender,” said Upper student, Alex Hurtsellers. “These activities gave me a needed insight on some things I had never thought about, either out of negligence or ignorance.”
Both the adult and student tracks featured speakers from diverse backgrounds. “Out of all the speakers, I took the most away from Helene Cooper who works for The New York Times as a White House correspondent,” said James Hurtsellers. “Her story is very compelling and inspirational. Helene is a Liberia native, and made an attempt, with her mother and sister, to escape Liberia in 1980. She talked of her journey from living a life of affluence and security to escaping for her very life. Her story of embracing her scarring past really resonated with me.”
MSA student, Scott Collins, entered this photo titled “Tome Coca Cola,” into the Squishy Physics Photo Contest. The contest, run by Fernbank Science Center in conjunction with the Squishy Physics seminar, asked students in grades 7–12 to send in a photo of something that represented ‘squishy.’
Preupper Students do Squishy Physics
What does cooking gourmet food have to do with science? Plenty! Fifteen PreUpper students found this out when they attended the Squishy Physics seminar at
Georgia Tech at the beginning of February. Professors Amy Rowat and Sidney Perkowitz discussed the science behind the cooking techniques being demonstrated by Top Chef All Stars Champion, Richard Blais. Chef Blais and his crew used liquid nitrogen to freeze oysters, “oyster pearls”, and shrimp to change their consistency before adding them to his dishes. Meat was cooked in a warm water bath for twelve hours to achieve the perfect texture. Dr. Rowat said that a benefit of research into this area is a potential new way to isolate cancer cells. Topics presented at this seminar reinforced the topics currently being discussed in Physical Science such as acids, bases, pH, and changes of state.
8 Mill Springs Academy MattersWinter 2013
CoLLEGE ACCEPtANCESCongratulations to the following seniors on their college acceptances:
Justin armenta | Valdosta State University, Reinhardt University,University of West Georgiamichelle Bonin | Reinhardt University, Wesleyan Collegeandrew Cicco | Reinhardt University, Harding Universityaustin Coleman | Benedict College, Young Harris College, Reinhardt University, Piedmont Collegemaddie Connell | Kennesaw State University, Valdosta State University, Young Harris CollegeWest Connor | Reinhardt University, Tusculum Collegephilip early | Georgia Southern University, Young Harris College, Reinhardt UniversityBrandon gildersleve | University of Alabama, Auburn University, Georgia Southern Universityrobert golden | Golf Academy of Americarebecca Henderson | Jacksonville State University, Western Carolina Universitypaul Jarvis | Beacon College, Reinhardt University, University of the OzarksDoug marcotte | Reinhardt Universitymatthew mcnaughton | Maryville College, Brevard CollegeSpencer Murphy | Kennesaw State University, Southern Polytechnic State UniversityMitch Norris | West Virginia Wesleyan CollegeDavid Pardue | Reinhardt UniversityAlex Pawlowski | Reinhardt University, Jacksonville State UniversityMary Short | Lees-McRae College, Kennesaw State UniversityLogan Singleton | Mississippi State UniversityCourtney Sontag | University of Iowa—REACH ProgramMaKinzi Wright | Iowa State University
Representatives from Fulton County Water and the Metropolitan Water District visited Mill Springs to award Rosa with a copy of her essay mounted to a plaque, a water bottle, and a monetary award.
Preupper Student Wins Essay Contest
PreUpper student, Rosa Brown, won the Clean Water Campaign’s essay contest for Fulton County. Rosa’s essay,
titled “Stormwater Pollution in the Grater Atlanta Area,” describes some of the problems the metro area is encountering locally with stormwater runoff. Students in grades 6-8 from fifteen metro Atlanta counties were asked to write a 300–500 word essay about stormwater pollution and prevention. The essays were then reviewed by a subcommittee who chose the best essays from each county.
Mill Springs Academy Matters 9Winter 2013
Junior theater Festival
over 4,000 students from across the country attended this year’s Junior Theatre Festival here in Atlanta on January 18-20. MSA 6th grade drama students James Paxton,
Jack Hurtsellers, Emily Hyman, Nicole Silbert, Maddie Hahn, Natalie Yager, and Steffi Schneider presented an excerpt from Flat Stanley Jr. for the Festival. While there students took workshops by Broadway directors and performers, met special guests such as Alan Menken (composed music for Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Little Mermaid, and others), saw a lot of great theatre, and had a fabulous time! “The Festival’s Broadway judges said our group had captured the audience in their hands by grabbing them with their energy,” said drama teacher Kate McElliott. Middle School student, Jack Hurtsellers, won an award for “Outstanding Male Performer” at the festival (one of about 10 awarded from the 4,000). Other awards received by MSA students included: Jack Hurtsellers and Emily Hyman - “All-Star Performers,” James Paxton and Natalie Yager – “Jr. Slam Performers”, and Natalie Yager was invited to audition for the Disney DVD.
MSA’s 2013 National Geographic Bee champion, Connor Samsky.
Front row- Nicole Silbert, Jack Hurtsellers, and James Paxon. Back row- Maddie Hahn, Steffi Schneider, Natalie Yager, and Emily Hyman.
National Geography Bee
Congratulations to seventh grader, Connor Samsky, for being the 2013 National Geographic Bee champion for MSA! The National Geography Bee is a nationwide contest in which
the first place prize is a $25,000 college scholarship. Connor took a qualifying test to see if he will be chosen to go to the state level bee on April 1 and compete against 100 of the highest scoring students from other Georgia schools. This year’s second place finalist was seventh grader Colby Darr and third place went to eighth grader Colin Wilson. Congratulations to all the students who participated in this year’s bee. Everyone did a great job!
10 Mill Springs Academy Matters Winter 2013
Winter Band Concert
on Friday December 14, the MSA Band performed a true variety of music in The Stallings Theater for MSA friends and families. The Band opened with Jack White’s Seven
Nation Army, and continued with Dream On by Aerosmith, the Batman Theme by Danny Elfman, Afterlife by Avenged Sevenfold, and Good King Joy by The Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Communication Arts Celebrates Native American Culture
With the sound of flutes playing and drums beating, the students of MSA were treated to a full Native American Pow-Wow at the annual Communication Arts Festival
where 7th and 8th grade Communication Arts students dressed as famous Native Americans and gave speeches on their lives. To provide an authentic Native American environment, students from MSA’s Fine Arts Department created brilliantly colored murals of mountains and deserts, totems, giant dream catchers, wigwams, igloos, and Kachina dolls. MSA also hosted over twenty Indian musicians, dancers, and artists dressed in full regalia brought their colorful culture alive with lively performances. Students and staff joined the Native Americans in the Upper School great room to learn the rhythmic steps of their tribal dances and sample foods representative of many tribes, such as succotash and pumpkin soup. Noted Native American flute player and Nammy Award Winner J. J. Kent, a Lakota Sioux from South Dakota also attended the festival where he performed for the group and pitched his tipi in front of the school.
Jacob Smith, a 7th grade student in Communication Arts, prepares to give his presentation about his chosen Native American character, Crazy Horse .
Kay Morrison with renowned Lakota flutist J. J. Kent, Sean Brinkley, Andrew Mengel, and Joey O’Connor in front of J.J. Kent’s tipi. J.J. Kent performed at the festival, and also shared his knowledge of the Lakota culture with attendees at the festival.
CommArts student, Paul Jarvis, prepares for the Winter Band Concert.
PreUpper students Sam Smith, Colin Wilson, and Trey Reid represented MSA at the Future City Engineering Competition held at Southern Polytechnic & State University January 26th. The only national
engineering competition for middle school students, Future City has gained national attention and acclaim for its role in encouraging interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), through hands on applications. Combining research, SimCity4 Deluxe software, and hands on model making Future City helps students discover how they can make a difference in the world by designing a city of the future for 50,000 inhabitants.
The competition in January was the finale of nearly a semester’s worth of work by students in Martha Muir’s ACE class. This year’s topic, “Rethink Runoff,” challenged students to design clean solutions for managing storm water pollution. This year’s MSA team was disappointed not to make the play-offs but was extremely excited to win the Best Use of Nano-Technology award from Microsoft. “A lot of work and focus goes into the competition and the students learn a lot,” said PreUpper Science Teacher, Martha Muir. “We are all very proud of the work our team accomplished this year.”
Trey Reid, Colin Wilson, and Sam Smith present their future city, “Tuolumne,” to a panel of judges at the Future City Engineering Competition.
12 Mill Springs Academy Matters Winter 2013
Wrestling
this year’s wresting team was the largest with over 23 students participating. The team focused on building basic skills which paid off during the GISA 1AAA regionals with many
wrestlers receiving awards in different weight classes. West Connor: 1st place; Adam Robinson and Avi Greene: 2nd place; Johnny Ray and Tim Schultheis: 3rd place. “The team is excited for next year as they look to build upon what they’ve accomplished during the 2013 season,” said Coach Timothy Ray. “Any new students who want to be a member are welcome to join us this summer for a wrestling camp July 8–12, 2013 and a strength and conditioning camp July 29–August 2, 2013.”
Swimming by Coach Victoria Jones
the Mustangs Swim Team traveled to Georgia Tech on February 2nd to compete in the GISA State Championship swim meet, hosted by Mount de Sales and Southland
Academy. This year’s team had six representatives, each of whom worked very hard and diligently to get where they ended up that day. As a whole, the team placed 10th overall in the state for their division. The boys’ varsity relay team, which consisted of Porter Foltz, Andrew Cicco, Matt McNaughton and Peyton Lockwood, finished 5th in their heat. In the individual events, Peyton Lockwood was a serious threat in his races, placing 3rd overall in the 200 IM, 2nd overall in the 100 Breaststroke, and 4th overall in the 500 Free (20 laps—a LONG swim).
The GISA State Championship meet finished the 2nd MSA swim season and the largest so far. The team ended the season in 10th place in their division, and hopes to make an even more impressive showing next year.
Boy’s Basketball
the 2012–2013 Boys Varsity Basketball Season was filled with positive strides in the Championship building process for the Mustangs. The year’s team posted a 5–9 overall record
and ascended to a fourth place finish in both the AAC regular season and AAC Tournament. “I was really proud of what we were able to accomplish this season,” said Coach Phil Hanson. “Our big three—Austin Coleman, Philip Early, and Chandler Holt, paced us all year. I can’t say enough about the efforts of those three as every night, they set the standard for our team. Also, Matt McNaughton and Josh Moore were the glue of the team. Every championship team needs role players and these two guys epitomized our team first approach.”
This year’s team accomplished many notable things including posting their fourth final four appearance in the AAC Tournament as well as beating Brandon Hall for the first time at Brandon Hall since the 2006–2007 season.
Girl’s Basketball by Coach Carlos Colon
this year’s Lady Mustangs ended their season with
a 2:8 record. And even though the wins vs. losses don’t directly show it, the girls had an incredible season. They all showed superb effort and grit and worked hard at every game regardless of the score. We focused this year on skill building and I was proud to see that everyone was committed to making nightly practices as well as some weekends and even holidays. Although this year’s team did not have a strong showing in the tournament, the Lady Mustangs played hard and were much more competitive than when they began the season. I’m definitely looking forward to next season and building upon our progress.
SPoRtS
West Conner pinning his opponent from Brandon Hall within seconds of the match beginning at the GISA 1AAA Region tournament.
Dera Anueyiagu (#12) on offense against Brandon Hall.
In front of another MSA sellout crowd, Mustangs’ Chandler Holt takes the ball to rack against AO as Philip Early intently goes to the glass.
Mill Springs Academy Matters 13Winter 2013
upper Students Earn SCAD Awards
Savannah College of Art and Design has awarded Upper School students Alexander Hurtsellers and Jessica Lublin each Silver Key awards in the 90th Scholastic Art & Writing
Awards for their poetry submissions. Gold and Silver Key work will be featured in an exhibition at SCAD Atlanta on March 8-22. Alex’s poem was titled, “Sam & Julia” while Jessica’s was “Ghost of a Memory, Stay for the Day”. The notification we received stated, “these students exude such talent and passion for the arts.” They will be honored at a ceremony on March 23 at SCAD Atlanta. Congratulations to them both!
Upper students Alexander Hurtsellers and Jessica Lublin.
All-Select Middle Chorus
MSA middle schoolers Natalie Yager and Emily Hyman attended the GISA All-Select Honors Chorus at Mount De Sales Academy in Macon, GA on February 9th and
10th. Natalie and Emily, along with other honors chorus students from across the state, worked with Dr. Carol Krueger from Emporia State University to learn five, three-part choral selections for a concert on Sunday. A CD was made of their performance and clips may be featured on MSA’s web site in the near future...so stay tuned!
Director Dr. Carol Krueger leads the All-Select Honors Chorus (includ-ing MSA students Emily Hyman and Natalie Yager in the alto section)in their final rehearsal.
CommArts teacher Jay Hudson and MSA’s STAR Student, Emily Chastain.
MSA’s StAR Student/teacher
Congratulations to Senior, Emily Chastain, who has been named Mill Springs Academy’s STAR Student for the 2012–2013 school year. Emily
selected CommArts Teacher, Jay Hudson, as her STAR Teacher. The state STAR program is coordinated by the Professional Association of Georgia Educators in association with the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program honors Georgia’s outstanding high school seniors and the teachers who have been most instrumental in their academic development. To obtain the STAR nomination, high school seniors must have the highest score on the test date on the three-part SAT taken through the November test date of their senior year and be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their class based on GPA. Congratulations to both Emily and Jay!
Annual Fund 2012–2013
CurrentParents
Staff/FacultyBoard of Trustrees
CurrentParents
NewParents
Annual Fund 2012–2013the annual Fund is the most important gift our parents, board, and faculty/ staff are asked to make to the school each year. this year’s goals are:n Raise $250,000n Receive 100% participation from our entire school family
(parents, board, faculty/staff )Please join the following list of families and individuals who have already shown their support to the school by making a gift or pledge. REMEMBER…participation means a gift of any size!
14 Mill Springs Academy Matters Winter 2013
Daniel and Christine AbernethyCarol and Tarpley AdamsMichael and Kim AdamsSamuel AdamsPhilip and Cynthia AgcaoiliGez and Donna AgolliCarmen AllenIvan Allen IVNina AltmanKevin and Kimbrel ArculeoJoe and Fran ArenaHoward and Colleen AustinCarolina Ayerbe and Damian FarrierTim and Leigh Ann AyresHeather BaileyDavid and Janet BainDennis and Jackie BarbarePaul and Mary BarkleyJerry and Janet BarnettElaine BarronJanice BartonLaura BartonNathan and Ann BeardTimothy and Lynise BeardGretchen BeckChristopher Behr and Bette JonesGarey and Kim BellStanley and Marcia BellGarry and Kathy BerardiMark and Cathy BermanMatt and Virginia BillipsGregory BodeepJohn and Kelly BonannoRussell and Jill BondsJoey and Dolores BoninJoseph and Claudette BoninWill and Jackie BorderRandy and Rita BotnickBruce and Deena BowersMike and Bette Rose BowersJohn and Barbara Bowler
Steve and Trish BoyerKaren and Justin BradleyRichard Brandt and Carmen NeyraMark and Pam BrasherJudith BrickMargaret and Robert BritoJeff and Traci BrownJeffrey and Jessica BrownLisa BrownScott and Michele BrownEric BrownBruce and Marie BrownlowDoris BryantJames and Coleen BryantBuckhead UniformsBill and Lori BudwitzErin BuiceDon and Kim BunkerDerek and Mindy BushRon and Sharon BushBrian and Lisa BuxtonMonte and Pam CagleGrier and Ashley CampbellWayne Carey and Yvonne SatterwhiteDaniel and Deb CarmodyAndrew and Jinny CarterJulie CasselNicholas and Margaret CetoDon and Bev ChapmanJan ChastainHeidi ChisholmWayne and Beth ChiuClaire and John ChristersonBob and Ruth Ann ClaninMark and Heather ClarkFran ClineEd and Jill CocoMark and Sheila CohenAustin ColemanDarryl and Teri ColemanJim Coleman
Joyce ColemanLynda ColemanGrant and Susan CollingsworthFrances CollinsRichard and Leslie CollinsCarlos ColonJoe and Judy ComisClarence and Anne ConkinChris and Trisha ConlinJessica and Mark ConnellGreg and Frances ConnorSteven and Heidi CookStevi Cordie and Sheldon GloritCharlie and Laura CovertMichael CowanDean and Alice CowartJohn and Cheri CoyleAlan and Cathy CrowleyBob and Mary CullertonJohn and Julia CullertonJohn and Sylvia CutchinRobert and Penny DaigleTom and Martha DallugeArthur and Kathy DarrLarry and Laura DavenportRobert and Patricia DavisBarbara DaySusan DayKimberly DeHartPeter and Lorrie DeSantisJorge Diaz and Karen HallockBruce and Sylvia DickRalph and Gina DiClementeMonica DiodaJudy DistlerThomas and Debbie DobbsBrian and Lara DolanJim DolanLarry and Karen DomenicoJeff and Amy DurhamDon and Barbara DurocherJohn and Leslie DyerCarolyn EarlyJae and Lee Ann EarlyJodi Easter-Smith and Bruce SmithJulian and Liane EdgeDexter and Kimpy EdgeVictor and Josephine EkworomaduBrittany EmgeMark and Shannon EncingerChris and Kathy Espinosa
Tom and Virginia EwartJamie and Valerie FambroughFrank and Jean FarrellFrank and Cece FarrellKris and Scott FarrellDan and Susan FaulkSheila and John FitzGeraldBob and Gail FlaminiTom and Gail FlaniganHugh and Robyn FlaxConnie FloydJeff and Claire FoltzJanet and Scott FordDonna FosterJim FosterJean FraserLance and Susan FriedlandDavid and Stephanie GaitanSue and Gerry GarrickColleen Garrick-BissacaStanley GersonRobert and Patty GoldenBobby and Lainy GoldsteinChip and Lora GonzalesLeonard and Deborah GoodelmanPete and Leigh GoodwynBilly and Gail GordonSusan GossDaniel and Maritza GraciaJohn and Joy GrayFred and Lauren GreenDavid and Kerry GreeneJack and Lala GreeneSheila GregoryMichael and Meredith GriffethJerry and Sally GrossRael and Vicki GrosswaldJaime GutierrezKatie and Mike HadawayPaul HagedornBrad and Tracy HahnRandy and Sandra HainLamar and Arista HallFred and Lynn HannaPhil HansonGary and Annette HarmonSteven and Sandy HarrellDonald and James HarrisAnn HartinCheri and Jim HarwoodScott and Linda Hayman
Mill Springs Academy Matters 15Winter 2013
Paul and Dawn HazzardThomas and Lee HealeyJennifer Heiner and Tim GustafsonChad and Michelle HendrenJoseph HendrixWayne and Brenda HerringtonJosh HerskoAnnette HigginsAnne and Jeff HollandMichael and Vicky HoltDarren and Stacy HorstJim HudsonJay and Vicki HudsonBranigan and James HughesJim and Elizabeth HughesSirka HummelAmy and Matt HurstJames and Christine HurtsellersBarry and Sylvia HymanBryant and Kim IsaacsWalter and Theresa JaneczkoDick and Janna JanesSteve and Wendy JensenStan and Cristy JohnsonHank JonesLaurie and Will JonesTaniah JonesVictoria Jones and Dave FairleyKaty Kane and Keith RateliffDavid KatzStanley and Rosalyn KayeJoan KeeneBetty and Danny KellenbergerMarilynn KelmGreg and Amy KernEric and Chris KiserKristen KlettShannon and Patrick KochAndy and Lori KogoyJennifer and Lou KramerGail and G. Paul KreherSteve and Deb KushnickJack and Margaret LangfordAndy and Helaine LaskySally A. LeFevreJay and Lisa LibanLaura LinkArthur and Barbara LiskerEd and Laura LittleRobert and Kristi LockwoodWilton and Martha LooneyJuan Lopez-CarrionPeter and Michele LublinRobin LucasAnthony and Kelly LynchJason and Stephanie MackTom and Edye MahaffeyAndrew and Kim MaichleNeil and Leslie MannaBill and Anita MarcoLisa MarcotteNorman and Simone MarinoffRichard and Colleen MarshallMichael and Ashley MartinRob and Julie Martin
Rafael MartinezMike and Nancy MattoxScott and Wendy MayMichael and Barbara McCarthyMatt McConnellJeff and Carrie McCormickWalter and Sammye McCrearyHershel and Carolyn McCroanRoss and Cindy McCulloughKate and Don McElliottErin McGeePatrick and Tammy McHughDoug and Melanie McNaughtonHisham and Christa MenkaraKenneth and Sandra MeyersBob and Addie MonetteCarl and Robin MooreDonna and Patrick MooreDoug and Donna MooreDrewry MooreRobert MooreRobert and Laurie MorellaKaren MorrisScott and Caroline MorrisKay and Cliff MorrisonMarianne Morris-Velez and Andy PaulusAndreas and Lynn MowinckelMartha A. MuirKeith and Kathy MumaChristopher MurphyMark and Karen MurphyTammy MurphyAngel and Dan MurrBill and Neely MusgraveJeff and Leah NedblakeCarissa and Kevin NelsonRob and Winona NewmanA.E. and Georgia NivisonJackie NoonanJim and Judy NorrisEd and Sally NorthRochelle and Vic NorthrupJohn and Frances O’BrienJerome and Sharyol O’ConnorDanny and Cinda O’KeefeMeryl OliphantTom and Amy OlneyRobert and April OmohundroAdam and Amy OrkinMetin and Nalan OzisikA.G. and Patricia PalmoreAlan and Lisa PalmoreJimmy and Nancy ParkerDarla ParkeyJohn and Liz ParksGene and Ute PartainMatt Partain and Yoke Ching WongScott and Danyelle PaulWilliam and Christina PaxtonMichael and Janine PearmanScott and Amy PeeplesBob and Fran PenningtonScott and Kathy PettyBrian and Julie PhillipsEd and Diane Phillips
Linda PikeDavid and Lezlie PipesElizabeth PlastiakDavid and Luanne PorperStephen and Ruth PosnerShawn and Tracey RaeAngela and Corey RagsdaleVaidehi and Murthy RallapalliMary and Felipe RamirezJames and Elizabeth RankinTimothy RayJim and Beth ReavesLou ReavesEric and Chrissie ReedWayne and Ginger ReidWayne and Rubye ReidKenneth and Sherrie ReishMartin and Ralda ReishRussell and Lisa ReynoldsPhilip Rhodes and Melissa AdamsLavone RippeonMary Frances RoachMichael and Debra RobertsonStacy and Cliff RobinsonGene and Edna RobinsonShelley RobinsonSherry and Terry RobinsonEdward and Marsha RoepeColin and Beverley RogoffTom and Ellen RoperPatrick RoseEd and Tanya RosenblattDoug and Cindy RossEric and Stacey RothbergRuth and Irwin RothchildCarol and Rick RothschildDavid and Ali RubensteinJames and JoAnn SampsonLouise and Brett SamskyDavid and Lana SamskySusan and Errol SandersJeff and Anne SargentShawna SarverBrian and Terry SchiffTom and Nancy SchmidtThomas and Marge SchmidtMike and Ingrid SchneiderDirk and Carol SchraderAndy and Jeanette SchultheisMike and Carla SchultheisBruce and Alisa SedaccaPat and Patricia ShannonAndrew and Marie SharpRonnie and Paulette SherrillStuart and Cameron SherrillJohn and Lynn ShipesPaul and Mary ShlantaBrian and Patty ShortHelen ShusterRussell and Traci ShusterDavid and Elisa SiegelWendy SilvermanDon and Beth SingletonTenessa SingletonWalter and Kim Site
Ann Marie Skinner and Gary FanninBob and Beryle SlaydenMark SmallAaron and Robyn SmithDan and Rhonda SmithDavid and Caroline SmithGil Smith and Judy ShurlingJoe and Jill SmithLee and JoEllen SmithLeila and Rusty SmithMike and Sharon SmithPaul and Pam SmithRussell and Courtney SmithMitch and Paulette SolisThomas and Sandra SpahrGene and Virginia SparlinJohn Speir and Mary SamsTim and Julie StacyChristine StanleyJeff and Karen StanleyDavid and Lisa StarrGary and Jackie SteffeyOB StokesStan and Diana StokeyWayne and Deborah SuperHarold and Donna SupperJohn and Alison SweeneyTom and Deanie SweeneyKathleen SwiftBill and Cheryl SyrettBill and Sherry TaylorBill and Sylvia TaylorPatrick and Renee ThomasCindy ThorneRoberto TijerinaJim TorranceCynthia Traylor and Daniel DeleveauxAnthony and Jeneane TreaceWilliam and Molly TurnerHector TurradoChris and Angela VealJerry and Judith VolcyRobert Volk and Debra Kay-VolkBetty WagnerHoward and Kathy WaitsAl and Wilma WalkerAugust and Shirley WalkerTom Walker and Suzanne MoonJohnny WalkerKeith and Angela WalshHeather WaringLarry and Danyse WeinbergJon and Ruthann WeissCharlotte WheelerJoseph and Jacqueline WickleyBill and Judy WilkesDavid and Beth WilsonGeorge and Carole WilsonSkip and Dixie WilsonRichard and Melanie WingBrad WolffBrad and Betsy WolffGary and Krista YagerSandra Zelley and Dwight LongJonathan Zimring
13660 New Providence Road Alpharetta, GA 30004-3413(770) 360-1336 www.millsprings.org
MSA administers a non-discriminatory policy of admissions.
Success in SChooL … Success in LIFE
MILL SPRINGS ACADEMY
Matters
If a student can’t learn the way we teach…we should teach the way a student can learn.
