Student Spotlights (October 21)

Alabama’s U.S. Representative Jerry Carl toured The Academy at Fairhope Airport as part of #NationalAviationWeek. The Academy is home to Baldwin County Public Schools aviation program for high school students who are interested in a career in the aviation industry.
Carl toured the facility which offers three programs: electrical & instrumentation, welding and aircraft maintenance with Superintendent Eddie Tyler, representatives from Coastal Alabama Community College, Renee Carter Dean of BCBE Academics, Kendall Mowdy & Tiffany Plato BCBE CTE programs and aviation program instructors. The program is in partnership with Coastal Alabama Community College.

Baldwin County Sheriff’s Deputy Sixto Boyer serves as the School Resource Officer at Pine Grove Elementary School in north Baldwin County. On a recent day, he also taught the kindergarten classes about community helpers. “Their smiles tell it all,” Boyer wrote in a social media post he shared. “They enjoyed very much and I had fun.”

On August 27, Bayside Academy hosted a tailgate for new families and new faculty members on the bluff before the home football game against Houston Academy. This outdoor celebration provided an opportunity for camaraderie and socialization between our newest Admiral families. Pictured, Christopher DeLaney ’36, Grace DeLaney, and John DeLaney at the New Family Tailgate. Christopher’s father, Dr. Wilson DeLaney, graduated from Bayside in 2009.

Pirates CAN do anything they set their minds to! Paxton Rogers in Mrs. Hayes’ second grade class presented Mrs. Lucas with a large collection of aluminum can tabs! These tabs will be taken to the Ronald McDonald House in Mobile to support their outreach to local families of hospitalized children. Thank you, Paxton!

Distinguished Young Woman of Baldwin County hosted the Be Your Best Self Boot Camp and Boot Camp Elite at Coastal Alabama Community College. The boot camp program stresses the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, as well as promoting literacy, physical fitness, and community service. Special thanks to Chelcey Myrick with Yoga with Chelcey for leading a yoga class to start off camp.

Each year, the 8th grade students and teachers are asked to identify students who most consistently model Christian leadership; those chosen make up the Leadership Team. Congratulations to the 2021-22 Christ the King Catholic School Leadership Team.

Mrs. Vivar’s first grade students love coming to the library to discover new books. They chose to celebrate “Feel Good Friday” by making cards for Mrs. Frank and Mrs. Moore to thank them for always helping find just the right book. J. Larry Newton’s first graders challenge you to ask yourself, “What can you do to make someone else feel good this week?”

Thank you to all of the Bayshore Christian School students & families for their support in our Hurricane Ida Relief Drive. We collected 950 non-perishable food items that will be taken by a local church to Louisiana!

Advanced Art II students at St. Michael are working diligently on their still life projects, under the direction of Jessa Pippin. We can’t wait to see their masterpieces!

Mrs. Kier and Mrs. Hattaway’s 6th grade social studies classes at Fairhope West Elementary concluded their unit on the Industrial Revolution by creating mock Model T cars in an assembly line.

Students in Katie Williams’ 4th grade class at Bay Minette Elementary are practicing using synergy. The students had 10 minutes to plan their tower, and once the work began they couldn’t use their voice to communicate in any way. The tallest tower at the end of 10 minutes wins!

ESL student at Old Shell is using appropriate learning strategies to construct academic vocabulary, and she’s practicing writing skills.

We’ve got spirit, how ‘bout you? Students and teachers had a great homecoming week at Robertsdale Elementary. Go Bears!

Mrs. McFeely’s class at Daphne East Elementary School were learning about slow changes to land. Weathering and erosion cause slow changes. Friday they made their own hoodoos.

The fifth grade classes at Perdido School are so excited to see baby caterpillars in their Jill Jones Pollinator Garden. Last year’s fifth grade classes helped to prepare the garden for pollinators of all kinds, but students are especially hopeful to see Monarch eggs and caterpillars. The school plans on hosting a Monarch tag and release for the butterflies that they help to raise in the coming months.
The butterfly garden was installed to honor the memory of Gifted teacher Jill Jones who died earlier this year due to cancer. The garden was designed by teacher Danielle Brown and under her direction, the students assisted in placing all the components. Other contributors included Laura Smith with Baldwin County Soil and Water Conservation, Maureen Phillips, and Carol Lovell-Saas with Biophilia Nature Center Nursery.

The Baldwin County Board of Education recognized Kellen Lincoln for her selection as President of the Alabama South District FFA. Taking part in the presentation included, from left, Superintendent Eddie Tyler, Kellen Lincoln, School Board member Mike Johnson, and Kendall Mowdy, Career Tech Director.
Kellen Lincoln is a junior at Baldwin County High School where she has been actively involved with FFA since her 9th grade year when she attended her first Alabama FFA State Convention. In that first year she competed in many FFA events that include FFA Creed speaking contest, FFA livestock judging and showing livestock. Kellen served as BCHS FFA Secretary during her sophomore year (2020-2021) while attending virtual school and coming to BCHS for her Intermediate Agriscience class so she could be an active member of her FFA Chapter. Kellen also continued her livestock showing projects, competed in the FFA public speaking contest where she finished in first place at the county level, first place at the south district FFA competition and went on to compete in the State FFA contest in public speaking. Kellen also competed in State Livestock judging and did extremely well. During her sophomore year she participated in District Officer interviews where she was awarded the Alabama FFA South District president.
Kellen is part owner in Lincoln Cattle Company where she raises her own cattle and has a custom meat business where she sells packaged beef. While serving as our South District FFA President, she makes visits to other chapters in the district doing informative presentations about the FFA. “Kellen has a very active role in agriculture by severing our local FFA as Junior Advisor, assisting in helping our FFA members train show calves and running her farm where she has cattle and chickens,” said FFA sponsor David Garrett. “Kellen is an excellent role model for our students and we are happy to have her as a member of BCHS FFA.” Andy Jones also serves as a sponsor for the FFA at Baldwin County High School.

Congratulations to Bayside Academy seniors Ty Hartman, David Klimjack, Angus Ladd, Ben VanDerHeyden, and Walker Watson for being named National Merit Semifinalists! As semifinalists, Ty, David, Angus, Ben, and Walker have the opportunity to continue in the National Merit competition.
According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, “High school juniors entered the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.”

Ms. Kearney’s first graders at Fairhope West Elementary explore earth’s landforms by making Play-Doh maps.

Mrs. Keenan is the best! 3rd graders in Miss Bishop’s class at Foley Elementary School took a virtual fieldtrip to Africa, Asia, and the Amazon!

Football fever has infected St. Michael Catholic High school! We are proud of our hardworking team and are off to a great start. Go Cardinals!

Christ the King Catholic School eight grader, Bryce Marston,was named as the Superintendent’s Leadership Award recipient for 2021-22. Bryce is pictured with Mrs. McDuff, CTKCS assistant principal, Mrs. Garlock, CTKCS principal, and Mrs. Quint, CTKCS guidance counselor.

Students at Bayshore Christian School just finished reading The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins! They have been working on sharing, following directions, making cookies, and being kind! They shared their hard work with our admin team and Head of School! Thank you, Mrs. Chapman, Mrs. Dodd, and students for the delicious treat!

Students in Bayside Academy’s Early Childhood Center experience the wonder found on the shores of Mobile Bay as part of the Boots by the Bay program.Pictured, Bayside Academy’s PK4 students on the shores of Mobile Bay.

Silverhill Elementary School had a surprise visit during drop off. Thank you, Robertsdale High School Bear Nation and Robertsdale High School Cheer. What a great way for our students to start their day. Go Bears!

Please join us this National Arts Education Week in celebrating the many students across our Gulf Shores City School system who celebrated science through the arts by submitting artwork portraying their favorite scientists as superheroes like chemist Marie Curie holding a radium orb, astronaut José Hernandez gazing at the stars from the fields, and so many more. Thank you to the extraordinary support from the Gulf Coast Arts Alliance of Gulf Shores and Coastal Arts Center of Orange Beach. At Gulf Shores Elementary, Daniel Mihaluta took the prize for Best in Show! At Gulf Shores Middle School, Ari Gilbert won 1st place, Harley Barnhill won 2nd place, Miles Derstine won 3rd place, and Amalie Walker won honorable mention! At Gulf Shores High School, Evelina Holovian won 1st place, Masha Turkic won 2nd place, Ocean Honsvick won 3rd place, and Anna Kathryn Russel won honorable mention!

Mrs. Small’s 9th grade English classes at Fairhope High used watercolors to create images to represent different settings in To Kill a Mockingbird this week.

Ms. Marsh’s class at Daphne Elementary School was synergizing today while learning about fiction and nonfiction.

Swift Consolidated Elementary Kindergartners are learning how to work in centers. They are learning fine motor skills and literacy skills! Centers are activities located in specific areas around the classroom. Often, each specific area is also referred to as a center. The time period on the school schedule for these activities is also often called centers. Children work in small groups during center time, and they can also work independently.

Congrats to cadet Ashlynn Simmons! Each year, the Legion of Valor of the United States of America, Inc., an organization made up solely of recipients of the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, and the Air Force Cross presents the Legion of Valor Bronze Cross for Achievement Award. It is the highest award a Navy Junior ROTC cadet can earn. The medal is awarded annually to outstanding cadets for achievement of excellence in military, scholastic and civic affairs, as well as to stimulate development of leadership. To be eligible, nominees must be a member of the junior class and enrolled in his/her third year of NJROTC, have a NJROTC class standing within the top 25 percent, have a school academic standing in the top 25 percent of the junior class, and have demonstrated outstanding military leadership qualities. These are the official minimum standards but note that Robertsdale High School NJROTC is a member of Area 8 which includes 49 schools and over 5,000 cadets from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Florida panhandle. According to regulations, nominees are recommended to their respective Area Manager who can select only two cadets per year. This year’s selection is Cadet Ashlynn Simmons. Cadet Simmons is ranked number one in her class and carries a GPA of 4.47. She currently serves as the Battalion Executive Officer responsible for the daily requirements of 170 cadets and previously served as the Battalion Supply Officer responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars of government uniforms, textbooks, equipment, and property. She is a member of the school’s National Honor Society, the Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society, and the National Society of High School Scholars. She has twice been named class president, is the varsity golf team’s captain, and was a member of the varsity volleyball team for the past three years. Continuing the tradition, four years in a row, a cadet from Robertsdale High School has received this highest honor.

Middle School students are enjoying the use of Perdido School’s new “MakerSpace.” The makerspace is a hands-on area in the library where students can construct and share personal inventions and creative artifacts using new media. The students have created an ordering system whereby staff can place orders for vinyl cutouts and 3D projects using a Silhouette vinyl cutter and 3D printer. The makerspace is aligned with curriculum and can be measured with learning objectives. Members of the 7th grade group and one of their first “customers” display some of the creations. Current participants include seventh graders Sadie Wiggins, Sarah Redmon, Lydia Redmon, Balian Allen and BW Slay; and eighth graders Hayden Drew, Carley New, Savannah Stewart, Brycen Stewart and Jayln Threadgill. Teacher Holly Whidbee is the sponsor.

Wednesday, August 18, 2021, kicked off St. Benedict Catholic School’s first day of school and the start of its 100th school year.
If you have recently driven by the 100-year-old campus on Illinois Street, chances are you may not have recognized it. The former red brick exterior was refreshed over the summer with an immaculate paint job that now reflects the bright and inviting interior.
The small private school also starts the school year with a brand-new state-of-the-art gymnasium after its predecessor suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Sally leaving it inoperable.
“Between Hurricane Sally and COVID – St. Benedict had a trying year. But now we are back and better than ever,” said Dr. Kathy McCool, SBCS Principal.
Across the campus, St. Benedict students in 2nd – 8th grade started the school year with brand new Chromebooks to master skills from basic keyboarding to coding that are a necessity in the technologically advanced world we live in.
“St. Benedict Catholic School is the best of both worlds,” said Rachel Kaiser, whose child attends St. Benedict. “It has the rich history and tradition of a 100-year institution and the technology and modern amenities for a first-class education in the 21st century.”
And, next up for St. Benedict is a brand-new fence and reinforced field where students love to play. These upgrades will be completed shortly after the start of school for students to enjoy all year round.

Over 1.5 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® or ACT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. Fairhope High is proud to announce that they have a National Merit Finalist! Congratulations to DAVIS AMARE on this outstanding accomplishment!

One of Mrs. Kavanaugh’s 2nd graders at Baldwin County Virtual Elementary School enjoyed learning about slow changes of the earth!

First graders in Holly James’ class at Bay Minette Elementary are enjoying learning with their Reading centers. Centers are a great way for students to practice skills independently once they have learned the skills in whole group and small group settings.

Anna Hunt’s 6th grade Social Studies class at Spanish Fort Middle is learning about Industrialization using Monopoly. This is a fun educational opportunity incorporating education in the lesson.

St. Benedict Catholic School (SBCS) has officially reached a milestone that few institutions achieve. On September 6, the small private school celebrated its 100th anniversary. SBCS first opened its doors in Elberta on September 6, 1921. That first year, sixty children attended in 1st – 8th grade and were taught reading, math, religion, and German. School was dismissed in early May to allow the children to work the farms.
“A lot of things have changed at St. Benedict since we first opened our doors one hundred years ago,” said Dr. Kathleen McCool, Principal of St. Benedict. “But what hasn’t changed is our dedication to inspiring young lives to pray, serve, lead and succeed.”
Pictured, St. Benedict School Catholic Centennial planning committee members met Sept. 7th to finalize details for the upcoming mass. L to R Front: Owen Corcoran and Tim Russell. Back: Jeff Keener, Tiffany Goldschmidt, Marge Keller, Joyce Gaar, Sally McKinney, Sandy Russell, Kathy McCool, John Schumacher.

The Miss Shrimp Festival Pageant was held on Saturday, September 11. 114 girls around Baldwin County participated. Many girls represented Orange Beach Elementary School. The contestants brought in canned goods to help fill Blessing Boxes around our county. Isabella Bryant, Landry Mead, and Blakely Walker brought in over 4,000 canned goods to help our community.

Mornings down the Pine Grove Elementary kindergarten hall are full of Leader in Me and high-quality engaging phonics instruction! Our K-Babies love singing songs to start off their lessons! In Mrs. Jessica Owens Sprouse’s room the kiddos were singing the “There’s a Leader in Me” song with their 7 habits during morning meeting! AND In Mrs. Sara Katherine Cooper’s class the students were singing the “Better Alphabet Song”!

Career day/Community helper day was a lot of fun with Ayres Kindergarten at Daphne East Elementary School.

Florence B. Mathis Elementary School students are learning how to play the African drums in Mrs. Engell’s music class.

Students at Pine Grove Elementary in the 4th grade have been busy with their Energy and Collision science unit! They built rollercoasters and reflected on all of the forces at play that made them either successful or not. The students loved experimenting through trial and error and being able to advance their thoughts into longer and more complex coasters.

Ms. Walding’s class at Loxley Elementary School has been learning about different places in the community and jobs around town. You can tell by the pictures that Piggly Wiggly in Loxley happens to be one of our sweet friend’s favorite places! A visit from the Pig and a bag full of goodies is what makes the community of Loxley (and especially the Piggly Wiggly) so great and inclusive!

It was a BEARY special day in kindergarten on Friday September 10! Our littlest Pirates had a wonderful teddy bear day and explored data and graphing!

The Patriotic Rosary was offered on September 10 by Christ the King Catholic School students in grades 5-8 for those who lost their lives on 9-11-01 and for those still affected today by those events.

Bayside Academy celebrated Homecoming Week from September 13–17 ahead of the Homecoming football game on September 17 against T.R. Miller. Students had themed out-of-uniform dress up days all week to encourage school spirit.
Pictured, Bayside Academy fourth-grade students Harper and Hinleigh Hall were all dressed up for Disney Day during Homecoming Week.

Mrs. Melton’s third graders are learning all about the successful habits through the Leader in Me program at J. Larry Newton School. This week’s habit is Synergizing. They were challenged to work together to build the tallest structure possible with their STEAM bin materials!

Bayshore Christian School added 3 new houses to our House System. Upper School students participate in games, leadership, service, & fellowship throughout the year to build community between students. Traditions remain a huge part of our House System. Each house provides opportunities for student fellowship, service, leadership, and discipleship across grades in the Logic and Rhetoric School.

The Bayshore Christian senior economics class created a game to teach basic economics to our Grammar School. The game is called “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” The students had to choose between two choices. Every choice had a price. Even free ones had a cost, whether it’s money or time.

A Big shout out to Kaci Hardman and Pelicans Nest for helping our 6th graders build a prototype of a drifter. Student discussed how pollution in our oceans could be reduced by using a drifter to help collect trash that could be removed. They continued using the engineering design process by working together to make a plan, create, test, and improve their own prototype. Several of our students’ successful prototypes were chosen to be submitted to Dauphin Island Sea Lab for further testing and analysis. How exciting! They all had a great time!

Mrs. Menas’s AP Chemistry students at Spanish Fort High conducted a lab in which they gathered and analyzed data to determine the Empirical Formula of a compound.

Mrs. Riel’s class at Daphne Elementary School learned about the movement of water from high to low on the Earth.

The Sports Medicine Intermediate Class at Baldwin County High School would like to thank our Career Coach Mrs. Kellie Isbell for coming and presenting on interview skills. The students will use this information presented today for their mock interviews next week.

Eighth grader Chloe Pitard from Elberta Middle School, and eighth grader Brenda Laurin Garcia Monroy from Foley Middle School, were chosen as the Baldwin EMC Shining Star Students for the months of August and September, respectively. Chloe and Brenda were nominated for displaying integrity, innovation, accountability and commitment to the community.

6th grade team has fun celebrating 6th Social Studies finishing learning about westward expansion!

The Sailing Team at St. Michael Catholic High School had a “Try it Out” day recently to introduce the sport of sailing to our younger Cardinals so the team stays strong well into the future!

Students at Delta Elementary in kindergarten class learned to identify and verbalize feelings and emotions in counseling class this week. Each student created a work of art depicting something that makes them happy.

Congratulations to Spanish Fort Elementary School’s AMAZING Coach Beech for receiving the Alabama State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (ASAHPERD) Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year! This is so well deserved and a wonderful accomplishment! We are so happy to celebrate Coach Carrie Busby Beech!

Robertsdale Elementary School’s Mrs. Simmons’ class is working together to complete a text feature scavenger hunt and then coding robots to the correct answer.

Miss Davis’s Kindergarten class at Foley Elementary School had a creatively fun time exploring the letter “C” this week. They wrote with cream, counted and wrote about cookies. They may have even eaten a few.

SBCT Carpentry students are off to a great school year. They are putting their newly acquired safety and tool skills to good use.

Mrs. Smith’s second graders at Fairhope West Elementary spent 20 days building their reading stamina muscles. And guess what?! We read 20 minutes or more 13 out of the 20 days! Whoop, whoop! We are ready to start Reading Rotations!

The students in Ms. Clarke’s class at Daphne High School Trojans are familiarizing themselves with the Periodic Table. From the Atomic Structure Cookie Lab to Periodic Table Battleship, students are learning groups, periods, atomic numbers, and more in an interactive way! Go Trojans!

Congratulations! Belforest Elementary has our first National Elementary Honor Society class. Our chapter is affiliated with National Junior Honor Society and the National Honor Society. Students are inducted based on scholarship, service, responsibility, and leadership.

The House Council of St. Michael Catholic High School led a successful drive to gather hurricane relief supplies to send south Louisiana. We are proud of these Cardinals that care!

Belforest Elementary 6th Grade students are using the scientific method to test temperatures in soil and water based on heat exposure. Collaboration! Inquiry-based learning!

Silverhill Elementary School would like to thank the Silverhill students, staff, and community members for showing their “Love for Louisiana.” We received so many donations and filled up two cars. Thanks to Robertsdale High School for delivering these items to the communities that were drastically impacted by Hurricane Ida.

Students from Daphne High School Key Club, Girls Service Club, and National Honor Society are making envelopes for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program’s “Thinking of You” Week. The RSVP has created handmade cards to send out to Baldwin County seniors to let them know they are being thought about.

The students in Mr. Harrison’s Robotics class at Fairhope High are improving their coding skills by programming an Arduino micro-controller to regulate and control a multi-colored LED diode.

Thank you to everyone who sent in items for the Hurricane Ida Relief at Rockwell Elementary! The National Honor Society was able to collect and donate a bunch on behalf of Rockwell!