October 2023 Student Spotlights

Fairhope East students are de LIGHTed to have received a new set of Shine-a-Light books and flashlights thanks to a grant supported by the Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation! Shining a flashlight behind the pages of these books reveals hidden pictures and information. 

Pine Grove Elementary School has received some much needed donations from the Built on A Solid Foundation. Alicia Hooks, Foundation’s Community Specialist, helped deliver the school supplies to Principal Pamela Moorer, School Counselor Katlyn George and Mackenzie Lee, PGES Social Worker. Principal Moorer said she is grateful to the Foundation “for providing donations to our students to ensure they have the tools they need to have a successful school year. Mr. Lester James, Jr., Executive Director, Ms. Alicia Hooks, Community Specialist, and the entire foundation, we express our gratitude for your help and support of our scholars.” *Courtesy PGES 

Students at Bay Minette Elementary School were treated to a special visit from Police Chief Al Tolbert and K9 Officer Jax. The duo visited numerous classrooms and students and faculty enjoyed the interactions with Jax. Chief Tolbert said it was a great day spent with students and teachers. Jax joined the Bay Minette Police Department in 2019. The black lab is trained in narcotics detection and tracking. The department was able to acquire Jax thanks to generous donations from local businesses and individuals. Chief Tolbert said they plan to visit other local elementary schools and nursing homes in the coming weeks. 

St. Michael Catholic High School recently announced their 2023 Homecoming Court. These girls were presented at the Homecoming football game on September 21st. Congratulations! Pictured from left to right: Freshman; Jamison Daughtery, Harper Marston, Sophomores: Claire Cotney, Nora Pavao, Juniors: Lizzie Ford, Lily Kerbl, Mary Lacy Vought, Seniors: Townes Bowman, Molly Brown, Elisa Christensen, Mary Hart Watson.

Congratulations to BCS Sophomore Jeffrey Johnson for earning the CLT10 2022-2023 Distinguished Scholar! 

On September 11th, fifth-grade students at CTKCS were invited to the Blue Mass at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile. This Mass is in honor of all people in public safety. This Mass is a beautiful tradition for our fifth-grade students to attend.  

Christ the King Catholic School students competed in the Knights of Columbus Soccer Challenge. Students ages 9 were eligible to compete during their P.E. class. They will go on to compete at different levels based on their scores. We can’t wait to see our soccer stars compete at the next level and make it to the championship! 

Congratulations to BCS Senior Cole Edwards, who is our National Merit Scholar this year! 

On Friday, September 1, Bayside students were able to witness a jubilee while at school. Students of all ages went down to the Bayside pier and beach to see the marine life. It was a wonderful experience!

Miss Bishop’s class at DES enjoyed Oreos together after using them to create moon phases during their science lesson. They also learned about patterns as they worked to complete the “missing” moon phases on their Mystery Science handout.  

Bayshore Christian School is excited for all the progress happening at the new school property!

BCS would like to thank everyone for coming out last month to celebrate the ribbon cutting of The Aerie! God is so good, and we thank Him for such a supportive community! 

Congratulations to Bayside Academy seniors Michael Klimjack and Isabelle Rutland for being named semifinalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program! As semifinalists, Michael and Isabelle have the opportunity to continue in the National Merit competition.
According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, “Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 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.” Only about 16,000 students across the nation have been named semifinalists.

The Ty Foundation made a very special delivery to Baldwin County High School in celebration of a very special day: Ty’s birthday. The foundation honored his legacy by supporting a place that was very special to Ty, the BCHS Tiger Den. Since his passing, teachers have shared with his family Ty’s love for this special place on campus. When he would get out of class early, Ty would often be found in the Tigers Den or playing basketball with the students during P.E. Taking part in the presentation included BCHS teacher Jeremy Sewell, Sherrie Parker, Hunter Smith, Kam Drinkard, Lilly Joiner, and Daphne Stamps.
Birthdays were always a special day for Ty because he received all the attention at his Nanny and Pawpaw’s and he also got the cookie-cake he wanted, according to his mom Daphne Stamps. “So, in Ty’s honor we proclaim today to be a SPECIAL day at The Ty Foundation. This morning, we honored our favorite blue-eyed baby boy by shining his light and spreading his love in our community,” Stamps said. “There is no doubt that Ty is guiding us as we shine his light. We can only imagine he is smiling down and beaming with pride.”
The Ty Foundation was established in memory of Ty Drinkard who was tragically killed in an automobile accident on Father’s Day 2020. Its mission is to keep alive Ty’s spirit of empowering people, enhancing education and giving back to the community. For more information, or to make a donation, visit thetyfoundation.com.

Today officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) announced the names of over 16,000 Semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,250 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title. Fairhope High School is proud to have FOUR National Merit Semifinalists!
Congratulations to @Fairhope High School’s Noah Sugg, Gavin Laxton, Alena Amare, and Addison Spears! We are so proud of them! #baldwinproud

Bayside Academy congratulates its 38 students who have received AP Scholar Awards for the 2023 AP exam administration. Thirteen of these students were recognized as an AP Scholar with Distinction, one of the highest academic distinctions from the College Board. We are very proud of these students.
AP Scholars with Distinction
Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams
Class of 2023
Wilson Engeriser
Kate Ginger
Claire Hamilton
Hope Lindsey
Trey McKean
Beverley Milteer
Millison Mixon
Marlee Moore
John Thomas Neill
Ty Postle
Class of 2024
Nina Dowhan
Michael Klimjack
Isabelle Rutland
AP Scholars with Honor
Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams
Class of 2023
John Will Kirkland
Faith Lindsey
Ryan McCullough
Libbi Melendez
Victoria Rutland
Class of 2024
Jack Roussos
AP Scholars
Granted to students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams
Class of 2023
Elle Brown
Blai Cebrian-Claramunt
Elizabeth Chen
Lauren Godwin
Sarah Higginbotham
Joe Howell
Hunter Hyderally
John Henry Johnson
Ashton Rowland
Class of 2024
Mary Frances Collins
Lucy Frailie
Genevieve Magli
Torin Malone
Tait Moore
Reid Nagle
Susan Pittman
Catie Sanders
Hayden Travis
Ramey Web
Pictured: Hayden Travis, Jack Roussos, Genevieve Magli, Torin Malone, Mary Frances Collins, Tait Moore, Ramey Webb, Nina Dowhan, Susan Pittman, Catie Sanders, Michael Klimjack, Isabelle Rutland, and Reid Nagle. Not pictured: Lucy Frailie

Quincy Compressor has donated several boxes of water bottles for students use at Bay Minette Middle School. Jada Howard, left, and Amanda Schwartz with Quincy Compressor delivered the boxes to Assistant Principal Herschell Wilson. 

Bayside Academy senior Georgia McInnis has been named a WKRG Scholar Athlete of the Week. The segment will air on WKRG News 5 this afternoon at 4:00 p.m.
Georgia has a 4.11 GPA and is a member of both the National Honor Society and the Math Team. As a junior, she took both AP Calculus BC and Advanced Physics. She is a co-founder of the baking club, is a member of the Key Club and the Student/Faculty Advisory Committee, and participates in the pickleball club.
Georgia plays on both the varsity volleyball team and varsity tennis team at Bayside. As a member of the varsity volleyball team, she helped bring home Bayside’s 21st consecutive state championship with the winning kill.
She is the daughter of Christina and Tim McInnis.
Pictured: Bayside Academy senior Georgia McInnis with her parents, Christina and Tim.

Mrs. Landreneau has been so impressed by the thoughtfulness and caring demonstrated by one of her 6th grade students that she wrote the following positive office referral to thank her:
“Hannah has a servant spirit! She is always looking out for others and how she can help. She helped me and a classmate by helping him to read our novel and making sure he had lunch when he arrived late.”
Thank you, Hannah! We are proud of you!

Congratulations Mrs. Pickering of Elberta Middle School! Mrs. Pickering received a scholarship from BCPS for National Boards. Elberta Middle is very proud of you! 

Third grade readers are showing their leadership qualities by completing book reviews and presenting book talks during the DES morning news. They are sharing their love of reading with all students at DES and getting students excited about reading! 

Today, Mrs. Hood of Fairhope East Elementary was awarded an eMINTS National Board Scholarship by Mrs. Katie Nettles from Baldwin County Public School’s eMINTS program! After completing the 2-year comprehensive eMINTS professional development program, Mrs. Hood became eligible for the scholarship that will cover her National Board renewal fees. Congratulations, Mrs. Hood and thank you to Baldwin County Public Schools! 

Ms. Meg from Nature Connect Outdoor School attended the Down by the Bay Interdisciplinary Retreat at Weeks Bay Estuarine Reserve!
She learned a lot about our surrounding waterways and wildlife. They gifted us a number of amazing books, along with teacher’s guides to show how to incorporate them across the curriculum.

Perdido School would like to extend a big thank you to The DAR organization on its gracious support of the Perdido Middle School social studies program. Representative Patty Smith brought a multitude of Constitution gifts for social studies teacher Zach Smith to use with his classes.

St. Michael is excited to announce senior Trey Bauldin as a National Merit Semi Finalist. Trey is one of more than 16,000 Semifinalists in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program. Over 1.3 million juniors in about 21,000 high schools entered the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, 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. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and about half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title. All of these academically talented semifinalists will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for more than 7000 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring. We are proud of Trey, and wish him the best of luck!

When the weather is beautiful and the sun is shining, CTKCS students bring their learning outside! Students in fourth grade enjoyed a picture-perfect sky and cooler weather in our courtyard. All of our students love the opportunity to switch up their learning environment, which is why you will see our students utilizing all parts of our campus!

Belforest Elementary celebrated “Making our Mark” on Dot Day by wearing dots, creating art projects and Virtual Reality dots, and many other fun activities.

FF is for firefighter! Stonebridge Elementary students exercised their fine motor and letter recognition skills by putting out letter fires! Pre-K is so much fun at Stonebridge Elementary! 

Stapleton School loves their “seniors”–the 6th graders who step up and lead!
That’s why Mr. Perry was so pleased the other day when he happened to see Thor not once, but twice, provide assistance to two different people who needed help. The following positive office referral Mr. Perry wrote tells the story.
“Twice today I noticed Thor go out of his way to help someone and I am so impressed! First, he assisted a younger student who had too much to carry, then later I saw him help Mrs. Jackson by carrying heavy buckets of water for her. Thanks for being such a thoughtful and helpful leader and role model, Thor. I am so proud of you!”

Waking up with the Spanish Fort High School Toro band, along with Toro dance and cheer! The students performed for the 105.5 morning sports program. Students were rewarded afterwards with a donation from Dunkin Donuts!

SHOE-PER WORK! Thanks Coach Ferguson and Coach Moore for helping Fairhope East Elementary studnets stay safe by teaching them how to tie their shoes. Students in Mrs. Little’s class are working hard to learn to tie their laces!

Mrs. Brown’s Pre-K at J. Larry Newton School enjoyed a morning nature walk. The students used their sense of sight, hearing, touch, and smell. The student’s recorded their findings by drawing pictures and made the connection that chicken is a source of food, which can be tasted. Learning about our 5 senses is so much fun.

Tejuania Nelson, the author of “Born to Love”, visited Mrs. Scarbrough and Mrs. Pempel’s Pre-K classes at Pinegrove Elementary School and read her book to them today! Pinegrove Elementary was so honored to have her on campus!

Congratulations to these Foley High School students of the month for August! These awesome kids were nominated and voted on by the teachers! This is a great group!!
12th – Daniel Moncfief
11th – Layla Pappadis
10th – Wendy Perez
9th – Allyson Funderburk

What a night for DMS Volleyball! Seventh grade claimed their third straight victory on the road, and 8th grade claimed a big as well! 

Congratulations to Rosinton’s 2023-24 new 5th grade & returning 6th grade Peer Helpers! Great job to all the 5th graders who applied! We are proud of each of you.

Spanish Fort Middle School is proud of their very own Coach Tim Daniels who was inducted into the Spanish Fort High School Hall of Fame! He is a legend in Spanish Fort, and he is beloved! He is so deserving of this award and recognition as he dedicated so much of his life to the community. Congratulation, Coach Daniels! You will forever be part of the Spanish Fort Community!

Mrs. Rankin and Mrs. McQueen’s class at Florence B. Mathis Elementary School enjoyed an afternoon planting herbs in their class garden. Thank you to Li’l Whip’s for donating herbs to their garden. They can’t wait to watch them grow!

Recently, the Perdido Cross Country team participated in its first meet at Graham Creek Nature Preserve. Perdido had five male runners in the top 20 in all Baldwin County schools.
The team finished second in all divisions coming in behind Spanish Fort Middle.
Gavin Brandt was Perdido’s top finisher in 3rd place overall out of 140 runners. The team is coached by Craig Canaan.

Mrs. Johnson’s fourth grade class at W. J. Carroll Intermediate School spent their Free Friday time volunteering in the LEAP Garden to get the beds ready for planting. They put in a ton of teamwork and had it finished in a flash!

Baldwin County High School students in Driver’s Ed enjoyed hands-on practice using the new driving simulators. Thanks to Coach Hilburn for putting together the new desks, and chairs, and getting the simulators set up. This was no small task & Baldwin County High appreciates your hard work!! Everything looks great and the students will benefit from the extra practice. 

Mr. Lane’s Theatre 1 class at Foley High School has been learning a lot about stage composition. Directors can effectively tell a story simply through the pictures they create on stage.
When “blocking”(staging) a play, a director must work to make sure movement on stage feels natural to the actor, looks pleasing to the audience, reveals insight into the characters, and keeps the plot flowing seamlessly. Making adjustments to levels, planes, angles, and proximity of actors is how directors get this done.
Each student group was tasked with telling the story of a well-known fairytale through three frozen stage pictures. Students had to vary levels, proximities, angles, planes as well as make use of the many different areas of the stage. The students had a lot of fun and did a great job of composing effective stage pictures.

Fourth grade students at Spanish Fort Elementary School read about Braille in their story and then learned how to write their names in Braille using puff paint. What a great connection to their reading! 

Fairhope West beginner band students are off and running to learn the basics of playing their new instruments. Keep up the good work band students and director Mrs. White! 

Magnolia School’s amazing and wonderful 2023 Red Ribbon Leader Winner is Kaela Mosley! Congrats to this sweet and caring girl! 

Congratulations to the Spanish Fort High School 2023 Hall of Fame inductees!
~Carley Hamric
~Tre Threat
~Savannah Lee
~Aly Kitchens Donovan
~Gretchen Boykin
~Tim Daniels
~Tyler Miller
~Rob Milam
~Joel Poe

The lunch staff of Baldwin County High School received a 100% health rating! These ladies go above and beyond to maintain the highest standards possible in food safety and facility sanitation all while providing amazing service to students in Baldwin County!!

The Daphne High School Trojans Air Force Cadets lent a hand recently to pick up trash in Jubilee Stadium at the conclusion of a recent football game. Great job! 

The Bay Minette Elementary students were super excited to host the bay Minette High School students in the first real Pep Rally! The band, the cheerleaders, the Tiger Guard, the Tigerettes and the football team shared in spirit-filled celebration! Some of the student VIPs even got to compete in some fun games against the teachers!! Thank you Baldwin County High School for sharing their student leaders with Bay Minette!

The first week of the Spanish Fort Middle School Focus Group was a huge success! These students have the most amazing insight and information relating to what middle schoolers experience on a daily basis. These students provide such accurate info and truly share the truth! The goal is to help them make connections and provide them with the safest environment where learning is at the forefront.
Thank you Spanish Fort Education Enrichment Foundation for providing the lunch and drinks!

FaCS kids at Fairhope Middle School donated 20 loaves of Banana Bread to Mr. Frank Henning of St. Vincent DePaul Food Bank after their Quick Breads Lab this week! 

A big shoutout to the six students who came out today to show their stuff in a chance to represent Daphne High School in the “Singing for Scholarships” competition. And a big congratulations to Sadie Houston who was chosen as our representative! 

1st Grade students at Belforest Elementary School had a book tasting! Students rotated through different stations and looked closely at books for title, author, and most importantly, genre. Students learned the difference between nonfiction, mystery, fantasy, informational, etc. 

Marching band season and football season are back! The Fairhope Pirates and the Spanish Fort Toros opened the season at Spanish Fort High School. Congratulations to both the bands for wonderful performances. Both bands are led by female band directors. Congratulations on a great start to marching band season, directors Meredyth Petersen and Michelle Daughenbaugh.

NBTech teamed up with General Motors and McConnell Automotive to provide the North Baldwin Center for Technology students the opportunity to further their skills and knowledge in the automotive field. They had their first student complete the GM Fundamentals courses that includes almost four-pages of courses and takes almost 30 hours to complete! Congratulations to Lucas Murphy, a Spanish Fort senior on this great accomplishment!

Mrs. Samry’s students at Daphne East Elementary worked in small teams to create a pyramid of cups. The challenge was they couldn’t touch the cups with their hands. They could only touch the strings attached to the elastic. It was such a fun, team-building activity! The students are learning to work as collaborative team members.

Mrs. VanSickle’s Second Graders at Magnolia School enjoying the first weeks of school, working hard on math fact fluency, addition strategies, practicing our phonics skills, and celebrating STAR assessments with popsicles! 

Congratulations to these Foley High School students who received a Positive Behavioral Referral! They earned their Lion Pride Conference teams 5 points!
Abigail Jiminez Nopal
Cynthia Hurtado Velazques
Grace Watkins
Bryce Miller
Alex Guidry

3rd and 4th grade students at Loxley Elementary enjoyed a Strings demonstration from a member of the Mobile Symphony during a bit of their PE time today. They learned about the Strings in Schools Program for students beginning in 3rd grade. 

Congratulations Elam Ellis on being chosen as the Summerdale School first winner for Fine Arts Friday for having perfect attendance. 

It is a moment of immense pride and recognition for Ordo Amoris students Max Miller and Sophie Miller as they are honored by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and bestowed with a special commemorative coin. This honor serves as a testament to their exceptional dedication, hard work, and commitment to their community and the values it upholds. Max and Sophie received this honor following their appeal to the Fairhope City Council to keep sexually explicit reading material out of the children’s section of the Fairhope Public Library. 

Renaissance School students enjoyed an amazing day at Fort Conde! They had the privilege of learning about 1723 France. Learning stations included artillery, clothing, ships, and navigation.
#RenaissanceSchool, #ReawakeningEducation

Walking rainbow teamwork science with Renaissance School! The rainbow paper towel experiment teaches basic scientific concepts. When the paper towels are rolled up and placed between two jars, they exemplify capillary action, which is how liquid can move up something, rather than follow the usual pull of gravity and pull down. #RenaissanceSchool, #ReawakeningEducation 

Ordo Amoris Grandparents’ Day on September 8th was a beautiful occasion for families to gather, create lasting memories, and let their grandparents know just how much they mean to them. It was a day filled with laughter, love, and the reaffirmation of the enduring bonds that connect generations. What a privilege it was to honor the legacy of Christian discipleship given to us by our grandparents and grandpals! 

Reading Buddies allow students to increase reading fluency, and become more confident in public speaking. The older students are also able to earn service hours.
#RenaissanceSchool, #ReawakeningEducation

Discovering the functions of the brain in life skills! By learning the functions of the brain we understand behaviors and actions

The Elberta Middle School 8th grade volleyball team played in the 21st Annual Invitational Gulf Shores Tournament. They went 5-0 the whole day, undefeated winning the tournament! Danna, Olivia, Layla, and Lainey were chosen All Tournament. Lainey was MVP. Way to go girls! 

Renaissance School archery with Coach Clark’s Archery! Archery improves fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. Students will also compete at the state and national level! #RenaissanceSchool
#ReawakeningEducation

Congratulations to four Fairhope High School seniors who have made a PERFECT score on their ACT tests.
These incredible young men are headed to bright futures in engineering, medicine, and entrepreneurship. Each of these scholars is very involved in school, takes part in the IB programme or Advanced Placement courses, band, school clubs or organizations, as well as being involved in the community.
“The students took the ACT in March 2023 while in their Junior year. This is the first time in Fairhope High history to have four students who have had a perfect score on the ACT,” said Cammie Adams, Counselor, Fairhope High. Congratulations.
Unsurprisingly, a full 36 is the rarest score of all-just 0.250% of all test takers earned a perfect ACT score. Roughly three times more students earned the next-highest score of 35; however, this is still a very rare score that just 0.775% of test takers earned.