Week of December 5, 2011
From the Head of School
Exam Time! I know it’s stressful…it always is…and yet, it’s important for the girls to try as hard as they can to keep things in perspective. First, the best news! If your daughter has been at the Academy for more than a year, remind her that the weight of the exams has dropped from 25% of the semester grade down to 20%. That’s worth at least a couple of deep breaths…right?!
Second, it’s helpful for the girls to remember that these exams are the same types of tests they’ve been taking…just two hours long. The format and types of questions are basically the same, so they don’t need to be anxious about what the exam is going to look like. It’s just a regular test…only longer.
Third, remember that this test is nothing more than a snapshot of what they’ve learned thus far. It doesn’t define them as persons, and it’s not a measurement of their worth or character. It is supposed to produce a certain amount of anxiety, because it is preparation for the many tests and assessments they will be given throughout careers – both in school and the workplace, but it’s not intended to steal anyone’s joy! Don’t let it!
So, do we want them to work hard? Yes. Do we want them to do their best? Of course, we wouldn’t expect anything less! But doing their best should never be at the expense of their health or well-being…physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Balance is the key during this exam time, which is why we only take one exam each day. The 22 hours between exams are not meant exclusively for studying. After all, it may be important to arrive at the exam well-informed, but it’s also important to arrive well-rested. So, remind them to get some sleep, eat well, relax and take time for themselves. They need to laugh! And before we know it, it’ll be Christmas Vacation. So, hang in there girls…and don’t forget… BREATHE!
Blessings,
Karl Sjolund
Announcements/Upcoming Events
- Jan Term Trip Meeting - There will be a meeting for parents about the Jan Term Trip for 2013 on Friday, December 16th, the same day as the concert. The meeting will be at 10:15 in the Academy auditorium. Information for the trip to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales will be given and there will be time for questions to be asked.
- Parents' Association Meeting: The next Parents' Association meeting will be Friday, December 16th at 9:00am in the Sun Porch. You will have an opportunity to hear from a panel of day and boarding students and ask them questions about life at the Academy. We'll also hear from our school counselor, Ms. Jenny Orr, who will be available to take questions from the audience concerning the issues teenage girls - particularly the Academy girls - are facing in this day and age. It will be a great opportunity for parents to learn more about all that's happening at Salem Academy.
The Salem Academy Parents’ Association and Faculty will be collecting items to provide a Gift Basket of food and holiday items for Anna Kellner’s family. Anna is a junior day student who was recently diagnosed with a rare cancer and has been undergoing treatment at a local hospital. A donation area will be set up on Friday, December 16 at the brunch near the dining hall, the parent meeting on the sun porch and the concert in the Fine Arts Center.
Christmas Vacation - Information for Parents of Boarders
Dear Parents of Boarding Students:
We have a vacation period coming up, and it is important that we have information about your daughter’s travel plans. Please complete the form below and return it to me as soon as possible.
The Christmas vacation begins at 12:00 noon on Friday, December 16, after the Christmas Choral Concert. All boarders should be out of the building by 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The boarders will be returning to the Academy:
Monday, January 2 (Jan Term – on-campus) by 9:00 p.m.
Monday, January 23 (all boarders) by 9:00 p.m.
Please indicate on the form on which date your daughter is returning.
We realize that when using public transportation some flexibility is required, but please adhere as closely as possible to the times. Christmas is one of those “crush” times with the airlines, so please make sure we are informed of any late arrivals. Absences before and after a vacation period are unexcused. Early departures must be cleared through my office at least a week in advance. Students may not return to school earlier than January 2. The dining room opens on Tuesday, January 3.
**PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE FORM**
Thank you very much and we wish you all a pleasant holiday season.
Sincerely,
Mary Lorick ThompsonAssistant Head/Dean of Studentsmarylorick.thompson@salem.edu
Exam Schedule Fall 2011
| Saturday, December 10 |
1:00-3:00pm |
English |
| Sunday, December 11 |
Reading Day |
|
| Monday, December 12 |
1:00-3:00pm |
History |
| Tuesday, December 13 |
1:00-3:00pm |
Math |
| Wednesday, December 14 |
1:00-3:00pm |
Foreign Language |
| Thursday, December 15 |
1:00-3:00pm |
Science |
Please CLICK HERE for a detailed schedule of exam week. Some items on the schedule are for boarding students only.
Advisee Group Activities
Mrs. Higgins and her advisees enjoyed their last lunch before the new year by decorating gingerbread houses and celebrating (early) the birthday of Taylor Ratley! (pictures below)
Advisor/Advisee Holiday Cheer: On the last advisor/advisee meeting time of the first semester, Ms. Overton and Ms. Winkler hosted a holiday party. They ate some yummy pizza, enjoyed a delicious homemade dessert, listened to holiday music favorites, and talked about all of their favorite Christmas traditions. (picture on right)
Swim Team News
Salem swimmers had a strong showing in their home opener on November 17th.
There were 10 state cuts:
Sierra Collins - 200 IM, 50 Free and 100 Fly
Chie Mushayamuda* - 200 IM, 50 Free and 100 Back (pictured on right)
Caroline Musser - 100Fly and 100 Back
Julia Allescher - 100 Breast
Bethann Hilla- 100 Breast
We also have some school records dating back from 2007 that were broken:
Sierra Collins now has the 200IM record.
Caroline Musser owned the 100 Back record for about 2 minutes. In the next heat, Chie Mushayamuda took the record from Caroline.
December 1st Swim Meet Recap
*Pictured on right - Megan Butts
Sierra Collins broke the school record for the 100 Breast with the time of 1:21.14
We had 5 state cuts:
Chie Mushayamunda - 100 Fly, 100 Free and 500 Free
Sierra Collins 100 Free 100 Breast
We also had a lot of personal best times:
50 Free (time dropped)
Martha Sophie Rabus - 1.04 sec
Grayson Sloan - .36 sec
Kaylee Llewellyn - 2.85 sec
Yuwei Li - 1.53 sec
Alice Mann - 2.85 sec
100 Free (time dropped)
Blakeney Gallahan - 1.08 sec
Mary Beth Browne - 1.05sec
Yuwei Li - 13.99 sec
Anita Coral - 4.83 sec
100 Back (time dropped)
Grayson Sloan - 19.67 sec
100 Breast (time dropped)
Shuhan Wang - 3.62 sec
Alice Mann - 3.42 sec
Zora Tao - 15.60 sec
December 6th Swim Meet Recap
The Sabers swimming team finished their third, and final, meet of 2011 on Tuesday, December 6th. The team had a good showing and swam very well. They will now have over a month off before they are in action again on January 12th, 2012.
Swimmers who made state cuts:
Sierra Collins – 200 Free, 500 Free and 50 Free
Caroline Musser - 200IM and 100 Back
Chie Mushayamunda - 50 Free and 100 Free
Juila Allescher* - 100 Breast (pictured on right)
Swimmers who improved personal bests (Time Dropped):
Blakeney Gallahan -6.46 sec 200 Free and 1.06 sec 100 Free
Caroline Musser -2.17 sec 200IM
Alice Mann -3.59 sec 50 Free and 3.02 sec 100 breast
Mary Beth Browne -7.29 sec 100 Free
Julia Allescher -3.68 sec 100 breast and 11.97 200IM
Fencing Team News
The Salem Academy fencing team has competed in two tournaments to date. There are two teams this year for fencing that consists of six students: Molly High, Lauren Wood, Katya Zubov, Renee Brown, Symaria Bolden, and Alli Lawson. For the first tournament, the A-team, fencers from the previous year, already had experience in competition and knew that their competition would be very rough and competitive. However, for being the first tournament, they did very well. They had a win to loss ratio of 2:3. The B-team, consisting of all first-years, did not beat any schools but each had individual victories. However, above all, they learned about competition and had a good time. This was useful for them, because the next time they had a fencing tournament, they did much better and were more prepared. They best part of the first fencing tournament was that the fencers gained experience and were able to know their opponets' moves better and were able to practice how to beat them next time.
The second tournament was at Salem, and was an all-girls tournament. Sadly, the A-team and B-team had to fence each other. For that tournament, the fencers were much more prepared because they knew what to expect. The A-team beat three schools while the B-team almost beat one school. It was another great day of learning about fencing. The team will be in action again on January 14th, 2012 at Elkin.
Basketball Team News
The Salem Academy basketball team had a strong showing on December 6th against American Hebrew Academy . The girls fought hard and had fun. Haley Norris* led scoring with 11 points. Tayler Katsma, Hayley Premo*, and Karena DeNeui each contributed two points a piece. The team traveled to American Hebrew on December 8th to play their final game of the season.
*pictured below (Haley on left, Tayler on right)
Art Class Builds Paper Mache Sculptures
Mrs. Hiatt's Crafts class has spent the semester building paper mache sculptures. Pictured at right is Mariah Himes working on her Gebraffe, Arianna. Notice that the sky is almost dark outside... burning the midnight oil! Gebraffe is a combination of a Giraffe shape and Zebra markings! (picture on right)
We are putting the finished works throughout the school. You can find them on the window sills in the dining room and elsewhere. Pictured below is Dina Yamaleyeva's Blue Heron, also done in Crafts class. (photo below)
From the Office of Residential Life
The Residential Focus for November was Nutrition and the House Counselors and Prefects provided programming on hall bulletin boards as well as nutrition-themed hall programs. See information below to see what your daughter's hall did for their nutrition program!
Also, the Food Committee met before Thanksgiving break and many wonderful improvements are already being made in our dining hall! Please help us make our boarding students feel more at home by sharing your daughter's favorite home recipes with us! We will take anything from a side dish, to an entire meal to just dessert. The food committee will go through the submissions each month and will consider old submissions that were not initially selected as well as consider re-requesting dishes that become popular! Thank you for your support as we improve the dining options at Salem Academy. Please submit your recipes to Miss Kimberly's e mail at Kimberly.Herring@salem.edu or snail mail your recipes to Salem Academy to Attn. Miss Kimberly N. Herring.
Blessings,
Miss Kimberly
1st Hodges
House Counselor: Ms. Candy Fung, Ms. Shelley Hindmon
Prefect: Miss Peggy Liao
1st Hodges residents played a trivia game designed for Nutrition month at Salem Academy on Tuesday, November 29 evening with light refreshments.
2nd Hodges
House Counselor: Ms. Brenna Mischinski
Prefect: Miss Sarah Pryor
2nd Hodges gathered November 2nd to share what they were most thankful for this holiday season and to enjoy the seasonal clementine orange also referred to as the “Christmas orange”. The 2nd Hodges residents were most thankful for their family and Salem Sisters. It is this camaraderie and sisterhood that makes Salem Academy so special. We are so thankful to have your daughters in the Salem Academy boarding community!
2nd CS
House Counselor: Ms. Jennifer Lewis
Prefect: Miss Ariel Shen
(picture on right)
On December 6th, 2011 2nd CS enjoyed both a holiday and nutrition themed party. Clementine oranges and peppermints were provided to introduce the idea of being mindful during the holiday season as an important and often overlooked aspect of nutrition. The health benefits of both clementine oranges and peppermint were discussed and the girls were really intrigued by all the benefits they both provided. Hannah Webb “didn't know Clementines were good for one's skin!" Holiday treat bags were celebrated and the girls really enjoyed this "downtime" because it was a quick stress-reliever for all of them!
3rd CS
House Counselor: Ms. Taylor Lundy
Prefect: Miss Michelle Wang
(picture on right)
We want our students to be resourceful and mindful about what they eat on dorm! For the month of November, 3CS learned ways to make healthy snacks without a kitchen. In the photo you see the girls right before they took a bite of "ants on a log", a snack made up of celery, peanut butter, and raisins!
2nd EB
House Counselor: Ms. Joelle Whited
Prefect: Miss Katie McDuffie
(picture on right)
For November, 2nd EB residents ate a healthy snack while learning about its nutritional value. It is about to be exam time, so, the importance of making healthy choices and trying to pick snack items that are good for the body, and help keep one going during this potentially stressful time was the goal of this program!
3rd EB
House Counselor: Ms. Sara McCormack
Prefect: Miss Haley Wiebel
(pictures below)
3rd EB used the known slogan "An apple a day keeps the doctors away" with their November hall activity. The girls got together on Wednesday, November 30th and each ate an apple (some even had two!!) and shared how eating healthy can positively influence so many aspects of their daily lives.
The Salem Academy House Counselors send you Christmas Blessings!!
Jan Term 2013 Trip Information
ENGLAND -- IRELAND -- SCOTLAND -- WALES
This is a reminder that if your daughter and any family members are interested in going on the Jan Term trip to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales for next school year time is running out to get the $200 OFF deal. The deadline to enroll for this special deal is December 15. You can certainly enroll later, but this offer ends on December 15. We have had a lot of interest for this trip and we may need to limit numbers, soooooo….it will be first come, first serve. If you are sure your daughter is going, you may want to go ahead and get enrolled. Here are the steps to enroll:
- Go to www.eftours.com
- When asksed if there is a tour number please enter 1077346
- You can only enroll on-line and will need to do this via credit card
Please feel free to contact Kerry Lawson if you have any questions at either kerry.lawson@salem.edu or 336-917-5508.
Thank you,
Kerry Lawson, Joy Rushton, & Leslie Hiatt
Shop at Food Lion and Earn Money for Salem
Dear Parents, Faculty and Friends,
Thank you for supporting our school through the Food Lion MVP Rewards program.
Salem Academy is participating in the new Food Lion Classroom Rewards program to earn much needed funding for our school. We need your help and support to maximize our fundraising effort. We are encouraging you to shop at your local Food Lion store and every time you shop, Salem Academy will earn a share of the program funds donated by Food Lion based on what you purchase.
If you haven’t already linked your MVP Card to support our school, please follow the steps below.
1. Go to www.foodlion.com
2. Click on Community Outreach
3. Click on MVP Rewards
4. Click Register your MVP Card
5. Click on the arrow that says, “Shoppers register here”
Once on the MVP Shopper Registration page, enter your MVP Card number (all 12 digits), your contact information and link it to our school. Our code is 214297.
Purchases of only the following brands will help earn cash for our school: Food Lion Brand, Healthy Accents, Home 360, Nature’s Place, On the Go Bistro, Smart Option, Taste of Inspirations, Butchers Brand Beef and Holly Farms Poultry.
Help our school earn even more by shopping on double points day! All Food Lion brand product purchases will receive double credit on the 10th of each month.
For more information on how you can help, please contact:Megan RatleySalem AcademyPhone: 336-721-2664Email address: megan.ratley@salem.edu
Food Lion is a banner of Food Lion LLC, a subsidiary of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG).
Link Your Harris Teeter VIC Card and Support Salem
Beginning August 1, Salem Academy proudly continued in Harris Teeter's Together In Education program to help raise funds for our school. It's easy and it's FREE. Simply give the cashier our code, 5509, and your VIC card when you check out and your card will be linked for the entire school year. That's it! You only have to link your VIC card once each school year. Once your card is linked, Salem Academy will receive a percentage of your Harris Teeter brand (Harris Teeter, Premier Selection, H.T. Traders, Harris Teeter Naturals, Your Pet, Hunter Farms, Highland Crest and More Value) purchases credited back to our account. This program does not interfere with your VIC savings or cost you any money!
For those of you who participated last year, don't forget to re-link your VIC card to our account code next time you are shopping at Harris Teeter!
