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Madison Academy students and staff share Christmas spirit

On Sunday December 14, The Madison Academy Acros hosted a unique event at the Madison Academy Gymnasium. Normally the gym is reserved for sporting  events, school functions and annually the Acros hold their home show there. But this event was designed to bring Christmas cheer and to share the love of Jesus to some who may have little reason to celebrate this holiday season. A group of 36 ladies from the Nashville Rescue Mission were invited to a special banquet and show. The bus picked them up and returned them to the mission. The gym was decorated with Christmas lights and a tree loaded with presents. Tables were set with holiday ware and a cake was displayed that said Happy Holidays Ladies. The hallway was lit with rows of Christmas lights as these daughters of the King entered our Grand Banquet Hall.
Waldemar Wensell started our program with Christmas carols while the ladies were being served food cooked by Vicki Anderson along with donations from Olive Garden, Publix and Nourish. Thomas Erickson came and did a juggling performance and the show finished with several routines by the Acros gymnastics team which included an anti-drug skit and a short talk about Luke 14 about “a certain man” who held a banquet. We ended the evening passing out gifts which they didn’t expect.
The purpose of the evening was to invite homeless ladies to a banquet and convey to them that they didn’t have to earn or buy a ticket to attend, they just had to accept the invitation and come. One day God would have a great banquet waiting for them and all they have to do is accept the invitation and come and God will feed their hunger and lavish gifts upon them. The other purpose is to get our students involved in service and to experience the joy that comes from helping those that can’t repay you. The Acros would like to experience more of these ministry moments but even with the donations of food an event like this still costs time and effort and I would like to personally thank all those that helped by donating, decorating, setting up, cooking, and cleaning. The bus ride back to the shelter was filled with gratitude, joy and tears. Some said to me that they haven’t received a Christmas present in years and that this was the best Christmas that they could remember. I hope that the Acros can make this a yearly tradition and that next year we bring two or three bus loads!
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SA hosts annual Christmas breakfast

Wednesday morning students walked into the chapel that was transformed into a Christmas dining experience.  The student association officers and sponsors along with Mrs. Anita Watkins from Highland Academy, spent the previous day arranging the chairs around tables and decorating the tables with Christmas plates.  Mrs. Anita Watkins and her son, Mr. Chadd Watkins, principal at Highland Academy, served waffles, strawberries, veggie breakfast sausage patties, hash-browns, nuts, fruit salad and whipped cream.  At the table orange juice and milk were offered in small individual serving sizes.  After the breakfast our guests, Madison Campus Elementary 8th graders and Highland Academy 9th and 10th graders enjoyed a performance of “The Christmas Carol.” This presentation was done by a talented actor, Mark Cabus, who played all the parts himself.  Donnie Underwood commented it was an engaging performance.

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Life skills students have cookie bake off

The Sophomores in life skills class 1st semester participated in a cookie bake off contest.  Each student brought in their favorite cookie recipes, prepared the ingredients and placed them in the ovens to bake.  There were fifteen batches of cookies all being prepared at once. When the cookies were finished the class sampled the yummy cookie varieties that included chocolate mint, oatmeal, Mexican wedding cakes, to peanut kisses. After class four faculty members judged the cookies for appearance and taste and the awards were announced in chapel.

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Athletics Department reopens store for Christmas

The Madison Knights store is open until December 22, 2014. No orders will be filled until after the December 22nd deadline. Orders will be fulfilled and delivered (or shipped) on January 5, 2015. All products can be customized to include your respective sport and/or name. Sports will decorated below the MA logo; names will be decorated on the opposing chest. MA Dress code is still in effect, however, athletic polo’s can be worn on game day by players.

 

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Madisonians spread cheer at Rivergate Mall

Monday, December 8th, at 6 pm, the MA Choir, “The Madisonians” will be performing at the Rivergate Mall near the Sears store.  This is the second of three Christmas performances.  Madison Campus Church members heard the choir perform at both its services this past Saturday.  Not only did the choir sing but in addition Hadassah Pegues and Cody Tishaw along with Mrs. Fuentes, principal, shared their school experience and asked for prayers and financial support for projects that will enhance the learning environment.  The choir again performs at the Nashville First church on Saturday, December 13th.

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Students spread holiday cheer at Maybelle Carter residence

Today the sophomores in life skills class traveled to Maybelle Carter, a senior living community, and set up Christmas trees on each floor and in the main lobby for the residents to enjoy.  This residence is just five minutes from the school and Mrs. Pam Gatling has arranged this trip each year for more than 10 years just after Thanksgiving. The students enjoy decorating the trees and engaging with the residents as they swap Christmas greetings and stories. “Pace” Fordham commented “It was good to be helpful.”

Helping at Maybelle Carter

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Food Drive final results

I just wanted to express a huge thank-you to everyone for the overwhelming display of generosity to make our food drive an amazing success!  We delivered a van load, packed from top to bottom and from front to back, with the food to the 403 Center.  Needless to say, they were astonished at the vast amount of food we were able to collect.  Although this was a competition between classes, the 403 Center and the families receiving this food are the real winners.  With that said, here are the final numbers:  We collected a total of 2,694 items!!!!  Every class donated at least 550 items, which surpassed my initial projections by a long shot!  The Freshmen collected 551, the Sophomores 678, the Juniors 730 and the Seniors 735.

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Food drive update

Just wanted to send out a note to first off thank everyone for the amazing amount of non perishable food items you have all brought in.  WOW!  We are just shy of 600 total items with one day left!  Every class has done well and any class can still win!  The Freshmen and Sophomores are neck and neck for the lead with only 8 items separating first and second place!  The Seniors and Juniors are catching up quick!  Tomorrow is the last day, so open up those non perishable flood gates and take your class to victory!

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Gymnastics team attends Acrofest 2014

Our 25 member Acros team as well as hundreds of students from across the United States and Puerto Rico will participate in Acrofest 2014 on the campus of Southern Adventist University November 13-15. This year’s theme is “Take it to the Next Level.” The first two days will be clinics where teams and individuals learn new skills and culminates with the Gymnastics Extravaganza Saturday, Nov. 15, at 7 pm EST. If you cannot attend the show in person the event will be live streamed.

Watch the show online

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Thanksgiving and Christmas

This is my favorite time of year; fall colors, football, a chill in the air and Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner.  Madison Academy has always been built around service and sharing our gifts and talents with others.  This year we wanted to continue that trend for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

The 403 Center always gives a lot of food away at this time of year and really NEED our help in collecting non perishable food items.  So, we will be holding a class vs. class food drive and the winning class which brings in the most items will receive a class party.  The deadline for this will be next Friday, November 21.  Go get those cans!

I’m really excited about our Christmas Adopt-A-Family which we have done for the last 8 years.  This year, however, there is a twist!  Instead of adopting one family, buying gifts from their list and dropping the presents off, we thought about doing something a little more meaningful.  Coach Ley and the Madison Academy Acros will be hosting a dinner and a performance for the women and children from the Women’s Nashville Rescue Mission.  We will bus them up on Sunday, December 14 and serve them a Christmas meal, put on a gymnastics performance and pass out gifts.  This is where we need you to help supply the gifts for these families.  We have sent a sign up list to the mission, but it would be almost impossible to get a Christmas list from the (hopefully) 60-70 women and children who will be attending.  So if you are willing to donate any new toys or clothes for the kids or gifts for adult women we will wrap and give them out accordingly that evening.

If you have any questions about either of the above outreach activities, please contact myself or Coach Ley.  Thank-you for your support and willingness to meet the needs of others this Thanksgiving and Christmas season!