Oak Mountain Academy’s academic journeys

Oak Mountain Academy has an impressive 61-year legacy of overall excellence. This excellence is a direct result of our faith-based educational programming, dynamic opportunities in the arts, athletics and student leadership, all the while providing a safe, family environment on our 88-acre campus. However, the “crown jewel” in our legacy of excellence is our rigorous academic programming. When asked about The Academy, one of the first things commonly mentioned is our long-standing track record for student academic successes. Our students consistently outscore not only the state average, but also the national average, for ERB, SAT, and ACT testing. Over the past five years our graduating seniors – with an average class size of 12 – have earned over $10 million dollars in academic scholarship offers to colleges and universities of their choice. It is, without a doubt, that our academic program is a standout for our families on The Mountain. It is this reason that we have recently identified several Personalized Academic Journey opportunities for students to experience at Oak Mountain Academy. decided they should leave. I was given a sympathetic peck of a good-bye kiss by his fiancee, and Gene picked up one of my feet and rubbed it through its sock. The foot-rub lasted about 10 seconds for each foot, and then the couple were gone. Almost gone, well, mostly gone, was the sense that I’d been in a drunken stupor. That was gone enough to alert me to the fact that I was actually feeling pretty good. That sense of exhaustion was now changed into a restful state of being.

Oak Mountain Academy’s Personalized Academic Journeys are intentional educational structures that include a rigorous academic course of study in addition to authentic contextual learning experiences designed to prepare students for college and beyond. These journeys include the Advanced Placement (AP) Scholar Journey, the Entrepreneur Scholar Journey, the World Language Scholar Journey, and the Customized Academic Scholar Journey.

I was now aware that the simple act of a foot-rub could be a profound restorative. And, what remained, that is permanently remained, is the memory of its goodness. Until this writing, I’ve pretty much kept my enthusiasm for foot-rubs to myself. But, then we received, among our annual holiday cards and letters, a letter from our old friend Mary.

Living alone and getting on in years, Mary decided to challenge herself by trying a trip

See BILL BOURIS page 22

The AP Scholar Journey is designed to provide students with a clearly defined AP curriculum track to earn a series of distinctions upon graduation. The AP Scholar Journey enables academically prepared students to pursue college-level studies while still enrolled at Oak Mountain Academy. The journey consists of college-level courses and corresponding exams that are administered in May of each year, which could also count as college credits.

Currently, OMA offers 17 AP courses in five subject categories. Participating in this journey can help students stand out on college applications. Students participating in the journey

See PATRICK YURAN page 22

Inspiring the curiosity within that many of us lose as we exit the education system

know, it sounds obvious - a college student that loves to learn? Go figure. Regardless, it’s something I always thought was ridiculous when I heard it in high school. I, wrongly, attributed this to a lack of curiosity at the time. However, with the freedom of a college schedule, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I may, in fact, be a nerd.

but I figured that if I really wanted to be the biggest Alex Lawther fan out there, I had to watch it. Tentatively, I began the film.

shocked and wondering as to what else I had never learned.

During our early lives, it’s clear that society has valued one thing above all else: education. Our incredible capacity to learn new things certainly hasn’t gone understated. From all of the years spent in school to applying for a job, education is regarded as fundamental to our growth as not only a society, but also individuals.

I am certainly no exception to this rule. As I continue my journey throughout college, I’ve realized that I actually love to learn. Yes, I

Nevertheless, as we get older, this value for growth diminishes, and we often forego learning for our usual routines. Today, I would like to inspire the curiosity within that many of us lose as we exit the education system. All you need, and all I ask for, is an open mind.

The event that triggered my inquisitive side the most last year was a film by the name of “Carnage: Swallowing the Past”. Admittedly, I had chosen to watch the film because my favorite actor at the time, Alex Lawther, played a small part in it. The film is a mockumentary on how the world goes vegan in 2067. I wasn’t particularly excited once I’d read the summary,

I found it quite funny at first. After all, the premise was quite unrealistic; why would the world have any reason to go vegan, ever? Isn’t it just a fad diet, or lifestyle, that the most extreme animal lovers partake in? However, as the film continued on, it occasionally would reference one of the events that led to the world becoming the way it was. It started out with real information about the animal industry in our past - throughout the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. Then, it smoothly transitioned into some hypotheticals in future years, such as 2040 and so on. It explained what goes on behind the scenes of the egg and dairy industries, leaving me

. . .we often forego learning for our usual routines. Today, I would like to inspire the curiosity within that many of us lose as we exit the education system. All you need, and all I ask for, is an open mind.

After the end of the film, rather than being disappointed at how few shots Alex showed up in, I couldn’t help but fact check what I had seen. Surely things had just been dramatized - this is a film, after all.

Unfortunately, the footage I had witnessed was taken from real farms and had described standard practices in the industry. Things I would never wish done to my worst enemy were considered “humane” and done daily to animals. I was left pondering a few questions after my research. Why do we eat the way we do? Why do we cringe when we hear the word “vegan”? If I didn’t know such basic information about the dairy and egg industries,

See JAY NEAL page 20