Red & Blue Review 12/1/22

Head of School Review

BY DR. ANDY GRAHAM

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break and spent some quality time with family and friends. As we near the end of this semester, we are always busy with sports, Christmas special events, and with students preparing for exams. However, in the busyness of the end of the semester, we hope that we also remember the significance of this special time of

Head of School Review

In our rush to decorate our homes with lights and the perfect tree, make plans to travel, and shop for the perfect gifts for our family, the true meaning of Christmas can sometimes be overlooked or forgotten. I read a survey recently that said although 94% of Americans celebrate Christmas only 15% read the Bible’s account of the birth of Christ as part of their Christmas traditions. For Christians, nothing should be more important than to teach our children the true meaning of Christmas Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. In the ultimate gift of love, God sent His son to earth to save all of us from our sins. As parents, nothing is more important for our children than this message.

My wife and I feel so blessed to be in a Christian school community where the children can talk about the birth of Jesus and celebrate Christmas. It is not something to be taken lightly as many children do not have the opportunity to practice their faith at school. We are thankful for our school and the many blessings that we have encountered at TRA. As we enter December, let’s all enjoy the festivities and wonderment of this time of year, but let's all be intentional about remembering the significance of the season. Have a great week and thanks for sending us these wonderful students!

Upper School Review

BY STEPHANIE WEHRER

We only have a few more days bef concluding the fall semester of the 2022 2 academic year in the upper school, and we h so much to be thankful for as we approach season of advent, but perhaps nothing more than for another opportunity to have an imp on the lives of so many young people on campus. It has been an exciting and even semester, full of so many events happening and around the school. Please contin covering our school, its students, and our s in prayer throughout the remainder of school year

Upper School Review

The Lord blesses those who honor and glorify Him, and it is my prayer that throughout this year every member of the school community will remain steadfast and focused on seeking to fulfill that important calling each and every day.

Cade Harkness is TRA’s underclassman Student of the Month for November. Cade is a junior, and the son of Chad and Mindi Harkness Cade works diligently to be named to the academic honor roll, and even won the Middle School Geography Bee in 2020! He is a member of TRA’s choir, and is an active member of the theatre program starring in several roles in the last few years. Cade is also an active member of Young Life. He says his favorite thing about TRA is the kind atmosphere and that both students and teachers are so helpful. Staff members who nominated Cade for this recognition share similar reasons for why they feel he deserves this honor. “Cade is a great role model for his peers. He is kind and inclusive to everyone. He really shines and brightens up the room all the time, but especially so during the veterans day program.” Still another stated, “I nominated Cade Harkness for underclassman student of the month because he is such a well rounded high character student! Cade is involved in various extracurricular activities while also being heavily involved in the theatre productions. He has excelled in fine arts productions all while maintaining good grades. He is always polite to other students as well as adults and is always supporting his peers in their sports and extracurricular activities. Cade is a kind young man with a very bright future.” Congratulations, Cade, your TRA family is proud of you!

Lower School Review

BY SUSAN CRANFORD

The Christmas season is upon us, and our elementary students are so excited! We love this time of year, and we are so excited to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our PreK 3 classes made the cutest baby Jesus art work Our fourth graders are celebrating “Christmas Around the World”, and they are having so much fun learning about different holiday customs and traditions. Our third graders are busy writing about their favorite family traditions and sharing those with each other.

Our elementary chapel speakers this month are senior students who are sharing Christmas stories with our elementary students This week our seniors, Beau Downing and Emma Grace Pence, read The Giving Manger. This is a wonderful book that is a faith based interactive book that encourages acts of kindness, focuses on the joy of giving, and honors the real reason for Christmas: Jesus’ birth.

Lower School Review

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I caught our Kindergartners working on punctuation of sentences using their Promethean board. These interactive boards are AWESOME, and these students are definitely on their way to “fabulous” first grade!

Congratulations to the following fifth graders who made Treble Honor Choir. Hailey Crull, Lily Ford, Sophia Goodwin, Eleanor Gonzalez, Sadie Hall, Avery Jones, Cole Langley, Elizabeth McCalla, Allie Marcum, Andi Richardson. This is such a huge accomplishment!! We are very proud to have ten fifth graders receive this honor.

Each elementary class has selected a charity to donate to in lieu of exchanging gifts with one another. Charities include LeBonheur, Bread of Life Food Pantry and many more! We are so thankful to be able to teach our children about loving others and sharing God’s love with them, especially this time of year.

Be sure to loop through the elementary car line next week Our live Nativity will be out front on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. This is one of the most precious sights!