Education

Jared Chandler

Story by Esther Hernandez

“[This year] has been a memorable year for the family of Blue Mountain Academy,” says Sanghae Kim, Bible teacher and pastor of the Blue Mountain Academy (BMA) church. “Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the school closed as it was finishing a Week of Prayer. God blessed even that moment with six students getting baptized. And our spiritual revival has not stopped. Henrique Da Silva, a senior at BMA, and other leaders, started a prayer initiative each day at 9 p.m., calling for prayer for God’s protection and guidance. ... Each Wednesday a group of students meet with me online to study The Great Controversy and to pray together.”

Dani Arthur, Nick White and Ivy Arreguin—this year’s new Spring Valley Academy staff members—arrive with creativity and passion.

Story by Darren Wilkins

Spring Valley Academy (SVA) elementary students noticed a few new faces in their classrooms at the beginning of the 2020–21 school year.

Former fifth- and sixth-grade teacher, Emily Cowell, took the third- and fourth-grade position after the passing of former teacher Kimberly Orr, while Michele O’Geare moved from her first- and second-grade posi- tion to fill the ELL/reading specialist role vacated by Michelle Church.

Story by Heidi Wetmore

Chesapeake Conference's Spencerville Adventist Academy (SAA) held an outdoor commencement service during the COVID-19 pandemic late July for both its eighth-grade and senior classes. Chesapeake Conference’s New Hope church in Fulton, Md., located in a county where outdoor group gatherings of up to 250 people were allowed, graciously shared their lawn so that the Class of 2020 could have an in-person ceremony with their immediate families. The event was also livestreamed so that other relatives and friends could be a part of the celebration.