AA: Alumni Weekend 2019

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Andrews Academy’s alumni weekend was October 18-19 2019. Hundreds of alumni returned to remember the fun times at AA and to renew friendships with each other and with our God. Individual class photos were taken and of honored individuals. See Facebook for these pictures.

Friday's Convocation & Career Seminars

The weekend started with Convocation in the chapel for the current Academy students. The Senior class, the class of 2020, led in the school song and the pledge of allegiance. Jeannie Leiterman, AA Principal, welcomed everyone to convocation. Mr. Bud Cason (class of ’55) presented the Convocation address. He is an amazing story teller, recounting to the students various fond memories of the Academy and how it impacted his life.

At the close of the program, the alumni who presented career seminars were introduced. After Convocation, the students then went to various classrooms to participate in Career Seminars. One group actually went to an AA alumnus robotics engineer’s business for their seminar. Based on their interests, students were able to attend two career presentations of their choice. It’s a great opportunity for students to explore possible career choices as Andrews Academy alumni shared insights about their careers. Some presenters were able to bring items allowing students to participate in the presentation. They also shared how through our careers we can serve God and leade others to Him.

This is the second year of also having a Career Fair as part of Friday's events. The gymnasium was full of booths helping explain more about various careers, many with interactive activities. Various departments from AU were represented, as well as the community, and alumni. Thank you all for making this a successful opportunity for students to learn more about careers.

Please go out of your way to thank Mrs. Gina Meekma, our alumni coordinator, for an excellent program and for planning the entire weekend. And thank you to a whole host of volunteers for stepping in and helping make this weekend possible. For a short video of creating an AA logo out of metal at the robotics engineering seminar, please go to Facebook. For photos of Convocation and the Career Seminars, see Facebook.

Friday Night Vespers

Friday Night Alumni Weekend Vespers (Oct. 18, 2019) was presented by Andrews Academy class of 2000. This class was known for their singing as they led out in chapels when they were students. They continued their tradition as Sarah (Woolf) Canada, Kimberly (Weber) Spare, and Richard Park led out in singing for vespers this alumni weekend. Eileen (Vega) Spruill had opening prayer, and David Canada had the closing prayer.

The class invited Pastor Glenn Russell, former Bible teacher, to present the worship thought, entitled, “Trying to hold onto faith in the midst of a cynical world.” By retelling the story of Joshua and Caleb and the Children of Israel found in Numbers 13-14, he reminded listeners that the Lord is with us and we should not be afraid. The attitude to persevere and have a deep faith will not come from within self, instead it will be from God. We need to follow the Lord completely, stay close to Him, and trust Him completely. Despite our cynical world our faith can be strong in Jesus.

Thank you AA Class of 2000 for presenting the Friday evening vespers. Members of the class stayed after the vespers program for a couple of hours, catching up on what has happened in their lives and that of their classmates. It was a fun evening of sharing and remembering their time together at AA. If the tradition continues as it has, this class upon their next honored reunion weekend, their 25 year reunion, will be organizing, along with the AA reunion committee, the church program for reunion weekend October 2024! Video on Facebook. Photos on Facebook

Sabbath School & Church

For SS, there were various tributes, special musics by Orion Strings and an AA vocal group, and mission reports from AA students who went to Cuba. Teacher of the Year Alan Anderson (taught at AA from 1970-2013) was honored, as well as Alumna of the Year, Lynda Popp Swanson (class of 1970). Roll Call of the classes was done by Cleon White and Randy Graves.

The class of 1995 planned the church service. Ethan Jones, Martha (Macey) Daggett, Michelle (Spangler) Hamel, and Heidi (Kunitz) Ray took part in the program. The speaker was Jonathan Bilima, and his sermon was called, "Trust the Process." The Silhouettes and alumni sang "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." See photos on Facebook. Video also on Facebook.

Shydepoke 2019

The traditional Shydepoke flag football game of Alumni weekend occurred at the AU field on October 19, 2019. The female AA alumni and the female AA students game was won by the alumni 6 to 0. The alumni took an early lead in the game and kept the lead.

The male AA alumni and the male AA students game was very exciting, with the alumni taking the initial lead and keeping the lead, but it was very close throughout the game. The alumni won the game 19 to 12. Everyone had a lot of fun on a perfect evening for a football game.

The Doug Newberry most valuable player award went to Sam Taylor, and the Lydia Chong most valuable player award went to Lizzy Lubbert. These awards are named after two PE teachers from the 1980s.

Some Shydepoke history: In 1960 the Andrews Academy Shydepoke tradition began when Knobby Mauro was principal. At that point, there was only one game for the males. In the 1980s, the female and then male games became a tradition. The name “Shydpoke” was chosen, a term from the south meaning a “get-together social event.” Also during the time Mauro was principal, a challenge was presented to the students to come up with a name for the school teams. Gordon Johns, from the class of 1966, came up with the name “Acumen.” His goal was to scan the dictionary for a unique and meaningful name and only got to the “ac” of the dictionary when he came up with this name. The acumen name means “the ability to make good judgments and quick decisions, typically in a particular domain.” He won a $10 prize for this.

Thank you coaches, referees, announcers, concession stand volunteers, and fans for making this a fun and successful alumni event.

Photos on Facebook.