Pine Tree Academy welcomed Greater Boston Academy to its campus on Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Academy students were invited to play two spirited basketball games! It was a fun way to involve our sister academy in some extracurricular activities.

On Wednesday, March 16, 2016, the Kingsway College Aerials (Gymnastics Team) visited Pine Tree Academy.  The theme of their show was "Be Still."  Many of the skits focused on God's redemption and how we should put aside distractions in our lives and "Be Still."  During several parts in the program, PTA students were allowed to come and demonstrate some of the skills that were being taught and displayed.  Mr. Krueger even got in on the action!

Before break began, one of Pine Tree’s own left us. Sieun Gong, a PTA student since 5th grade, left Maine and returned to her home in South Korea. Sieun is an instant friend to all due to her humor, happiness, and brutal honesty. She is a great person to open up to and you can always count on Sieun for a second and true opinion. Sieun leaves behind many friends and teachers who were sad to see her go.  But, we know that she is heading towards a bright future. Sieun is an extremely smart student who possesses diligence and talent and will go very far on her journey through life. We will all certainly miss Sieun but look forward to seeing her again someday.  Our thoughts and prayers travel with you Sieun!

​-Meagan Hodson, classmate & friend

On Tuesday, February 9, Pine Tree Academy students in grades 9-12 were presented with a talk on the dangers of distracted driving.  Two visitors from the Bureau of Highway Safety set up simulators that the students could try out.  The students were asked to "drive" the car while listening to the directions being given to them on the screen.  In addition, they had a passenger in the "car" that they were conversing with.  Finally, when given a signal, they were supposed to text a friend at the same time.  Several "crashes" resulted in this distracted driving.  It was a good reminder to students that texting and driving is unsafe as well as ILLEGAL.

Recently the Pine Tree Academy Campus Ministries team led out the church service for Brunswick SDA Church.  The students picked the songs for song service and offeratory led by JP Tshamala, Grace Johnson, Lauren Krueger, Jalen Tamaleaa, Gabe Goodman, and Elizabeth Frye.  Victoria Edmond spoke for the offering and Elizabeth Frye played piano for the offeratory and accompanied Jasmine Kunts for special music.

The sermon was the first by our Volunteer Pastor of Brunswick Church who was very enthusiastic about having the youth lead out in the church service.

​Grace Johnson, a senior at PTA, said "It was super fun working along with my friends, everyone had a good time both planning and executing our own youth led church service; the whole thing was a learning experience and a blessing."

Gabe Goodman, a freshmen, said it was "Nerve wracking, but fun."

The group looks forward to doing this again in other local congregations. I believe the more we can get youth involved the less "nerve wracking" it will be and the more we can provide a learning experience as both sides receive a blessing and God is glorified. This is a necessary step in empowering our youth to not only be active members who take personal ownership of church activities and involvement but also active leaders in service of our God and community.

Pine Tree Academy Home & School celebrated their athletes on Saturday night, January 9, 2016 in the varsity basketball games against Seacoast.

During Christmas break industrious high school students helped with a service project – the Micronesian Literacy Project.  Students categorized books for children in the early stages of literacy in Micronesia, an area located east of Hawaii and Guam, in the middle of the Pacific.  This project is the unofficial service project of the PTA chapter of the National Honor Society, an organization that at its heart believes that service is crucial to leadership. “The National Honor Society (NHS) chooses to induct only those students who have demonstrated service, as well as character, leadership, and scholarship,” states Anne Goorhuis, PTA sponsor of the NHS.
Two work bees were held during break. Jonathan Krebs, Lauren Krueger and Alex Milano came in to help.  In addition, PTA alumna Rachel Cundiff and her sister Lauren, who served as a missionary to Micronesia in 2014 aided in this project. The young people placed color-coded labels on the books indicating short vowel sounds, long vowel sounds, etc. They also trimmed freshly laminated pages of easy readers and restapled them back into books. The lamination helps protect trade paperbacks against the high humidity of the tropical islands and ensures their long-term usefulness. 
Once the books were processed, Alex, Jon and Lauren then boxed the books to be sent to the eight Adventist schools in Micronesia.  Many students there do not speak English as their mother tongue and yet wish to attend a school where they can learn English.  They therefore lag behind their American counterparts in reading.    Every thought was given to making the teaching task easier for the many student missionaries from Adventist universities who instruct the Micronesian pupils. Kudos to our PTA high school students Alex, Jonathan and Lauren for giving up part of their Christmas vacation to help with this worthy project! Together with Rachel and Lauren they logged over fourteen hours of volunteer work!
The Micronesian Literacy Project is ongoing and any 9th – 12th grader is welcome to stop by Room 206 and speak with Mrs. Goorhuis to see how he or she can help.  It’s an awesome way to make a difference in the life of a child while gaining some valuable service hours to record on the National Honor Society Inventory form.