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.

The Home and School Association had a special welcome for each student who either "Stepped Up" from 8th grade or visited the school for Open House on April 22, 2015.

Students in grades 7 & 8 at Pine Tree Academy are learning about positive and negative space during art class.  Parent and volunteer extraordinaire, Chris Thacker, takes his time every Friday morning to teach the students fundamentals of drawing as well as techniques to enhance their drawings.  

Students in Pre-K and Kindergarten have been learning about Native Americans and The First Thanksgiving.  Their teacher, Lani Gepford, lets them pick Native American names that they use for the whole day.  The students also designed "buck-skin" pillow case robes and personalized drums.  

Today, Monday November 10, 2014 German I students traced the tumultuous happenings twenty-five years ago when the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989.  This event marked the demise of the socialist German Democratic Republic, but it happened by a fluke.  A Politburo member mistakenly announced over the radio waves that effective immediately, East Germans would be allowed to pass unimpeded into West Berlin.  Thousands rushed to the streets and the cross-over points between the two Berlins.  

But the crowds were disappointed when border guards would not let them pass. When faced with a disenchanted crowd growing increasingly more restless, one border guard, Harald Jaeger, defied his superior’s orders and opened his gate.  As PTA German I students watched actual footage of this moment in history, they chanted with the East Germans “Tor auf! Tor auf! Tor auf!” (Open the gate! Open the gate! Open the gate!)  Later the night of November 9, 1989, all the gates were opened between East and West Berlin.  It’s estimated 20 thousand East Germans poured into West Berlin to celebrate their freedom.

PTA German students also viewed a video clip of actual remnants of the Wall now placed in cities in the four corners of the globe.  They came to realize that these remnants of the Berlin Wall powerfully express that peace can be achieved through peaceful means.