Second Issue
December 12, 2015
Let’s Grow in Wisdom!
Planting God’s Word in
our hearts this year
by Michael, 4th Grade
Ho w d o w e g r o w i n
wisdom? We can grow ourselves
and others by living, teaching the
gospel and planting God’s word in
our hearts. It’s easy to just show up
and go to church. But we have to
know what it really means and
really plant God’s word in our
hearts.
The bible verse for the 2015-2016
school year is:
“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature,
and in favor with God and man.” Luke
2:52
Why do we have a theme? “It helps
us have a common goal for all
grades,” said Mrs. Jackson, Lower
School Principal.
Mrs. Jackson said, “We can read the
bible and memorize verses and pray
at night.” Our theme came from
our Head of School, Dr. Whitaker,
“He spends time praying and
thinking about what theme to do
and a theme that helps us grow in
our relationship with Jesus,” said
Matt McGee, Assistant Head of
School, Advancement and Spiritual
Formation.
God has given us a wonderful
chance to be at a great school with
amazing teachers and a great staff.
We are blessed to grow in wisdom
everyday at TFA!
The Royal Roar
Rising to the Challenge
RISE: A campaign for the new Field House
by Faith, 5th Grade
“I can’t wait to play in the new Field House, it will be like
the schools you see on TV,” said a Lower School student. With
around 1,370 kids and many sports teams at TFA one gym isn’t
enough. That is why TFA has decided to build a brand new gym
called the Field House. The new Field House will have two
practice courts, a state of the art NBA sized game court, and a
weight room and training facility. There will be two floors. The
second floor will house the TFA Athletic offices. Also, there will
be a VIP experience that will include great seating with catered
food on game days. Because we will have two regulation practice
courts that can change into an NBA sized competition court,
TFA will be able to host AAU tournaments and the NBA
summer league. It will also serve the volleyball, basketball, and
wrestling teams. Plus, all teams will use the weight room. With
this building we will now have on campus three practice courts
instead of one. “Our Field House will be the newest one in
Central Florida,” said Matt McGee, Assistant Head of School,
Advancement and Spiritual Formation. This is all with a $10.5
million dollar goal. We have almost reached our goal! Go to
https://thefirstacademy.org/giving/give-now/ for more information
and to well, give now!
1
Second Issue
Fire Drills and
Lockdowns
by Lexie, 5th Grade
Have you ever wondered about fire drills
and lockdowns? I sat down with Mrs.
Jackson, our Lower School Principal, and
here is what she said.
• Who puts out a fire? “The fire
department does. They may use fire
extinguishers.”
• Who puts us in danger during a
lockdown? “People not following the
procedures or an intruder.”
• What do we do if we are trapped in a
fire? “Get as far away from the source as
possible.”
• What do we do if someone comes in the
classroom? “The teacher will protect
you.”
• When do we do lockdown drills? “We do
them twice a year.”
• When do we do fire drills? “We do them
once every month.”
• Where do we go in a fire? “We go
outside, facing away from the building.”
• Where do we go in a lockdown? “All
students will move silently to the corner
of the classroom.”
• Why do we do fire dills? “To practice
the procedures; so we are not scared.”
• Why do we do lockdowns? “To practice
the procedures; so we are not scared.”
• How do we do fire drills? “A teacher pulls
the alarm and follows the procedures.”
• How do we do lockdowns? “Over the
intercom it is announced that we are in a
hard lockdown, then we follow lockdown
procedures.”
Make sure you remember this important
info and stay safe!
The Royal Roar
December 12, 2015
Haiti
#ShareGodsLove
by Jordyn, 4th Grade
Every year TFA participates in
the Haiti Shoebox Drive. This
year YOU can help a child in Haiti by giving them a shoebox. A
shoebox is easy to do and will make a child in Haiti happy. Can
you imagine the joy on their faces when they get their shoebox?
All you have to do is take a shoebox and put some things in it
that a child would like to play with or could use, like some
clothes, t-shirts and socks. Maybe you could put in a Barbie or a
Lego; whatever you can think of! That’s the fun part for you!
Thinking of a putting all the fun things in a shoebox that will
bless a child.
Why?
We do this to share God’s love with others. Another way you can
share God’s love is participate in a clothes drive, or in a church
fund raiser, or even go on a mission trip! There are many ways to
show God’s love! God has given us a blessed life with our hot
showers, clean water, and an education. When we open our hearts
to the good of giving, it brings joy to you, Jesus, and the person
you are helping! The First Academy is proud to say we love Haiti
and they are in our hearts!
Success!
Mrs. Jackson is proud to
announce that Lower
School exceeded their goal
and collected over 700
shoeboxes! Thank you to
everyone who donated to
our Haiti Shoebox Drive.
Watching students bring in
a filled shoebox brought
Mrs. Jackson great joy! “Great success has come to this school
and we are so proud of the hard work you guys put into these
shoeboxes and the children in Haiti will be so thankful this
Christmas,” said Mrs. Jackson.
2
Second Issue
Danny’s Amazing, Epic,
Awesome and Accurate
Book Review!
by Danny, 4th Grade
I am reviewing “Athlete vs.
Mathlete” by W.C. Mack. It is a
Sunshine State Book. “Athlete vs.
Mathlete” is about twin brothers
Russell and Owen Evans. Russell
has a math club called “Masters
of the Mind”and Owen is the
school basketball superstar. One
day, the school coach wants
Russell to be at basketball tryouts
because he towers over Owen by five inches. And Russell
surprisingly makes the basketball team and is the best
player on it! Meanwhile Arthur Richardson threatens to
steal Russell’s spot as team captain for “Masters of the
Mind” and his brother, Owen, is jealous because Russell is
better at basketball than he is. Russell’s dad buys him a
pair of Nikes to wear for his first game. He thinks they are
magical, so Owen steals them and throws them in the
school dumpster. He also steals the ball from Russell at his
first game. That causes Russell to quit the team. After
that, Owen feels guilty about it. Owen finally talks Russell
into rejoining the team and they had a game with each
other and made up. Then they had a “Masters of the
Mind” competition. They had a plan to stop Arthur
Richardson from stealing Russell’s spot as team captain.
Since he wants to be “well rounded” they overwhelmed
him with ways to be “well rounded.” He then quit the
team. Russell and his team go to “Master’s of the Mind”
finals and build a mini parachute to stop an egg from
cracking from a drop. They are able to keep it from
cracking and even manage to win. I really like this book because it tells the story from
Owen’s perspective in one chapter and Russell’s in the
next. It will almost definitively be an excellent choice if
you can’t find a good Sunshine State book. What are you
still doing here? Go read “Athlete vs. Mathlete!” You won’t
want to miss it!
The Royal Roar
December 12, 2015
READ ALL ABOUT IT…
by Valeria, 5th Grade
Extra, Extra, calling all readers! The Sunshine
State Young Readers Award program (S.S.Y.R.A.) has
been in full swing this quarter! Students will try to read
at least five or more books.‘‘The Sunshine State reading
books are chosen by teachers and librarians all over the
state of Florida. The prizes you can earn are from what
the book is about. For example with Olivia Bean, Trivia
Queen you earn a trivia bookmark,”said Amanda
Whitaker, Library Assistant. Fifth grade and up books
are also available. Here are some rules for the S.S.Y.R.A.
program at our TFA library:
• You can check-out ONLY ONE S.S.Y.R.A. BOOK per
library session!
• You cannot put an S.S.Y.R.A. book on hold (They are
trying to give us as many books as they can!)
• If you took an A.R. test with the same book in
another school it doesn’t count.
• Have Fun!!
The Sunshine State books are:
• Olivia Bean,Trivia Queen
• Pie
• A Snicker of Magic
• Three Times Lucky
• Athlete vs. Mathlete
• Blast Off !
• Eight Keys
• The Freaky Fast Frankie Joe
• The Hypnotists
• Fortunately, the Milk
• The Fourteenth Goldfish
• Kizzy Ann Stamps
• Nerd Camp
• White Fur Flying
• Hero’s Guide to Saving your Kingdom
3
Keep reading and you too can be an S.S.Y.R.A. winner!
Second Issue
December 12, 2015
Tradition Continues!
2015-2016
Christmas Card
Finalists!
The First Academy
Christmas Card Competition
by Hoshea, 5th Grade
Students in the Lower School get to
be a part of a TFA Christmas tradition.
T h a t t r a d i t i o n i s d r a w i n g t h e T FA
Christmas card. Christmas cards are a
celebration of Christmas. The card that is
chosen is sent to all TFA families and
friends. Once all of the grade levels have
drawn their pictures, the administrators
then decide on which one wins. Mrs. Singer,
Lower School Art teacher, said, “I really
liked the overall themes for each grade this
year.”Everyone is going to be very surprised
when they see the wonderful works of art
from our Lower School students!”
The themes for the Lower School grades
this year were:
K4 - Handprint Christmas
TK - Candy Canes
1st - Ornaments
2nd - Snowflakes
3rd - Christmas Star
4th - Andy Warhol
5th - Camels
This year’s winner is Remi from third grade!
Congrats on your accomplishment! Our
Lower School has got some great artistic
talent!
by Alaina, K4
by Mia, Kindergarten
by Ella, TK
by Julia, 1st Grade
by Kylie, 2nd Grade
by Ava, 4th Grade
Remi’s winning drawing!
The Royal Roar
by Sarah, 5th Grade
4
Second Issue
December 12, 2015
Reading is Rewarding!
by Mike, 4th Grade
Blitzing the books, a football theme, was created to
make reading fun and encourage kids to read more! The idea
came from our library staff. The contest ran during our first
quarter and ended on October 2nd. The winners were Mrs.
Fox’s class, Mrs. Dowling’s class, Mrs. Diehl’s class, Mrs.
Walton’s class and Mrs. Bell’s class. The kids from each class
received a $2 coupon for any of the TFA football games and
you have to use them by the end of December 2015.
The Sunshine State Store is a contest with the Sunshine State
books. Each student who reads five books or more will be
invited to a private lunch! Each week during the challenge the
teachers will show a book preview. Each book has a prize that
goes along with its theme. So let’s read those books! For Nerd
Camp the prize is an invisible ink pen and the prize for Snicker
of Magic is an ice cream eraser. Those prizes are just a few
examples of the amazing things that go along with each
Sunshine State book. By the way this challenge is for 3rd
through 6th grade.
The Glory of
Christmas!
by Grace, 5th Grade
It’s The First Academy’s Allschool Christmas Program!
The Christmas Program will be held
at the Worship Center on Friday,
December 18th, at 10:00 a.m. You
won’t want to miss this exciting TFA
family tradition! A new twist this
year will be a Steel Drum pre-show
that is sure to be great performance.
Did you know the Christmas
program used to be a musical? Twelve
years ago the Christmas program was
a musical. When Dr. Whitaker came
to TFA they decided to revamp it to
a school-wide Christmas program.
This new tradition is still alive and
running strong. Every year it gets
better and better!
Photo credit: Mike, 4th grade
K4-2nd grade is competing to Be A Smart Cookie! This
competition also ends December 18th. Students can read the
books themselves or have them read to them. Once students
have completed a book they turn it into the library. All of the
prizes go along with the Be a Smart Cookie theme.
Reading is rewarding! Our library makes reading fun by
challenging all of us to be great readers!
The Royal Roar
Since First Baptist church records
the Christmas program, The DVD of
the program will be available for
purchase on the TFA website. It will
also be shown live for friends and
family to watch via the world wide
web at www.TheFirstAcademy.org.
We hope you will join the entire TFA
Family as we share the sounds of the
season and joy to the world at our
Annual TFA All-school Christmas
program. Merry Christmas!
5
Second Issue
December 12, 2015
Sports, Sports
AND MORE
SPORTS!
by Gabi, 4th Grade
Did you know we have a lot of
Lower School sports at TFA! We have all
sorts of championship teams too! TFA is
not only known for its academics but it
has great sports programs too! Here are
some of the sports you will find here at
TFA for Lower School students. Boys and
girls soccer; they work on skills and play in
tournaments! Boys tackle football; they
practice throughout the week and they
play at our Payne Stewart Athletic
Complex. Boys flag football practices two
days a week on skills. Girls volleyball does
skills and learns everything they need to
know about the sport. Boys and girls
basketball plays games on our newly
redone basketball court. Cheerleaders
practice one day a week and they work on
their skills. They also cheer at the Lower
School tackle football games. There’s a lot
of sports going on here so make sure you
get moving and be involved!
The Royal Roar
by Alex, 4th Grade
Photo Credit: TFA website
The Royals had a great football season! TFA participated in the
Central Florida All Star game at Lake Brantley High School! Our
team worked hard this season! Did you know they warm up and
play at our Payne Stewart Athletic Complex? They also bond as a
team at their campout called The Fire Pit!
IMPORTANT EVENTS & DATES FOR
DECEMBER AND JANUARY
Parents, please take a moment to mark your
calendars. The following are some important
dates that you do not want to miss:
• December 15th – 2nd Quarter AR Deadline
• December 15th – Kindergarten Polar Express
Day
• December 16th & 17th – Alternative Lunch for
K4-5th Grade and Christmas Program
Rehearsal
• December 16th – Classroom Christmas Parties
(Most Grade Levels)
• December 18th – All School Christmas
Program 10:00AM (Worship Center)
• December 18th – End of 2nd Quarter/12:15PM
Dismissal
• January 4th-Teacher Professional Development
Day/Student Holiday
• January 5th-First Day of 3rd Quarter
• January 10th-Open House for Prospective
Families (2:00-4:00PM)
• January 13th-2nd Grade Field Trip to Blue
Springs State Park
• January 15th-6th Grade Field Trip to Animal
Kingdom
6