Impressive Lower School student accomplishments
At last week’s Lower School assembly (click here for pictures), several students were recognized for their many different accolades. Congratulations to the following students for their outstanding accomplishments.
PreK
Cassandra Bonilla competed in the Taekwondo Tournament and got a Silver medal for board breaking and a Bronze medal for Form.
Blake and Barrett Backman both earned gold medals in gymnastics.
Jacob Cuesta participated in his first Tae Kwon Do tournament on April 2, 2016 held at Northside Christian School. Jacob won a Gold Medal in Forms competition, Gold Medal in Board Breaking Competition, Gold Medal in Weapons competition, Bronze medal in Olympic style Sparring and tied for 2nd place (Silver Medal) in color belt Grand Championship.
Kindergarten
Luka Vaughn skied multiple Double Black Diamond runs for the first time which are the most difficult ski runs on a mountain outside of Expert Chutes. He also won 7 Gold Medals on the NASTAR downhill ski course for his age group.
2nd Grade
Lorenzo Wainwright earned his Gold belt in karate.
Carlos Bonilla competed in a Taekwondo Tournament and got a Gold medal for board breaking and a Silver medal for Sparring. He also competed in a Ballroom Dancing Spring Showcase. He danced Viennese Waltz, Tango, Jive, Quickstep, Samba, Salsa, Rumba, Foxtrot and got 98 to 100 marks in all of his performances. Carlos also competed in a PCHA Horseback Riding Competition in the 14 and under age group and was the youngest rider to place in all classes he competed in. He got a 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th place ribbons.
Carson Covington won first place in the backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly in the first swim meet of the season at The Club at Treasure Island.
3rd Grade
Blake Barnett, Brennen and Traveler Cornish, Will and Hughie Seeley and Aiden Geis teamed up together and played in the Tampa Bay Club Sports Spring Soccer League this spring.
Zachary Vaughn skied his first Expert Chutes off the top of a 11,000ft Mountain. Expert Chutes are where you jump off the cornice of a mountain onto a slope that is generally about a 60% slope or greater and ski to the bottom. He also won 7 Silver Medals for his age group on the NASTAR downhill ski course. Zac was also accepted to the Summer Freestyle Skiing Development Program at the Olympic Training Facility in Park City, Utah.
Alexandra Wallace just earned her “Yellow Belt” in Shin Do Kumate (SHIN-DOO-COO-MA-TAY) training with Master Mehrdad (MERR-DAD) in this amazing mix of martial arts. She put in a lot of time and hard work to earn this.
Jacob Arias– Jacob earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do
Brennen and Traveler Cornish– Both Brennen and Traveler Cornish worked with the Build-A-Bed program for most of the school year. Together with a small crew, the boys went to several homes of children less fortunate and have helped put together beds so the children have a comfortable place to sleep at night, sometimes for the first time in their lives.
5th grade
Jillian Aprile is a competitive gymnast at Tampa Bay Tuners, and has been involved there since she was in preschool. This year, she completed in both the Fall and Spring Seasons. At her Level 6 State Champion Meet in Fort Myers in April, she placed first on Bars, and placed second on her all-round for her score at State. Her score at State, qualified her to compete at Regional 8 Championships in Asheville, North Carolina. Eight states compete at this meet. Jillian medaled on Floor, as well as placing 18th overall for the entire Region.
Calli McKee and Joe Klingel earned their orange belts in taekwondo.
Jillian and Calli also used their engineering skills to build a wooden bench as a gift to Mrs. Rowe, the Lower School social studies teacher. The two students completed the project as a part of their participation in the MakerSpace Club that meets every Tuesday. The MakerSpace club is an extension of the national movement of makerspaces, which are communities dedicated to being creative in a do-it-yourself method.
6th Grade
Isabella Wainwright qualified for Nationals in the tap division in the Shake the Ground dance competition.
Ben Crawford represented AFA at the annual city-wide middle school speech contest held at St. Petersburg High School.
Hugh Seeley & Ansley Fine (7th) competed in the 33rd Annual St. Anthony’s Triathlon on April 23 in downtown St. Petersburg. The race is considered to be one of the best in the world.
7th Grade
Gabe Lowe received his SCUBA certification.
Casey McKee and Ella Sokolowski, who compete on the same club volleyball team, helped their team claim first place in the Molton PreQualifier, 3rd place in the Tampa United Slam and 3rd place in the Florida Regional Qualifier. Next up is National Qualifiers in Orlando!
