Lower School Assembly – November 30, 2018
November 30, 2018 – Assembly
Presented by Head of Lower School, Mrs. Anita Fine. View more pictures of the assembly.
Pledge: Benjamin Deskovich
Safety Patrol: To conclude our month of November and our Key of Excellence of Patriotism and Citizenship, safety patrol would like to demonstrate and explain folding of the flag and what it represents. Julia LoRusso & Sophie Deitche spoke about the flag and what the folds represent. Sophia Bourque, Bella Reynolds, Hannah Singleton, and Lilly Van Arsdale folded the flag.
Character Word for December: Caring & Kindness
“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” Scott Adams
2nd grade sang a song about kindness.
We have four families who have recently shown or will be showing caring & kindness in our community.
1. Nour Fackih (5th grade), Jana Fackih (3rd grade), and Aya Fackih (1st grade)
These three sisters participated in the Annual Children’s Cancer Center walk that Dr. Fackih’s pharmacy and Chick-Fil-A hosted at Curtis Hixon Park in downtown Tampa. There were around 5000 people at the event, and the girls set up a slime-making station. They worked really hard and got up at five in the morning to prepare for the event. They taught over 100 kids how to make slime.
2. Katie Lynch (5th grade) and Claire Lynch (2nd grade)
These two sisters participated in the Turtle Trot 5K run to help raise money for their local city park that they have been visiting since they were babies. Katie ended up with the 1st place in her age group and Claire won the 2nd place in her age group.
3. Benjamin and Bennett Deskovich (4th grade)
They set a goal to raise money for a local pet shelter of $100. They decided on Pet Pal and met with the executive director who gave them information on their requirements. They spent a few hours on a Friday night making homemade peanut butter dog biscuits and then set up shop the next day at their garage sale. They ended up beating their goal and raised $170!
4. Oleg Tchentsov (kindergarten)
This will be the 3rd Christmas that Oleg and his family have volunteered as Santa’s Angels. They buy, wrap and deliver presents and food for the families in need.
Student Recognitions:
Oleg Tchentsov (kindergarten): Last year, Oleg was an advanced beginning swimmer and he passed all possible levels at Tampa Bay Turners. He is now at Stroke II which is the top level of his age group.
Liam Brooks (kindergarten): Scored 2 goals and 1 assist in his first 2 soccer games of the season.
Erin Prather (1st grade): Took first place in an ice skating competition at the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex on November 10th. She had to compete against all of the members on her team.
Jacob Cuesta (2nd grade): Recently competed in the Taekwondo Grand Prix Tournament in Sarasota, Florida and won Second Place in Poomsae (Black Belt, 11 and under division) and Second Place in Olympic Sparring (Black Belt, 7-8-year-old division). Jacob will be competing in the Southwest Florida Taekwondo Championships in December 2018.
David Vaughn, Jacob Cuesta, Olivia Love, Max Salebra, Jordan Merryman & Weston Mariscal (2nd graders): Congratulations to these students who are on the Junior Strikers flag football team for an incredible first season of play. They gave their all every game and rounded out the season winning 6 of their 7 games.
Logan Kip (4th grade), Trey Ulevich (4th grade), Isaac Mariscal (4th grade) and Peter Vaughn (5th grade): They helped their flag football team, the Strikers have an equally impressive season also winning 6 of their 7 games. These students represented AFA in the best way – working hard, never giving up and showing good sportsmanship towards their fellow teammates and opposing teams. Way to go Strikers & Junior Strikers.
Lorenzo Wainwright (5th grade): Lorenzo got his blue belt in Karate during the summer.
Michael Athans (5th grade): Received a perfect score on the math section of Grade 4 Florida Standards Assessment which he took at his previous school.
Carlos Bonilla (5th grade), Marin Lewis (5th grade) and Cassandra Bonilla (2nd grade) They competed in the Tropicana Challenge Ballroom Competition, which is a full day of dancing from 8:00 am until 6:00 pm. Cassandra received many first and second places throughout the day and won silver and bronze place in the dance challenges. Marin received gold and silver place and Carlos received two golds.
Cassandra also competed in the Orlando Dance Classic getting many 1st and 2nd places.
Both Carlos and Cassandra competed in Orlando at the Blitz All Youth Ballroom Competition. Carlos won a gold medal in standard and in silver latin scholarship. Cassandra won gold in both scholarships.
Cassandra received her Junior Brown Belt and Carlos got his First Dan Black Belt.
Carlos Bonilla (5th grade) & Carson Covington (5th grade): These two fifth grade students were chosen as finalists in the 35th Annual Stanley Shalit Short Story Competition sponsored by the Friends of the Largo Library! The prompt for this year’s contest was to write an imaginative 4-8 page story about a backpack. I am happy to report that Carlos Bonilla took home 2nd place and $75 at last night’s award ceremony where eight finalists were honored. Carson Covington received honorable mention and $25. The boys worked very hard on their stories, and we are all very proud of them!
Duke Talent Program
The following students qualified for the 2018-2019 Duke University Talent Identification Program’s 4th-6th Grade Talent Search. Duke Talent Program is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving academically gifted and talented students. The Duke Talent Search was launched in 1994 with the goal of identifying gifted students at a younger age. Duke TIP works with students, their families, and educators to discover, explore and celebrate students’ academic interests at a time when it is important to foster curiosity and build confidence. To participate, students must meet the following criteria: • they must be in fourth, fifth, or sixth grade • they must have scored at the 95th percentile or above on a standardized achievement, aptitude, or mental ability test.
4th Grade
- Jett Caisse
5th Grade
- Sophia Preston
- Gregory Ransone
- Lorenzo Wainwright
6th Grade
- Jacob Arias
- Myles Bonilla
- Jacob Bush
- Brennen Cornish
- Ethan Creadon
- Cole Raymer
- Isabella Reynolds
- Zachary Rice
- Alexandra Wallace
We want to thank those that brought in food for the Hunger Heroes Food Bank.
Currently, we are working with the U.S. Marines’ Toys for Tots Program and collecting unwrapped toys. We have a box in the Lower School Office for those that would like to bring in a toy.
Please remember that during the holiday season we all need to be caring and kind to those children who are less fortunate.
