Eagle Eye 3-5-2017

March 5, 2017

Inspiration

Before reading any further, I invite you to stop for a moment and think of someone who inspires you. No, seriously. Stop right now and think of a person you know who inspires you to be a better version of yourself.

If you took my invitation to heart, you now have a person in mind. That person might be living or deceased. He/she could be a historical figure such as Martin Luther King, Jr. or Mother Theresa. Your inspiration might be a public figure such as a politician, celebrity, author, or athlete. But most likely, your inspiration is someone close to you like a parent, a grandparent, or sibling. In an unscientific survey conducted for the purposes of this article, 52% of MBCA staff cited a family member as their source of inspiration. What all of these examples have in common is they are adults. At last count, there were approximately 2.4 billion people on this planet under the age of eighteen and though children may not be the first to come to mind when we think of inspirational figures, I assure you there are worthy examples.

A child who has inspired me recently is especially young; she is nine. If you think it might be difficult to be inspired by someone who hasn’t yet reached double digits, then you haven’t met Grace Detling. At the tender age of six, Grace was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. That kind of news would be more than enough reason to dampen one’s spirits, but Grace’s response to her condition defies expectation. Through countless rounds of medication and medical procedure, Grace continues to exude an indomitable spirit of determination. She has been subjected to more physical and mental strain in the last three years than most of us will experience in a lifetime and yet she comes to school every day her body will allow, unfailingly gracious and cheerful. Grace inspires all of us to lean on our Heavenly Father for strength as we strive to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1) And speaking of running and my friend, Grace, there is an event coming up that you may wish to consider.

The Amazing Grace Race is a 5K sponsored by Mt. Bethel benefiting the Detling family and the Rally Foundation which works to fund childhood cancer research. The race is coming up soon, Saturday, March 11, but there is still time to join in. If you’d like to be an inspiration to an inspiring young girl, I hope you’ll click here to register and show your support.

Blessings,

Jim R. Callis

Head of School

Dates to Remember

Tuesday, March 7: Eagle Choir sings in Chapel to honor all parent volunteers

Friday, March 10: Early Release Main Campus; LS at 11:45 & MS at 11:55

Friday, March 10: MS Fine Arts Day

Admission

Re-enrollment Deadline has Passed
If you have not re-enrolled for the 2017-2018 school year, please be aware that the Admission Office will be making admission decisions over the next 2 weeks for new students. If you've not secured your child's spot by submitting your re-enrollment contract and tuition deposit, you may risk losing your spot. Questions? Contact Jackie Grasty or Lane Sims.

Financial Aid Deadline
If you received tuition assistance last year, and will need support again this year, please note that you will need to re-apply for financial aid. The financial aid application deadline was February 24 and aid allocations are currently being decided. Awards are only given to students whose financial aid file is complete. A complete file includes the Parent Statement of Need, Federal Tax Form 1040 and the submitted SSS application.

Link here to start the application.

Rolling Admission is Underway

The admission deadline for 1st round consideration has passed, but never fear, we will continue to accept applications on a rolling basis. This means that it's not too late to apply for admission for next year. Link here to apply for admission.

Save the Date

Spring Musical
Friday, March 10 @ 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 11 @ 2:00 p.m.
Mt. Bethel Fellowship Hall

MBCA Middle School presents James and the Giant Peach Jr. on Friday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, March 11 at 2:00 p.m. in the MBUMC Fellowship Hall.

Join us for a delightfully offbeat adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl adventure. When James is sent by his conniving aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, he discovers a magic potion that results in a tremendous peach...and launches a journey of enormous proportions. You don’t want to miss this one!

Tickets are available every morning and afternoon in the MBCA Lobby!

Adults tickets - $7 Student/Faculty/Staff - $5

X-DRENALINE Spirit Event

Early Release Day

March 10 from 12 p.m.-6 p.m.

Calling all Lower School & Middle School Parents:
Come jump at X-Drenaline, March 10, 2017 starting at 12 p.m. You are welcome to stay for 1 hour, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 hours or whatever suits your schedule. This is not a drop off event, you must accompany your child. The cost is $14 per hour plus socks, and the price includes all access! For every hour you jump, the school earns $8. All proceeds directly benefit the 8th Grade Mission Fundraiser. We need your support to make this event successful!!

Thank you,
8th Grade Fundraising Team

Amazing Grace Race

March 11, 2017
On Saturday March 11, the Amazing Grace Race (5K Run/Walk and qualifier for the Peachtree Road Race) will take place to support MBCA's own Grace Detling.

Please click the link to register to participate. The race is open to all ages and to anyone across the community. Sponsorship opportunities are available to individuals and corporations. Please contact Charlotte Springthorpe for more information on sponsoring. Please contact Kelye Avitabile to volunteer. Volunteer opportunities are available before, during and after the race. Middle School students can earn service hours for volunteering.

Spring Fling
Saturday, March 25

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

You are invited to the Mt. Bethel 17th Annual Spring Fling on Saturday, March 25 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Tickets are already on sale, so click here to get your tickets! View the flyer for more information about the event!

Lego Contest

Calling all Lego Builders!

MBCA is conducting a Lego Building Contest this year as part of the 2017 Spring Fling and Auction. Prizes will be awarded to one winner in each grade category. Click on the link for all of the details as well as the entry form. Students, get those imaginations started!

FORE!

April 17, 2017

Attention All Golfers

The 4th Annual MBCA 8th Grade Fundraiser Golf Tournament is scheduled for Monday, April 17 at Indian Hills Country Club. The format will be a Modified Scramble. There will be contests and prizes throughout the course, including the chance to win a car and cash for a hole-in-one. Deadline to sign up is April 7. Deadline for sponsorships is March 24. For additional details and information on sponsorships, please link here.

Announcements

A Safety Tip from Officer Roman
While walking in the parking lot with children, parents should keep an eye out for backing vehicles. Drivers that are backing out of parking spaces often times have difficulty seeing persons passing-by to the rear. All vehicles have blind spots and I have noticed that many times parents, with children in hand, will try to “scoot” around a backing vehicle rather than stopping to allow a vehicle to finish backing up.

Parents should keep an eye out for the white back-up lights of a vehicle that is in motion. When you see the back-up lights on – please stop and allow the vehicle to fully back out of the parking space before continuing to walk past.

This will create a safer pedestrian environment and will hopefully prevent an accident.

Thanks for your help in keeping our students safe!!

Officer Roman

After School Walk-Up
When students are picked up from Walk-Up in the afternoon, many students like to play with their friends on the Academy playground or front lawn while under their parent’s supervision. If your child/ren play after school in front of the Academy building, please remind them to not go on the Preschool playgrounds. These playgrounds are equipped for children 18 months through 4 years of age and are not suitable for Academy students.

Also, help us preserve the beauty of the trees on the front lawn by not allowing children to climb the trees or swing from lower limbs.

Thank you for helping us keep the playgrounds and areas in front of the building looking well maintained.

Friday Morning Breakfast

At the Main Campus
Come early and join your classmates for breakfast. All profits go toward the 8th grade mission trip. Sales start no later than 7:30 a.m.

$3 - Chick-fil-A Biscuits
$3 - Chick-fil-A Minis box
$1 - Donuts (glazed and chocolate glazed)
$3 - Gluten Free Option

Chick-fil-A Breakfast

At the North Campus

The Upper School will be selling Chick-fil-A biscuits and calendars at the North Campus on Friday mornings from 7:30 – 8:10 a.m . All profits go toward the Upper School Mission Trips.

$3 - Chick-fil-A Biscuits

$3.50 - Chick-fil-A 2017 Cow Calendar - 11 months of FREE food available on the coupon card. Pick yours up at the reception desk at the Upper School.

Class News

Student Spotlight
Charlie Gandy

Congratulations to fifth grade student, Charlie Gandy, our school’s Geography Bee Champion, for qualifying to compete in the 2017 Georgia National Geographic State Bee! Charlie will compete at the end of this month against students from all across Georgia, ranging from 4th grade to 8th grade. Please congratulate him when you see him!

Furthermore, on February 28 Charlie competed in rounds 2 and 3 of the GISA Spelling Bee. Charlie traveled to The Atlanta Academy and competed against forty-seven other students from thirty-eight schools. He came in second place of round 3 and has advanced to the state level of competition. Charlie will compete on March 17 at Georgia State University. Congratulations, Charlie!

First Grade

The Life of Dr. Seuss

First Grade celebrated the life of Dr. Seuss on Thursday. They made Seuss hats and rotated throughout the first grade classrooms doing different Seuss activities. They even had a Dr. Seuss mystery reader! Here are pictures of each class along with the mystery reader.

Middle School
Spring Mission Opportunity
This year, the Middle School has chosen Camp Hope for their Spring House Mission. Camp Hope is an annual, six-day overnight camp specially designed for children in Georgia who have a parent in local, state, or federal prison. Many campers get off the Camp Hope bus without what they need for the week. From March 2-17, the Middle School will be participating in their Spring Mission Opportunity and collecting needed items for the campers. Please view the flyer to see what items are needed. Donations will be collected in the Middle School Office.

For more information, contact Janie Bunch or Heather Rendle. Stay tuned for more information on serving Camp Hope 2017: May 27 - June 2 at Camp Twin Lakes!

Dyslexia Day

Middle School House and NJHS officers attended the state Senate session Wednesday at the capitol. They joined 8th grader, Madison Gant, in support of Dyslexia Day at the capitol.

House Points
Fortes - 7,614

Veritas - 7,531

Servimus - 6,851

Integritas - 6,734
Humilitas - 6,414

Fidelitas - 6,305

Sports

Upper School

Boys’ Varsity Basketball
Congratulations to the Boys’ Varsity Basketball team on capturing the GICAA State Championship in Albany, Georgia. Last weekend our Eagles played some incredible basketball, starting with Friday night in the Final Four game against Sherwood, a very good local team from Albany. Sherwood had high expectations and brought a ton of people to the game. Sherwood has 3 outstanding players. A 6’6 versatile wing, 6’3 athletic, explosive guard averaging 29 points per game and a very quick scoring point guard averaging 21 points per game. At the buzzer of the first quarter Jordan Meka put in a stick back to make the score 13 – 10. In the second quarter the Eagles came out firing on all cylinders. We scored 28 points in the quarter to take a commanding lead going into halftime 41 – 22. In the 3rd quarter, the Eagles kept on working together and playing some of our best basketball of the season. We scored 26 points in the 3rd quarter and only gave up 12. Going into the final quarter the Eagles were in complete control. The final score was 79 – 43. We held their 3 star players well below their season averages. We had an incredible duo that night with Jaquez Gilbert scoring 29 points and dishing out 5 assists while at the same time guarding one of their best players. Jordan Meka turned in an amazing performance posting a double double with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Matt Gilliland gave us a spark from the outside chipping in 9 points while Coleman Boyd played solid defense and dished out 9 assists despite foul trouble.

On to the State Championship game! The good news was we were in the state championship game; the bad news, our opponent was someone we’ve played 3 times this year. Anyone who has ever played sports knows it is very difficult to beat a good team 4 times. In the first 3 contests, including the Region Championship, Creekside tried to go toe to toe with us, but came up significantly short on each occasion. This time, they had a different plan. Creekside decided to slow the game way down and try to wear us down by methodically passing the ball around the perimeter using up as much clock as they could. We tried to speed them up with some trapping defenses, but they were able to handle the traps and kept their composure. Well this strategy worked for the first half, the score was 17 – 10. In the second half, we came out and executed extremely well on both ends of the floor finding Jordan Meka in the paint while defending Creekside’s motion offense. After 3 quarters we extended the lead to 32 – 17. We felt very good at this point and forced Creekside to have to start playing faster. We held them to just 4 points in the 4th quarter and came out on top 39 – 21. What an incredible 2 days for Mt Bethel and our entire community. So many people to thank for their support along the way.

We are so proud of our boys for how they played this game. They grew up in many ways by not allowing their style to get us out of our game and frustrated. Our boys kept their composure and did a great job. We earned this Victory! After not scoring a single point in the first half, Jordan Meka scored 14 second half points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Coleman Boyd was the glue to our team that night. He kept our guys mentally in the game and made several good plays on both ends of the floor. Coleman only scored 7 points, but dished out 7 assists. Luke Kirk came in off the bench and immediately made an impact by hitting a big 3. Stanley Eze was all over the place playing solid defense, eating glass on the boards, and making some nice moves around the basket. He scored 5 points and had 6 rebounds. Matt Gilliland hit 2 big threes for us in a low scoring game. Congratulations again to our Mt Bethel Eagles on winning the GICCCA State Championship!

Middle School

Baseball
Baseball is playing out of the Dunwoody Senior league for the 2017 season, facing some new opponents and schools. They hosted Lakeside from the US campus and won big, 16 - 2.

At their next game, the baseball team played well against Chamblee, collecting a nice 10 - 8 victory at Morgan Falls Park.

Golf
Our golf team had their first outing on March 1. They were able to dodge the rain long enough to get in a scramble round at Cross Creek with several other MAAC schools. Congrats to John Ostergard who tied for first place as an individual with a 29. The team edged out all other schools with the combined low round of 154 as a team to secure a first place finish.

Soccer
Both soccer teams played a match against Pace Academy. The ladies won 3 - 0 at home, while the boys collected a hard fought 2 - 5 loss on the road. Goals for the ladies came from Lexy Faklaris (2) and Addison Seaborn.

Both soccer teams took on Metro 10 school, Pinecrest in a friendly match on March 2. The boys were on the road and ended with a 2 - 2 tie after being down 0 - 2. Goals came from Andrew O’Connor and Aston Hunter. The ladies were at home once again and completed a 4 - 0 shutout with strong defense and good offense. Goals came from Lexy Faklaris (2), Madison Contrucci, and Hannah Faklaris.

Tennis
Tennis travelled to the Sandy Springs Tennis Center for a MAAC match with Atlanta International School (AIS). Boys won 3-0 and the Girls lost 1-2.

Summer Camps

American Girl Camp

June 12 - 16, 2017

Don't miss out on the 6th Annual AG Camp! Join Mrs. Black and Mrs. Sheffield for 5 days of fashion shows, tea parties, crafts, pitball and more. Click here to register and for more details.

Creative Writing Camp

June 19 - 22, 2017

Come join Mrs. Kelly for Creative Writing Camp! Every camper will be writing his/her own book filled with a selection of different creative writing pieces. This camp is perfect for anyone who loves to write and for those who may be a little hesitant about their abilities, but have the desire! Here are the details:

When: June 19-22 from 12:30-3:30 p.m.

Where: MBCA - DeVore Hall, Room 223

Who: Rising 5th through 8th ladies and gentlemen

Cost: $160 per camper (includes hard bound final book product)

MBCA students are welcome to bring a friend! Camp is limited to 18 participants. Please contact Mrs. Kelly with any questions and to reserve your spot!

MBUMC News

TAKEOFF

TAKEOFF Performance Systems is offering speed, agility and strength class for ages 7 - 18. Classes are Sundays from 1-2 p.m. from February 19 – May 14. Classes are located on Mt. Bethel Main Campus fields. $10 per class.

Come get in shape while having a blast! For more information, click here.