A monthly publication to share school related accomplishments of
students, faculty, staff, & alumni of Prince Avenue Christian School.
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Prince Names 2020 Epistle Award Recipient
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The 2020 Epistle Award Recipient is Allie Carter. The Epistle Award is given annually to the graduating senior who, in the opinion of the faculty, best represents what PACS values more than anything else – a Christ-like spirit that manifests itself in a desire to grow in the Lord and serve others for the glory of God. Allie is a student whose heart for Jesus shines through in all that she does and who uses her God-given gifts to pursue excellence.
Allie is the daughter of Jeff and Susanne Carter and has attended Prince for 14 years. During her high school career, Allie was in the National Honor Society, Beta Club, Interact Club, Student Government, and Barnabas Mentor Program. Allie was also on the volleyball and tennis teams and was her class Homecoming Representative for her 9th – 12th grade years.
Allie attends Prince Avenue Baptist Church where she volunteers in the nursery and sings on the youth praise team. Allie plans to attend the University of Georgia.
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Prince Names 2020 Valedictorian & Salutatorian
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The 2020 Valedictorian is Jaden Drudge.
Jaden is the son of Jay and Katherine Drudge and has attended Prince Avenue for seven years. Jaden earned the Wolverine Academian Gold Award for the highest grade point average in his class each year of his high school career and was a 2019 Georgia Merit Scholar. While in high school, Jaden was in the National Honor Society, Beta Club, and Interact Club. He was also on the Academic Team, participated in Fine Arts productions, and ran Cross Country and Track for the Wolverines.
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Jaden attends Athens First United Methodist Church where he is involved in the youth choir and volunteers with the Souper Supper program helping to feed those in need. Jaden plans to attend Wake Forest University.
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The 2020 Salutatorian is Hunter Melton.
Hunter is the son of Jayson and Holly Melton and has attended Prince Avenue for seven years. Hunter earned the Wolverine Academian Award for being in the top three grade point averages in his class each year of his high school career and was a 2019 Georgia Merit Scholar. While in high school, Hunter was in the National Honor Society, Beta Club, and Interact Club. He was also on the Academic Team and played Varsity Baseball for the Wolverines.
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Hunter attends First Baptist Church of Monroe where he volunteers at Vacation Bible School each year. He also volunteers at FISH Monroe helping to pack lunches in the summer for children in the community. Hunter plans to attend Georgia Tech and major in biomedical engineering and minor in Spanish.
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Prince Named Jostens 2020
National Yearbook Program of Excellence
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Pictured left to right –Front Row: Sarah Hill, Cassie Atha, Eden Solomon, Kelly Cascella, Niyah Beasley, Mackenzie Carroll
Back Row: Mason Goodyear, Jackson Zittrouer, Alex Gilmore, Gavin Harter
(Not Pictured: Wade McComick & Mac Ross)
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Prince Avenue Christian School’s yearbook program has recently been named a 2020 Jostens’ National Yearbook Program of Excellence. The National Yearbook Program of Excellence recognizes engaging yearbooks that reflect a broad representation of the student body while helping students develop 21st century skills such as communication, collaboration, and information and communication technologies (ICT) literacy.
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Hodges and Case Selected
as Rotary Student of the Semester
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Two Prince Avenue seniors have been selected as the Rotary Student of the Semester chosen by teachers for their demonstration of the Rotary Club motto of “Service Above Self”. Sammy Hodges was selected for fall semester, and Mackenzie Case was selected for spring semester.
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Class of 2020 Celebrates End of High School with College T-Shirt Day
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The Prince senior class traditionally celebrates the end of their high school career with College T-Shirt Day. This day is special because it not only represents the students' upcoming graduation from high school, but also the significant accomplishment of getting accepted and enrolling in college. The Class of 2020 celebrated this day virtually, not allowing distance-learning to quell their enthusiasm.
Out of 76 graduates in the Prince Class of 2020, 75 applied to 273 colleges and universities and were accepted to 194. One student plans to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. Congratulations to the Class of 2020 as they embark on their college and military careers.
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Finn McGinnis Wins Best Supporting Actor
at 2020 Shuler Awards
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Just days and hours before the entire nation was encouraged to stay home due to the need for social distancing, the Prince Fine Arts department hosted the final official Prince event before quarantine – the spring high school production of
Guys and Dolls
. The production was enjoyable, creative, and fun, and it was loaded was talented performances by Prince students. One of those performances received renewed recognition this spring as junior Finn McGinnis received Best Supporting Actor at the prestigious 2020 Shuler Awards Ceremony.
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Social Distance Seen
Through the Photographic Eye of Teens
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When faced with the unprecedented task of making lesson plans for her ninth-grade art classes to work from home, Prince Avenue Christian School high school art teacher Meghan Hudson realized the opportunity to converge her love of art with her love of history and her love of students. Recognizing that students were faced with historic challenges that were having a profound effect on their personal lives, Meghan immediately drew the historic parallels to the Great Depression.
“I love history and am always looking for ways to integrate that into my teaching. I’ve always been really drawn to the photographs of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) photographers and how they documented our country so beautifully at a very difficult time. This is usually one of my favorite topics of art history to discuss with my students, so when our lives and country all paused for quarantine orders, I couldn’t help but notice the parallels. I would have been crazy not to take advantage of that from a teaching point of view.”
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2020 Senior Art Show – Online Gallery
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Prince Avenue senior art students typically have a Spring Art Show in which their art work from their high school career is viewed by the Prince community. Because of distance-learning, this year’s seniors have displayed their art work in an online gallery. Please invite friends and family to view their 2020 Senior Art Show.
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Senior Caleb Land Receives
Berry College Band Scholarship
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Prince Band senior Caleb Land has accepted a scholarship to perform in the Berry College Concert Band and Jazz Band next year. While many Prince band alumni have continued to perform in college bands throughout the southeast, Caleb is the first Prince band student to earn a scholarship to play in college.
Caleb is the son of Byron and Kathryn Land of. He attends Prince Avenue Baptist Church and performs in the orchestra there. Caleb is a four-time member of the Georgia Music Educators Association District Honor Band and is a three-time member of the Georgia All-State Band. He has performed in the Georgia Association of Jazz Educators State Jazz Clinic, Lee University Honor Band, and the Young Harris College Honor Band. Caleb has served as Band Captain at Prince during his senior year and earned the rank of Eagle Scout last fall. Most recently, Caleb won the Instrumental Division of the Athens Classic Center Cultural Foundation Scholarship Competition.
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Prince Senior Athletes Sign to Play in College
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Clockwise from lower left: Shane McCormick, Charlie Graffin, Caden Bush,
McKay Melnick, Tyler Payne, Caleb Smith, and Alex Sudderth
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Seven Prince Avenue senior athletes are committing this spring to play their respective sport at the college level.
- Shane McCormick signed to play football with Kennesaw State College.
- Charlie Graffin signed to play soccer with Hamilton College.
- Caden Bush signed to play football with McPherson College.
- McKay Melnick signed to play football with University of South Carolina.
- Caleb Smith signed to play baseball with Truett McConnell University.
- Alex Sudderth signed to play football with Presbyterian College.
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Prince Athletes Recognized
for Character and Academics
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Each year, the PACS Booster Club recognizes and gives a monetary award to two athletes. The first is the Wolverine Christian Character Award given to the student-athlete that played at least two sports and best exemplified the character of Christ while competing in athletics. Senior Caden Bush is the recipient of the Wolverine Christian Character Award. Caden played Varsity Football and Varsity Soccer. He has signed as a kicker for the football team with McPherson College and plans to major in digital media arts.
The second award is the Wolverine Scholar Athlete given to the student-athlete that played at least two sports and had the highest GPA. Senior Jared Deatrick is the 2020 Wolverine Scholar Athlete. Jared played Varsity Basketball and Varsity Tennis. He plans to attend the University of Georgia and major in finance or economics.
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Prince Librarian, Nancy Simpson,
Retires After 28 Years of Service
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When visiting Prince Avenue Christian School, one of the central locations in the building is the school Media Center. If one were to step inside, it is not the boring, serious, and hushed place of solitude often associated with libraries. On the contrary, the Prince Media center is a bustle of activity.
Perhaps there is a lower school class searching for books or enjoying story time. Perhaps there are 5th-grade students reading aloud to their Kindergarten Reading Buddies. There might be high school students mentoring younger students in the Barnabas program. Or maybe there is a middle or high school student that has dropped by to seek encouragement or prayer because of a hard day. At the center of it all, is Prince Librarian Nancy Simpson who, after 28 years at Prince, has announced her retirement.
In a tight-knit community such as PACS, certain aspects of school culture become so engrained in the fabric of everyday happenings, it is easy to lose track of the origin of essential elements of the school. However, the retirement of a long-time faculty member such as Nancy Simpson allows for the remembrance of important milestones in the school, many of which can be attributed to Mrs. Simpson herself.
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Linda Lavender Retires After 37 Years of Service
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After 37 years of service, administrative assistant Linda Lavender is retiring from Prince Avenue Christian School. Linda shares the distinction of the longest tenure of any employee in the school with her friend and former co-worker Phyllis Hale, who retired five years ago, also with 37 years of service.
In Prince Avenue Christian School’s 42-year history, there have been many changes. The school has grown from a fledgling church school to an accredited Christian school with thriving discipleship, academics, fine arts, and athletic programs. Linda Lavender has been present for almost all of the transformation and has played a vital role in the school’s growth over the years.
Linda began her work at PACS as a teacher’s aide but soon moved to an administrative assistant role in the front office. Her work eventually led to the role of Registrar where she served for most of her tenure at Prince laying the groundwork for the current Office of Admissions. In recent years, Linda has continued her work as an assistant in the Business Office. When asked about the roles she has fulfilled during her years at Prince, Linda explains, “Working somewhere for that many years, it’s hard to put into words all that you have seen and done.”
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2019-2020 Yearbook Dedicated to Faculty & Staff Members, Mandy Eley and Kathy Stamey
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The 2019-2020 Prince Yearbook Staff recently presented the 38th edition of the Koinonia to the Prince student body through a video announcement. This year’s yearbook was dedicated to two Prince Avenue faculty members – middle school Bible teacher Mandy Eley and Substitute Coordinator and Education Support Services (ESS) Testing Coordinator Kathy Stamey.
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Prince Observes Milestone Events
with Drive-Thru Celebrations
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The conclusion of each school year brings with it special milestone events in the lives of Prince students and families. Beyond concerts, end-of-year parties, honors days, and awards nights are three significant occasions - Kindergarten Graduation, 5th-Grade Moving Up, and High School Graduation.
In an effort to safely observe these important events, Prince hosted drive-thru celebrations in which Prince families decorated their cars, drove around the track, and were greeted by Prince faculty and staff. The reunions between teachers and students, albeit from a distance, were meaningful as students were eager to reconnect with their friends, their campus, and their teachers.
The Prince Avenue Christian School graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020 has been rescheduled for Friday, July 17th at 7:30 p.m. The ceremony will be held on the football field. In the case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved inside with necessary social distancing measures accounted for. The ceremony will also be available for livestream at
www.PACSlive.com
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View & Download PACS Pictures on SmugMug
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Pictures of school events taken by the PACS
Marketing Department can be viewed & downloaded
for free at the school's SmugMug account.
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Prince Avenue Christian School’s mission is to partner with Christian families
to provide scripturally based discipleship while pursuing excellence
in academics, fine arts, and athletics from a biblical worldview.
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