Spring Athletics: Softball

by: Morgan Parish, junior

This Softball season at Saint James has been running very smoothly. Last year our season ended early due to COVID and we now have the motivation to make up for our lost season. For most of the girls on the team we’ve been playing for a long time together. This year we have five seniors that will be graduating. Most of the seniors have been playing on the varsity team since 7th or 8th grade. They have been able to watch the program grow and see younger girls becoming more interested in the sport. For the past few years the softball program at Saint James has been building; however, with the help of our Coach, Mr. Mark Hall, we have been able to start to compete with bigger schools. As of April 6th the team is ranked 8 in the state for 4A. This is a big accomplishment for the team, but also the school. The softball team has played in multiple tournaments, being recognized by the media. During Spring Break they traveled to Pensacola, Florida for an Alabama vs. Florida tournament. While the state Alabama fell short in the tournament, the Trojans came out on top representing Saint James in a great way. They won all 3 of their games that were played, but were unable to play the final game due to rain. With the undefeated winning streak they had they were most likely to win the last game. The best thing about the softball team is that most of the players play sports with each other for the whole year. This allows the team to build bonds that help with communication and leadership. The Saint James softball team has a very high chance of making it to Gulf Shores to play in the regional tournament, but must keep the same pace. So far this season they have had a winning record and hope to continue having one. 

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Easter Egg Hunt Review Game

What better way to spend the Monday after Easter weekend than with an Egg Hunt Review Game! Eighth grade students in Ms. Whigham’s physical science class were challenged to find 12 eggs, all containing hidden review questions… and candy, of course! The first team to answer all questions correctly won a prize. What a fun way to review for a test.

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Cabaret 2021: Fire and Ice

by: Ella Taylor, senior

This year our Saint James theatre department turned up the heat with our 2021 Cabaret, Fire and Ice! Despite all the struggles and worries that exist in our world today, the cast and crew remained cool-headed and put on a spectacular performance! One of the greatest challenges for our cast was singing and dancing with masks on. Tapley Cronier, a senior in the theatre department said, “Cabaret had its ups and downs throughout the rehearsal process, but we worked hard and were able to put on a show that we loved!”

Our department also got creative with the addition of our Rising Stars performance on video. This year hasn’t been an easy year for theatre, but our department is pushing through with optimism—and some glitter, of course! If you enjoyed Cabaret, or missed it and would like to attend our next show, stay tuned to @stjtheatre on instagram for updates about the department’s spring show, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

“The students needed this and frankly, I needed it as well!  This show gave us the spiritual shot in the arm that we all needed. We proved that even through adversity that we could overcome and stay safe doing it.”

— Mr. Lonny Harrison, Director of Theatre and Forensics

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Bird is the Word

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Spring is in the air at Saint James School. Last week, elementary school classes built and decorated birdhouses to hang around campus. Students had fun choosing the design, colors, and adornments for the houses. This project was courtesy of STJ TV, our elementary student-led news station, sponsored by 4th grade teacher, Mr. Zach Beard.

To all of our bird friends, welcome home!

Alabama Kidney Foundation: Stronger Together

As a young, active football coach, Jimmy Perry would be the last person you would expect to see on an organ transplant list; however, in the spring of 1999 Coach Perry found himself diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, also known as Berger's disease, during a routine physical. The oldest of five boys, Coach Perry says he was always the one his brothers looked up to. When his brothers heard that family members could be a donor, they jumped at the chance to be tested as a transplant match. Two of the brothers were a perfect match, but it was Scott, the youngest, who ultimately underwent the surgery to donate his kidney. “He is my hero now,” says Coach Perry, “he saved my life.” Scott Perry is also a Saint James Trojan, serving on our maintenance and facilities staff.

Montgomery Advertiser article, fall 1999.

March is National Kidney Month, and we are so proud of Coach Jimmy Perry who serves as this year’s statewide patient chair for the Alabama Kidney Foundation. Alabama has the fifth highest occurrence of kidney disease in the nation, and today nearly 12,000 Alabamians seek costly dialysis treatments weekly.. The Alabama Kidney Foundation serves kidney patients by providing financial assistance, education, and support services. The AKF annual Montgomery Kidney Walk is Saturday, May 1st at 9:30am at RIverwalk Stadium.

This morning, middle school physical education classes participated in our own version of the kidney walk. Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classes heard from Coach Perry and Scott Perry and learned their story. We kicked off our school fundraising for the AKF by placing blue and gold collection boxes in the school Commons. Students, faculty, and staff, can donate toward team blue or team gold though the month of April.

#GoGold #GoBlue

The winning team will be announced at our upcoming Trojan Day. You can also contribute directly on the Alabama Kidney Foundation website.

Thank you Coach Perry and Scott!

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2021 STJ Cheer tryouts

by: Anna Colson, junior

With this year being a lot different, cheer has had to adapt to changes and has not been normal since last year. We’ve worn masks to games, limited our student sections, modified pep rallies, and overall had to adjust many events to plan and prepare for. On the other hand, things seem to be slowly turning and corner and getting back to normal. We had normal cheer tryouts! It was refreshing to get to be in the gym with girls from grades 6-11 to try out to be a leader for school spirit next year.

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We had a great turn out of girls with fifteen trying out for middle school, seven for junior varsity, and twenty two for varsity. We had UCA staff come in as well as the seniors who are about to graduate to help prepare us for tryouts. We learned a fun dance, a cheer, and a chant to do the day of tryouts. Unfortunately, we had a weather day so we did not get as much time as we usually get, but the UCA staff and seniors did a really good job at preparing us for tryout day. Tryouts are the beginning of a new cheer season which is very exciting. It’s the beginning of preparing for camp that we missed last year, but get to go to this year. It is also the beginning of planning 2021 Friday night football games as well as brainstorming different ways for our students to be more involved in school spirit and how we as a cheer squad can help Saint James achieve the best school spirit in Montgomery. It is truly exciting to see a sneak peek of what next school year will be like for the Saint James community in terms of school spirit. 

The 2021-22 STJ Cheerleader selection will be announced Friday, March 18.

It's Not Easy Being Green

Today, while all of campus glistened with green for St. Patrick’s Day, a certain green was less celebratory. Mrs. Wingard’s 7th grade life science class ended their vertebrate anatomy unit with a hands-on lab: frog dissection. First, students labeled the external and internal anatomy of their subject and identified characteristics of vertebrates. Then, they carefully opened the body cavity of the frog and studied the organs and tissue inside. Students participating via VRL (virtual remote learning) didn’t miss out on the lab, as they were able to follow along using Frogipedia. Frogipedia is an interactive learning app that demonstrates highly realistic augmented reality. What a day to be green!

Screen shots from Mrs. Wingard’s live class, using the Frogipedia learning app.

“The app does a great job of explaining what the class is seeing. While we can’t replace the in-person experience, this is a close second.”

— Grant Phillips, 7th grade VRL student

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“Dissection lets us understnad the lesson better... and it is fun!”

— Sophie Shoults, 7th grade

Rocket Man

Success! This group’s “egg astronaut” experienced a safe landing!

Clear, sunny skies set the scene for Mr. Turner’s 6th grade Earth and space science students’ launch day. The objective: build a shuttle and parachute system to land an egg “astronaut” safely back to Earth. Each group, using resources in the lab (like tape, styrofoam, bubble wrap, and plastic bags), engineered their own padded capsules to keep the egg fully intact.

Watch below to experience liftoff!

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Laugh and Feel: Author Visit with Mac Barnett

We are thankful that technology has allowed us to continue our tradition of inviting children’s book authors to join us at STJ. Each year, our elementary school librarian, Mr. Benji Martin, coordinates and schedules a children’s book author to visit Saint James School and engage with our students. Renowned author Mac Barnett read aloud to our elementary students, grades PreK3 through fifth grade, and answered questions from the audience. What a fun morning we had with Mac Barnett!

Mac Barnett is a New York Times-bestselling author of stories for children. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages and sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. Mac’s books have won many prizes, including two Caldecott Honors, three New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Awards, three E.B. White Read Aloud Awards, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Germany’s Jugendliteraturpreis, China’s Chen Bochui International Children’s Literature Award, and Italy’s Premio Orbil. Mac joined us from Oakland, California via Zoom.

“Really I just hope that kids enjoy the book, that it makes them laugh and feel, and, if we’re lucky, that they think about it for a while after the book is closed. ”

— Mac Barnett

Zoom visit with award wining author, Mac Barnett

Hear from student Mae Martin and Mrs. Dubina's PreK4 class.

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PreK3 Face Series

PreK3 students have been working on art inspired by American Neo-Expressionist artist, Tyree Guyton. Guyton specialties in graffiti and urban environmental art. He has waged a personal war on urban blight on Detroit’s east side, transforming his childhood neighborhood into a living indoor/outdoor museum. Through his art, Guyton has drawn attention to Detroit’s forgotten neighborhoods and spurred discussion and action. The bold colors in his work symbolize our society’s diversity, which can be found in his collection, Face Series.

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“My experiences have granted me knowledge of how to create art and see beauty in everything that exists.”

— Tyree Guyton

Our students, using the signature shapes and colors inspired by Guyton, crated their own face series. Reinforcing academic skills, like identifying colors and shapes, happen daily during enrichment time at Saint James School. All elementary students, grades PreK3 through 5th grade, attend formal art enrichment weekly led by full-time art teacher, Mrs. Patti Pelham.