Cabaret 2022: Road Trip!

by: Taylor Potts, junior

Taylor Potts performing a dance routine to the song “Pink Cadillac”

photos courtesy of Mary Catherine Phillips

The elementary Rising Stars performing “Ticket to Ride.”

Cabaret 2022 was a hit! This year, the theme was Road Trip, which featured songs about travel and fun on the road. It was my favorite show yet! We performed songs like “Seven Bridges Road,” “Driver’s License,” “Life is a Highway,” “Freeway of Love,” and many more. Cabaret looks a little different for me because I help choreograph. It is so much fun to put a number together with my friends and then see it come to life on stage through our wonderful cast. Cabaret is a large production that involves students from all three grade levels. The elementary Rising Stars performed several numbers which had the crowd tapping their toes. I remember looking up to the older performers when I was their age, and now it is so fun to perform alongside these budding stars. Some of my favorite full cast numbers were “Get Ready / Dancin’ in the Street” and “Rockin’ Down the Highway.” I also really enjoyed the dance ensemble numbers — “Pink Cadillac” and “Crusin’ for a Bruisin.’” It would not be fitting of me to talk about cabaret without thanking the people who make it all happen; a big thank you to Dr. York, Mr. Harrison, our stage manager Lily Everett, and assistant stage manager Hamilton Cunningham! Also thank you to all of the women working on our costumes and the crew who worked so hard behind the scenes. We could not do it without all of you. It truly takes a village to put a show like Cabaret together, and there is a place for you! Whether you want to be on stage, help with lights, work with the set, or greet people entering on show night, there is room for you in Cabaret! If you couldn’t make it to this year’s show, be sure to make it to next year’s! I don’t want you to miss out! #wearesaintjamesschool

Snowflakes- Unique and Beautiful, Just Like Us!

Elementary school counselor, Mrs. Laura Gibson, encouraged fifth grade students to embrace their differences in a fun and creative way. Students discussed how no two snowflakes are alike, and like us, each one is different and has its own unique qualities. Mrs. Gibson explained how the beauty of snowflakes can inspire us to embrace our differences. Students each crafted a snowflake to display in the counseling classroom. What a beautiful way to reinforce love and inclusion in our elementary school. #wearesaintjamesschool

District 2 Visual Art Achievement Program Exhibition

Congratulations to Mrs. Shoults’s high school students for placing at the District 2 Visual Art Achievement Program Exhibition.

Ann by Alice Chen

Luke Beasley: 2nd Place, 3D/crafts

Aora Jung: 2nd Place, painting

Natalie Magee: 2nd Place, drawing

Cole Williams: 3rd Place, photography/film

Alice Chen: Wild Card selection, drawing

Alice Chen’s artwork was chosen as a wild card and will move onto the State Visual Art Achievement Program for a second round of judging at the state level next month.

L to R: Monster Energy by Luke Beasley, New Shoes by Aora Jung, Famine by Natalie Magee, Crown of Decay by Cole Williams

A pH Cabbage Patch

Mrs. Courtney Whigham and a cabbage harvested from the Saint James School Community Garden

Mrs. Whigham’s Advanced 8th grade physical science class used cabbages grown in the STJ Community Garden to conduct an experiment to measure pH levels. Did you know red cabbage contains a pH indicator pigment called flavin? This water-soluble pigment is also found in other foods like apple skin, red onion skin, plums, blueberries, and grapes. Students boiled cabbage leaves in water to make a juice to indicate the pH levels of common household items.

Students made hypotheses about what household items would be the most acidic and basic. Items like lemon juice, vinegar, hand sanitizer, bottled water, baking soda, and milk were tested and recorded in lab journals. When mixed with the cabbage juice, very acidic solutions turned red in color. Neutral solutions result in a purplish color. Basic solutions make a greenish-yellow or yellow color.

#WeAreSaintJamesSchool

At STJ, students make connections between their lessons and labs in the classroom with real-world applications.  In this case, students harvested their own cabbages from the school’s Community Garden while also using natural and organic materials to conduct their lab.

Mrs. Whigham especially loves lab days, as relating lab experiments to everyday life and the world around us makes the classes more fun. The tools and equipment are excellent precursors to the types of experiments these students will conduct in high school and beyond. #WeAreSaintJamesSchool

FCA: Fellowship of Christian Athletes

FCA faculty advisors with guest speaker Charlie Trotman

FCA guest speaker Charlie Trotman

by: Anna Fett, senior

The FCA club is back! Every Tuesday the club meets to discuss the future gatherings of the big FCA meetings which includes all middle school and high school students. At these large meetings, students gather in the big gym for breakfast, worship, and listen to a special guest speaker. During the club time on Tuesdays, the club members sometimes have small Bible studies, and they also have smaller meetings with former athletes to speak to the group. FCA is not just for athletes, it’s for anyone who wants to grow closer and learn more about the Lord!

We were blessed to have Charlie Trotman come speak to our FCA. Charlie is a former Auburn quarterback who currently is a real estate developer in Montgomery. He was open and spoke to our kids about his struggles and gave our students hope and encouragment. Thank you, Charlie, for the great message.

-Dane Hawk, FCA advisor

Tri-M Music Honor Society "Instrument Petting Zoo"

Recently, the Saint James Chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society presented an “instrument petting zoo” to our 5th graders. Students rotated to different stations to learn about and hear different types of instruments. The stations included higher woodwinds, saxophones, low brass, strings, percussion, and choir. Tri-M members led the discussions and enjoyed performing for the 5th graders. Tri-M is a national honor society for student musicians who strive to promote music education, appreciation, and service through monthly projects. Currently, there are over 2,100 chapters in all 50 states, involving more than 84,000 students.

Tea Club is Fab-Brew-Lous

Kate McDevitt, Tea Club president

Kate McDevitt with tea club member Kate Rees

2022 Lunar New Year Tea samplings and oranges

The Tea Club, one of the High School clubs, meets every Tuesday and is sponsored by Mrs. Shoults. On February 1st we celebrated the Chinese New Year! The Chinese New Year is a celebration dictated by the lunar cycle. This year’s Chinese New Year started on February first and ends on February fifteenth. It is the most important celebration in China because it indicates that spring is beginning, and a new year has begun. We began the meeting by eating oranges. Oranges are important to the Chinese New Year because tradition states that they bring wealth and happiness. After the oranges, we tasted tea. This meeting’s tea was the Harley & Son’s 2022 Lunar Year Tea. A majority of the Tea Club members said that the tea was too bitter for them, but they enjoyed learning about the culture. We learned about the culture by watching videos and reading pamphlets while drinking our tea. We learned that this year is the Year of the Tiger, and that it symbolizes courage and bravery. It is believed this year will bring confidence and boldness to everyone. We also explored the traditions celebrated during the Chinese New Year. Some traditions include the following: eating dinner with family, setting off firecrackers, and giving red envelopes to friends and family. Although the Tea Club did not set off firecrackers to celebrate, we played two rounds of Chinese New Year Bingo! The winners received two red envelopes that contained a five dollar prize. To conclude the celebration, all members received a fortune card and tokens to scratch the card with. The Saint James Tea Club wishes you a Happy New Year!

#WeAreSaintJamesSchool

Citius, Altius, Fortius - Communite

The official slogan of the Olympics is “Citius, Altius, Fortius - Communiter,” which translates to “Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together.” We have enjoyed watching the 2022 Winter Olympics and cheering on team USA. Students in first grade hosted their own classroom Olympic games, complete with gold medals and Olympic torch snacks. Students built a miniature ski jump and crafted ski jumpers with craft paper and tongue depressors. Students took turns launching their skiers down the slope and practiced their math skills by measuring the distance to determine the winner. What is your favorite Olympic event?

#WeAreSaintJamesSchool

Beauty from Nothing

By: Dakota Alexander, senior

How can a simple sheet of white printer paper be beautiful? Given just a few materials, we were able to explore light and dimension, ultimately discovering unexpected creativity.

Mrs. Shoults opened our Photography II class by explaining that we would each be given two sheets of paper: one called “the practice sheet,” which we could crinkle, fold, or destroy without much consequence, and one “final sheet.” We would be taking photos of this sheet, and it would not be replaced upon being damaged. Each crease, tear, or crinkle (made by accident or not), or any other marking would remain on the sheet. She then gave us one miniature lamp, a bucket of colored balloons to stretch over the lamp’s bulb (Voilá! instant colored lights), and two pieces of foam board as a backdrop. She instructed us to take twenty-four decent photographs with these materials, producing three finals to be displayed for critique.

Naturally, a lot of the class was intimidated or at the very least puzzled by the assignment. How does one take interesting photos of such a bland subject as paper? That is not even to mention the stipulation that the final paper could not be replaced, meaning we had to carefully plan out our future photos so as not to produce unwanted creases that would interfere later. It was intimidating to me at least, since I started out with no idea of what to do, but also provided an exciting challenge.

We were given a week to photograph our sheets. During that time, we experimented with different colors and folds, adjusting the angle at which the light struck the paper. This produced a complex interplay between light and shadow, highlighting the forms that we made. Going further into the week, we noticed a certain obscure beauty in that blank sheet. It was something universal, a blank canvas, unto which we may convey a message (albeit not written). Each of our final sheets, despite being torn and ripped, had become true art captured through an 18-55 mm lens.

Responsive Classroom: Furthering our School Culture

Last week, Kindergarten and first grade teachers participated in Responsive Classroom® training. Responsive Classroom® is a program designed to train teachers to better integrate academic and social-emotional learning in an experiential, informative, and supportive environment. Creating safe, joyful, and engaging classrooms leads to a healthy school community. Saint James School embraces these ideals and is excited to further offer this professional development opportunity to other grade and division levels in the future. Our values of character, courage, community, and commitment are central to our ethos, and this training supports our mission. #WeAreSaintJamesSchool

Responsive Classroom is a student-centered, social and emotional learning approach to teaching and discipline. It is comprised of a set of research, and evidence-based practices designed to create safe, joyful, and engaging classrooms and school communities for both students and teachers.