SLA’s Spring Concert was a Success!

Courtesy of Roxanne Bruso

South Lancaster Academy’s annual Spring Concert took place Tuesday, May 14th, at 7 pm in the AUC Machlan Auditorium. The 7th graders played the bells while the 8th graders sang and played the bells. The choir and Il Voce, SLA’s elite traveling choir, performed some songs that were bright and cheerful, and some more serious worship songs.

After Mr. Huff said the opening prayer, Il Voce cheerfully started off the concert with Earth Song. It’s a beautiful song that talks about how music can heal. They later sang ABC. Voce sang the alphabet in a unique and creative way that many people in the audience never heard before.

The only sad song throughout the concert, entitled Lolette’s Complaint, was played by the 7th grade bell choir. The song was about a girl named Lolette being sad because her sister’s dress was prettier than hers. The 7th graders also played the well-known worship song, Above All.

The 8th graders showed enthusiasm for Gaelic Blessing, the song they played on the bells. Do Re Mi, from the Sound of Music, was the only time during the concert that the 8th grade sang. It was a well-done cover of a classic song.

The Cat Came Back, a dramatic song with a lot of sound effects, was arguably the most popular song out of the entire concert. Senior Lydia Felt and Freshman Cyan Picard both provided sound effects, and the entire choir seemed to enjoy the song. Both the choir and the audience members thought it was the highlight of the program. Blessed are the Pure and Merciful, based on the Beatitudes, was one of the more serious songs. Bridge Over Troubled Water was another one of the audience’s favorite songs throughout the concert. Senior Lydia Felt and Junior Lucas Raposo each had solos. The choir’s rendition of Finnegan’s Fugue was entertaining and each of the choir members seemed to enjoy the song just as much as the audience did. Voce ended the concert with The Days of Christ, which was a wonderful way to show that all of the songs and performances by Voce are done for the glory of God.

Many of the audience members were willing to voice their opinion of the concert..

Kirt Bakerlis, choir member Kurtis Bakerlis’s dad, said, “It was a great concert! The Cat Came Back and all of its sound effects were definitely my favorite.”

Junior Roxanne Bruso said, “This was the most fun school concert I’ve ever been to. I loved Bridge Over Troubled Water, and I thought Lydia and Lucas both sang wonderfully.”

5th grader Rebecca Silva said, “It was such a fun concert, and it was my first concert with SLA. The Cat Came Back was my favorite as well.”

Did you attend the spring concert? If so, what did you think of it? Share in a comment.

Spiritual Revivals: Nine Students Baptized

On Saturday, May 11, 2013, the angels in heaven rejoiced as several souls decided to give their lives to Jesus through baptism. The event was held at Village Church at 4pm, and 9 individuals were baptized: Rebecca Silva, Xoyoan Colon, Cyan Piccard, Nawal Habib, Luis Reveron, Simon Sierra, Joel Morin, Joshua Mularczyk, and Thalia Phillippe.

Our goal as an Adventist school, is to have God as our base. We aim for spiritual revivals in students, and every year, a spring week of prayer is concluded with a calling – motivating students to search within themselves and make the decision to give their lives to our Savior who once left everything to come to this world and trade His existence for ours. The results each year are phenomenal. God has done great works in the hearts of all of us.

The service was conducted like your typical baptismal: praise songs all the way through or in between the baptismal of each person, friends going up on stage for support, and favorite Bible verses being quoted.
For those who have been baptized: you can spend your life mentally preparing yourself for a life-changing moment, or an experience that will turn your life around for the better, but you can never be prepared enough to see how good it feels when your life is now held in the hands of the Being who loved us most. It’s overwhelming special, and it’s something you’ll keep forever.

For those who haven’t been baptized, we may wonder how it feels like standing in the water, hearing words but staying silent because your heart is speaking louder than you can. A couple of students were asked to share their experiences – why they decided to get baptized, and how they’re feeling now after being born again.

“I decided to get baptized because I have become closer to Jesus and I felt that I needed to commit my life to Him,” Sophomore Nawal Habib said. “After being baptized, I felt like I was starting over, and I’m happy about living my life for God from now on.”

“I made the decison to get baptized because I wanted to build a better relationship with God. Now that I’m baptized, I feel more focused spiritually and less focused on worldly things.” Junior Xoyoan Colon shared.

We were all born to bring people to Jesus. Of course, we all commit to this purpose differently, as we all have different gifts – but we’re all meant to plant a seed. It might take a while for it to blossom, and we might not see it blossom at all, but seeds are meant to grow – and we will see the results in heaven. After you get baptized and give your live to Jesus, the devil will fight even harder to get you back. Living in Jesus doesn’t mean you won’t get rainy times. But the seed is already planted, and then again, rain does make things grow.

“Let me into your lives, your world. Live on me, so that you may become truly alive. ” -Jesus Christ.

SLA’s 7th,8th Grade,Choir, and Voce Concert

Teacher Appreciation: Tishawna Brahmia

Mrs. Brahmia – Science

In honor of teacher appreciation, the South Lancaster Academy Pioneer, sat down with all of their teachers to get to know about them, and show how much they are appreciated. Tishawna Brahmia is the Science teacher at SLA. Over the past five years of her being here she has taught; Physical Science, Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, Zoology, and Botany. Before she came to SLA she taught in Tennessee for two years and New York for three. Mrs. Brahmia’s reason behind teaching science is purely out of the love for it. Growing up, her parents would always insight her with fascinating information about science. As her love for science increased, so did her want to share scientific information with everyone.

When Mrs. Brahmia is not busy teaching, grading papers, and attending faculty meetings she likes to spend time with her kids. She has a 13 year old son, 18 year old son, and a one year old baby girl. Since she is able to mange a family life and teaching, many of her students admire her and appreciate her.

Junior, Jannice Grunder, quotes” I love Mrs. Brahmia. She is so kind and caring. She is one of my biggest role models, because of the way she teaches. She is my favorite teacher, and is the reason for me trying hard and staying motivated in school.”

Senior, Kenisha Malcolm, ” Mrs. Brahmia is tough, but that just pushes us harder. Not only have I learned science, but also to keep on striving until you are where you want I be. I appreciate her a lot, and I want to thank her for being such a great teacher.”

Junior, Pablo Huerfano, ” I like how she is able to incorporate the perfect balance of fun and learning. She is fun, scary, smart, but overall a great teacher.”

The students of SLA appreciate all of their teachers and everything they do for us, even though when we may not show it. Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, and thanks for all you do !

Teacher’s Appreciation: A Tribute To Bisson

Mr. Bisson – Mathematics

This Thursday is Teacher Appreciation’s Day. To celebrate, the Pioneer decided to write our articles as tributes to the teachers at SLA that we all admire. We couldn’t go far without you guys teaching us every step of the way.

Mr. Bisson has been teaching in our Mathematics department for the past 13 years and has assisted many students with getting a firm grasp on their math skills. His favorite part of teaching here is interacting with students and just having fun in the class with them .

We students learn and grow here on a daily basis. Even teachers grow here as people too; Bisson believes his patience has grown a lot here. Without him we would be less prepared for college life and we would all be lacking the math skills needed to succeed in life.

Here are some things students had to say about why they appreciate him so much:

” He is a very dedicated teacher! He really knows how to teach us the concepts very well. He is also very good at keeping us all entertained and focused during the period.” – Pablo Huerfano , Junior

” I really enjoy Bisson and like him because he is a really funny guy!” – Aaron Comley , Sophomore

” He’s really funny and can be really sarcastic, which I appreciate. He’s a really good teach and really makes sure we all can understand what he is trying to teach us.” – Alyssia Cutler , Junior

I would like to thanks Mr . Bisson for all he does and contributes to out school each and everyday. We all really appreciate how you teach us and care about the people we will become. Thank You! Let’s not only appreciate our teacher on Teacher’s Appreciation Day, but everyday ! Let your teacher know how much you appreciate them for all they do for you !